Chicago legend K. Alexi returns to Dark Entries with Warehouse Trax, an EP of previously unreleased acid and house mayhem. K’Alexi Shelby’s illustrious career has included releases on legendary labels such as Trax, DJ International, and Transmat, as well as collaborations with high-profile artists like Marshall Jefferson and Pet Shop Boys. But his musical journey began at the young age of 12, when he befriended Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles while frequenting the Music Box and Warehouse. In high school, he began writing songs and honing his poetic craft. “I recognized I had a gift to say what I was thinking. I would study Prince and Marvin Gaye, figure out what they meant and put my spin on it. The power of the word. I was writing love notes for all my boys in high school and making a killing. I would know what to say and what they should do.”

Dark Entries previously reissued Shelby’s debut record, Essence of a Dream, which was recorded under the name Risque III in 1987. Warehouse Trax follows with six tracks recorded in Chicago between 1991 and 1994. The material here has all the hallmarks of classic K’Alexi. Salsa-inflected rhythms, emotive basslines, and hip-house vibes are displayed on tracks like the high-octane “Jungle Line” or the low-key tearjerker “Protect and Survive.” There are also some unexpected surprises in store. “Aaaah” comes out of the gate swinging with hard-hitting beats and apocalyptic ravey vocal pads evocative of the edgier material on Saber Records or Djax Up Beats, and the surprisingly contemporary-sounding “Klub Dred” delivers half-time dub with stuttering vocal samples. Warehouse Trax comes in a retro-styled sleeve designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh. This is essential material for devotees of classic house sounds.

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Chicago legend K. Alexi returns to Dark Entries with K.A. Posse’s Strkes Again, an EP of preleased unreleased acid and house mayhem. K’Alexi Shelby’s illustrious career has included releases on legendary labels such as Trax, DJ International, and Transmat, as well as collaborations with high-profile artists like Marshall Jefferson and Pet Shop Boys. But his musical journey began at the young age of 12, when he befriended Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles while frequenting the Music Box and Warehouse. In high school, he began to write songs and hone his poetic craft. “I recognized I had a gift to say what I was thinking. I would study Prince and Marvin Gaye, figure out what they meant and put my spin on it. The power of the word. I was writing love notes for all my boys in high school and making a killing. I would know what to say and what they should do.”
Dark Entries previously reissued Shelby’s debut record, Essence of a Dream, which was recorded under the name Risque III in 1987. Strikes Again brings us six tracks recorded in Chicago between 1988 and 1990, which come courtesy of Mike Dunn’s personal archive. This record showcases the rawer, more immediate side of Shelby’s sound, with tracks full of overdriven 808’s, careening sirens, and dangerously funky breakbeats. “Imported Taste” brings Shelby’s signature deep pads to the front of wild congo-laced percussion. “Suckas Be Ready” is a slamming hip-house cut featuring vocals from MCD-TA, while disco-samples duel with crunchy 909s on the jacking “Muzic Box.” Strikes Back showcases the real underground sound of Chicago, where sonic abstraction meets full-body kinetics. The record comes housed in a retro-styled sleeve designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh.

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Group Rhoda returns to Dark Entries with Phase 5, a new LP of synthesizer-driven art-pop. An integral member of the West Coast electronic music scene, Mara Barenbaum has been writing, performing, and plunging into oneiric depths as Group Rhoda since 2009. Barenbaum’s songcraft is at once stylistically diffuse and laser-focused, a synesthetic approach that allows her to effortlessly glide between genres and soundworlds while centering her singular poetics. On Phase 5, her fifth LP as Group Rhoda, we find Barenbaum waxing nondualistic. Lines between fairytale and fact, between nature and art, between subject and object all dissolve under contemplation. The songs on Phase 5 are perpetually in-between states, deftly shifting form at the blink of an eye. With sleight of hand, “Field Tone” transmutes from brooding John Carpenter-esque electro into vocoder-driven space disco. “Dragon Pine” darts from cosmic dub to cybernetic dancehall and back again. The uptempo darkwave-leaning number “Aeolian Crossing” dissolves into the void, like sand falling through one’s fingers, like a retreating wave. The cover artwork for Phase 5 is by Shawn Reed, and features purple lilies and light refracted through water. All songs on this album were mastered by Ruud Lekx. The digital version of Phase 5 will be released via Katabatik, a label and sound system that Barenbaum has had close ties to for the past decade.

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Somewhere between heaven and hell…there is Fallen Angel. Dark Entries continues its mission of shining light on a generation of composers and musicians lost to AIDS with Brandy Dalton’s Fallen Angel, his soundtrack work for the award-winning Fallen Angel series. Brandy was known for many years in the LA underground for his performances with his boyfriend, Robert Woods, who was the resident DJ at Club Fuck. Eventually, they recruited John Munt to form the band Drance, becoming infamous for their high-energy performances and songs that tackled taboo topics like sadomasochism. While Drance explored the aggressive sounds of industrial and EBM, Dalton continued to produce a wide range of electronica, from abstract sonic textures to techno bangers. The Fallen Angel album collects 16 sweaty, sticky cuts composed for the pornographic series Fallen Angel, a trio of leather-focused films released by Titan Studios. The sounds here span from the fractured cyberpunk-rave of “Swelled” to the tabla-laced trance of “FA2,” taking listeners on a journey through hedonistic recesses chock full of crunchy digital drum machines and wailing FM synths. This album was originally released on CD in 1999 by Titan Studios, capitalizing on the success of the film franchise. It will be reissued on LP as well as CD, featuring 6 bonus tracks. Artwork for the album, designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh, features stills from the Fallen Angel film. Also included is an insert with liner notes and photographs. This album is dedicated to Brandy, who passed away from AIDS-related illness in 2006, after battling with the disease for 17 years. Brandy’s passing was preceded by his best friend and Drance co-founder Robert’s death in 1995. Documenting a sonic shift in the 90s bathhouse music, Fallen Angel provides a hardcore BDSM ride, building upon the analogue archival soundtracks that Dark Entries has previously released.

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Spider Taylor crawls over to Dark Entries with Surge Studio Music, an album of archival gay pornographic soundtracks. James Allan Taylor was born into a working-class family in Los Angeles in 1951. Nicknamed “Spider” by his father due to his frantic energy, Taylor was a natural-born guitarist, gifted with perfect pitch and a voracious musical appetite. Throughout the 70s, he expanded his musical repertoire, playing in bands ranging from country to post-punk, like his outfit Red Wedding, while always looking for new sounds and styles to explore. During this period, Taylor also partnered with his soulmate and musical collaborator, Michael Ely. They were part of a wave of bold, young, gay couples living openly together in the years immediately following the Stonewall Riots. In the early 80s, while working at the West Hollywood gay sex club Basic Plumbing, Taylor met Al Parker, the legendary pornographic actor and director, who recruited Taylor to produce the soundtrack for a film he was working on. Parker’s partnership with Steve Scott running Surge Studios produced some of the most popular all-male films of the era. Spider’s music was a natural fit for Surge, and throughout 1985 and 1986, he composed the soundtracks for five films produced by the iconic studio. Assisted by engineer Steve Conrad and armed with a drum machine and some synths, Spider’s compositions for film veer from the expansive, reverb-drenched “Rainforest” to the Miami Vice-esque chugger “Tech.” While Spider thought of this work as little more than a gig, tangential to his real craft, enthusiasts of VHS-era nostalgia and vintage erotica will be brought to bliss. Surge Studio Music will be available on both LP and CD, the latter of which includes a 20-minute version of “Strange Places…Strange Things!” as a bonus track. The album’s cover art was designed by Gwenael Rattke, and features stylish images from Surge Studios releases. Also included is an insert featuring liner notes by Will Lewis, a longtime friend of Spider. The music is released from Spider’s estate by Michael Ely, Spider’s partner of 43 years. The shadow of AIDS lingered over Surge; Steve Scott passed from AIDS-related illness in 1987, and Al Parker succumbed in 1992. In 2014, when it became legal for same-sex couples to marry in Arizona, Spider and Michael finally became wedded. Spider would pass away from liver cancer six months later.

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CD!

Spider Taylor crawls over to Dark Entries with Surge Studio Music, an album of archival gay pornographic soundtracks. James Allan Taylor was born into a working-class family in Los Angeles in 1951. Nicknamed “Spider” by his father due to his frantic energy, Taylor was a natural-born guitarist, gifted with perfect pitch and a voracious musical appetite. Throughout the 70s, he expanded his musical repertoire, playing in bands ranging from country to post-punk, like his outfit Red Wedding, while always looking for new sounds and styles to explore. During this period, Taylor also partnered with his soulmate and musical collaborator, Michael Ely. They were part of a wave of bold, young, gay couples living openly together in the years immediately following the Stonewall Riots. In the early 80s, while working at the West Hollywood gay sex club Basic Plumbing, Taylor met Al Parker, the legendary pornographic actor and director, who recruited Taylor to produce the soundtrack for a film he was working on. Parker’s partnership with Steve Scott running Surge Studios produced some of the most popular all-male films of the era. Spider’s music was a natural fit for Surge, and throughout 1985 and 1986, he composed the soundtracks for five films produced by the iconic studio. Assisted by engineer Steve Conrad and armed with a drum machine and some synths, Spider’s compositions for film veer from the expansive, reverb-drenched “Rainforest” to the Miami Vice-esque chugger “Tech.” While Spider thought of this work as little more than a gig, tangential to his real craft, enthusiasts of VHS-era nostalgia and vintage erotica will be brought to bliss. Surge Studio Music will be available on both LP and CD, the latter of which includes a 20-minute version of “Strange Places…Strange Things!” as a bonus track. The album’s cover art was designed by Gwenael Rattke, and features stylish images from Surge Studios releases. Also included is an insert featuring liner notes by Will Lewis, a longtime friend of Spider. The music is released from Spider’s estate by Michael Ely, Spider’s partner of 43 years. The shadow of AIDS lingered over Surge; Steve Scott passed from AIDS-related illness in 1987, and Al Parker succumbed in 1992. In 2014, when it became legal for same-sex couples to marry in Arizona, Spider and Michael finally became wedded. Spider would pass away from liver cancer six months later.

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CD!

Somewhere between heaven and hell…there is Fallen Angel. Dark Entries continues its mission of shining light on a generation of composers and musicians lost to AIDS with Brandy Dalton’s Fallen Angel, his soundtrack work for the award-winning Fallen Angel series. Brandy was known for many years in the LA underground for his performances with his boyfriend, Robert Woods, who was the resident DJ at Club Fuck. Eventually, they recruited John Munt to form the band Drance, becoming infamous for their high-energy performances and songs that tackled taboo topics like sadomasochism. While Drance explored the aggressive sounds of industrial and EBM, Dalton continued to produce a wide range of electronica, from abstract sonic textures to techno bangers. The Fallen Angel album collects 16 sweaty, sticky cuts composed for the pornographic series Fallen Angel, a trio of leather-focused films released by Titan Studios. The sounds here span from the fractured cyberpunk-rave of “Swelled” to the tabla-laced trance of “FA2,” taking listeners on a journey through hedonistic recesses chock full of crunchy digital drum machines and wailing FM synths. This album was originally released on CD in 1999 by Titan Studios, capitalizing on the success of the film franchise. It will be reissued on LP as well as CD, featuring 6 bonus tracks. Artwork for the album, designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh, features stills from the Fallen Angel film. Also included is an insert with liner notes and photographs. This album is dedicated to Brandy, who passed away from AIDS-related illness in 2006, after battling with the disease for 17 years. Brandy’s passing was preceded by his best friend and Drance co-founder Robert’s death in 1995. Documenting a sonic shift in the 90s bathhouse music, Fallen Angel provides a hardcore BDSM ride, building upon the analogue archival soundtracks that Dark Entries has previously released.

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Legendary French industrial pioneers Vox Populi! arrive on Dark Entries with a reissue of Sucre De Pastèque. Vox Populi! was founded in Paris in 1981 by Axel Kyrou, a multi-instrumentalist of Greek, French, and Palestinian roots. He soon recruited his future partner, Mytra, and her brother Arash Khalatbari, who were second-generation immigrants from Tehran, as well as bassist Fr6 Man (Francis Manne). Their sound was motley, combining elements of musique concrete and early industrial with horns, flutes, and traditional Persian instrumentation. Improbably prolific and ceaselessly divergent, Vox Populi! found their way onto dozens of cassette compilations during the heyday of the 1980s DIY tape music scene, including releases on era-defining labels like Insane Music, Cthulhu Records, and their own Vox Man. Sucre De Pastèque, the band’s sixth full-length release, came out in 1986 on Unlikely Records, the cult outlet of Rimarimba’s Robert Cox. Like most of Vox Populi’s output, Sucre is a scattershot endeavor, encompassing psychedelic dirges, cosmic drones, hypnotic chants, and fractured machine-funk. The mood is understatedly bleak, but Vox Populi’s genre agnosticism and curious sense of wonder prevent things from feeling oppressive or heavy-handed. The cover for Sucre DePastèque was designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh, and features a collage by Vox Populi member Fr6 Man. Each copy includes an insert with photos and notes by the band. This is deeply fried material, perfectly capturing the obscurantism that characterized much of the 80s DIY cassette scene.

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C.L.A.W.S. comes to Dark Entries with a new ripping LP, Splat City II. C.L.A.W.S. is the solo project of musical luminary Brian Hock, who has been a key figure in the Bay Area underground for over two decades via his involvement in projects like Bronze and The Vanishing, as well as helming the record labels Squirrels on Film and Immortal Sin. With C.L.A.W.S., Hock takes on the dancefloor, picking up cues from the Hague’s Giallo-dipped electro, the skewed minimalism of Chicago acid, and the mind-rending forays of San Francisco post-punk icons like Chrome and Tuxedomoon. Following 2019’s inaugural Splat City EP, Splat City II continues to map the psychogeography of a metropolis both alien and immediately recognizable, one where life is cheap, but so are the thrills. Previously released on Squirrels on Film in digital-only format, this expanded vinyl edition of Splat City II features two new cuts. Things kick off with “Route 505” and “One Tear,” a duo of rompers that vibe like Tom Ellard and Chip E locked in a room with a vial of liquid. Next up, Bay Area deckmaster Tyrel lends his editing chops to “Vigilant Slimy Monsters,” sculpting a moody space disco beast. Squirrels on Film co-founder Solar teams up with Hock for “Black Magic Carpet Ride III,” a cavernous downtempo banger. The slow-mo pace continues with “Wild Slugs United,” which features the no wave-esque clarinet work of Paul Costuros. Closer “Don’t Flip the Crystal Ship” pays homage to Bayview venue Bay Area 51 with melancholic strings and a quartz-solid electrofunk bassline. Splat City II comes in a sleeve with artwork by Bert Bergen, which features a vampiric cat and sci-fi cityscapes.

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Bézier ripples their way back to Dark Entries with Decompose, an LP of doomed spa music. Multi-instrumentalist Robert Yang has made numerous appearances on Dark Entries for more than a decade, with releases spanning the stylistic gamut from hi-NRG disco floor-fillers to lush ambient epics. Decompose, Bézier’s second LP, is perhaps his most introspective work yet. It is an album almost ten years in the making, a deep investigation of life, loss, and the struggle of knowing oneself. If one were to pull a tarot deck for this album it would be the Nine of Swords. The album honors the lives of the fallen victims of Pulse Nightclub. It honors lives lost or suffering through the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The title track takes the form of a Buddhist chant, a brooding synth-driven meditation that scales steadily until breaking into John Carpenter-esque arpeggios halfway through. Tracks like “Egg,” “Marionette,” and “A Fading Citadel Atop Black Sand Bluffs” build on this soundworld, one in which intricate melodies and cavernous reverb induce in the listener feelings of both claustrophobia and free-fall. The album’s dancefloor-leaning moments, like “Codebreaking” and “Split a Path Towards the Thicket” are spartan, tunnel-vision techno tracks speeding towards ego-death. Decompose chronicles Yang’s journey to find peace with himself, as a gay Asian American. During this process, they learned to “repot” long-lost parts of their identity so they could grow forth in wholesome fashion. The sleeve for Decompose was designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh, and features a photograph by Frankie Casillo of Robert laying on a bed of rocks in savasana pose, resembling an ascetic, evocative of the monastic vibes of the record.

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Cybernetic disco maestro Patrick Cowley graces Dark Entries once again with Hard Ware, an LP of far-out funk and synthpop celebrating what would have been Cowley’s 75th birthday. Best known for his chart-topping disco anthems, Cowley left us with an incredible body of work before his tragic death in 1982 due to AIDS-related illness. Since 2009, Dark Entries has been working with Cowley’s friends and family to uncover the singular artist’s lesser-known sides, including his soundtracks for gay pornographic films, which the label chronicled on compilation albums School Daze, Muscle Up, and Afternooners. Hard Ware presents the closing chapter in a trilogy of unreleased Cowley dancefloor bangers that began with 2022’s heavy-hitting Male Box and was continued with the soul and garage-inflected From Behind in 2024. The most expansive release in said trilogy, Hard Ware delivers ten tracks of pure, uncut Cowley: sultry, psychedelic, sarcastic, and just a bit sleazy. Cowley devotees will delight in “Tech-No,” a sparse instrumental demo version of his epically dystopian “Tech-No-Logical World.” You could soundtrack your next aerobics session with cheeky numbers like “Pajama Party Massacre” or “Shake It Up,” both of which feature Cowley himself on vocals. The frenetic “Big Ass in Motion” is built around samples from Rudy Ray Moore and The Madam’s infamous “Sensuous Black Woman,” an X-rated comedy record that would later feature in classic booty house records. Mid-tempo cosmic groovers are well-represented with jams like “Hellfire” and “Megablue,” which perfectly capture Cowley’s bathhouse-in-outerspace sensibilities. No collection of Cowley’s work would be complete without an interstellar floor-filler, and we’ve got quite a few here, like “Jungle Jump,” which pits whirling beats with dub-laced swirls of synth, or “Spellbinding Lover,” a Donna Summer-indebted melancholic boogie masterpiece that features Sylvester backup singer Jeanie Tracy. Hard Ware closes with the chilling synth-hymn ”Ice Age,” in which Loverde vocalist Peggy Gibbons sings of a coming frosty apocalypse. The story told in “Ice Age” mirrors the coming AIDS crisis and feels like a haunting premonition from Cowley. The record comes in a sleeve with a hand-airbrushed circuitboard-inspired design by Gwenaël Rattke, and includes lyrics as well as liner notes by Andrew Ryce and Peggy Gibbons. Hard Ware is another crucial document of a tremendous talent taken too soon.

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Cybernetic disco maestro Patrick Cowley graces Dark Entries once again with Hard Ware, an LP of far-out funk and synthpop celebrating what would have been Cowley’s 75th birthday. Best known for his chart-topping disco anthems, Cowley left us with an incredible body of work before his tragic death in 1982 due to AIDS-related illness. Since 2009, Dark Entries has been working with Cowley’s friends and family to uncover the singular artist’s lesser-known sides, including his soundtracks for gay pornographic films, which the label chronicled on compilation albums School Daze, Muscle Up, and Afternooners. Hard Ware presents the closing chapter in a trilogy of unreleased Cowley dancefloor bangers that began with 2022’s heavy-hitting Male Box and was continued with the soul and garage-inflected From Behind in 2024. The most expansive release in said trilogy, Hard Ware delivers ten tracks of pure, uncut Cowley: sultry, psychedelic, sarcastic, and just a bit sleazy. Cowley devotees will delight in “Tech-No,” a sparse instrumental demo version of his epically dystopian “Tech-No-Logical World.” You could soundtrack your next aerobics session with cheeky numbers like “Pajama Party Massacre” or “Shake It Up,” both of which feature Cowley himself on vocals. The frenetic “Big Ass in Motion” is built around samples from Rudy Ray Moore and The Madam’s infamous “Sensuous Black Woman,” an X-rated comedy record that would later feature in classic booty house records. Mid-tempo cosmic groovers are well-represented with jams like “Hellfire” and “Megablue,” which perfectly capture Cowley’s bathhouse-in-outerspace sensibilities. No collection of Cowley’s work would be complete without an interstellar floor-filler, and we’ve got quite a few here, like “Jungle Jump,” which pits whirling beats with dub-laced swirls of synth, or “Spellbinding Lover,” a Donna Summer-indebted melancholic boogie masterpiece that features Sylvester backup singer Jeanie Tracy. Hard Ware closes with the chilling synth-hymn ”Ice Age,” in which Loverde vocalist Peggy Gibbons sings of a coming frosty apocalypse. The story told in “Ice Age” mirrors the coming AIDS crisis and feels like a haunting premonition from Cowley. The record comes in a sleeve with a hand-airbrushed circuitboard-inspired design by Gwenaël Rattke, and includes lyrics as well as liner notes by Andrew Ryce and Peggy Gibbons. Hard Ware is another crucial document of a tremendous talent taken too soon.

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Repress!

Patrick Keel is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and performer. The Pool was his solo project, the sum of fifteen years of experience in live bands, studios, and home recording. Patrick was heavily influenced by the radio of the early and mid 1960’s in Dallas. The British bands and Black soul of the era gave him a distinct style, and shaped his musical attitude. The New Wave/Punk/D.I.Y. attitudes of the late 1970s inspired him to express himself in a new way. 1980 saw the release of "Pool One," a sixty minute home-produced cassette. "Pool Two" followed in 1981, which received much praise and little distribution. In 1982 he released a 5-song self-titled vinyl EP of tight, skeletal, synthetic dance music.

In 1983, “Dance It Down/Jamaica Running” 12” EP was released on Moment Productions. Based on response from D.J.’s in New York and the Bronx, Patrick went back in the studio and remixed two songs from the self-titled EP for rapping, scratching and break dancing. "Jamaica Resting" was sped-up, extended, and reconfigured as "Jamaica Running". The whirlpool synth-strut of “Dance It Down” came out of the studio as “Dance In Dub”, with a heavier kick and extended dub outro. These spacious versions were optimal for DJ play, slotting regularly in sets at hip clubs like Danceteria. For this reissue we’ve added two bonus European remixes from the 1984 12” of “Dance It Down/Jamaica Running”, released on Nunk records from Belgium. Both songs employ the use of a Boss DR-55, Korg MS-20, Korg PolySix, and a Prophet 5, and were mixed on a 16- track Ampex recorder. The Pool's spartan, self-assured songs are experiments you can dance to.

All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The record comes housed in a newly designed jacket by Eloise Leigh, updating the magenta and blue grid and Pool logo of the Moment Productions release. Each copy includes a 12-page booklet with a never seen before photos, press clippings and notes.

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Brown Angel descends upon Dark Entries with Pure Brown Energy, an EP featuring 6 tracks of gloom-laced electro-funk and retro house. Pure Brown Energy was born when San Francisco-based producer and Hard French collective member Brown Angel was faced with a gift and a loss: an original Roland TR-808 was given to them around the same time that their father passed away. To process their grief, they set about making an album that showcased the many facets of their being, in their words: “my gay tío side, my Latin goth side, my cruising down the boulevard side, and most of all my soft vulnerable side.” From slamming vogue/ballroom house to cumbia-inflected freestyle, Pure Brown Energy channels club sounds both contemporary and timeless, while centering the most eternal electronic instrument of all: the TR-808. Opener “Miel” grooves with the effortlessness of peak-era Masters at Work or vintage Kevin Saunderson, while “Dame Más” dials up the energy even further. The influences of Miami bass and West Coast electro shine through on “Maya” and “Love Me Right,” which pair razor-sharp beats with a flurry of samples culled from Brown Angel’s record collection. “PBE” and “En Movimiento” take the Planet Rock vibes to another level, combining influences from contemporary cumbia and reggaeton sounds with Brown Angel’s Latin goth flair. Each copy comes in a sleeve designed by Ricardo Diseño featuring illustrations inspired by Teen Angels, a popular 1980’s Chicano magazine. Pure Brown Energy brings a sense of urgency to the dancefloor, unreluctantly examining the crossover between creation and loss, between celebration and sorrow. But don’t forget: these cuts also slap.

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Evelyne/Masao bring TESTPATTERN to Dark Entries for the label’s first foray into vintage Japanese electronics. Masao Hiruma and Fumio Ichimura’s project Testpattern is known for their release Apres-Midi, a cult slab of synthpop perfection released by Yukihiro Takahashi and Haruomi Hosono’s legendary Yen Records in 1982. While Hiruma and Ichimura parted ways following Apres-Midi, Hiruma’s musical endeavors would continue after meeting French/American model and vocalist Evelyne Bennu in 1984 at a café bar where she would sit and write poetry. Their collaborative efforts as Evelyne/Masao were fruitful, and the duo first performed together in June 1984 on a television program called TOKYO ROCK TV. The album TESTPATTERN comprises seventeen songs recorded in Hiruma’s home studio, which have never been released previously. The Evelyne/Masao duo continues building on the soundworld of Apres-Midi: lush, sophisticated electronics with intricate yet minimalist production. Tracks like “Sakuramochi” and “Bird Island” bear influence from Hosono most clearly, their soaring melodies revealing a subtly ironic redeployment of East Asian musical tropes. But TESTPATTERN is more than homage to Yellow Magic Orchestra. “Tabac” and “Le Soleil Se Leve” display oddball sensibilities closer to Sky Records icons Asmus Tietchens or Cluster. Elsewhere, the project shows affinity for the punkier ethos of continental DIY electronics, like on the quirky “Alien Go Home” and a positively skewed cover of “Singin’ in the Rain.” Bennu’s vocals provide a common thread through these explorations, as she alternates deftly between New Wave deadpan and unhinged chanson singer—check her waxing maximally Francophone on “Au Clair de Lune,” based on an 18th century French song. TESTPATTERN will be available on both double LP as well as CD, and includes a fold-out poster with liner notes with lyrics. This album is dedicated to Masao Hiruma, who passed away in 2011.

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Dark Entries returns to the steam room with Coatshek’s Sound Bath. For their SoundBaths series, now-defunct poppers brand Double Scorpio commissioned artists to make mixes for an imaginary queer bathhouse. When asked to contribute, San Francisco-based artist Coatshek aka Sheki Cicelsky took the opportunity to create original compositions. The resulting album, Sound Bath, serves as a masterclass in slow and sultry ambient techno. Taking inspiration from Pink Floyd, Manuel Göttsching’s E2-E4, and his friend’s DJ mixes (particularly Nick Moss and Matthew Paul’s for “Por Detroit”), Coatshek landed on 107 bpm as the optimal speed for sauna sex. With just a few synths, his Telecaster, and “lots of delays, reverb, and weed,” he sculpted stunning cuts like the effortlessly grooving “Softest” and the psych-laced “Triple Virgo.” The cover for Sound Bath was designed by Coatshek’s fiancé Nate Sprecher, and features photographs by Luke Kraman taken at The Ever Afters campout. The album also includes an insert featuring the Double Scorpio SoundBaths series artwork by Blake Wright. Equally hypnogogic and sexually supercharged, Sound Bath situates the bathhouse as a liminal dreamspace of unbounded erotic potentiality.

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Triple Five Sol drop 75 Racks on Dark Entries, an EP featuring 5 cuts of raw and jacking house music. San Francisco-based producers/DJs Johnny Five and Vin Sol linked up during a trip to New Orleans, and they began hatching plans to collaborate. After setting up a new home studio in Vin Sol’s abode, jam sessions ensued, and soon the duo had cemented their sound. Their analog house tracks harken back to the roughshod and unembellished vibes on 80s Chicago and New York labels like Nu Groove or Gherkin Records, influences they wear with pride. “Boxxx that Rocks,” “Just a Freak,” and “Everybody Loves Triple Five Sol” deploy chunky beats with sprees of minimalist bleeps, sounding like Chip E retuned for the 22nd century. It’s not all jagged drums and acidic squelch on 75 Racks, though; “Gonna Get Out” and “Halfway Home” saunter with the confidence of a New Dance Show participant, soulful and grooving with a dash of garage. 75 Racks comes in a sleeve designed by Primo Pitino featuring bold retro primary colors. Triple Five Sol brings us timeless dance music: deep, real, and weird.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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In celebration of Pride Month, Kinga struts to Dark Entries with “Sexy Boy,” a steamy Canadian pop gem. Inspired by gender-bending pop stars of the 1980s like Boy George and Janet Jackson, a young Tomas Fussey aka Kinga ditched his “schoolboy appearance” to adopt an edgier, androgynous style. Immersed in Calgary nightlife, he became acquainted with sexy synthpop and disco songs like Madonna’s “Everybody,” Divine’s “Native Love,” and the Flirts’ “Passion” - songs which still linger in his mind. He began writing music: “It was 80s. Everyone was making a record. So I made one too.” In 1988 he teamed up with keyboardist Dan Madison and veteran producer Bob Gallo to make “Elevator Operator” and “Sexy Boy.” Kinga was surprised when the B-side “Sexy Boy” garnered substantial radio play from CFNY in Toronto. But he notes: “They saw the obvious... My physical appearance supported the lyrics.” In 1989, Amok Records backed a new “Late Night Dance Mix” version of “Sexy Boy.” Almost every part was re-recorded or remade, including Kinga’s vocals. The new version surprised Kinga with its slick production and moody atmosphere. Sales were disappointing, and Kinga stated “It was not the sound of the moment.” But these deeper house-inflected grooves feel like the sound of our current moment. This release of Sexy Boy includes five different mixes, including the original 7” mix, three versions from the 12”, and the previously unreleased “TV Mix”. Sexy Boy comes sleeved in a reproduction of the original artwork and includes an insert with liner notes and lyrics, as well as an 8x10 glossy press photo of the sexy boy himself.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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"Please welcome: It’s The Arps! Oslo’s magic music maker Todd Terje has already gained a wunderkind like reputation for his gentle yet potent productions (we won’t mention the “E” word here) on labels like Full Pupp, Permanent Vacation or Running Back on top of being one of the best remixers money can buy (Shit Robot, Bryan Ferry, Dølle Jølle et cetera et cetera). What is there left for him to do? Establish a label of his own! “It’s The Arps” is the starting signal for Olsen. And what a splendid one it is. Created from scratch and solely on the mythical synthesizer ARP 2600 (check www.letsnerd.com for help), it features four tracks (reads instant classics) that couldn’t be a better follow-up to his 2011 super hit EP “Ragysh”. Towering over the assortment is the laser crime scene called “Inspector Norse”. Defying genres and blinkers, this is finest goose bumps dance music that makes you whistle along, laughing and crying all at the same time – but the rest isn’t half bad either. The short, but sweet “Myggsommer” gives away Terje’s secret love for quirky exotika, whereas “Swing Star Pt 1” and its brother have a (balearic) brilliance and witchery to them that is rarely found nowadays. Powered by Smalltown Supersound and housed in a beautiful sleeve courtesy of Bendik Kaltenborn (www.benkalt.no). 100% Arp 2600 and 200% Todd Terje!"



Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More