Doubting all the time. Fearing all the time. Our Darkness descends upon Dark Entries with a reissue of Anne Clark’s epochal proto-house masterpiece from 1984. As a young poet, Clark found herself drawn to London’s emerging punk scene. She became acquainted with Psychic TV affiliate David Harrow, with whom she would collaborate on 1983’s Changing Places and 1984’s Joined Up Writing. “Our Darkness,” off the latter album, was released as a single on Ink Records that same year, and became an underground club hit. It’s a singular piece of music: Clark’s lyrics, delivered with equal parts muscular confidence and unease, speak of urban alienation and heartbreak, while Harrow’s production pummels the listener with hydraulic beats and gloom-laced arpeggios. The song’s spirit would prove influential on both the early Chicago house and Detroit techno scenes, where mechanistic funk and existential despair could catalyse dancefloor mayhem. This reissue offers three versions of “Our Darkness”: the original 12” remix, the Razormaid mix, and a previously unreleased dub version uncovered by David Harrow. Also included is the extended mix of “Sleeper in Metropolis,” another dancefloor hit of Clark’s, as well as the elegiac “Poem for a Nuclear Romance.” The record includes an insert with liner notes and lyrics. “Our Darkness” channels timeless longing and contemporary dismay, a classic overdue for a little light shed upon it.

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Repress!

Cult Argentinian darkwave act Euroshima’s Gala sees a vinyl reissue courtesy of Dark Entries. Euroshima was formed in 1986 by Fabián Iribarne, José Wyszogrod, Ricardo Parrabere, and vocalist Wanda. Originally released in 1987 on Polygram, Gala was a success throughout South America. But to the band’s dismay, they received minimal support from the record label, which meant the album would linger in obscurity outside of the region. A CD issue via Twilight Records surfaced in 2020, but this is the album’s first reissue on vinyl.

Gala’s legendary status among cognoscenti is warranted. The album’s nine tracks display all the hallmarks of the best darkwave: spiky guitars, analog synth basslines, and wailing vocals. But Euroshima make their mark on the genre with impeccable songcraft and a honed sense of the uncanny. While the band themselves rejected the label of “gothic”, it’s hard to resist busting out the black eyeliner when listening to gems like the uptempo “Como Los Otro” or the churning album-closer “Mejor Callarlo”. Highly recommended for fans of Xmal Deutschland, Lebanon Hanover, pummeling TR-707’s, and doom-laden synths.

This reissue is co-presented with Twilight Records, responsible for the 2020 CD reissue of Gala. It has been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Also included is a double sided insert with lyrics and photos, as well as a postcard featuring a photo of the band.

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I met Aaron Parr back in 1992 aka the golden era of electronic dance music. Everything was kicking off in the L.A Underground and he was working slap dap in the epi-center at Beatnonstop Records on Melrose Avenue in the heart of Los Angeles. At the time I was living in Santa Barbara still doing my college radio show "The Joy of X" and coming down to L.A on the weekends almost every week since 1989. Aaron had been a mainstay down the street at Streetsounds Records where my then Young friend 19 year old Steve Loria worked alongside warehouse dj & underground legend Barry Weaver.

These were heady times. Clubs, after-hours and renegade break in warehouse jams were the order of the day…every day! The shops fueled the dj's with the dope records and the ravers with the party flyers, the Record Stores were the hub of the whole scene and the key was befriending these upwardly mobile soon to be underground superstars if you wanted fat slabs of wax AND to know where the real deal undergrounds were shaking…literally.

In 1992 I got selected for the U.S Olympic Basketball team and headed back to Europe in an effort to make it to Barcelona and get smashed for the GOLD by the dream team in front of the whole World…no thanks! We got knocked out by Petrovic and the Czechs right b4 Barcelona!
Anywho after 3 months I returned to Cali and there had been a shift, Steve Loria moved up the street from Streetsounds & opened Beatnonstop and it was HUGE! It had quickly become the largest independent record store in the U.S. The scene was massive, everything had exploded. I got in where I fit in and started a weekly Techno club "Happy Planet" on Tuesdays and a House club "NYC" with Doc Martin on a Friday. Both were rammed.

Aaron the industrious Brit from Nottingham & his bredren Dave Fong went to work early too, putting out the Rudiments EP on Worldship Records and then following up with Psycho Ray in 1998.. In 1998 II closed my Culture shop "Soma" down in Santa Barbara, packed up my studio & sound system and moved to L.A official. I had gotten the offer to manage Beatnonstop on Melrose after Steve Loria left and jumped at the chance.

I quickly put together the Beatnonstop Record Label, releasing a double pack "Pacific Coast House EP" feat myself and local producers Aztech Sol, CPen and Kenneth Graham/Steve Loria. I then kicked off PCH Records with "Rhodes Through Space" and after a drunken rendezvous at the Hall of Records Studio one night I signed Aaron & Daves Teflon Dons "My Vice" to the labels.

Vice was right down my alley a dark, grimy acid track with menacing Pacino samples.
After a buying trip for Beatnonstop to NYC. Harry the Bastard from Watts took me down to meet fellow Brit Stefan at Dance Tracks in Manhattan where I found the sample "Our Music" on an accapella in the bins. Super inspired after two weeks trolling round every record distributors warehouse (Watts, Nemesis, Syntax, Downtown etc) and hitting every record store in Manhattan (Vinyl Mania, Discorama, Frankie Bones shop, Satellite and on and on) I came home to L.A and me and Nate loaded up the Emu 64 Ultra sampler and penned "Our Music."

The track is obviously very New York inspired and was received well by Big Apple Dj's David Morales, Junior Vasquez, Roger Sanches & Baby Hec Romero. I would definitely say this track was a slow burner elsewhere and took off later getting the nod from DJ Deep in Paris, + Terry Francis, Eddie Richards and Mr. C in the UK.

It got no love in L.A surprisingly but everywhere else across the country with Miguel Migs and DJ Garth in the Bay, King Britt in Philly and DJ Pope in Baltimore. Now it's back on wax after 25 years remastered by the mighty Martin Iveson and I think the World is finally ready!


Track list:
A – Teflon Dons – Vice
B – The Coastal Commission – Our Music

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Contact: [email protected]More