Do Re Mi

Do Re Mi was an Australian rock/pop band formed in Sydney in 1981 by Deborah Conway and included herself, Helen Carter and Stephen Philip. It was sexually balanced - two women and two men. It's also something that can be underestimated in its significance. From Do Re Mi's point of view it just was what it was, no specific agenda at hand, but where it mattered was in the impact that it had on the music Do Re Mi played and the songs they wrote. The women in Do Re Mi weren't trying to be 'men'. The four members of Do Re Mi were equal partners.

The first EP was well received by radio stations. Do Re Mi reacted against that, and threw caution to the wind the next time around. Their second independent-label EP, 'The Waiting Room', contained "Man Overboard", an anti-love song from a woman's point of view that dared to have the words "penis envy" and "pubic hair" in the lyrics. Featured on the EP were the Laughing Clowns' brass section, Louise Elloitt and Peter Doyle. They recorded two albums: 'Domestic Harmony' (1985) and 'The Happiest Place in Town' (1988) and a batch of singles. Their best performed hit, "Man Overboard", became the 8th highest positioned Australian song for 1985 End of Year Chart. (Oz Net Music Chart). They disbanded not long after their second album was released. Conway had lived with Paul Hester (Deckchairs Overboard, Split Enz, Crowded House) in the early 1980s.

Instant Hit: De Film- Cuba Libra

There's limited information available about the band that released two LPs during the 80s, with variations in the artist name spelling such as De Film, De-Film, DE-FILM, and DeFILM. They seem to have been a six piece from Copenhagen Denmark. A recent discovery is the music video for their song "I Saw You Dream," which is now available on YouTube. The track "Cuba Libra" is one of our favorite tracks on their self-titled album.

Polyrock

Polyrock emerged in the late 1970s as pioneers of post-disco and new-sensibility dance music in New York. The band comprised vocalist Catherine Oblasney, guitarist Billy Robertson and Tommy Robertson, drummer Joseph Yanece, and keyboard player Lennu Aaron. 

During their brief existence, they released two records on RCA in 1980 and 1981, Polyrock and Changing Hearts and an EP entitled ‘Above The Fruited Plain’. Polyrock’s self-titled album was released in 1980 and produced by Philip Glass. It was influenced by Television and Brian Eno and the 70s art rock scene. Their only two single releases from their debut album were "Romantic Me" and ‘Working on my Love’.

Their second album Changing Hearts follows the same basic pattern but loosens up the sound, occasionally breaking away from austere dance music for a taste of straightforward pop, including a reworking of the Beatles' "Rain." 

Their third release was an EP entitled ‘Above The Fruited Plain’. The five songs on this EP had more character and melody than any other previous Polyrock release and featured one of Polyrocks best songs "Call of the Wild". Their final release No Love Lost was a compilation of Polyrock’s songs which was released on cassette only and which included a collection of  Polyrock’s live performances, plus unreleased demos dating up to 1984. The band disbanded in 1983.

In 1990, Billy Robertson and Catherine Oblasney formed the group 9 Ways to Sunday and released a self-titled album. Robertson died in September 2018.

Their music was never released on CD until 2007, when it was reissued on Wounded Bird Records.

Digitalism- Idealism

'Idealism’ is the debut album from German electro duo Digitalism. It was released on 9 May 2007 on Toshiba EMI in Japan as Digitalism and 21 May, 2007 on Kitsuné Music/Virgin. In the United States, it was released on 5 June 2007 on Astralwerks.Five of the album's fifteen tracks - 'Idealistic', 'Zdarlight', 'Digitalism in Cairo', 'Jupiter Room' and 'Pogo' - have been previously released as EPs prior to the release.

Instant Hit: Industry- Ready For The Wave

"Ready for the Wave" was featured on Industry's debut EP which was released in 1980. The whole EP was experimental and innovative and differed from the sound the band would later adapt. The track also appeared on the New Wave Complex Compilation Volume 6.  

 

Interpol- Our Love To Admire

'Our Love to Admire' is the third studio album by New York-based indie rock band Interpol, recorded in New York City at Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village and The Magic Shop Studios, to be released on July 10, 2007 on Capitol Records. The album will be the group's first to be released on a major label, following the release of their debut and follow-up albums on the independent label Matador Records. On 25 April 2007, the band officially announced the album title as Our Love to Admire as well as the track listing. The first single off the new album, "The Heinrich Maneuver", was released on 7 May 2007.

U.V.PØP

The history U.V.PØP stretches to the late nineties with quasi-Psychedelic Fursesque songs that lay off on the industrial vibe. It was actually a one-man band from the 80s and John White was singer, songwriter and guitarist.

When he began to play live in the early part of 1982, his ´band´ consisted of nothing more than himself plus a series of pre-recorded backing tapes. The arrangement proved both pragmatic and effective; it allowed John to present his music to the public to his own best advantage. Before he decided to form his own band, he performed together with Mark Hughes and Phil Shephard in a band I Scream Brothers where he was responsible for the musical arrangement.

"They might not like this, but I’ll say it. I’d worked with Cabaret Voltaire before, when I was with I Scream Brothers. I’ll not dwell on that, because although the group was a major stepping stone for me, I don’t really have a lot of respect for the other two members at all. We’re not really on good terms now. We’ve slagged each other off you know, they wasted a lot of my time. But anyway, I approached the Cabs again and said, "How about having a go with this? I’m doing a single for Marcus (Featherby of Pax Records)". (Excerpts from) ROAR fanzine - Issue #13 1984

In 1983, the debut single "No Songs Tomorrow" was released and the album followed in 1984. The album was also named ‘No Songs Tomorrow’. It was a strange schizophrenic record influenced by Cabaret Voltaire. Two divorced facades of pale European sound glancing, delicately, from apocalyptic acoustic ballads right through to harsh electronic anthems were the main attribute of this album.

In 1986 another U.V. PØP LP was released, ‘Bandy Baby Man’, which was mainly produced by John White. U.V. PØP songs later appeared on various compilations and they had few more releases during the 90’s. In 2005 Strafbomber made a tribute to the U.V. PØP with the ‘Sleep Don’t Talk’ cover.

www.uvpop.com

Editors- An End Has A Start

Editors have released their second album entitled 'An End Has A Start'. The album was produced by Jacknife Lee who also worked with Bloc Party and Snow Patrol. 'Smokers Outside Hospital Doors' is going to be their first single from the album. Their previous album 'The Back Room' which was released back in 2005 enjoyed great success in both America and Europe.

Instant Hit: Stranger Station- Minutes of Silence

"Minutes to Silence" was the only single ever released by Stranger Station. The single was released in 1981 for the Superwop label in France with "Strangers" as a B-side. It was one of the rare and pioneering minimal synth tunes from the early decade. Thirty years after, in 2011 that came back for another shot and released the mellow electronic "Cynthia" which was available as 7" vinyl on Attractive!.

Feist- The Reminder

The Reminder is the third full-length album by indie rock artist Feist. The album was released on 23 April 2007 in countries outside of North America, and 1 May 2007 in the United States and Canada. Following its release, it debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 16, selling about 31,000 copies in its first week, and debuted at number 2 in Canada, selling just over 18,000 copies.

Confirmed singles include "My Moon My Man" and "1234".