The Blue Nile Expanded Reissues on EMI

EMI Records is pleased to announce the release of the first 2 albums by The Blue Nile, A Walk Across The Rooftops and Hats as expanded 2CD 'Collector's Editions'. Both albums come with a bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased material chosen by Paul Buchanan and Robert Bell, who also oversaw the remastering of the original albums with their long time Blue Nile engineer Calum Malcolm. 
The debut album ‘A Walk Across the Rooftops’ was originally released in 1984 on Linn Records- a label set up specifically to release the album and featured the hit single "Tinsletown in The Rain". The follow up album 'Hats' was released five years after and it often described as a cinematic experience.


Sparks' 'Two Hands, One Mouth' - New Single and Tour

Sparks' 'Two Hands One Head' tour (European Leg) kicked off this week as the duo was playing their first dates in the Baltic Region. The tour which was officially started in London, on June 13th, will see them deconstruct and reinterpret songs from their own extensive and unique catalogue. Their brand new single "Two Hands One Mouth" is out this week.


WAW: Errors- Relics

Errors are back with a brand new album released this week. The album is entitled 'New Relics' and it was issued by Rock Action Records and it is available as CD/LP and even VHS. This is a video from the 'New Relics' VHS for the title track 'Relics' which was directed by Sally Sibbet. The band is currently touring. Check out http://www.weareerrors.com/ for more info.


Tracey Thorn Announces New Cover Album for October 30th

Tracey Thorn is back this autumn with her fourth studio album. Her new Christmas album is entitled 'Tinsel and Lights' and it features ten seasonal cover versions by the likes of White Stripes, Joni Mitchell, Sufjan Stevens, Scritti Politti and many more. The album also features two brand new songs and a duet with Green Gartside. The album was produced Ewan Pearson and it will be released on October 30th on 'Strange Feelings'. The new single "In The Cold Cold Night" is out now. 


Label Spot: Dark Entries

Dark Entries was born in the spring of 2009 to release out of print and unreleased underground 80's music as well as contemporary bands referencing that sound. The project was named after the first Bauhaus' 7" and the man behind this project was Josh Cheon, a vinyl-focused DJ and collector. 
Dark Entries takes great care in preserving sound quality and respecting the aesthetics of its artists. All of their releases reflect the DIY days of the 1980's independent record labels. The label entrusts all of their projects with the best engineer in California, George Horn at Fantasy Studios, who has remasters each release using his 50+ years of knowledge in the industry. 


The label founder Josh Cheon has had a rich musical background and music was always part of his life. He grew up in New York, enjoyed the dance in the clubs with dark synthesizer driven sound. He was working for several different record labels and radio stations and when he moved to San Francisco he started a night called 'Radio Lines' at the Transfer. Sharing the decks with another avid minimal synth collector, Phil Mailer who ran the blog 'A Viable Commercial', Josh learned about the band Eleven Pond, whose debut LP was going for $500 on Ebay. Luckily Jeff Gallea from Eleven Pond left a comment on the blog post: “If people are interested in a re-release I would love some feedback? I’ll dust off the Masters and see what could happen?” Josh contacted him and eventually obtained a copy of the master tapes, had the songs remastered for vinyl and released the LP in July 2009 with a silk screened cover like the original LP had. This is how things stated to roll on Dark entries Records. 
From its foundation in 2009, the label has reissued music by artist such as Dark Day, Second Decay, The Neon Judgement, Parade Ground, Starter and many more and released new material by Linea Aspera, Inhalt and many more.

www.darkentriesrecords.com 
https://www.facebook.com/DarkEntriesRecords
 

Instant Hit: 3rd Man- Oral Pleasure

3rd Man was a Norwegian minimal-synth duo who release their only single "Oral Pleasure" thirty years ago. The group consisted of Bjørn Sorknes and Morten Sjøberg who was also a member of one of the finest Norwegian post-punk outfits Fra Lippo Lippi. The single was issued as 7" on Unition Records and featured "Pleasure Recycled" as B-side. The song appeared on the compilation Maskindans - Norsk Synth 1980-1988 which was released in 2009. 
 

Next Wave: Xiu

I feel a chill coming on and her name is Xiu. Known as Oksana Rodionova to family and friends, she unleashes her official label debut, with the help of [aufnahme + wiedergabe], on Oct. 12th. This release is a limited edition (55 copies) cassette with a digital download version available as well. Born in Estonia and now based in Milan, Oksana crafts a mesmerizing arsenal of tracks. The sound is synthy, icey, and probably the lost sountrack to your lonliest of dreams. The vocals soothe you and guide you home in comfort and contentment. This is not to be missed! Pre-orders and audio samples are available at Xiu Bandcamp.


Additional info, sounds, and visuals are available at the following: Xiu @ Sound Cloud and Xiu (official) @ Facebook

Author: Ty Voltaire