V.A. Mandarinen Träume: Electronic Escapes from the Deutsche Demokraktische Republik 1981-1989

ARTIST`````Various

ALBUM`````Mandarinen Träume: Electronic Escapes from the Deutsche Demokraktische Republik 1981-1989

GENRE`````Cosmic, Disco, Leftfield, Kraut

YEAR````````2010

What?

I only have this 8 track long compilation but if you have the links for the original 15 track long one please post a link.

Review from RA

The task of reviewing an anthology of music so virulently steeped in socio-political context raises two problematic questions. First: should a fair appraisal of artistic merit ever draw upon historical reference in order to justify present relevance? Second: if it must, can one ever hope to do so accurately without first-hand experience of the juncture to which it is so inextricably linked? A conclusive answer to either is elusive. Fortunate, then, that Mandarinen Träume should present enough of an aurally visceral experience in itself to avoid getting bogged down by such post-structuralist digressions.

Read the whole review.

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OVAL - 94 DISKONT + MICROSTORIA - INIT DING (1995)

2 STANDOUT GLITCH ELECTRONIC ALBUMS OF 1995
ARTIST`````OVAL
ALBUM`````94 DISKONT
GENRE`````GLITCH, ELECTRONIC, IDM, INDIE
YEAR````````1995

WHY:
2 outstading examples of advanced electronic albums from 1995 from the same artist.

ALLMUSIC ON 94 DISKONT:
94 Diskont is undoubtedly a standout in the field of electronically advanced, glitch-heavy music. In addition to having clear resonance with those primarily interested in process, this record resides in an autonomous and highly aesthetic sonic universe, where bits of production and granulated noise easily melt into warm, repetitive arrangements. 94 Diskont was made with a lot of productive mediation and gadgetry, but the seams don't show.

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ARTIST`````MICROSTORIA
ALBUM`````INIT DING
GENRE`````LEFT-FIELD, ELECTRONIC, IDM, INDIE
YEAR````````1995

DIRECKSHUN ON INIT DING:
Microstoria is a fine experimental electronic outfit composed of Oval's Markus Popp and Mouse On Mars' Jan St. Werner -- but you wouldn't expect the collaboration to be as literal as Microstoria turned out to be. For all their combined creative juices, Microstoria is simply a meeting halfway between the mechanical atmosphere of Oval and the complex melodic quirks of Mouse On Mars. A simplistic formula to draw, perhaps, but it's surprising how very well the two styles of music mesh. Oval's random aloofness is retained, but its mechanical clicks and whirrs is replaced by warm synths and sporatic bits of electronic melody, a clear influence from Mouse On Mars. It's a compliment to both styles of each groups, and a pleasure in and of itself -- there's a reason they continue to release albums eleven years later. Init Ding is a great debut album from two artists who understand different aspects of complexity, and the resulting chemistry is palpable.

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KELLEY POLAR - I NEED YOU TO HOLD ON WHILE THE SKY IS FALLING (2008)

"At the top of the mountain, there is a special sensation at the centre of your body, and you can feel the earth moving underneath your feet. In the deepest part of the ocean, there is a cool and special place that is good for thinking. It happens to all of us at the same time. A feeling of the All-Thing."
ARTIST````KELLEY POLAR
ALBUM````I NEED YOU TO HOLD ON WHILE THE SKY IS FALLING
GENRE````LEFT-FIELD, HOUSE, ELECTRO
YEAR``````2008

REVIEW FROM PITCHFORK:
The highlights come easy and often. The aforementioned album opener "A Feeling of the All-Thing" turns that churning spoken-word passage into the skeleton for a celebratory sliver of symphonic electro; "Roseband" opens on a set of string trills before blossoming into a brisk, stuttery bit of disco; the throbbing "A Dream in Three Parts" rests on a gooey analog synth and Polar's even gooier delivery; and the sumptuous, string-drenched boy-girl duet of "Entropy Reigns (In the Celestial City)" is one of the best of the year so far.

Never mind that all that hokum isn't actually so hokey, that the ideas that form the backbone of the album's intro sequence-- that mind/body divide-- have functioned as dance music critic catnip for the better part of the last 15 years; by working them into a strain of music that walks the tightrope between that divide, Polar's managed a neat rhetorical track. More than anything else, it's really Polar's willingness to extend himself beyond dance music's often frustrating, low-risk, low-reward tendency towards po-faced seriousness that excites. Regardless of how you square with his overly-besotted singing style, his new age proselytizing, his occasionally agonizing earnestness-- and make no mistake, some people will hate this record-- it's hard to debate the artistic impulses that led him to make it. After all, if the sky really were falling, what more could one person do than set out to make a new one?

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Disco Not Disco: Post Punk, Electro and Leftfield Disco Classics 1974-1986 (2008)

CONTORT YOURSELF! CONTORT YOURSELF! CONTORT YOURSELF!
ARTIST`````VARIOUS
ALBUM`````DISCO NOT DISCO
GENRE`````POST-DISCO/ALTERNATIVE
YEAR```````2008

WHY:
This is the first time I heard "Disco Not Disco" compilation and I definetly recommend at least this one. The previous two are most likely better than this one but I just cant seem to find them. When I do, I will upload them also.

This is alternative club music from the raging age of disco movements of 1970's and 1980's. A true gem, and imagine - it was published just one month ago.

ALBUM REVIEW:
Given new life through an arrangement with !K7, the Strut label -- the source of so many wonderful compilations covering many neglected points within the spectrum of dance music across several decades -- resumes with its third Disco Not Disco compilation, compiled by "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" author Bill Brewster (who provides typically sharp and fact-packed notes) and Strut founder Quinton Scott. When the first two volumes were released in 2000 and 2002, many listeners susceptible to strange rhythmic sounds had yet to be introduced to Arthur Russell or Material, and it's safe to say that those who never set foot inside places like the Paradise Garage or the Loft would have ever thought to give a 16-minute cut off a 1981 Steve Miller Band album any kind of attention. Since then, compilations covering roughly the same territory -- or one or two specific subgenres dusted off by these discs -- have become common enough to make some Disco Not Disco disciples a little cynical about a third volume. Most of the tracks on this volume are indeed readily available on an assortment of compilations released within the last ten years: Nine O'Clock Drop, Anti NY, the Mutant Disco reissues, Rough Trade Shops: Post Punk and a few recent single-artist reissues, just to cite a few. Even so, we're not talking about the umpteenth big-disco-hit comp; "Contort Yourself" has a long way to go before it becomes one-tenth as comped as "I Will Survive." (And it's not like all the tracks from the first two Disco Not Discos had ever been wiped out of existence, either.) Easily the most post-punk volume of the series, there's Vivien Goldman (with the relatively scarce "Launderette"), Delta 5, Shriekback, Konk, and Maximum Joy. They mix it up with another assortment of obscurities from unexpected corners. The biggest, deepest surprises are "Crunch Cake" (thick, tightly wrapped fusion-funk from Isotope), "Binary" (a frosty 1985 B-side from France's Kazino), and "Seoul Music" (one of the series' most distinctive tracks, from Yellow Magic Orchestra, a spell weaved by spiraling percussion and serpentine bass). Even considering the timing and context, the disc is every bit as replayable as the second volume. The only truly bad move here is the inclusion of the instrumental mix of A Number of Names' proto-techno "Sharevari," which is like favoring an instrumental of Laid Back's "White Horse" over the vocal version. (Then again, the instrumental does leave room for you to perfect your impersonation of a black Detroiter approximating a posh Frenchman speaking English.) Important note: Gina X Performance's "Kaddish" is not on the disc, even though it is listed. "Seoul Music" is in its place -- in the end, a good thing. Bizarrely, the advance copies did list the YMO track and included it, and there was no Gina X presence whatsoever.

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