This past Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting a true synthpop star, Stacey Q. She made an appearance at The Chase's 2 Yr. Anniversary at Chop Suey in Little Tokyo here in LA. Luckily my friend told me that she usually does a meet and greet, so I made a point of bringing along a couple of her records which she graciously personalized. At 51 years old, she's going strong with a new CD, Color Me Cinnamon, and she's still got the energy to rock a crowd. While I didn't get to hear any beloved SSQ tracks, and her set was ridiculously abbreviated (2 songs...really?), getting to say hi and hearing her sing her big hit made my night.

Here's a few rarities from her distant past before you seek out her new material.

SSQ - Fire
Somewhat cheesy Jimi Hendrix cover. Move over Rover, and let Stacey take over!

SSQ - Playback
From the Enigma Variations comp, which is strangely not on the SSQ album of the same name.

Reposted from Pontone.pl

Celebrating the release of a new great album (“Where Is The Truth”) and the Seefeel reunion, Pontone digs through Mark Van Hoen’s back catalogue and found many musical treasures.

Pontone's Mark Van Hoen Mix

PLAYLIST:
1 Mark Van Hoen He Run Far (“The Warmth Inside You” Very Friendly, 2004)
2 Mark Van Hoen Another Light Casts Its Will (“The Last Flowers From The Darkness” Touch, 1997)
3 Locust I Feel Cold Because Of The Things You Say (“Truth Is Born Of Arguments” R&S, 1995)
4 Scala A Category (“Compass Heart” Touch, 1997)
5 Darren Seymour & Mark Van Hoen Thursday’s Light (August 20th, 1977) (“Aurobindo: Involution” Ash International, 1994)
6 Locust All My Sadness (“Natural Composite” Apollo, 1994)
7 Darren Seymour & Mark Van Hoen Tema (V/A “Invisible Soundtracks 1″ Leaf, 1997)
8 Scala Broken Down Beauty (“Compass Heart” Touch, 1997)
9 Mark Van Hoen Since Tomorrow Will Come (“The Warmth Inside You” Very Friendly, 2004)
10 Mark Van Hoen You & Me Inside (“Playing With Time” R&S, 1999 )
11 Mark Van Hoen Real Love (“Playing With Time” R&S, 1999)

Mark Van Hoen has always defined and stayed true to his own sound, and as a result, has amassed a timeless discography that manages to remain unique due to the fact that he creates his own exquisite production techniques, never copying what's currently out there or replaying what has already been done. His music isn't easily categorizable, a marker of true artistry in my book.

For the past 10+ years, followers of Van Hoen have learned to be a patient group - there's been 2 6-year gaps between albums (as Mark Van Hoen), owing to his other production projects as well as numerous life/career interruptions (getting dropped from his label, getting his house demolished, starting a family, and most recently, moving to the states). His own patience, along with his ability to cast the right collaborators to work with has allowed him to grow as an artist while continuing to shape his own sonic legacy. Fans will be very eager to hear his latest opus (out now on City Centre Offices), knowing that what Mark has crafted, has been honed over the last few years, until he felt he arrived at something close to the truth.

Here's my own mix of MVH for your listening pleasure:
Robotsound's MVH Mix

PLAYLIST:
1 Annie Williams Ruby (“Ruby” Apollo, 1995)
2 Scala Be Together (“To You In Alpha” Too Pure, 1998)
3 Sylvania Oval (Locust Mix) (“Galax Trax” Stereophonic Elefant Dance Recordings, 1996)
4 Locust When We Coincide (“Truth Is Born Of Arguments” R&S, 1995)
5 Locust It Is Called Peace (1985) (“In Remembrance of Times Past” Apollo, 1994)
6 Locust Dreams (1984) ("Needle” Apollo, 1994)
7 Seefeel Plainsong (Sine Bubble Embossed Dub) (“Time To Find Me″ Too Pure, 1993)
8 Locust 1966 (“L'inachevé / Unfinished” Sub Rosa, 1995)

Stream Where Is The Truth.

Watch MVH's first state-side performance, which took place in his newly adopted hometown of Brooklyn a couple months back here.

Robodisco
Risqué
Brantôme
Kids & Knife
Twilight Ritual
COH
Catalog
Yasmin Gate
Pecado Pixelado
Shari DeLorean

Thee robots got fonky this past Saturday night, with Georgio and myself throwing down a number of Prince [or Prince-related] jams. Getting prime billing was Dez Dickerson's [I Want 2 B A] Modernaire. Dez, who played guitar for Prince in 1979/80 [before leaving after becoming Born Again and getting replaced by Wendy], performed with his Modernaires for a scene in Purple Rain, but only 18 seconds of his song ever made it into the film. The track was supposed to get released as a single and appear on the Purple Rain soundtrack (which eventually became a Prince-exclusive affair), but Dez's song got shelved, multiple label offers fell through and a solo career failed to materialize.

Fast forward 25 years and the long-lost Modernaire finally gets a proper single release, mastered from a newly discovered tape recording. Put out by the fine folks at Citinite and pressed on translucent red vinyl, it also contains 5 funked-up mixes/remakes from DMX Krew, Luke Eargoggle [Faceless Mind], Hot Persuasion, Complexxion, and the ever heavy-breathing Egyptian Lover. Check Citinite's Modernaire page for online retailer/distributor links or go to Bleep.com to buy the mp3s. I suggest buying the vinyl pronto since it is a limited edition and I'm sure once those collectors find out, they'll be snapping them up like Prince at a high heels sale. So in the words of Morris Day, "I wanna see some asses wigglin'...I want some perfection."

Another act to look out for on the Prince/Midnight Star/Cameo/Zapp-inspired tip is Bumper, side-project of Mr. Pauli with Geoffrey T. Their sound incorporates LinnDrum, vocoders, and funky basslines, blending vintage Minneapolis genius with early Jedi Knight electro fuckery. Stream their Never Stop EP here to get a taste of new jack electrofunk, because when it comes to all things Prince, It Takes An Erotic Village...

Of the past two decades, one of my personal favorite artists has been Greater Than One. Founded in 1985 by Michael Wells and Lee Newman after meeting at the Royal College of Art in London, Greater Than One started out as experimental artists, putting on multi-media art installations while dabbling in mutated cut-ups of found sounds and samples layered into Dadaist, soundtrack-like collages. Towards the end of the 80s the duo moved on into Industrial Dance before evolving into Techno and Gabber innovators in the early 90s. Operating as sonic terrorists, the duo released a slew of records under the names Tricky Disco [Bleep Techno], GTO [Techno/Rave], John + Julie [Hardcore Techno/Acid], Church of Extacy [Hardcore Techno/Acid], Signs of Chaos [Techno/Breakbeat], TD5 [Techno], The Salami Brothers [Gabber], Gangsta Trax [Gabber], Killout Squad [Gabber], 1000 Blinky Lights [Techno], and Technohead [Hardcore Techno/Gabber/Happy Hardcore], with each project bringing new elements into the equation while retaining certain sonic signatures that clued listeners in to the fact that they were listening to a GTO production.

In 1995 they scored their biggest hit, I Want To Be A Hippy, before Newman sadly passed away after a brief battle with cancer. Wells has continued to periodically release music under the names Signs of Chaos, S.O.L.O., and The Man, and more recently has resurrected the Tricky Disco and GTO monikers for a few digital-only releases.

Due for release September 1st, Brainwashed Archives is set to re-issue all of the Greater Than One output, some of it on CD for the first time. Included are their first full LP, All the Masters Licked Me together with their first recorded material, Trust. Also on offer are their WaxTrax! releases, London expanded to include Dance of the Cowards, Duty, rare compilation tracks and a bonus DVD of music videos, and G-Force, which comes with the I Don't Need Good and Utopia singles, 1991's Index EP, unreleased music from a Japanese-only VHS release, Video Drug 1, another hard-to-find compilation track and one unreleased track.

Head on over to Brainwashed Commerce to order these very reasonably priced multi-disc sets that are chock full of extras for even those die-hard collectors (like me) who religiously track down anything with >1's name on it.

For further enjoyment, download these mixes done in 1993 by DJ Nikadeemas:
GTO Mastermix 1
GTO Mastermix 2

Since I've been on quite the disco trip lately (thanks in part to Georgio and Cosmic Gary), I thought I'd switch musical gears and start what might become a new feature at RobotSound. My intent is to showcase albums that "flew under the radar" so to speak; Releases which deserved more attention than they received at the time. Chrome Tape, from the now defunct(?) band Motormark, is one such album that I believe merits further consideration.

Put out by Alec Empire's Digital Hardcore Recordings back in '04, and co-produced by The Droyds, Motormark's second full-lengther combines the attitude of punk with the buoyancy of melodic, guitar-driven dance rock, all backed by a robotic drum machine. True, for several of the tracks the basic drum programming leaves something to be desired. And the lyrical repetitiveness can become grating at times. But there's something exhilarating about the Fred Schneider-like vocals of singer Marko PolaRoid or the clamoring, overdriven riot-grrl delivery of bandmate Jane Motoro. The catchiness and sheer mobility of the songs help you overlook any of their technical shortcomings. Some tunes sound like they could've been part of a Pixies synth-punk side project. Others would fit nicely into a set of gritty, lo-fi Add N to (X) or Fat Trucker rockers. Anyway, if this release doesn't get your engine revving, you might be running on empty.

Motormark - You're All Talk
Motormark - Anti-Me

Pick up your own Chrome Tape [Cheap!] here: Chrome Tape

Franz & Shape are coming to wipe your synapses of mundane and predictable sonic sequences. Embracing the principles of our retro musical forebearers, they aim to deliver bona fide alternative dance music fused with up-to-the-minute synthetic sensibilities. Their sound though isn't one of yesterday's future; it is the past reflected through the present. Sometimes you really do need to look back in order to contemplate the here and now or determine just where it is you want to go.

Acquire Franz and Shape's retro-futuristic instant classic Acceleration at the Relish Recordings website. Including collaborations with some of today's most forward-thinking dark matter visionaries [Perspects, Matt Sims, G.D. Luxxe, David Carretta, Chelonis Jones, Dirk da Davo of The Neon Judgement], this album brings some much-needed dynamism to the current morass of homogeneity.

Franz & Shape - Tightropes feat. Perspects