AOTY #15. Peine Perdue - Moreceaux Choisis

Peine Perdue (that could be translated by Wasted Effort) is a French duo, sharing their time between Berlin and Paris, which was created by Stéphane Argillet, composer, keyboardist and programming the magical machines, and Coco Gallo, who writes most of the texts and recite them more than she sings. Together, they offer a music often cold and yet very endearing, sometimes pop, sometimes more minimalist and experimental, which mingles inextricably with the smooth voice of Coco, whose poetic and enigmatic texts fascinate as far as they intrigue.
Often with groups that propose minimal compositions, charm lies in the subtle blend of the melodies and the voice. With Peine Perdue, the synthetic and mechanical music perfectly fits with this sensual and although distant voice, that loves to lead us into the vortex of her poetic riddles. One without the other would be missing a part, the two together are wonderful, and have managed to create their own universe, in this quite crowded world of minimal-synth duets.

AOTY : #20. Police Des Moeurs - Dedales

When you think of 80s post-punk and synth-pop bands you probably don’t associate them with contemporary cold-wave band Police des moeurs. Nonetheless, Dedales is a lively look back at a genre whose legacy seems to have gotten lost. The band has succeeded in retaining the spirit of the once feared and revered genre. A trully great album.

Mariah - 心臓の扉 (Shinzo No Tobira)

This is a mostly unknown early '80s record from Japan and has been absent for the past 30 years. When Mariah first got together in the late 1970s, their sound was largely indebted to the popular jazz fusion and synth pop of the time, but Utakata no Hibi seems to open the door to a wonderful dreamland where genres no longer exist. Sung half in Japanese and half in Armenian, the record melds East Asian and Middle Eastern tonalities, folklorish melodies with synthetic futurism, upbeat dance rhythms with meditative ambient textures, wonky New Wave, jazz structures and blissful pop ditties.

Lena Platonos

Lena Platonos is a Greek musician, pianist and music composer. One of the pioneers in the Greek electronic music scene of the 1980s, she remains active today.  She released 3 collaborative albums between 1981-1983 and her debut solo album in 1984. Her work is surreal, abstract, in places futuristic but always full of unpretentious honesty and tenderness. Through complex imagery, telegraphic lyrics, and analog synths accompanied by the Roland TR-808 drum machine, she paints an intergalactic and elusive soundscape capable of transforming punchy and haunting basslines into cryptic messages. Like the untranslated poetry of Platonos it makes sense beyond the usual; beyond it's own time, beyond words.

November Növelet

November Növelet is a side-project of Haus Arafna. The sounding of November Növelet is different from Haus Arafna's with the more feminine outlook of their works, as Ms. Arafna is in control by doing the lead vocals. The unique experiments with analogue sounds appropriate to the other Galakthorrö artists remain in their works. They developed over time and crystallized into an Angst Pop with a tendency to Electro New Wave and so Haus Arafna could carefully deal with the industrial origins of Angst Pop.

Krisma

Italian new wave duo, formed in 1976 by Maurizio Arcieri and his wife Christina Moser under the name "Chrisma" in Milan. The name was a combination of their initials. The very same year, the couple moved to London to record "U" and "Amore" with the producer Nico Papathanassiou and his brother, the famous Vangelis. By 1980 the name was changed into Krisma and the style shifted to synthpop.

Rexy

There are cult records, and there are cult records! Rexy‘s 1981 album, Running Out of Time, falls under the later. Born out of London’s fashion-centric Blitz Kids scene, Rexy was singer Rex Nayman and Eurythmics band member Vic Martin. Running Out of Time, which was Rexy’s only album, is the sound of cheap keyboards and drum machines, ramshackle playing and Rex’s heavy cockney accented vocals. The record was barely released in the first place and has since since become a sought-after record championed by outsider-friendly musicians like Ariel Pink, Connan Mockasin and Jef Barbara.