Virtually Nothing is known about this Montréal (?) group, but I've deduced what is going on here: Iko was an android trio from the future that traveled back in time to 1982 in order to learn what it meant to be human in the decades just preceding the merger of man and machine. Archetypal and powerful nerd music.

http://youtu.be/sl6cbHCnE98

Only 500 copies of this LP sold. So if you account for DJ/radio promos, maybe 1,000 were even pressed, making this gem truly obscure. The $100+ price tag for this album is one of the deals of the century.

'83 is presented here in its entirety, ripped from my mint copy at 24bit/96kHz and converted to MP3 at 196 kbps for optimal sound quality. I also found and posted two unreleased tracks (9 & 10) for posterity.

SCHEMATIC: MP3s, album review and cover artwork...

Presenting neither a robotic dystopia nor a sci-fi fantasy, instead ‘83 reveals our own robotic inclinations and highlights the struggle of the human soul to escape mechanization. The album envelops its listeners in a blanket of meditative synthesis, instructive beats, poignant lyrics and strangely syncopated accents reminiscent of the abstract music created from DNA sequences.

The coldly humanoid vocals are sung in both French and English. Iko must have spent considerable time in Montréal to pick up that distinctive Quebecois accent in both languages. But then again, their speech recognition and simulation circuitry was probably quite advanced.

Thank you DAX (synthesized harmonies & melodies, voice), U-GEN (triggered & synthesized melodies, voice) and ZAO (computed rhytm & bass, voice), whenever you are.

A1) Elevator

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Elevator.mp3|titles=Elevator|artists=Iko]

A2

A2) Gonadotropic Synthesis

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Gonadotropic_Synthesis.mp3|titles=Gonadotropic Synthesis|artists=Iko]

A2

A3) Subway 49

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Subway_49.mp3|titles=Suybway 49|artists=Iko]

A2

A4) Communication Off

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Communication_Off.mp3|titles=Communication Off|artists=Iko]

A2

B1) Approach on Tokyo

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Approach_on_Tokyo.mp3|titles=Approach on Tokyo|artists=Iko]

A2

B2) Digital Delight

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Digital_Delight.mp3|titles=Digital Delight|artists=Iko]

A2

B3) Model Type A

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Model_Type_A.mp3|titles=Model Type A|artists=Iko]

A2

B4) Radioactive Mist

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Radioactive_Mist.mp3|titles=Radioactive Mist|artists=Iko]

A2

***  Military Service (non-album track)

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Military_Service.mp3|titles=Military Service (non-album track)|artists=Iko]

A2

***  Surrender to the Dream (non-album track)

[audio:http://www.innernerd.de/audio/Iko/Iko_Surrender_to_the_Dream.mp3|titles=Surrender to the Dream (non-album track)|artists=Iko]

Manchego munching synth-pop group Vocoder emerged from the silicon matrix in the mid-80s to release some quintessential nerd tracks, then disappeared forever back into the ether. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn7prX2WF2A

SCHEMATIC: Additional release info, high quality cover art and record scans...

Amor de Robot was the b-side of single Mindanao, released as both a 7" and 12" on Neon Danza, a short-lived sublabel of indie label DRO (Discos Radioactivos Organizado). DRO, which you may recognize, was launched in 1982 by Aviador Dro, an awesome minimal wave synth band from Madrid.

A

¿Que Sucede Ahora? (What Happens Now?) was Vocoder's first single, released as a 12" on Neon Danza in 1984. I wish I could find a Roland TB-303 in the cereal aisle...

A synthy, robo-erotic slow jam created by two guys that look (and sound) like perverted middle school math teachers. Sung in Québecois French and vocoded to perfection. Need I say more? Pretty robo-heady lyrics, so check out the SCHEMATIC section for the original French and English translations. Here is their (not so) live performance on Musi-Video from the early 1980s.

SCHEMATIC: Hot cover art, original record scans, Montréal distributor's sticker and LYRICS...The background image featured on the Musi-Video introduction was taken from the D.J. Production's 12" sleeve design below. Pretty hot stuff, actually.

LYRICS - French with English Translation

Une potion magique A magic potion

Transforme ma vie Transforms my life

En rêve électrique Into an electric dream

La cage thoracique My thoracic cage

Fermée autour de l'écran Closed around a cathode ray screen

Cathodique

<chorus> J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error

J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error </chorus>

J'me berce d'illusions I delude myself with illusions

D'vant la télévision In front of the television

En érection I'm erect

Une dérivation filtre A derivation filter

Mes émotions My emotions

En éruption Erupting

<chorus> J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error

J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error </chorus>

Mon rêve délire My dream delirium

Mes passions brûlent de désir My passions burn with desire

<chorus> J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error

J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error </chorus> L'esprit moteur The motor soul

Dirigé par le robot Directed by the robot

Ordinateur Computer

Calculateur Calculator

Réunissant les salves Gathering the salvos

Des sons et des couleurs Of sounds and colors

<chorus> J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error

J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error </chorus> Mon corps mécanique My mechanical body

Poursuit sa rythmique Follows its rhythm

Mathématique Mathematic

Mes doigts arthritiques repulsent My arthritic fingers tap

La musique The music

Électronique Electronic

<chorus> J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error

J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error </chorus>

Mon rêve délire My dream delirium

Mes passions brûlent de désir My passions burn with desire

<chorus> J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error

J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error </chorus> Folie maléfique Evil madness

Eruption magnétique Magnetic eruption

Et platonique and platonic

Egocentrique Egocentric

Domination domestique Household domination

Automatique Automatic

<chorus> J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error

J'suis une erreur I am an error

Erreur érotique Erotic error </chorus> Mon rêve délire My dream delirium

Mes passions brûlent de désir My passions burn with desire

So let's get the show started right now with a very hot Montreal group...their name Rational Youth...here for their first time on TV singing their big summer hit, Cité Phosphore...enjoy the show.

Cité Phosphore (Musi-Video)

SCHEMATIC: LP Version (English), 12" Danse Mix (bi-lingual) and a scan of the original English lyrics...

Pretty hot shit, right? Additional videos posted below feature the album version (in English) off their 1982 COLD WAR night life LP and the 12" Danse Mix (bi-lingual). The album cut was taken from my mint original copy, ripped at 24bit/96kHz. I also found and posted the original lyrics sheet to City of Night from the Rational Youth website. The lyrics do not directly translate from French to English and I prefer the flow to the French cut, but in all fairness, I heard that one first.

City of Night (LP Version)

A2

City of Night (12" Danse Mix)

A2

City of Night (Original Lyrics)