I am an experience designer and strategist
fostering dialogue between technology and people.
OK. Check this out: Super hot italian chick doubles as an electronic music pioneer, gets sponsored by Apple and Roland in the 1980s and eventually becomes a consultant to IBM. **sigh**
All video clips taken from the 1984 LP Personal Computer on Durium.
http://youtu.be/FDuIgaC2524
SCHEMATIC: Two more videos and high res studio photo...
I flipped when I found this at the record store today for CAN$8! Are you kidding me?! This incredible track is the result of a long-forgotten collaboration between the Roxanne-era Police and German composer/keyboard player Eberhard Schoener. Seriously! Sting on vocals and bass, Steward Copland on drums/percussion and Andy Summers on guitar with Schoener laying it down heavy on the synth. Sting's signature voice and the song's slow build opens the door for uniquely anxious lyrics. Infectious and awesome.
SCHEMATIC: Weird Video Magic live performance video, cover art and record scans...
The song Video Magic pretty much sucks, but the video is weird enough to justify the post.
Why Don't You Answer? first appeared in 1978 on Schoener's album Flashback, only to return on the compilation Video-Magic in 1981.
Wait...Who? Don't let the peculiar name distract you from the raw genius of this track. This masterpiece marked the genesis of Italo thoroughbred label Il Discotto Productions in 1982. By the way, you can learn a ton about vintage vocoders by watching our vocoder youtube playlist or checking out our friends over at Matrixsynth. http://youtu.be/qu4NpVvjeQo
SCHEMATIC: More vocoder intel...
100% addicted to this song. Which is a serious problem, because other than this single, solitary video, I can find no trace of the band's existence. Anywhere. Are vinyl pressings gathering dust somewhere in Argentina? A handsome reward for any information leading to my successful capture of this track on wax.
SCHEMATIC: The real story...
But wait! The plot thickens! I found this video by the Dutch band, Nova for their first single, Aurora from 1981. Same video. Different song. Same band???!!
I tracked down the following picture of Nova performing on TopPop (TV) in April of 1982. The photo features band members Rob Papen and Ruud van Es. Based on this new evidence, the videos clearly feature Nova. But the original questions still remain.
I got in touch with Ignacio, who originally posted the Los Autómatas video. It turns out that he made this video as a joke using his own music that he put together in an hour or two!! The actual song is Systenova - Viaje Espacial. "Systenova" is his pseudonym for Italo-Disco, HiNRG, Spacesynth, Synth-pop, Disco, Acid Techno, etc...
Thanks Ignacio!!
I don't know why I'm on this jamón synth kick lately, but after you peep these vids, I doubt you'll blame me! Madrid-based Aviador Dro recorded some of the most leftfield minimal wave synth punk ever made. The following videos are from their obscure period in the early 1980s. Check those pre-acid synth lines! To top it all off, their penchant for industrially-themed costumes gave the music a whack post-apocalyptic feel. Substantially all their music in the 1980s was published on their own label, DRO. Enjoy!
SCHEMATIC: Four more videos to up your nerd experience points...
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