Codek and Lena Platonos Remix EPs 💚💜

We are excited to announce two releases for March 15th, remix EPs of French post-funk CODEK and Greek goddess Lena Platonos

DE-244 Lena Platonos – Lepidoptera Remixes EP
Cyaniris (Anatolian Weapons 6 a.m. Eternal)
Araschnia Levana (Pasiphae Remix)
Cyaniris (June Remix)
Τα Γενέθλια Ή Aporia Maturna (Morah Remix)

Λένα Πλάτωνος (Lena Platonos) is a Greek musician, pianist and music composer. Her third solo album, ‘Lepidoptera’ was produced in 1986 and reissued by Dark Entries in 2018. Inspired by a scientific book on butterflies she found in a trashcan one day, the compositions follow minimalistic motifs and carefully-staged soundscapes. Lena narrates each song in deadpan fashion, skillfully reciting her surreal Greek poetry.

We’ve recruited 4 contemporary Greek producers to remix their favorite tracks from ‘Lepidoptera’. First up is “Cyaniris” remixed by Anatolian Weapons who delivers an enchanted late-night journey through the New Wave forest. Next is “Araschnia Levana” remixed by Pasiphae who speeds up the pace with machine driven melodic electro pulses. On the B-side we have June remixing “Cyaniris” twirling the track into a complex deep sea dive with lush drum kicks and pads. Closing out the EP is a remix of “Τα Γενέθλια Ή Aporia Maturna” by Morah who leads us to the underworld of Hades via sinister squelches and full-on apocalyptic rave breakdown. All songs have been mastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket is a reinterpretation of the original ‘Lepidoptera’ cover, isolating the illustration of the butterfly/woman designed by Eloise Leigh.

Buy both the Lepidoptera Remix EP & Lena Lepidoptera Fanzine for a discount.50% of proceeds from this zine will be donated to Colour Youth, an Athens-based LGBTQ youth rights activist organization,

DE-245 Codek – Tam Tam Remixes EP
Tam Tam (Daniele Baldelli & Marco Dionigi Remix A)
Tam Tam (Daniele Baldelli & Marco Dionigi Remix B)
Tam Tam (Whatever/Whatever Remix)
Tam Tam (Whatever/Whatever Extended Edit)

Codek is the brainchild of Jean-Marie Salaun who grew up in Paris influenced by the folklore of the inner city. In 1978 he joined art rock group SpionS and collaborated with Robin Scott (M “Pop Music”). He began working as Codek, a play on the brand name Kodak with the “Me Me Me” single released in 1980. In 1981 the “Tam Tam”/“Closer” single was released on West African Music, a tiny label from the Ivory Coast, and re-released a year later by Island Records in the UK (where the B-side was re-named “Tim Toum”). “Tam Tam” was inspired by Burundi drummers playing in the plaza in front of Beaubourg where the song was recorded. Jean-Marie enlisted one of the drummers from the circle, Georges Atta Dikalo, to lay down percussion for the song. The female singers were from the French Caribbean and added falsetto tribal chants. Claude Arto achieved complex rhythmic patterns using a modular synthesizer and heavy processing. Jean-Marie recorded himself beating his chest for the thump noises. The recording of spanned over two years. They started on 16-track in Studio d’Auteuil, where Jean-Marie blew the woofers, before resuming in Studio Centre Georges Pompidou with an added 8-track recorder.
In 2017 we reissued the “Tam Tam”/ “Closer” single and shortly after the 24-track master tapes were discovered in Paris by original engineer Gérard Chiron. We arranged for graphic designer Maycec to pick up the tapes and immediately began to think of remixers for this project. First up is producer and DJ Daniele Baldelli who gave the original single a spiritual home in the Cosmic 80s scene of Italy. Here he’s teamed up with Marco Dionigi for two remixes. Remix A goes full on funky disco baseline while Remix B a more balearic affair. We remember Justin sharing a memory of DJing the original Island Records promo at the Mudd Club in 1981 so we had to ask him for remix. He teamed up with his Whatever/Whatever production partner Bryan Mette and delivered an hypnotic pulsing house remix and an extended edit. All songs have been mastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket is new twist designed by Eloise Leigh on the 1981 edition artwork by Angela Boy, inspired by primitive electronics and African paintings.

Still fresh: our Valentines Day release, a rare glimpse of NYC gay underground history circa 1978-82 with proceeds going to Housing Works 💜

DE-240 Roy Garrett & Man Parrish – Hot Rod To Hell LP
Roy Garrett born Roy Samber in Newark, New Jersey arrived in New York City hungry to explore the sex and porn scenes he’d seen advertised in the Village Voice’s classified section. He danced in Times Square theaters The Gaiety, Ramrod, and Big Top before moving into adult film. From 1979 through 1983 Garret starred in ten films, five of them for Joe Gage, including his lead role in ‘Heatstroke’. Throughout this period of self-discovery, he wrote the suite of 48-poems that became ‘Hot Rod to Hell’. In 1982 he recorded and self-released the poems on cassette with haunting, atmospheric score by Man Parrish, who also did several soundtracks for Gage. The project was produced for the stage by Manhattan illustrator Robert W. Richards who calls ‘Hot Rod’, “a searing voyage through the labyrinths of modern male sexuality; it’s geography ranging from porn theaters to back room bars to the intimacy of shared beds. Only a man born at exactly the moment in gay history that Garrett was could have lived through and conceived this work.” Roy Garrett tells his stories of sex, violence, truth, and illusion, a visceral and personal a record as any of that moment in gay history pre-AIDS. Joe Gage, describes ‘Hot Rod’ as, “…sweet danger. This is a perceptive look at the underside of love. It is funny, scary, surprisingly moving and best of all, extremely acute in observing the specifics of the human condition.” All poems have been carefully remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The records come housed in a jacket designed by Gwenael Rattke and includes an 44-page full color magazine with all 48 ‘Hot Rod’ poems plus 44 previously unpublished poems from Garrett’s archive. All proceeds from ‘Hot Rod’ will be donated to Housing Works, a New York City based non-profit fighting the twin crises of AIDS and homelessness.