Kirlian Camera and East Wall Reissues Out Now

OUT NOW:

A
Helden Platz

B
Helden Platz (7” Version)
Burial

Dark Entries is proud to release “Helden Platz”, a long out of print 12” maxi single from seminal Italian electronic act Kirlian Camera. Keyboardist/vocalist Angelo Bergamini founded the project in Parma in 1979 and named it after an electronic device that photographs the electromagnetic halo around objects and living beings. By 1980, Angelo had recruited singer Simona Buja, keyboardist Fabrizio Chiari, and bassist Mauro Montacchini. Their demo cassette, “Dawn”, attracted the attention of Italian Records, a popular independent label. Over the next few years the band would release their first mini-LP, “Kirlian Camera”, the full length “ It Doesn’t Matter, Now”, and the singles “Communicate,” “Edges,” and “Blue Room”. The latter was a significant hit, eventually landing them a deal with Virgin Records.

By 1987 the line up consisted of Angelo Bergamini on all instruments, Charlie Mallozzi on electronic drums and Simona Buja on vocals. Virgin wanted the band to provide another hit single in order to exploit the success of “Blue Room”, refusing to release the band’s less commercial material. In 1987 the band went Lark Studio at Carimate Castle, Italy to record with Italo disco producer Oderso Rubini. Thanks to the insistence of Bergamini, the label agreed to release “Helden Platz”, German for “Heroes’ Square,” in 1987. The song features Kirlian Camera’s brand of dark wave, marked by haunting melodies, slow moving synth washes, and orchestral strings. The song features the stark, dramatic vocals of Simona Buja, who sings about the “Blue blood of Winter” in a tale of Germany and Austria during World War II. Included here is the extended 12” mix, the 7″ edit, plus the original B-side “Burial”, an instrumental that evokes a funeral procession soundtrack.

All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. It is housed in the original jacket, featuring a photo of a headstone from Zentralfriedhof Cemetery in Vienna. Each copy includes a 2-sided postcard with lyrics and photos of the band.

A
Eyes Of Glass (Vocal)

B
Eyes Of Glass (Instrumental)

East Wall was an Italian electronic dark wave band formed by Fabrizio Chiari (ex keyboardist of Kirlian Camera) and Wilma Notari in 1982. After a series of demos and live performances, the duo recruited Angelo Bergamini of Kirlian Camera to help with arrangement and synthesizers. In September 1984 they booked a recording time at Master Studio 33 in Cremona Italy. Working with produced Ray Masola, they recorded their debut single “Eyes Of Glass”, which was released on No Comment in early 1985. The equipment set up was a PPG Wave 2, Roland ProMars, Roland Juno 60, Simmons drum, and an upright piano. “Eyes Of Glass” is an outstanding example of 1980s Italo disco full of dark, moody atmosphere and depth. Wilma Notari’s coy vocals cast a spell on the listener as she weaves a story about lost love and “bitter tears”. Included here are the original extended 12” mix and instrumental version with mid-song breakdown and dubbed out chorus.

All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in the original jacket featuring a photo of a boy by Pushe 27. Each copy includes a 2-sided postcard with photos of the band, lyrics, and liner notes by Flemming Dalum.

A
Intro
Silence

B
Ice Of Fire
Twenty Five Sunsets Before Dawn

C
Blue
Angelo

D
Privacy
Twenty Seven

East Wall was an Italian electronic dark wave band started by Fabrizio Chiari (ex keyboardist of Kirlian Camera) and Wilma Notari in 1982. After a series of demos and live performances, the duo recruited Angelo Bergamini of Kirlian Camera to help with arrangement and synthesizers. They released their debut single “Eyes Of Glass” in 1985 which had huge success in Germany, leading to a deal with ZYX.

By 1991 the band consisted of Fabrizio Chiari (Synthesizer, Electronics, Keyboards), Tiziana Wells (Vocals, Synthesizer) and Angelo Bergamini (Synthesizer, Piano, Arrangement). At the beginning of the year, they recorded their next batch of songs at Prominence Studio in Cremona and A Love Sound Studio in Piacenza. “Silence” was self released by the band in 1991. The lead track “Silence” was a left-over song by Kirlian Camera recorded in 1985 with vocals by Simona Buja under the alias Lorenza Larini. It was recorded largely using a variety of now-classic Roland, Yamaha, and Oberheim synthesizers.
The album displays East Wall’s maturity and unique aesthetics, with instrumental pieces reminiscent of Angelo Badalamenti’ Twin Peaks score. Tiziana Wells
sings with pure emotion, hypnotic at times, upbeat and carefree at others. Frankie Teardrop (of the Wierd party and the Systems of Romance blog) describes this album as “possibly the closest thing to darkwave freestyle that exists.” We decided to expand the album, releasing it as a deluxe double LP cut louder at 45 RPM. We have also included an unreleased extended version of “Ice Of Fire” and the bonus track “Intro”, found on the DAT tapes Fabrizio Chiari sent us.

All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. It is housed in the original jacket, featuring a dramatically lit photograph of the band by Andrea Gambetta. Each copy includes an 11×11 double-sided insert with photos of the band, lyrics, and liner notes by Intergalactic Gary, who’s Despair Mix turned us onto to this album

On December 2, 2016 the Bay Area lost a huge part of it’s creative core: 36 young, talented souls. In the wake of this tragedy we’ve dug deep into the Dark Entries archives to raise immediate money for the victims of the Oakland Ghostship Fire. We are selling one of kind test pressings from the past 7 years. All test pressings are unplayed and sealed if possible. Test pressings may include artwork, jackets, ephemera, photos, signed letters, notes, transparencies used to burn silkscreens, posters, badges and more!

100% of all sales will be donated to the Immediate Oakland Fire Relief fund

https://www.youcaring.com/ourcommunityaffectedbytheoaklandghostshipfire-715087

Since the first batch of these record tote bags flew out of stock we had BAD SKULLS in Oakland, CA hand silk screen more official Dark Entries Tote Bags. The entire bag holds about 30-35 vinyl LPs and measures 18″ wide x 15″ high x 5″ gusset. Perfect for that goth beach trip you’ve been meaning to plan! Super limited quantities.
MADE IN THE USA!