5-LP box set from German New Age artist
Suzanne Doucet out July 19th for our 10 year anniversary
DE-250 Suzanne Doucet – New Age Box Set 1982-84
LP 1
New Age – Transformation
Attunement
The Neverending Path
Transformation
Drop Out
Cosmic Consciousness
Love
LP 2
New Age – Transmission
Good Friday
Shiva’s Dance
Moonlight
Transmission
LP 3
Suzanne Doucet – Reflecting Light Vol. I
Rising
Spiral Dance
Seacliff
Diving
Turning Point
Koan
Reflecting Light
9 Roses
LP 4
Suzanne Doucet – Reflecting Light Vol. II
Forever…
… and Here
LP 5
Suzanne Doucet & William Wichmann – Brilliance
Rose Skies
Brilliance
Eternal Dreams
Blue Wind
Crystal Flight
Starglider
We are honored to release a 5-LP Vinyl Box Set from one of the key figures of New Age music, Suzanne Doucet from her incredible run of cassette only albums from 1982-84. Suzanne was born in Tuebingen, Germany where as a three year old, Doucet discovered her innate artistic gifts. Instinctively, she was always drawing, playing music, singing, and writing. By the age of 18, Suzanne was an established pop star in Germany with several #1 hits. She also made her mark as a composer, actress, TV moderator, director, engineer, and producer. At age 25. she took a sabbatical from the music business to go on a spiritual odyssey. In 1970 she released a triple album of field recordings and mind-expanding psychedelia under the name Zweistein. For the next ten years, she developed her own style of New Age music while exploring many areas of metaphysics and spiritual practices, including astrology, music therapy, tarot, yoga and the Kabbalah.
In 1979, Doucet launched a record label in West Germany named Isis, after the Egyptian goddess of feminine divinity. She formed the duo New Age with her musical partner Christian Bühner, and released the 1982 cassette album ‘Transformation’, which was inspired by a visit to Findhorn, Scottland. Suzanne and Christian recorded acoustic sounds such as waterdrops and vocals using sophisticated sound manipulation devices and muli-track recording techniques. The only electronic instruments used were the Jupiter 8 and the Roland TR-808 drum machine. The next year the duo began work on the follow-up ‘Transmission’, which released on cassette in 1983. After this release, Bühner and Doucet moved to Los Angeles, hoping to find more kindred spirits in the burgeoning New Age scene there. Doucet met Tajalli (William Wichman) whom with she would collaborate with on the 1984 cassette ‘Brilliance’. That same year Doucet married Video Artist and Yoga instructor James Bell. Together they recorded two albums, ‘Reflecting Light Vol. 1’ and ‘Reflecting Light Vol. 2’, using a Roland JX-3P, TR-909 and a Steinway Grand Piano. Both cassettes had mirrored covers, a reference to the Zweistein jacket 14 years prior.
For the first time Suzanne’s cassette music is available on vinyl, in a limited run of 300 box sets. Each is stamped with a rainbow foil of the goddess Isis and includes an 8-page full color magazine designed by Eloise Leigh with liner notes, photos and reflections by Suzanne. We also have a small amount of stand alone albums available housed in jackets using the original cassette artwork. All albums have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Doucet’s career placed her at the forefront of blossoming New Age Music movement. “People all over the world become more and more inner directed”, she says, “New Age Music is the music of the new millennium. We are all pioneers, our work is on the vibrational level, which is the essence of all being. Our inner environment and the outer environment are co-dependent. This is the reason why music is so important for our lives. Whatever I can do to bring consciousness expanding music to as many people as possible, I’ll do… and I’ll devote my total being to whatever I am doing!”
LINEA ASPERA OUT JUNE 28TH
DE-253 Linea Aspera – Preservation Bias
Preservation Bias (K7 version)
Attica
Kinabalu
Detachment
Antipodean Tedium
Syncretism
Royal Straight
Vultures
Dark Entries continues celebrating our 10 year anniversary with ‘Preservation Bias’, a compilation of lost songs and rarities from Linea Aspera out June 28th. The group formed in London in November 2011 by Ryan Ambridge (Synths/Programming) and Alison Lewis (Vocals/Synths). Within the duo, Alison writes and performs all vocal elements, while Ryan is responsible for producing, recording and mixing the electronics. We released their debut self titled album in June 2012 that was followed by a posthumous vinyl reissue of their tour cassette “II” on Weyrd Son Records in 2013. For all recordings Ryan utilizes an analog synthesizer set up: Roland SH-09, Roland Juno 6, Vermona DRM MKiii, Korg Poly 800 and Analogue Solutions Semblance. Linea Aspera’s sound includes clear influences from 1980s electronic body music, synth-pop, industrial and noise. Lyrically the band incorporates the sciences of osteology, neuroscience, and anthropology weaving a new medical language around themes of desire, despair and renewal. Linea Aspera is the muscle attachment on the back of the femur and translates to ‘rough line’ in Latin. ‘Preservation Bias’ features all three songs from the limited ‘II’ tour cassette EP, four songs from the 2012 self-titled limited cassette EP and one song from the Desire Records 2013 compilation ‘And You Will Find Them In The Basement’. All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP is housed in jacket designed by Niall Greaves and includes a double-sided insert with lyrics.
BAY AREA 1982 AVANT POP OUT JUNE 21ST
DE-251 Zru Vogue – Zru Vogue
The Dream Stops
Nakweda Dream
Pretty Girl
For the Time
Loubella Extendables
Exploring the Underworld
Ubuhuha
Do the Zru
Zru Vogue is a two man post punk avant-pop group from Palo Alto, California, combining the talents of Andrew Finkle and Rick Cuevas. The band began in 1980 as a four member group: Rick, Andy, Tom Sanders and Nancy Miller. Tom and Nancy left the group shortly after the first single, “Nakweda Dream”, was released by independent San Francisco label Adolescent Records in February 1981. Inspired by rave reviews and heavy airplay on alternative radio stations, Andy and Rick went back into the studio, now as a duo, to record some new ZRU tracks. The self-tilted LP was released on the band’s Zero Risk Records in 1982. It contains eight compositions blending African tribal and Middle Eastern rhythms, avant-garde rock, minimal electronics, and funk-rock guitars. The duo’s sound is inspired by the art and anti-art movements of Dada and Surrealism. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Each copy is housed in a replica of the original jacket, which features artwork by the group members, and includes the original 2-sided lyric sheet.
$16
OUT NOW NEW BILL CONVERSE
DE-255 Bill Converse – Hallways 2xLP
Seen
Living Chord
Identical to Nothing
Relentless Imitation
Az Ah Zee
Said & Done
Flood
Errant Wish
Scrubbers
W.A.T.B. (featuring Carlos Souffront)
Raft
Harbour Airp
We are pleased to present ‘Hallways’ the third full length from Austin, Texas analogue hardware enthusiast Bill Converse. Immersed in the early days of the 90s midwest rave scene, Bill began DJing at a young age in Lansing, Michigan. Luminaries such as Claude Young, Traxx, and Derrick May were key early influences. Techno, noise, ambient and tape processing are all part of his uncanny sound palette.
‘Hallways’ is an 80 minute journey spread across 12 tracks and 2 slabs of vinyl. All tracks were recorded directly to tape with no overdubs, made at Converse’s home studio over the past 2 years. Bill says, “One idea for this album is ‘through bardos’, the gap or moment of transition between two things according to Buddhism. Like an experience in meditation and attempting to find realization/s on the way through the illusory and interdependent nature of good old fashioned REALITY.” Built around crunchy synthesizers, harsh drum machines and jarring acid lines, the tracks share a darker tone than Bill’s previous albums and one song features guest vocals by music gourmet Carlos Souffront, a true DJ’s DJ from Detroit. All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each 2xLP is housed in a jacket designed by Eloise Leigh with rich purple and smokey turquoise kaleidoscopic patterns.
FINALLY BACK IN STOCK!
DE-053 Figure Study – Figure Study LP
Answers
Wait
Bad-Side
Paralyzed
Maze
Interaction
Station
Invisible
Divide
Window
Rain
For their debut self-titled album, Figure Study utilizes a carefully tailored set up of vintage analog synthesizers and drum machines. Figure Study creates a lush sound where haunting vocals echo over dark melodies that reflect an isolated and disintegrating world. Songs flux between dissonant dance numbers and more sparse, somber compositions, each carrying a sense of urgency and modernism. Figure Study’s sound includes influences from such early underground artists as Kirlian Camera, Nine Circles, and The Actor.
The album was recorded in their small Chinatown studio using a sparse set-up of analog synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers. It was mixed at The Wave Lab in Brooklyn by AJ Tissian and mastered for vinyl at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley by George Horn. Each LP is packaged in a specially designed jacket by Nathan Antolik. Figure Study draw their own model using shapes and forms from the synthetic landscape.
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