September releases are all lined up

Following a toasting to its sixth anniversary, which saw the label announce records from Bézier, Second Layer and Miss Kittin & The Hacker, Dark Entries have now unveiled a further three reissues will hit the shelves by the end of September. This time around the label will deliver a serving of industrial Belgian synth-punk and cross-over synth pop sounds from Germany and the UK courtesy of Peter van Bogaert’s Liquid G. project, London post-punk quad Shoc Corridor and Holger Wobker and Peter Sawatzki’s Boytronic (pictured above) respectively. Of the releases, two are albums in Liquid G.’s Liquidation and Shoc Corridor’sExperiments In Incest, while Boytronic lands of Dark Entries with the Bryllyant EP.

The latter partnership was formed in 1982 after Wobker and Sawatzki apparently hooked up composing soundtracks to sex shows on Hamburg’s famous “Mile of Sin”, aka the Reeperbahn, and as the story goes, a Mercury Records representative offered the duo a contract after hearing Wobker play his music in the record he was working. The band’s first single “You”, which featured alongside mixes of “Bryllyant” on the 1988 release, was put out by Mercury Records in 1983 and became a top 10 club hit in European charts. However the former is chopped from Dark Entries 2015 reissue which has Wobker saying: “So what you hold in your hands now is a trip back to the rousing eighties in Germany, in the post punk era, when everybody wore awful clothes and painted their hair with crazy colours. Mine was pink…enjoy.”

Experiments In Incest sees Cheon buy into the love story that is Shoc Corridor, a Notting Hill-based four piece from the 1980s recently namechecked by Tako Reyenga. Faced with visa troubles, band members Chris Davis and Nogi Prass were forced to leave London before the album was finished, leaving Paul O’Carroll and Andy Garnham to complete the work for a full release in 1983. It’s been described by the label as “largely instrumental pieces built around electronic rhythm tracks and layers of ethereal keyboard melodies,” and comes in an exact replica of the original neon red jacket, featuring stick figure artwork by Paul O’Carroll, with a six-page booklet of liner notes, lyrics, photos and press clippings designed by Eloise Leigh is also included.

Towards harder industrial sounds is Liquid G.’s Liquidation, “the first ever vinyl compilation of Liquid G.’s cassette recordings,” and a chance to delve into the work of Belgian producer van Bogaert, a one man EBM machine responsible for some 28 albums in total. The Dark Entries reissue delivers a custom made black and white collage by Gwenaël Rattke, “capturing the bleak attitude of the music,” (“Selfdestruction” already a stand out) and includes a double-­sided insert featuring the original artwork of the cassettes and lyrics.

Liquid G. (Liquid Garbage) is the one-man project of EBM stalwart Peter van Bogaert from Melsele, Belgium. In 1987, he began to record music and self-release limited cassettes on his own label Liquid Produkts. Between 1987 and 1990, Peter composed over nine albums, in addition to a split release with Vomito Negro. Liquid G. made their first vinyl appearance on the ‘Expo 87’ 7” compilation, courtesy of Dirk Ivens’ Body Records.
“Liquidation” is the first ever vinyl compilation of Liquid G.’s cassette recordings, taking you on a journey through the underground of the Belgian Electro Industrial scene. Each song was written, produced, recorded and performed by solely by Peter between 1987-1989. Liquid G. captures the DIY synth-punk ethos of Cabaret Voltaire, The Screamers, and Nervous Gender. Six of the eleven songs on the album are instrumentals, and full of disturbing drum machines, stratified synthesizers, and deep, distorted bass-lines. The core of Liquid G.’s home studio included the Korg Poly-800, Roland TR-505, Roland MT-32, and Boss flanger and delays.
All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket is a custom made black and white collage by Gwenaël Rattke, capturing the bleak attitude of the music. Each album includes a double-­sided insert featuring the original artwork of the cassettes and lyrics.

Shoc Corridor was the London post-punk quartet of Paul O’Carroll (Voice, Synth), Andy Garnham (Synth, Bass, Drum), Chris Davis (Guitar, Bass, E-Bow) and Nogi Prass (Synth) named after the Sam Fuller film from 1963. Chris met Nogi shortly after moving to London in 1979, started playing music together, fell madly in love and decided to form a band. They recruited Andy, who had previously played in a band with Steve Luscombe of Blancmange, and lyricist and vocalist Paul. A home studio was set up at Andy’s flat in Notting Hill, where the band recorded and rehearsed. More interested in studio experimentation than live performance, the band only played a handful of gigs. Their influences were wide reaching: Kraftwerk, Neu, Cabaret Voltaire, Eno, PIL, and Joy Division. Their equipment list included a Korg MS-20, Wasp, Pro-One, Roland TR-808, WEM Copicat, guitars, bass, e-bow and an assortment of effects pedals. The crucial fifth member of the band was, of course, a TEAC reel-to-reel 4-track recorder.

After recording a four song demo they were offered a deal by Shout Records. The debut 12” single, ‘A Blind Sign’, was released in autumn 1982 and the band booked a studio to record an album’s worth of songs that winter. But Nogi received notification from the home office that she would have to leave the UK when her visa expired at the end of the year. Chris was faced with a dilemma – follow Nogi to Israel or continue with the band. Nogi and Chis recorded their tracks for the album and left London shortly after. Paul and Andy were left to complete the album at Ollie’s Studio with Dutch engineer Paul Groothuis. It was titled “Experiments in Incest” and released in March 1983. Six songs, clocking in at almost 40 minutes, the album is largely instrumental pieces built around electronic rhythm tracks and layers of ethereal keyboard melodies. Evocative and dreamy, the music escorts you on a tour of icy landscapes, with Paul’s occasional deep, rich vocals guiding the way. As one reviewer stated, this album is a “hypnotic electronic soundtrack music for a movie of the mind”.

All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Each LP comes in an exact replica of the original neon red jacket, featuring stick figure artwork by Paul O’Carroll. A 6-page booklet of liner notes, lyrics, photos and press clippings designed by Eloise Leigh is also included. “Wait for the sun to come out, open the windows, close your eyes and play” (John Gill, Time Out 1983).

Boytronic is a synthpop group from Hamburg, Germany founded by by Holger Wobker and Peter Sawatzki in 1982. The duo began composing music as the soundtrack to sex shows on Hamburg’s famous “Mile of Sin”. Soon after, Holger started working in a local record shop where he played early Boytronic demos during his shifts. A representative from Mercury Records came to the shop, heard the songs and gave the band a contract. They would go to release many singles and two albums “The Working Model” in 1983 and “The Continental” in 1985. By 1986 the record company claimed rights to the band name and put together a completely different line­up fronted by Hayo Lewerentz. This new incarnation continued to record under the Boytronic name until the mid-­90’s.

Influenced by Kraftwerk, The Human League, Visage and Depeche Mode, the band crafted their own brand of synthpop. Their first single “You” was released by Mercury Records in 1983 and became a Top 10 club hit in many European charts. Inspired by New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”, the song in an openly gay love song, where the singer expresses his loneliness waiting the return of his adoration for another man. “Trigger Track” was released in 1984 as a B-­side of the second Boytronic single “Diamonds and Loving Arms”. It was originally planned as an A-side, but was declined by the record company. “Bryllyant” was originally released as a B­-side to the 86 remix of “You” on JDC Records, a label aimed at dance floors and club DJs. A Belgian DJ played the song at 33rpm and convinced the band to release this slower speed version in 1988. It became the band’s second most successful release and a hit across Europe. This EP features both the 1986
U.S Remix and 1988 33 1⁄3 Plus 8 Remix of “Bryllyant”, as well as the original 1983 Extended 12” version of “You” and a special edit of Trigger Track never before released on vinyl.

All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Each LP comes in an jacket featuring neon green spot gloss lettering based on the 1988 “Bryllyant” single, and includes an 8.5×11 glossy press photo with liner notes, credits and lyrics, designed by Eloise Leigh. “So what you hold in your hands now is a trip back to the rousing eighties in Germany, in the post punk era, when everybody wore awful clothes and painted their hair with crazy colours. Mine was pink…enjoy.” (Holger Wobker, 2015)