San Francisco New Wave Compilation

[darkentriesrecords]

Lucky number 13 for Dark Entries is here! My releases mirror the arc of my life… NJ to SF. I moved to San Francisco from New Jersey over four years ago and am proud to have released NJ’s all synthesizer group xex and now a compilation of underground synth heavy 80s bands from San Francisco and the greater Bay Area!



DE-013 Various - Bay Area Retrograde (BART) Vol 1


Bay Area Retrograde (BART) Volume 1 is Dark Entries’ first compilation of underground music from San Francisco (and the greater Bay Area) in the 1980s. Towards the end of the 70s, San Francisco experimental music clashed with the aftermath of punk and gave birth to a vibrant underground scene. By the early to mid 80s the DIY music scene of the Bay Area was a hotbed for experimental and quirky new wave, post punk, and synthpop, quite similar to New York’s No Wave scene and Berlin’s Neue Deutsche Welle. This compilation literally connects the (transit) lines between these varied musical offerings and tells the secret story of eleven forgotten Bay Area bands and contains four previously unreleased tracks on vinyl, until now!



BART Volume 1 features a Korg-heavy assault from Danville’s utterly obscure Nominal State; two little-known left-field electronic dance gems from Batang Frisco and Quiet Room; Berkeley’s answer to darkwave, Necropolis of Love; a synth-driven drama fest from drag performance troupe Wasp Women; quirky lo-fi gothic pop from one man band Distant Thunder; a gay Hi-NRG anthem delivered by Danny Boy and the Serious Party Gods; two lesser know gems from SF synth legends Voice Farm and Los Microwaves; and the futuristic pulsing synth-punk of Standard of Living and the Units.



All tracks have been carefully remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP is housed in a large 6-panel fold out poster by with liner notes by Johnny Ray Huston, original photos, fliers and artwork documenting this fertile period. BART is more widely know as the acronym for Bay Area Rapid Transit, the main rail transportation system for the San Francisco Bay Area and the band on this compilation. This LP is by no means a definitive compilation but merely opens the tunnel to the underground sounds of the Bay!
Sound clips of all songs here:
http://soundcloud.com/darkentriesrecords/sets/bart/


Tracklist:

1. Nominal State - Middle Class
2. Batang Frisco – Power
3. Necropolis of Love – Talk
4. Wasp Women - Kill Me
5. Distant Thunder - Tin Soldiers
6. Voice Farm – Voyeur
7. Danny Boy and the Serious Party Gods - Castro Boy
8. Quiet Room - Yangtzee River
9. Los Microwaves - Silent Screamers
10. Standard Of Living - N.F.A.
11. Units - Mission


$18


I’d like to personally thank Phil Maier for being a key curator in the overwhelming sea of Bay Area underground 80s music! Check out his highly informative music blog here: http://goutroy.blogspot.com/



If you are interested in a wholesale quantity send me an EMAIL (darkentries AT darkentriesrecords.com) requesting exact quantity and shipping location.



Also there are many new distributed titles including: Human Flesh, BeNe GeSSeRiT, //TENSE//, Der Plan, Ike Yard and many out of print Kernkrach and Was Soll Das?/WSDP vinyl reissues of 80s minimal synth cassettes from Germany found in a warehouse, now in the SHOP:

http://www.darkentriesrecords.com/?page_id=47



The next few Dark Entries Records releases are in the works!

Jane & Jeff Hudson – Flesh (Expanded) 2xLP (co-release with Captured Tracks)
Starter - Starter LP
Vita Noctis – Against the Rule 2xLP (co-release with Daft Records)
Xymox - Subsequent Pleasures (+ 4AD demos) LP

Thank you for your support always!


Josh