Mannequin Records, founded in Italy but now based in Berlin, has been active since 2008 in the synth wave, electronic, experimental and psychedelic rock scene, with the purpose of bringing back to life and proposing bands from this mostly undiscovered world. Mannequin has the dual and parallel aim to unearth hidden or unpublished gems running along a road that starts from the period of reference for this kind of music (late 70′s – mid 80′s) as well as releasing records for contemporary artists that share a similar aesthetic. Faithful to the spirit of DIY, our releases are published in ultra limited, artfully packaged and hand numbered editions.
Mannequin has released records from Tropic of Cancer, Mushy, and even collaborated with Sacred Bones to re-issue the classic 1981 album by UV Pop, No Songs Tomorrow, and now is proud to be celebrating it’s five year anniversary with three brand new releases from Sixth June, Deathday, & Police Des Moeurs
Deathday - No Future 12″ EP
Deathday (formerly Deathday Party) is a Los Angeles based Experimental Post-punk band, formed in Santa Ana, California in 2008 by brothers Alex Guillén and Giovanni Guillén. Previous incarnations of the group can be traced back to Santa Ana’s Koo’s scene of the late 1990′s. While the title-track is an unreleased one, instead “Dropped Into Obscurity” was already included in the Downwards compilation “Click Heels” alongside with Tropic Of Cancer, Silent Servant, The KVB. On the B side Mannequin asked to the synth-master Legowelt to remix After Dark”.
Seldom has the post-punk revival seemed as urgent as with Deathday, who match their guitar driven dirges with esoteric industrial soundscapes and tape manipulation. Their music is often as bleak as it is violent, with low end cacophony bludgeoning the listener into submission. Lyrically, Deathday often invoke the violent culture hidden beneath the media, as well as explore the crippling aftershocks of isolation and the mysticism of the occult.
Comparisons, for those who prefer them, could easily be made to the likes of Throbbing Gristle and Suicide’s uncompromising attitude and primal infrastructure, but the band has equal roots in forgotten post-punk favorites such as Nagamatzu, Venus In Furs, and Joy of Life, creating a powerful hybrid exploring the darkest and most hypnotic corners of the spectrum.
Known as Deathday Party until 2011, the band’s self-titled cassette, released in early 2012, exists as a cold snapshot of their formative material, while both “After Dark” and “Dropped Into Obscurity,” released on Mannequin’s The End of Civilaztion and Downward’s So Click Heels compilations respectively, offer a club-friendly alternative. While neither track compromises the band’s dark overtones, these tracks are ripe for the dance floor, having garnered heavy play in LA, New York, and Berlin especially. With a handful of releases on the horizon for 2013, including a split with Bestial Mouths, a vinyl reissue of their self-titled debut, and new material to follow, the future is looking uncharacteristically bright for Deathday.
In March of 2006 the brothers Guillén participated in Glenn Branca’s “Symphony #13 (Hallucination City)” for 100 guitars in Los Angeles.
Strongly recommended for fans of The Soft Moon, The KVB, Legowelt, Tropic Of Cancer, Silent Servant.
Police Des Moeurs - Police Des Moeurs
PDM is a synth pop band formed in Montreal in 2010 and they give the francophone perspective on what Black Marble, Lust For Youth, and Cold Showers did in English in 2012, as well as fitting in with the output of Lescop. Members are Francis, Anouk, Fred and Cristine.
Their debut full-length, after some quicky old out singles, is permeated by a cold, melodic and nostalgic music for broken hearts and dark minds. PDM is the soundtrack for the nuclear night, a transition moment between the end of utopia and the final ecological disaster. The world after the future.
PDM main influences and interests are underground aestheticisms (1979-1981), industrial transformations and the process of electrification, norms and deviance, nuclear and environmental anxiety as well as paranoia, secret agents, spies and political extremists.
Strongly recommended to fans of Rational Youth, New Order, Martin Dupont, Jacno, The Normal, Xeno & Oaklander.
Sixth June - Pleasure 12″ EP
Serbian duo Sixth June – Laszlo Antal and Lidija Andonov – come with a fresh new 5 tracks 12” EP “Pleasure”. They play minimal, industrial synthesized music – digging into the colder corners of the synthetic Eighties for inspiration (Gary Numan, John Foxx, Depeche Mode).
Sixth June started their musical adventure back in 2007 and they are considered one of the purest talents in the minimal synth new scene. Rising from the obscure music scene in Belgrade, they re-based some years ago in the analog synthesizers paradise called Berlin.
Their debut album, ‘Everytime’, released back in March 2010 by the German label Genetic Music and the previous EP on Mannequin, “Back For A Day”, was bringing the band to play to most of Europe. The duo represents perfectly the two sides of the same coin, in fact while Laszlo is producing obscure but expressive, powerful and danceable textures, on the back side the voice of Lidija is living the shape to a wobbling atmosphere you won’t escape from.
Lidija, apart singing in Sixth June, is a professional actress. Laszlo, composer of all the tracks, instead is an illustrator and music video director.
Strongly recommended to fans of Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Soft Metals, Xeno & Oaklander.
LINKS
Mannequin Records Website
Mannequin Records Webstore