Cold Dance - Medusa 7"

Here's an interesting slab of gothic music from 1985 by a British group called Cold Dance (I guess this is my first non-Japanese band post). The atmosphere here is almost suffocating and claustrophobic. The band released two 7" records between 1984 and 1985 on cult label Xcentric Noise Records (I really should be double-checking my facts before posting on this blog). Abbo of UK Decay appears in the liner note "Thank You" section, too (such a busy bee, he was). I don't know much else about the band, though. Anyone got any background info?

Cold Dance were:
Vox: Diane Dubois
Guitar: Tim Arundell
Bass & Synth: Stuart Hodgson
Drums: Kevin Hunter

Medusa 7" (XCENTRIC NOISE - ELEVENTH 1, 1985)

1. Medusa
2. Petrified



Medusa 7"

I'll be posting the first 7" in the future.

Geil - Velnadet EP

Another band I know little about. This 12" was released on Hil Records in 1986. Judging by the fact they recorded this album at a studio in Shinjuku, they must have been a Tokyo band. In any case, the music is all over the place, marrying fast angular rhythms, thumping and heavy bass, and frantic scratchy yelps and... err, "singing." In places, it almost sounds as if a long forgotten member of the Virgin Prunes were singing for an earlier incarnation of Play Dead. Geil also released a 7" EP, which I shall post at a future date.

Geil were:
Vox: Alice
Bass: Swado
Drums: Akagami Aomakigami
Guitar: Shoichi Tomomori (Nazo)

Velnadet EP (HR-001, 1986)

1. Velnadet
2. History
3. Nostalgic St.
4. TV TV
5. Dance Dance Dance

Velnadet EP

PS: "Urtra Thanks"
Hahaha, oh Engrish.

Gara - Manifest EP

Not much information is available about the band Gara. All I know is that they have often shared the stage with bands like Phaidia, Coma, and Zeitlich Vergelter at gigs and were active during the mid-80s. They recorded the Manifest EP in 1985, an 8" record released on Explosion Records. The label looks to be related to Vital Plant Records, a label that I believe was shared with Surrealistic Men. The music is pounding and energetic, relenting only for a moment of sparse and haunting atmosphere on the B-side.

Gara were:
Vox: Hayato
Guitar: Kazz
Bass: Yukino
Drums: Aki

Manifest EP (EXP-VPL121, 1985)

1. Karyatide
2. De-Z
3. La Arrière-Monde
4. The Lady In Gray




Manifest EP

The A-side has been preserved as a single track.

RAP - Hysteria EP

I should start with a bang, shouldn't I?

Here is a personal favorite of mine from Japan, a band called RAP. They started as a four girl punk band in a similar vein as Kyah, playing fast-paced and catchy punk tunes (Kyah has been previously posted on Fight Against The Plutocrats). The original lineup consisted of Misa on drums, Nishiki on guitar, Kaori on bass, and big-voiced Rouge on vocals. After recording three 7" records on the Dogma label (legendary for putting out hardcore punk such as GISM, the Comes, Gastunk, etc.), Misa left the band and joined the aforementioned Kyah, and Kinta came aboard as the new drummer. This later lineup recorded the Hysteria EP, also on Dogma Records. Sometimes accused of being a "fashion" band, I believe the music really speaks for itself what the band was all about. The record strikes a good balance between the gloomy atmosphere of goth and the raw energy of punk with the sole exception of one inexplicably poppy song on the B-side.

Hysteria EP (DOG-18, 1987)

1. Reincarnation ~ Rinne
2. Landscape
3. Hysteria
4. Maternity Blue
5. MASUI
6. Rinne ~ Reincarnation

Hysteria EP

The B-side songs "Maternity Blue" and "MASUI" have been preserved together as a single track. I shall post the earlier 7"s and more band information at a future time.