1980s

This slow, hazy and warm yet still beat-driven number by classic Australian, experimental electronic group Severed Heads — from their 1985 album City Slab Horror — always conjures up a feeling when I hear it.

Here’s a track that has been floating in the background of my life for a while now — a slow, moody synth chugger by the mysterious UK electronic artist known simply as Anna.

This track by The System — not the other The System I posted about before — was recommended to me by a friend in this confusion of names. This instance here about the far more obscure UK synth-pop band of the same name.

A buried, minimal synth gem from this short-lived Cornwall-based group from the 1980s. Like many groups doing DIY synth music at this time across the globe they offer a hidden flash of brilliance with this track.

One of my favourite track collaborations between David Sylvian of Japan and Ryuichi Sakamoto, who is actually Japanese — a track that fills in the winter vibes very nicely.

The first album by English dream/jangle pop band Felt — and more specifically this track — has been an occasional hazy weekend favourite since discovering it well over 20 years ago.

This track from the band’s 1981 self-titled début (of which there’s two versions) offers a strong fusion of post-punk, Aussie pub rock, DIY percussion underpinned by rhythmic structuring more aligned with electronic dance music.

This track is a slower-paced disco “chugger” by the Canadian electronic production duo Moral Support, who like a number of other similar Canadian electronic artists of the time were making more of a splash with Hi-ENG and minimal synth tracks over in Europe.

Releasing a string of slower-paced, romantic italo hits in the mid-1980s including “Don’t Cry Tonight”, some of these tracks by Savage sound oddly similar to one another!

Possibly the most well-known track by this Japanese vocalist — a slice of synth-y electro-funk — from a career spanning around 50 years.

This one is about a somewhat well-known slow and sensual disco-influenced number by acclaimed French actress Isabelle Adjani that cycled in my head recently, as well as a look at acting talents trying out music.

From the first album of three that he released on Mercury Records between 1981-1983, this track by iconoclastic, new wave guitarist Bill Nelson is a late-blooming yet crucial discovery for me.

A key track for me by this cult and obscure Scottish multi-disciplinary artist Pinkie Maclure from her 1985 album Unman, a release of fascinating experimental post-punk, drone and industrial tracks.

With recent discovery made through the long running music blog Systems Of Romance, here’s a first take on this track by the French synth/post-punk group Réseau D’Ombres who were active in the mid to late 1980s.

After acquiring an LP copy of this Canadian band’s first studio LP Avoid Freud in recent travels, this entry looks this track’s impact in queer rock music, as well as a summary of the band in general.

During a recent visit to Vancouver that’s currently wrapping up, a nice haul of records was found, including a number of Canadian underground classics such as this early EP and its title track “Rotting Geraniums” by Moev.

A 1982 classic by this US electro-funk duo from their standout 1983 album Sweat. It’s a track that has some minimal wave parallels and an early version sung by Madonna!

From the band’s groundbreaking 1982 self-titled release, “NCR” merges post-punk attitude with rhythmic electronics in a tense, sombre yet serene tone and has been a favourite for a long time.

“The Facts” by this German music collective combines stark EBM-style electronics and ethnic sounds, released in their self-titled album in 2013, around 30 years after it was originally recorded.

A classic minimal wave track from 1985 by Sweden’s Tres called “Operator”, posted here ahead of their set at this year’s Waveteef festival.

“Themes For Great Cities” by one of my faves from that era, Glasgow’s Simple Minds, opens 1981’s Sister Feelings Call… or Sons And Fascination?