Labels
Finders Keepers
- 01. Living Dead
02. Rock N PopoffX RAY POP
Living Dead
[engl] Dance floor friendly drum heavy horror pop from femme fronted pocket punk and domestic-synth pop from French DIY workaholics X Ray Pop. X Ray Pop are a group of whom are easy to scratch the surface, but almost impossible to get the bottom of. With an iconic moniker, tell- tale graphic style and demanding ‘buy me’ Day-Glo colour coding policy the French vinyl output of X Ray Pop as a specialist subject is, at first glance, memorable and achievable. Cocksure fans of Euro wave pop often proclaim X Ray expertise from behind many a record shop counter or blog page but the truth of the matter is that no-one, not even the band members them- selves, have the knowl- edge or mental capacity to truly understand the splatter range of the god speed anti-tactics that have turned this inter- changeable, unar- rangable and thirty-year sustainable auto-pop combo into one of uber-legendary status. For those that tread the chemins of 80s Gallic record racks, from agit pop to Zeuhl-school (bridging synth pop to Celluloid) these 7" square flags reading El Gato, L'Eurasienne, Alcool and Fuzzy Christmas are merely alluring land- marks pointing to another sebaceous underground of magnetic tape that flows swiftly (like Magma) awaiting Pirates and liberators alike. X marks the spot! Peeping out of a warren of unexplored passages their seminal self- distributed debut singles and appearances on the genre defining alternative funk Alternative Funk Folie Distinguée compilation in 1984 made them an omnipresent fixture for the French tape wave scene that shaped a generation and influenced many more to follow. But beneath the trademark fluorescent sleeves stands the highly stacked foundations of endless cassette only releases that give this pocket punk husband and wife duo one of the most impressive and elusive back catalogues of all their cut ‘n’ paste French funk contem- poraries.- Format
- 7''
- Release-Datum
- 07.10.2013
- EAN
- EAN 5060099504747
- 01. Nous Sommes
02. Nana Electronique
03. L'Eurasienne
04. Amazone
05. Bobby Bonbek
06. Chapeau Volant
07. Sexy, Absolutely Nice
08. Un Petit Plume
09. Gogol Le Mongol
10. Funky Cat
11. La Machine A Rêver
12. Alcool (Gloups)
13. La Mort
14. Je Filles De L'homme 15 CobayeX RAY POP
Pirate! The Dark Side Of The X
[engl] Micro kosmic domestic synth pop, pocket punk, French funk ultra rarity. Originally released in 1985 as a limited edition of 100 black cassette tapes. As one of the most prolific and viciously self-sufficient exponents of the early 80s French DIY/domestic synth pop scene X Ray Pop are a group who are easy to scratch the surface but almost impossible to get the bottom of. Peeping out of a warren of unexplored passages their seminal self-distributed debut singles and appearances on the genre defining alternative funk Alternative Funk Folie Distinguée compilation in 1984 made them an omnipresent fixture for the French tape wave scene that shaped a generation and influenced many more to follow. But beneath the trademark fluores- cent sleeves stands the highly stacked foundations of endless cassette only releases that give this pocket punk husband and wife duo one of the most impressive and elu- sive back catalogues of all their cut ‘n’ paste French funk contemporaries. Plundering the depths of a self-estimated 400 recorded songs, X Ray Pop founder Didier Pilot has joined up with Finders Keepers sister label Cache Cache to reassess, rescue and reis- sue some of the bands most underexposed sonic snapshots, many of which were dis- tributed in issues of less than 50 up to 500 for exclusive global releases in France, Spain, Portugal, Japan and America (where bands like Brian Ladd and Julie Frith's Psyclones and The Beastie Boys championed the band as a likeminded inspiration.) From the earliest, lower levels of the X vault Cache Cache and Pilot resurrect one of the bands finest untravelled moments in the form of the rare tape only one-sider Pirate! - a spontaneous long player comprised of raw, rhythm heavy electronic versions of exclusive tracks alongside heavier and darker industrial versions of tracks that would later creep into the bands unhinged official pop discography. Wearing their unabashed and generally incompatible influences of Can/Devo/Brigitte Bardot/Cramps/The Residents/Kraftwerk/Captain Beefheart/PIL/Brian Eno/Robert Wyattt/Gainsbourg/MAGMA proudly on their sleeves, this long lost tape captures a one day recording session which was originally released as 100 cassettes in 1985 at a time where various outside influences and competing labels were trying to snare the band into a slower more manageable pop entity. This is the sound of France’s two most highly charged battery operated cabaret cosmonauts at there hardest, loosest and uninhibited celebrating the dual-unison that can also be identified in similar two-head- ed freak funk outfits such as Moderne Mathermatiques, Stereolab, Ellie and Jacno and most notably (and perhaps unconsciously) Silver Apples to whom this release bears a welcome and femininised close comparison. Catch this limited vinyl and digipacked CD for an early glimpse of an outer-national punk funk Neo-dadaist phenomenon that may well have eluded you until now and wit- ness X Ray Pop at their most powerful. Pirate! labeled by Didier himself as The Dark Side OF The X provides a pre-curser to a forthcoming wider anthology of the groups work alternating erratic pulsating cosmic rock with dreamy metronomic private pop via their über legendary Casio-to-cassette production line. Otherwise, good luck finding an original copy, you deserve it!- Format
- LP
- Release-Datum
- 11.03.2013
- EAN
- EAN 5060099504365
- 01. Ikarie XB-1
02. Surveillance On Standby / Alpha Centauri
03. A Small Stone in Space
04. Sunflower For A New Star
05. The Backwoods Of The Universe
06. Silver Ball (V?ra In Cameo)
07. E.V.A. Will Teach You
08. The Tigers Breath
09. The Dark Star
10. Do Not Eat The Fruit
11. The Awakening
12. Voyage To The End (Of The Universe)
13. The White PlanetZDENEK LISKA
Ikari XB-1
[engl] Liška, the Czechoslovakian word for fox. Beguiling in its beauty, cunning in it’s charm. Said to be one of the most intelligent animals on the planet its global family consists of thirty-seven varieties; all of them recognised, respected and feared for their persuasive, creative, resourceful and elusive nature. The Liška we will talk about today is no exception to these hereditary rules and within the grooves of this record Finders Keepers present an “elusive” musical artefact that best exemplifies every facet of this composer’s animal namesake. Had he not been born in the small Bohemian town of Sme?no in the early 1920s the story of The Fantastic Mr. Liška might have well taken a different course. Alternatively, fettered by the hampers of communism, this lifelong resident of Czechoslovakia would never quite find his seat at the same table as the likes of John Barry, Ennio Morricone, Michael Nyman and Stanley Myers, nor drop enough phonographic breadcrumbs to track his legacy. But having waited patiently behind the borders of the wider landscapes of international cinema, Liška’s musical brood, spanning multiple stylistic decades and generations, has now started to walk proudly amongst his would-be, latter-day compeers. In an era where music lovers have almost become immune to adjectives like “lost”, “rare” and “unreleased” in a climate where previously lesser-known off-kilter master composers such as Vannier, Kirchin and Axelrod have become widely revered, it is perhaps the perfect time for discerning listeners to advance above the feeding trough and seek out this truly pioneering and revolutionary Eastern European composer. Rivalled only by the likes of Krzysztof Komeda and Andrzej Korzynski in Poland, alongside Alexandr Gradsky in Russia, and often splitting workloads with fellow Czech composers like Luboš Fišer, Zdenek Liška’s filmography of over almost 300 fully formed movie scores virtually eclipses the achievements of these socialist era luminaries. Respected unanimously in both Czech and Slovakian by studio bosses, producers, directors and actors alike Liška is widely known for his ability to take the existing energy in a reel of film and literally change the polarity to suit his own interpretation while maintaining the full support from his “client” who would in-turn end up working under this composer’s creative direction. Not only was Liška a genius of emotive orchestral and coral composition, his grasp on small group arrangements and intimate, minimal scores set him above the competition. By utilising primitive sample techniques by “looping” a films existing ambient noise, or rearranging found sounds and dialog into subtle melodic arrangements, Liška would independently develop his own techniques which had simultaneously become known in Paris as musique concrète. It is a direct extension of these experiments that saw Liška also draw parallels with Walter Branchi (Ennio Morricone’s main electronic sidekick) in Italy as well as Daphne Oram in the UK, making Liška a relatively untravelled pioneer of early electronic composition and sound design due to his unlikely global environment. Imprisoned, preserved or reserved; time has been kind to Liška’s music.- Format
- LP
- Release-Datum
- 05.03.2019
- EAN
- EAN 5060099506543
- 01. Merciful Nature
02. Spalovac? mrtvol
03. Potala Tibet
04. Gifted Zina
05. Holy Pictures
06. This Charming Lady
07. Mr. Strauss Crosses The Road
08. Mr. Dvora?k And The Timetable Of Death
09. Mili's Carousel (Lovely Acrobatics)
10. Waxworks/The Baths Of Franzensbad
11. Drosophila Funebris
12. How Unfortunate Are Those Who Die Unaware Of The Beauty Of Music/Lakme?'s Preparation
13. Louis Marin
14. Miss Dagmar's Room
15. Poor Miss Carska
16. Mournful Cantor (Jewish Prayer)
17. Kopfrkingl Salutes Death
18. Casino On Rose Street
19. Vison Of The Temple
20. Lakme?'s Cremation
21. The Throne In Lhasa Awaits
22. H. Bosch
23. Running Zina/The Stars Are Above Us
24. I Shall Sit On The ThroneZDENEK LISKA
The Cremator
[engl] Galvanising our ongoing commitment to the lost music of the Czech New Wave cinema movement from the late 1960s and 1970s, Finders Keepers Records follow up our series of previously unreleased music to Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders, Daisies, Saxana and The Little Mermaid with a short series of soundtracks for films by the country’s master of the macabre and the nation’s first point of call for freakish fairytales and hallucinogenic horror, Mr. Juraj Herz. As another late entry to the unparalleled creative cinematic unison known in Europe as “the Czech film miracle”, Juraj Herz's 1969 feature film The Cremator was one of a clutch of certified cinematic literary adaptations that used the apolitical subjects of fantasy and surrealist horror to evade the com- munist censors’ abortive measures; dodging the overzealous cutting and burning process which poetically echoed the films own macabre and fantas- tical screenplay. Unifying a cast and crew of some of the Czech New Wave's leading lights, Herz’s macabre depiction of Ladislav Fuks' fictional account of a local crematorium boss whose hallucinogenic burning obsession with the afterlife is ignited by the Tibetan Book Of The Dead and intensifying manipu- lative Nazi propaganda is undeniably one of the greatest underexposed European horror films of all time. Drawing similarities with other stark monochrome thrillers such as Roman Polanski's Repulsion, Herz’s comparatively untravelled classic also boasts a beguiling score and theme tune that remains one of the most memorable and spine-chilling melodic soundtracks by the country’s finest experimental soundtrack composer Zdene?k Lis?ka (Mala? Mor?ska? Vi?la) providing the move- ment with one of its best loved signature scores. Featuring an ongoing part- nership with studio conductor Frantis?ek Belfi?n (Daisies) and soprano singer Vlasta Soumarova? Mlejnkova? (Marketa Lazarova?), Lis?ka puts his radical con- cre?te and resampling techniques (see Ikarie XB1) to one side in favour of celestial choral and orchestral arrangements; menacing giallo-esque tension and recurring rhythmical motifs of Eastern bells and chimes illustrating Rudolf Hrus?i?nsky?'s Kopfrkingl character’s demise into murderous infatuation and the momentary cameo shots of the hallucinogenic death figure played by Helena Any?zova? (Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders/Daisies). From a country and era when isolated soundtrack music remained commer- cially unreleased Finders Keepers Records are proud to rescue, remaster and reincarnate this intense and timeless score by one of Europe's finest composers taking a rare excursion into horror territory as part of a filmogra- phy of more than 200 formerly unpressed film scores.- Format
- LP
- Release-Datum
- 30.09.2013
- EAN
- EAN 5060099504518
- 01. Malá Morská Víla
02. Witches Firewall
03. Pearls From The Deep
04. King Of The Ocean
05. The Pendant/The Little Mermaid (Theme)
06. The Song Of The Siren (Theme)
07. The Sixth Sister
08. Statue Of Salt 1
09. Aquatic Babicka (Theme)
10. In Safe Hands
11. Aquatic Babicka (Song)
12. The Black Sea. mp3
13. Statue Of Salt 2
14. Carodejnice’s Castle
15. The Song Of The Siren (Song)
16. Prince of The Southern Empire
17. Games/Echoes
18. The Kiss
19. Ascension To Fireworks
20. Bird In A Cage
21. The Voice
22. Behind The Rock
23. Sunken Dagger/The Little Mermaid. (Song)
24. The PendantZDENEK LISKA
The Little Mermaid
[engl] The original orchestral/electronic score from Karel Kachyna’s 1976 Czech film adaptation of Hans C. Anderson’s ‘The Little Mermaid’, composed by Zdenek Liska (The Cremator / Fruits of Paradise) featuring Lenka Korinkova. Liska’s legacy in the history of European cinema is huge in volume but relatively modest in it’s celebrity. Having already composed nine scores for Kachyna’s films to add to his 1976 filmography of 150 completed soundtracks. Mala Morska Vila is one of the most idiosyncratic and haunting undiscovered scores in the annals of European cinematic history. Much like the previous Finders Keepers firsts (Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders and Daisies) this soundtrack is available for the first time ever. Beautifully remastered from the original mastertapes with the full cooperation of the seminal Barrandov studios in Prague.- Format
- LP
- Release-Datum
- 28.02.2011
- EAN
- EAN 5060099502798
- Format
- LPcol
- Release-Datum
- 15.11.2020