Showing posts with label Micrart Group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Micrart Group. Show all posts

Friday, 17 April 2020

Unovidual - Parianoia -1985- (Cassette, Stichting Stopcontact), Belgium


I'm very happy to present another Flemish minimal synth gem by Unovidual aka Henk Wallays. I posted his other cassette Vetganzen In Jacquet three years ago on the blog and I notice that I wrote so much contextual information that it's hard to add something there. But let's try nevertheless.

Unovidual was a project by Henk Wallays who made electronic home-taping music during the 80's in the small Flemish town of Aalter. Under the Unovidual moniker quite some cassettes were released and he contributed to numerous international tape compilations. Wallays was also involved with the Micrart Group that included bands like Linear Movement and Autumn that have become iconic for the Belgian electronic wave sound of the 80's and far beyond. Aside from his solo work Wallays had an intensive and special music exchange with American home-taper Tara Cross with whom he recorded a couple of great songs.

Parianoia is another wonderful collection of minimal synth tracks by Unovidual and it's also one of his lesser known releases. It was distributed through the Amsterdam based Stichting Stopcontact label that was responsible for releasing some legendary tapes by bands like Five Times Of Dust, Tranquil Eyes and S.M. Nurse as well as the Contactdisc vinyl series. Parianoia reminds me a bit of a library music album in the sense that it collects many short tracks that each have their own mood or atmosphere. It also sounds like it could have been the soundtrack to a videogame at times. Some nice anolog electronic tracks of which some are more ambient, but most are comprised of experimental elements and some collages.

Some of these tracks seem to sound quite ahead of their time. I think this is another example of minimal synth home experimentation of the 80's that plays its part in the history of electronic music in general. A sound reminiscent of Ende Shneafliet, John Bender or Das Ding to name a few. Minimal synth galore!

Kindly donated by Orpheu The Wizard

Get it HERE / Mirror link

Friday, 3 March 2017

Unovidual & Friends - Vetganzen In Jacquet -1984- (Tape, Stichting Stopcontact), Belgium


Time for another Minimal Synth cassette Jewel(!): Unovidual is the moniker of Belgian (Flemish) electronic music hometaper Henk Wallays. He was (is) part of the Micrart Group (a.o. Linear Movement, Twilight Ritual) and hosted an underground radio show called 'Stalhwerksynfonie' (after Die Krupps) in the early eighties. Wallays soon created the cassette label 3rio with Sandy Nys of Magisch Theater and Dirk Ivens of Absolute Body Control. Also he played in the band Tangible Joy and worked together intensively with US hometaping artist Tara Cross (featured on Minimal Wave's The Lost Tapes etc).

Vetganzen In Jacquet (Penguins in morning-coat jacket) is a very rare cassette that was published on the Dutch Stichting Stopcontact label, which was run by Ruud Kluivers (Doxa Sinistra). The label had legendary releases such as the Contactdisc compilation series and the Tranquil Eyes tape Walks (1985). I did not know there were more cassettes out there on this label, like the one here. I found out the cassette is from 1984 because of this catalogue.

The A-Side of this tape displays quite some dark wonky and occasionally humorous Minimal Synth sounds. It even contains a few songs with Dutch vocals. I do not know whether the pseudonyms (instruments?) written on the cassette cover were actually the collaborating Friends or that those friends are of a conceptual nature (probably he did work together with people). The B-Side starts with a lengthy track called Kankende Doctrines and has much heavier dancefloor potential. The last two songs La Romantise and A Thoughtful End are two amazing Minimal Synth tracks reminding me of acts on the Dutch Trumpett label (André de Koning, Ende Shneafliet), Asmus Tietchens his Sky Records series, but also Enzo Kreft, 5ive Ximes Of Dust, 18:e Oktober and ofcourse Autumn.

Vetganzen In Jacquet is great synth driven wave stuff complete with 808 drums, buzzing synths, home-crafted weirdness, ambient insanity, darkwave moods and more. A pearl from the Belgian 80's Minimal Synth scene everybody seems to be crazy about. What more do you want?

Hopefully someone can help us find Unovidual's other hyperrare cassettes! (Reissue labels?!)

Highly Recommended!

Get it HERE