Bay Area Retrograde (BART) Volume 1 is Dark Entries’ first compilation of underground music from San Francisco (and the greater Bay Area) in the 1980s. Towards the end of the 70s, San Francisco experimental music clashed with the aftermath of punk and gave birth to a vibrant underground scene. By the early to mid 80s the DIY music scene of the Bay Area was a hotbed for experimental and quirky new wave, post punk, and synthpop, quite similar to New York’s No Wave scene and Berlin’s Neue Deutsche Welle. This compilation literally connects the (transit) lines between these varied musical offerings and tells the secret story of eleven forgotten Bay Area bands and contains four previously unreleased tracks on vinyl, until now!
BART Volume 1 features a Korg-heavy assault from Danville’s utterly obscure Nominal State; two little-known left-field electronic dance gems from Batang Frisco and Quiet Room; Berkeley’s answer to darkwave, Necropolis of Love; a synth-driven drama fest from drag performance troupe Wasp Women; quirky lo-fi gothic pop from one man band Distant Thunder; a gay Hi-NRG anthem delivered by Danny Boy and the Serious Party Gods; two lesser know gems from SF synth legends Voice Farm and Los Microwaves; and the futuristic pulsing synth-punk of Standard of Living and the Units.
All tracks have been carefully remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP is housed in a large 6-panel fold out poster by with liner notes by Johnny Ray Huston, original photos, fliers and artwork documenting this fertile period. BART is more widely know as the acronym for Bay Area Rapid Transit, the main rail transportation system for the San Francisco Bay Area and the band on this compilation. This LP is by no means a definitive compilation but merely opens the tunnel to the underground sounds of the Bay!
Ismét egy amerikai válogatás - talán valamivel jobb, mint a napokban megjelent Minimal Wave kompiláció, de egyre jobban úgy látszik hogy nincs már mit újraösszeválogatni. A Dark Entires kiadó is rengeteg felesleges középszerű vinilt vállal be, persze olyan gyöngyszemeket is találhatunk repertoárjukban, mint a Borghesia újrakiadás (erről már volt szó korábban), vagy mint a kortárs Death Domain hétincses.