v/a: The Minimal Wave Tapes Volume One

Label: Stones Throw

Splanking drum-machine beats, straight-out-of-the-box synthesizer timbres, the occasional disco move, minimal structures and production – the Minimal Wave genre is early-’80s DIY electronica at its most insolently charming. In 2005, Veronica Vasicka founded a label named for the movement and dedicated to unearthing its gems; now she and Peanut Butter Wolf have collaborated on this compilation of brilliant but obscure acts from the U.S., Belgium, France, Spain, Holland and the U.K. The skeletal nature of the arrangements and the chilly alienation of most of the vocals give the album a certain coherence, but within those lines there’s a great deal of variety; the opening “Way Out of Living” (by Linear Movement) has a strong R&B feel, while other tracks you’d expect to find on Sprockets or the Liquid Sky soundtrack; sometimes things get weird enough to suggest that the Residents were an influence. Wear black and smoke while listening. (Steve)