Onderstroom

V/A - Dutch Wave: A History Of Minimal Synth & Wave In The Netherlands

The first chapter of Onderstroom digging into the history of Dutch minimal synth and wave. Who needs a big, expensive recording studio with all those fancy high-tech machines that only make your weary head spin when you can do it all by yourself at home in your (teenage) bedroom? Way back in the early eighties all you really needed was an idea, quite a bit of guts and some rudimentary equipment. You could basically do whatever you wanted. The means were limited, yet the sky was unbounded. It was the time of the Cold War nuclear threat, social unrest and mass unemployment but at the same time it was an era of infinite possibilities. The future was just around the corner. A lot of music that was being produced sounded just like that: a brave new world of sound and rhythm. Music was simply put on cheap cassettes, easily duplicated, and swiftly distributed in limited quantities into the big world outside. Tracks recorded in Amsterdam, Arnhem of Heiloo ended up in unimaginable destinations such as Brisbane or Buenos Aires. Prolific international underground scenes were informed of this new wave of Dutch electronic artists by means of word of mouth, fanzines, devoted underground tape traders, and sometimes that tiny bit of luck. As their predecessors of the (in)famous Dutch East-India Company (now cult) acts such as The Actor, Ende Shneafliet, Das Ding, Störung, S.M. Nurse, Nine Circles, Beatnik Love Affair, and Van Kaye + Ignit all explored their own paths. Some went straight into oblivion, others had a brief taste of modest upper-ground success. Mind: the names presented here are but the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Some of these early tapes became much sought-after collectors items; others gathered dust. The rest, well, is history. Now, decades upon decades later, Onderstroom digs again in history and surfaces with a selection of tracks that illustrate the rich past of electronic Holland. Call it minimal wave, synth-pop, or experimental electronics. Onderstroom call it the real Dutch treat. Features Nine Circles, Beatnik Love Affair, The Actor, Störung, Van Kaye + Ignit, S.M. Nurse, Ende Shneafliet, and Das Ding. Comes in a gatefold sleeve with metallic finishing; 180 gram vinyl. - Onderstroom.

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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
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