_¢‚Ǩ_ìItalian new wave masterpiece from 1984. Extremely rare dark minimal synth LP, released in 1984 through No Name Records in Italy and now reissued by Mannequin Records for the 30th anniversary. One of the crown jewels of the minimal synth scene. On a cold autumn evening in Milan in 1981, Nino La Loggia met Giacomo Spazio for the first time. The two had the same passion for music: Kraftwerk, Joy Division, D.A.F. and the whole new scene of proto-electronic wave. Together they decided to start the musical project called 2 + 2 = 5, a tribute to Orwellian dystopia. Shortly after, Cha Cha Hagiwara joined the band. Already a keyboard player in Jeunesse dIvoire, she enriched the bands raw sound with sonority and resonance which we can now define as analog. After several gigs around Milan, Turin and Switzerland, in 1983, the trio entered the studio to record their first LP titled Into the Future, which is widely considered one of the most important Italian new wave albums. Expect classic cold wave and minimal electronic Italian sounds in the vein of Cocteau Twins, A Certain Ratio, Joy Division. The role of 2+2=5 was crucial in the development of the Italian alternative music scene. Giacomo Spazio in 1983 established with Ermanno Gomma Guarnieri UT distribution, the first Italian company that distributed counter-culture punk material (tapes, records and fanzines). Then, in 1986, he was among the founders of the first Italian no copyright & electronic counter-culture magazine called Decoder. In 1987 he founded the independent music magazine Vinile and the related independent label Vox Pop, that later became one of the most famous and important indie-rock Italian labels. Nino La Loggia on his side contributed to agitating the Italian underground music scene, as DJ and producer and as co-owner of one of the most important record shops in Milan called Ice Age, now sadly closed._¢‚Ǩ¬ù - Mannequin.\r\n
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.
