Funkadelic

title:: Free Your Mind...
label:: Westbound / Ace

The first full length recorded solely by members of Funkadelic, Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow continues with the similar spaced out funk sounds that the debut album mined.

Ace Records has done a fine job remastering this classic funk album, outshining the original cd pressing by not only improving the sound quality tremendously, but by also offering some related bonus tracks (including singles and a radio advert).

Gina X

title:: Yinglish
label:: LTM

Gina Kikoine and Zeus B. Held from Cologne worked together on their fourth and final album Yinglish in 1984 on Statik Records.

This time around the duo released this album as a solo album by Gina X (dropping the Performance from their name) since they were the only remaining members of the original band and were now joined by Dierk Hill on guitar.

Kompakt Total 6

various artists
label:: Kompakt

Total 6 is the sixth double CD compilation of tracks from Kompakt 12inch singles. Kompakt is the label from Cologne Germany that has a well defined sound and aesthetic.

The records on the label are either dreamy 'pop ambient' electronic pieces, or glitchy tracks built on top of steady disco-derived 4/4 beats.

Soft Cell

title:: The Bedsit Tapes
label:: Some Bizarre

Bedsit compiles the demos that are the roots of Soft Cell. These tapes were the seeds that grew into what has become legend in new wave's history.

Never hearing much of Soft Cell prior to Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, their second release that contained Tainted Love and Sex Dwarf, I have heard about these demos and bootlegs that contain "the good stuff".