PEPPERMINT LOUNGE Vinilo y CD

Review: Chris Garner, Jorg Burckhardt, Matthias Elvers, and Regina Petersen didn't release more than handful of EPs under the Peppermint guise, but what they did put out was as foundational and inspirational as more known electronic bands of the 80s like Liaisons Dangereuses. Dark Entries is responsible for this reissue, of course, a repress of an original going for near 100 bucks on the second-hand market, and this 1983 bomb has that rare characteristic of sounding retro and utterly fresh all at the same time. There's two mixes to the wonderfully wavy "Perfect High", and they both serve their own purpose; the radio edit, as you'd expect, is the one that gets the heads turning, its ominous bass charging menacingly amid the sweeter melodies and classic, new-romantic vocals, while the instrumental makes for the perfect beat companion to any serious cold wave DJ set.

Review: Split reissue with Twilight Ritual's amazing raw minimal-electro track "Webbmen", in an exclusive extended, DJ-friendly edit by Indecs (CBS). Insane haunting electro from Belgium, 1982! On the flip, "Perfect High" by Peppermint Lounge, a rare German electro-wave cut from '83 with a killer bassline and mind bending synths. Includes the instrumental version which has been slightly extended.