Mecanica Popular

Behold, a cultishly coveted slab of freeform new wave dance/tape music from 1984 Madrid, Spain, reissued by Andy Votel, Sean Canty, and Doug Shipton's Dead-Cert label. Notable not only for including Beppe Loda's Typhoon favorite, "La Edad del Bronce" -- which sounds uncannily like a cut from Craig Leon's Nommos (1981) -- this album also features the beguiling concrète funk of "Galilea: Centro de Datos," which, by any measure, bears a striking, prototypical resemblance to Photek's "Ni - Ten - Ichi - Ryu" and has become something of an oft-asked-about staple in Dead-Cert's polysemous, polymetric DJ sets. Founded in 1978, Mecánica Popular was the brainchild of Luis Delgado (also a member of Finis Africae) and Eugenio Muñoz, conceived and nurtured during after-hours sessions in Madrid's Estudios RCA using exclusively tape loops -- no samples involved. They did, however, use an innovative set-up including a Polaroid 600 camera, an Eventide H910 Harmonizer, and an ARP Odyssey, all fed thru a matrix of FX to make a wonky, clanking sound that could be happily compared with the output of Conrad Schnitzler, Chris Carter, Jon Hassell, or Kerry Leimer during that fertile early-'80s era. For the DJs and post-punk fanatics, this one way is just too good to miss out on. Edition of 500. Cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.