Paul Nova

Paul Nova entered the British minimal synth scene in 1980 as part of Bizarre Unit, the project that produced the single Dancing / Away from the Screaming Car (1981), the lone Bizarre Unit 7" that immediately became one of the most sought-after artefacts of the early UK minimal wave movement. In 1982, working alone, he founded his own Exhibit One Records and over the next three years released four vinyl records: two 7"s, a 12", and the LP Trees Without Leaves (1984). All four are now practically impossible to find below three-figure prices. VOD's description of the music as essential listening for fans of early Human League or Fad Gadget and early Mute releases captures the project's register accurately: Nova works in the space between cold synth-pop and something more emotionally direct and compositionally considered, with a melodic intelligence that transcends the limitations of the genre at its most formulaic.

This double LP (VOD99), Trees Without Leaves, is the extended reissue of the original 1984 LP, gathering all the Exhibit One vinyl releases alongside more than thirty minutes of recently discovered and previously unreleased material, including demos. It is also the companion release to the separate Bizarre Unit double LP and 12" EP documented elsewhere in this catalogue. Limited to 500 numbered copies.