VA - Maskindans: Norsk Synth 1980-1988 [2CD Set] (2009)

Slick unhappiness and despondent chic, the new wave movement was pickled in paradox. Many saw the term as a way to smooth off the rough edges of late punk, but it was something else than this. Synthesizers eclipsed guitars and the rawness of the 70’s was transformed into the minimal sleekness of the 1980s. Across the globe new wave acts reared their trendy haired heads in an act of psuedo-individual conformism. Yet, this is only the gloss of the new wave; it was not just an excuse to wear make-up and claim an inexplicable discontent. The new wave had substance, demonstrated in popular acts such as The Human League and Ultravox who paved the way with LPs of unheard excellence. Off the radar acts such as Experimental Products would become future pioneers in the obscure of synth pop. A new album has decided to focus on one nation but many forms of new wave. Hommage Records has recently brought out Maskindans – Norsk Synth 1980-1988 a collection of Norwegian synth outings from the above years. This double CD maps the movement over two CDs and over 40 tracks. So is this album a voyage of discovery or an overplayed odyssey?

The album opens with Kito and “Dildo Dumbdrop” and the synth addiction soon starts. Immediately this record unfolds as a compilation of exploration. Clockwork Orange arrive with the 1985 7″ only obscurity of “Sensation Boys” with the sense of a lost and untold hit from the past here today. Sadly all the tracks on this album can’t get a shout, or we will be here all week but “Maskidans” by Det Glyne Triangel deserves some attention. The sound moves into a wonderful blend of guitar and synthesizer sound whilst pouring forth that teenage uncertainty that almost characterises the new wave, or minimal wave, sound. The tracks move from tip top energy and unhappiness, like Johnny Yen’s “Bodies in Motion,” to the BMW empty disco bars of E-Man and “Jeg Er Moderne.” There are some wonderful synth solo pieces across the double CD album, like Adrian Cox’s “Aegina.” Other tracks just scream the addictiveness of synthpop, exemplified in Boxbury Beat’s “Thunder and Lightning.” Across the entire album the listener will find some superb obscure pieces, but few as peculiarly energetic as “Down in Japan” by Holy Toy.

The artists on Maskindans range in style and success. Some groups on here may have had only one 7″ release in their career whilst others had a multitude of output.

With this, the track lengths range from two minute quickies to six minute outings. The second CD moves into more synthesizer centred territory. Tracks throughout are varied, illustrated in the sonorous journey depicted by Jørgen Knudsen in “Between Staying And Going” which is followed by the uplifted downpourings of “Hvite Skygger” by Brød & Sirkus. Sinister shapes creep into the speakers throughout, like when the strictness of Den Tredje Generasjon arrives with “Sterk Som.” Lost love, or more unrequited desire, is strewn throughout the album with the Headcleaners and “When Love Walks Away” being a prime example. Sometimes even a silliness and playfulness comes into the arena, like when Fra Lippo Lippi’s “Tap Dance For Scientists” or PLX 15’s “Min Undertrykte Kjærlighet” enter. Passion and pain are never to far away on these two CDs, with the raciness of the synthelines in “Oral Pleasure” by 3rd Man being tethered by the displeasure found in the lyrics.

Maskindans is not a compilation, it a history lesson in new wave. Throughout the album instructs and teaches the listener on the array of styles, sounds and interpretations found under the banner of New Wave. Deep ambient tones, post punk clatterings, slick electro pop numbers and discordant ravings flash and leap across more than forty digital positions. The listener is lead into a new world, one that inspires further exploration through glimpses of forgotten brilliance.