Deep Entries: Gay Electronic Excursions 1979-1985

PATRICK COWLEY、 SYLVESTER、そしてMAN PARRISHなどのレジェンド・アーティストによるアーカイヴ作品を通じて、これまで顧みられることのなかったゲイ音楽史の側面を明らかにしてきたDARK ENTRIESから1979年~1985年までの知られざるクィア・シンセをまとめたコンピレーション・アルバム『DEEP ENTRIES』が登場!

エイズ・クライシスという恐怖と闘いながら、多くのゲイ・コミュニティの人々にとって困難な時代であった1980年代。官能的なものから憂鬱なものまでジャンルや雰囲気は様々であるものの、1980年代のゲイ・ライフや、愛や儚いロマンスへの希望を表現するという点で通底するものを感じさせます。DISCO / HI-NRGシンガーPAUL PARKERをフィーチャーしたPATRICK COWLEY"LOVE ME HOT"、ハンブルクの著名なクラブ「MILE OF SIN」でプレイされたBOYTRONIC"TONIGHT (ALTERNATE MIX)"、MADONNA"VOGUE"のMARLENE DIETRICHによるラップを彷彿させるMEGAMEN"DESIGNED FOR LIVING"などを収録しています。

Dark Entries has released compilations dedicated to the underground post-punk and electronic music scene of its home city of San Francisco, as well as collections focusing on visionary sounds from Mexico and Portugal during the 1980s. Rather than a geographical theme, Deep Entries shines a light on queer electronic artists, upholding the labels mission of preserving gay musical history. Four of the tracks on this collection are by artists who have appeared on the label before, and several selections on the album are previously unreleased. Adorned with a bathhouse-themed cover illustration, Deep Entries consists of songs about kinky sex and late-night encounters, as well as extroverted, club-friendly celebrations. Maxx Manns darkly humorous, fetish-themed minimal synth lament "Just Like a Razor" opens the record. More disco-friendly selections are included by German synth pop icons Boytronic (an alternate mix of 1985 album track "Tonight") and Hi-NRG pioneer Patrick Cowley (an ecstatic, Paul Parker-featuring version of "Love Me Hot" that somehow hadnt been released yet). Spanish tecnopop group Muzaks "The Happy Song" is a gleeful number with a snappy "Man to man!" chant. Several tracks in the middle of the album are more abstract, from the watery effects and distant vocals of Dereck Higgins "This Was Something" to the hissy drum machines and sharp distortion of Polar Praxis "(I Want) To Be Different." Transistor Jets "Master of the Universe (BWs f-w)" inhabits more of a sci-fi realm, with cosmic synth sweeps and a fast-paced, robotic recitation of hedonistic lyrics. The final two songs, Megamens sassy "Designed for Living" and Bachelors Anonymous intimate, moody "A Strangers Bed," contain some of the albums most direct lyrical expressions. Much like the rest of Dark Entries lovingly curated catalog, Deep Entries is of interest to people whose queer icons run counter to the mainstream, and highly worthwhile. The album was released on World AIDS Day in 2024, and all proceeds are donated to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. ~ Paul Simpson