By Johnny Ray Huston
Stereo
Somewhere in the Night
(Minimal Wave 2008/ Carrere 1982)
“She’s gotta be there, as you walk in the dark
Number four, at your door, number four
You’re ost in the heaze, she’s gotta be there…
Somewhere in the night”
1980s duo Stereo‘s criss-cross sunglasses put Kanye’s Venetian shades to shame. Minimal Wave delivers once again with this synth jam gem. I’m on the lookout for another recent Minimal Wave release, a vinyl-only collection by Linear Movement. But Stereo — not to be confused with Kompakt figurehead Wolfgang Voigt’s early recording project of the same name — has surprising songwriting chops. My fave track might be “Nowhere in the Island,” which uses the echo vocal effect so beloved by circa-1983 new romantic acts to great effect. It includes saxophone and yet still has a potent air of melancholy. I wonder if these two French guys every rubbed pointy shoulders with Bernard Fevre of Black Devil Disco Club.
Stereo, “Somewhere in the Night”
Stereo, “No More”
Check out the previous Snap Sound here.