Kao4s
Atlanta trio KAO4S only released two songs as part of a compilation, but their Gadget/Units-style sound is wonderfully confident.
Atlanta trio KAO4S only released two songs as part of a compilation, but their Gadget/Units-style sound is wonderfully confident.
Intense female-vox-led synth-punk from Croatia from 1979. They wrote songs and toured throughout ex yugoslavia, but split before releasing any material.
Drum machines: check, crispy guitars: check, shouty strange vocals: check, all the ingredients of brilliant textbook weird-NDW are here, in the band's one and only full-length album.
Minimal NDW band from Hagen, one of many great ones of the time, but also one of many forgotten ones. They re-released their early tapes in 2007.
Kevin Coyne is a music outsider legend that is not generally connected with post-punk electronics, as he started much earlier in the 70s and continued his uncompromising career until 2002. At the beginning of the 80s he scored some of his most amazing work, especially the minimal-pop LP ‘Politicz’ he recorded for Cherry Red.
One 7" only DIY minimalism from Rough Trade records, all the ingredients for an intense flexi-pop experience are here.
A great example of Belgian minimal synth, Kid Montana started as a solo project and developed into a band through the 80s. The early material is the most experimental and poetic.
Although Dutch band Kiem is from the mid-80s, their mixture of electropop, jazzy sax and percussive noises has more in common with the beginnings of the decade. Their sound might not get you immediately, but do give them a second listen.
A very fun and playful post-punk band from Sweden that was in turns angry and quirky-sounding. Kitchen and the Plastic Spoons seem like the bastard children of B52s and Bauhaus through a noise test tube of Palais Schaumburg.
Experimental minimalist new wave band (with two names, even if one formation) from Belgrade, a city with a really vibrant scene during the whole of the 80s. They were on the more conceptual/arty end of the local new wave scene.
Berlin drummer and multi-instrumentalist who first gained world attention as Klaus Krieger, playing drums in the late 1970's incarnation of Tangerine Dream. His own early-80s work owes somewhat to krautrock open-form experimentation, but is much more focused and immediate.
Swiss minimal synth that sounds very dark-NDW-ish. Klinisch Sauber released only one 7" single with three songs.
Short-lived experimental post-punk outfit formed by Geoff Leigh of legendary Henry Cow in 1981 when Leigh lived in Rotterdam.
Wonderful DIY folk-meets-found-sound obscurity from 1983, produced by the genius of Tom Dokoupil and released in the legendary Zick Zack label.
Konstantin Technau is a Foyer Des Arts collaborator and friend that released a very F.D.A.-similar 7" single in 1983 with members of the band. Lovely avant-pop from 1983.
Another experimental no-wave project from the legendary German label Zick Zack, Kosmonautentraum build simple and robust dancey post-punk with electronic touches and a surreal edge.