Demon Music Group's Twelve Inch Eighties has returned!

2016 was a great year for pop music!

January		TUUSC - Headstrong TUUSC is a small indie band from Bristol, UK, and this song is written, recorded and performed by Matthew Aldus and produced by James Scott. Great song to start 2016 with. Check out their Bandcamp page and support this band with a purchase of theire latest offering 'Waves EP'. I wish they were much bigger, they really deserve it.  https://tuuscstore.bandcamp.com/
February		Parralox - Always On My Mind / In My House Parralox seemed to be everywhere in 2016! Lots of releases and mixes and very active on social media. And while being so busy Parralox, fronted by John von Ahlen, released a very strong version of the song that gave the Pet Shop Boys a number 1 hit in the UK many years ago and it gave Parralox a big dance hit in the US. Taken from the festive album 'Holiday '15'. http://www.parralox.com/ https://parralox.bandcamp.com/
March		Parralox - Wildlife And right on the heels of Always On My Mind / In My House came this floorfiller! Released with what seemed to be a zillion great mixes making this song even better! A very nice way to start Spring with all this Wildlife.... Taken from the album 'Aeronaut'. http://www.parralox.com/ https://parralox.bandcamp.com/
April		Pet Shop Boys - The Pop Kids It seemed that the Pet Shop Boys released new stuff this year without announcing it. It just was here all of a sudden and they did a great job once again. The first glimpse of the album 'Super' was delivered with the superb 'Inner Sanctum' but weeks later came this... The Pop Kids, pure pop indeed. Welcome back to the Pet Shop Boys! http://petshopboys.co.uk/
May		Billie Ray Martin - Strongheaded Woman What a rollercoaster of a year it must have been for Berlin based Billie Ray Martin. Her Pledge campaign went extremely well so she could finally release what she wanted for quite some time. And there she was with power pop&soul anthem 'Strongheaded Woman'. And yes, she is! http://www.billieraymartin.com/ https://billieraymartin.bandcamp.com/
June		NINA - Beyond Memory A quote from the internet: If there's anything more "high-end 80s synthpop" than this offering by NINA, I haven't heard it yet. Very evocative of the compositional sensibilities of the time, with appropriate, well-done vocals to match. And I fully agree!! This synthpop anthem should have been a major hit all over Europe and should have been used too for a car advertisement. But no.... So it remains a hidden gem? Not if I have any say in it! http://www.ninasounduk.com/
July		Billie Ray Martin - The Glittering Gutter I do not think anybody expected this big American release but after storming the club & dance charts there was no other reason to not releasing The Glittering Gutter on CD with so many superb mixes. One of the strongest Billie Ray Martin releases ever! http://www.billieraymartin.com/ https://billieraymartin.bandcamp.com/
August		Mickey Cupid - Summer Sun-soaked Euro beats and euphoric lyrics collide in new electro outfit Mickey Cupid. I still do not know or understand why this wasn't a huge hit all over Europe. Summer finally started for me when this fun and addictive song was released... https://www.facebook.com/MickeyCupid/ http://www.aztecrecords.com/artist/mickeycupid/
September		Empathy Test - Demons UK Electronic Pop duo featuring Isaac Howlett & Adam Relf. As heard on MTV Catfish, XFM, KCRW, BBC Introducing, Clash, Idolator, Earmilk & PopMatters. They toured quite a bit this year and somewhere inbetween they managed to release this dark beauty, Demons. Losing Touch, Throwing Stones, Throwing Stones Remixed and Demons out now in all digital stores. Or purchase on CD via Bandcamp. I did too! http://www.empathytest.com/ https://empathy-test.bandcamp.com/
October		Real Experts - How About No (Parralox Remix) I still wonder how it has been possible that I had never heard of Real Experts before October 2016? On the Parralox facebook page appeared the remix they had done for 'How About No' and all I could think of was... How About Yes!!! I know, it is tacky but that's how I really felt! The original and remixed version  have been on heavy rotation in my room ever since! Real Experts is a London-based synthpop electronic project, headed by Andrew Maley. Check them out now! http://www.black-towers.com/realexperts https://www.facebook.com/RealExperts/
November		Reed & Caroline - Singularity (Bright Light Bright Light Remix) Reed Hays met Caroline Schutz while they were studying. Hays, a cellist, had arrived at the school under false pretences, switching to their new electronic music programme just to be able to get his hands on the college's Buchla synthesizer. Art major Schutz only discovered that she wanted to be a singer after graduating and schlepping round the States as a graphic designer for the touring Lollapalooza festival, before realising that she could sing better than some of the bands she was supporting. Vince Clarke (Erasure) gave them the opportunity to release a very catchy album called 'Buchla & Singing' on his own label VeryRecords and Bright Light Bright Light delivered a stunning remix of album highlight 'Singularity (We Bond)'. And November turned out to be just fine... https://www.facebook.com/reedandcaroline/
December		Parralox - Last Year At Marienbad When I first heard this during a radio show on internet I knew that the new Parralox album would be yet another dream for synthpop lovers like me. Louise Love takes this song to new synthpop levels and John von Ahlen does what he knows best with this tune: create a synthpop heaven... Oh yes! And boy does this song makes me think of the Human League!   Taken from the remarkable new album 'Subculture'. http://www.parralox.com/ https://parralox.bandcamp.com/

All good things come to those who wait...
We are proud to annouce the release of 3 (!) new albums by Parralox. Subculture, Holiday '16 and Remixes 2.

The Limited Edition Deluxe Package is now SOLD OUT. Subculture and Holiday '16 are still available. (Remixes 2 was only available with the Deluxe Package).

Compact Discs are due for release on December 23rd, 2016 via conzoom Records (Germany). The Digital Downloads will be available on the 27th of January, 2017 via Energise Records (UK) and Subterrane Records (Australia).

Compact Disc and Digital Pre-Orders are now available for Subculture and Holiday '16, click the following links :

Pre Order Subculture (CD)
Pre Order Subculture (Digital Download)

Pre Order Holiday '16 (CD)
Pre Order Holiday '16 (Digital Download)

     

Sneak Preview of Subculture Limited Edition CD Inlay


Sneak Preview of Holiday '16  Limited Edition CD Inlay

Subculture is our 9th studio album, featuring some truly amazing guest vocalists and performers including:

Marcella Detroit (Shakespeares Sister, Absolutely Fabulous, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band),
Johanna Gervin, 
Louise Love, 
Peter Wilson,
A7-H, 
Lillia and 
Ian Burden (The Human League).

The Subculture album is divided into Side A (Red) and Side B (Blue). 
What do the colours mean? We took a leaf from one of our favourite bands (The Human League) and colour coded the songs according to their style. Red is for Dance and Blue is for Pop.
We've been busy working on Subculture for the last year, and we are all so proud and pleased to finally release it to the world! There are a variety of styles on the album, but the main influence here is Italodisco, with a dash of 80s and 90s dance.

Holiday '16 is the latest installment in our annual cover album series and our 10th studio album. 
Louise Love features on the album. Holiday '16 includes a variety of our favourite songs. Trust me when I say we had a short-list of over 50 songs to choose from, so it was difficult to narrow down on a final selection. But thankfully it means we have several more years worth of songs to make!

Remixes 2 is a collection of remixes that Parralox has made for other artists. This is a Limited Edition CD available ONLY with the purchase of the Deluxe Edition of Subculture (now sold out).

In 2017 the first single released from Subculture will be Electric Nights, feat Johanna Gervin on lead vocals, with Roxy, Johnny X and Louise Love on backing vocals. There will be an EP released with many amazing remixes, and so far we can confirm remixes from Pete Hammond (Stock/Aitken/Waterman), Will Alonso, Oren Amram, People Theatre and Bluepint with many more to come.

So it's going to be a very musical Xmas and an even better 2017!

Much love..

John, Johanna & Louise.