Before - Sister Culture 7" 1983

Second single from Denmarks Joy Division: Before. They had developed their sound a bit for this one, adding more synths and even some violin, played by Martin Hall from Ballet Mecanique. If their first single is more heavy, with influence from the Doors, this one is more light, kind of New Order. After this the band disbanded, I think its was due to Fatals growing junk addiction, but i could be wrong.

DOWNLOAD

Before - Silence 7" 1981

Extremely classic danish band Before, led by singer-junkie-poet Fritz Fatal, made a huge mark on the danish scene. Since Denmark is such a small country they didn't have that many bands that made  records. Before made three before disbanding and since then they have been considered legends in their country. This is their first single.

DOWNLOAD

Musta - Myrskyn Merkit 7" 1981

Strange band from Turku, Finland that only released this single but existed for several years in the eighties. They also appeared on a compilation album but with one of the songs from this release. The music is great post punk with synths.

DOWNLOAD

Freda - Livsviktigt 7" 1984

Freda were a christian rock band from Gnosjö in Sweden. They started out in the early eighties with a sound similar to U2 and gathered a following and got good reviews in the music press. At the end of the decade they were one of the biggest rock bands in Sweden and still lingers on in the collective conciousness, mostly due to lead singer Uno's solo career. This is their debut single, and this along with their two first LPs is the only thing worth seeking out by them.

DOWNLOAD

Cyklon Anticyklon - Cyklon Og Anticyklon 7" 1981

Cyklon/Anticyklon was formed in the beginning of the 80's by Peter Bonde, Tomas Ortved and Per Jacobsen. They released this single in cut-out pieces from an old map showing regions of Switzerland. The record consists of three compositions of post punk noise no wave rock. This could as well have been produced in New York at approximately the same time, but instead was made in Denmark. This is good stuff.

DOWNLOAD

Suggession - Tjernobyl 7" 1986

Suggession were from Katrineholm in Sweden and worked their way through the swedish underground with lots of demos and some live gigs mostly in their native town. At the end of the eighties they relocated to Gothenburg to seriously pursue a career in music but didn't make it. Shortly afterwards the band split. Along the way the released this single, and participated on a local compilation album. This single is a real gem. Weird lyrics, an expressive singer and instrumentation that combines elements from jazz, classical music and goth. One of the best singles of this period!

DOWNLOAD

Ragnar Hare - Bit 7" 1984

Great band from Jakobstad in Finland. A huge part of Finland has a long tradition of speaking swedish, a practice which was enforced during Swedens occupation of Finland. This means that swedish is still a major language in Finland and explains why this finnish band sings in swedish. Ragnar Hare made another record that's even better than this one which will follow shortly. There's also some videos on youtube. Check this band out.

DOWNLOAD