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Mind Dawns

by Distance Dealer

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €7 EUR  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Handpainted portal on CD

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mind Dawns via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days

      €8 EUR or more 

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    Limited edition of 15 tapes
    Handpainted portal on cassette

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mind Dawns via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    edition of 15  5 remaining

      €7.50 EUR or more 

     

1.
Slasher 04:44
2.
Mind Dawns 04:16
3.
Waved Aside 03:40
4.
Body/Frame 04:41
5.
6.
Confront! 03:25
7.
8.
Sun 05:45
9.
10.

about

PRESS:

"8/10 - What a hit. Undoubtedly, Distance Dealer like to offer multiple platforms of a song, ready to burn their songs into the listeners' minds with repetitive loops and their metropolitan synthetics. [...] It seems, the only way out is fleeing into the catacombs of a dark gray underground disco" - Streetclip (GER)

"Music of the future. [...] They energetically deliver a tasty and a bit bombastic mix of new wave, coldwave, EBM, synthpop, shoegaze, indie rock and post-punk. They do that in such a headstrong and innovative way that I suspect they don't even know some of the bands I hear in it. It seems as if O.M.D., Frontline Assembly, Clan Of Xymox, The Cure and Kraftwerk have entered into a dark yet positive alliance, while the music is extremely enjoyable without exception." - De Subjectivisten (NL)

"The retro-looking synths provide such clever nuances in the 10 tracks that it becomes a special example of art punk / post punk. The high synths cut through the beats and the vocals are painfully beautiful. Howling in a dazzling vale of tears of renewed nostalgia, meandering in dizzying, complex arrangements making this debut a dark pearl for which you will gladly give up the oyster you rip open for it." - Luminous Dash (BEL)

"Succeeded in reinterpreting the most outstanding characteristics from the beginnings of The Cure and Depeche Mode or even the Pet Shop Boys for their own sound. "'Mind Dawns' hits the bull's eye for me. Whether it is the vocals of Alexander who puts his melancholy to the fullest in all 10 songs, or Thiago C. Desant who completes these impressively with his arrangement." - Soundkartell (GER)

"8/10 - Retro for the future. Electronically controlled post punk with a sense of experiment, always uncompromising. "The title track resembles The Cure in a time machine, and there are influences that reach as far as Kraftwerk or minimal underground electro from BeNe GeSSeRiT or Nine Circles. The electronics swell on “Mourned And Dead” which immediately gives the somewhat exhausted synth wave genre a new impetus. There are no certainties in Distance Dealer's music [...] familiar but also surprising pieces of music." - Dark Entries (BEL)

"This is music that swells with segments from all possibilities; genre-wise, it mish-mashes the very cores of electronic crossroads and gleefully jigsaws them into wholly new shapes. For such an unusual musical outing, it is nonetheless surprisingly accessible.[...] Distance Dealer breaks free of [...] moorings, with philosophical, contemplative lyrics set to what can only be described as firing synapses, snapping in the spaces where flame and freeze come together. It is an astoundingly prescient release." - Firefly Mouth (USA)

"While this can feel like it has a dance and trance way about it, the music can at the same time feel quite haunted and hollow. Whether it be driving fast at night or just going for a run, this is that type of cassette which you can press play and then whatever you're doing goes by a lot faster because before you know it the music stops and it's time to start it up all over again." - Raised By Cassettes (USA)

"Distance Dealer celebrate 80s pathos-laden dark wavepop of the finer and modern kind, the 10 tracks [...] are really fun. Wonderfully splendid sounds echoing out of the speakers. [...] [T]he mix of driving, longing, danceable, thoughtful and calm moments is very successful - an album that has dark wave and goth elements very well skillfully united in itself. You feel emotionally captured or encouraged to dance, and at the same time we received the right soundtrack for the dystopia that has become real." - Body-Styler (GER)

"New project of Alexander Leonard Donat [...] who finds his ideal partner in Thiago Desant. An artistic encounter based on a very simple concept: the union between the typical sound of Phantoms vs Fire and the "Smithian" vocality of the post-punk/darkwave/goth school typical of Vlimmer. "Slasher" immediately proves that the synthwave of the duo knows how to bring together the spirit of the first moments of true maturity of the two British giants [The Smiths and The Cure], resulting in a catchy style. " - Darkroom Magazine (ITA)

"As dramatic as "Body/ Frame" by Distance Dealer is, it is the brilliant nuances that are blowing me away [...] with stunning results. From the onset, [it] pushes nostalgic art punk / post punk /goth pop buttons in my brain. The high pitched synth lines creating an enveloping intertwining dinge of ghostly sounds rides on a brilliant machine beat. [...] the decision to use the kick sparingly instead of a constant thump is just one of the artistic decisions that elevate this track. The vocal aesthetic massaging the lines in an almost pained alien sort of way feel (to me) like an amalgam of Robert Smith (the Cure), Erick Adrien (Opéra De Nuit), Gary Numan and Daniel Miller (The Normal). There is a wonderful moment that cuts through the dense darkwaves when more percussion invades the sound and surprising half step dissonance slaps you in the face, "California here we come, California here we come... again". - American Pancake (USA)

"Desant‘s atmospheric, glittering and winding phantasmagoric synthscapes and dizzy intricate arrangments, organically combine with Donat‘s painful and wistful goth-tinged chants to create something immersive and emotionally riveting yet subtly disturbing. An ambitious motion of buzzing and pulsing bass tones ripple the icy bright glow of twinkling synth chimes with spiralling frequencies and droning expansions, to form a hypnotic spatial flow around submerged, airless male vocals gasping for strength, while tumultuous layers of zipping, clashing, and buzzing textures ebb and flow with swishing off-tempo rhythms and sparkling, fluttering swirls to override the negative outflow with a triumph hidden beneath the tides." - White Light/White Heat (ITA)

"I love synthesis. Rather we are talking genre, or in this case two amazing artist that seamlessly blend styles and perspectives to create something new and beautiful. Here we have Thiago Desant (Phantoms vs Fire) of Brazil and Alexander Donat (Vlimmer) of Germany. Two brilliant sound artists acclaimed for creating texture and motion with music on Blackjack Illuminists Records combining a bubbling chemistry into something more ambitious than their parts. Released as a premier here to quicken the heart and pull your eye towards a million details in the tapestry of distant lives. This project is such an exciting beginning and we at Sounds and Shadows are blessed they chose to start it with us. This song is a ringing hive of percussion and soulful delivery. The urban beats clash with an animalistic wild feel full of sunlight beaming through green leaves. It’s one of those tracks that has a heartbeat you can feel." - Sounds & Shadows (USA)

"Openly sporadic where it counts and mindfully brooding where it means to be, ‘Mind Dawns’ is that introvert’s angst and electrolushness wrapped in a spiked dildo ready to penetrate your mind." - Jammerzine (USA)

"[A] very original synth sound [...], a passionate vocal interpretation and a marvelously epic and melancholic melody." - El Garaje De Frank (ESP)

"[P]erfect for a darkwave slasher movie denouement. [...] not quite EBM or EDM but sort of fuses elements of both with the techno dark wave feel it's darkly disturbing with some very interesting percussive elements [...]. [A] dark little journey through the modern psyche. [...] [Hit Like A Brick] brings an intriguing and cool darkwave album to a close." - Whisperin and Howlin (UK)

"I would like to know how many voice messages, e-mails and video conferences were needed between the two of them until the ten tracks that will appear on "Mind Dawns" came together! This is dark post-punk with a clear synth handwriting that allows both dreaming and dancing!" - Luserlounge (GER)

"Beautiful synthwave/post-punk work" - Projecto Alternativo (POR)

credits

released May 28, 2021

Music: Thiago Desant and Alexander Donat
Lyrics: Alexander Donat
Artwork: Thiago Desant
Mixed by Thiago Desant and Alexander Donat
Mastered by Alexander Donat

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about

Blackjack Illuminist Records Berlin, Germany

CD/tape/vinyl label from Berlin, Germany

Post-punk/ Coldwave/ Shoegaze/ Industrial/ Dreampop/ Synth/ Dreampunk/ Indie/ Ambient /Drone

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