Touched in the Garden - Various Artists (Sub Culture Records)

English:CD-review
  Van Muylem    24 augustus 2015

Fans of the typical 80’s sound will be delighted with this new one from Le Jardin Éléctronique. For your information: this is Mark Warner’s studio in Bedfordshire England and the home of Rossetti’s Compass, Touching The Void and formerly Sudeten Creche between 2006-2012.


Touched in the Garden is their album of tracks remixed for other artists under the names Rossetti’s Compass and Sudeten Creche between 2010 and 2015 out on Limited Edition CD and Digital release by The Cage and Sub Culture Records. With this record they want to celebrate the 10th  Anniversary of the founding of Le Jardin Éléctronique.

The Angst Pop - Oedipus Rex 2012 remix by Sudeten Creche feat. Matthias Schuster isn’t a big surprise for me as I have been following their record company for over the last years. The retro sound and the fat voice is up for the dancefloors. The full length mix of HNN – Mono (Sudeten remix) is a great 80’s retro track with a minimal wave touch and a slow tempo that haunts you a bit with it catchiness. After a while it even becomes an earworm. Kant Kino is one of these bands I only saw recently for the first time on stage. Bleed gets the Sudeten remix and that isn’t a bad thing at all. It’s by far the most aggressive track on this record and I love it. The sound is warmer and well worked out, with loud synths. The package sounds very catchy and up for a party.

TechnomancerDrift gets closer to Depeche Mode in the Rosetti’s Compass remix, with a slice of minimal wave. It’s a great version! The other remixes are from now on all from Rosetti’s Compass. Shatoo can’t be missed on any compilation coming from Sub Culture Records, this time it’s the catchy and ultimate synth/pop track There is nothing that I wouldn’t do (retro Pop remix). Another great one comes with John Costello and his Nothing gets a great version, also ready for the dancefloor. Listen to the original and you’ll hear for yourself: this one is an improvement.

Another iconic artist is Naked Lunch, here with Alone (Desolation remix). Once again I hear a great version. For those who don’t know: great minimal retro wave. I love the female voice in the back, slightly oppressed by the terrific male voice. This one must be gold for retro lovers! Another one from the same house is Attrition with his One horse Rider. The mystical sound has been kept, but the sound is a bit warmer and slightly more elaborated, a bit away from the original cold and creepy sound.

One of my favorite ones is Love? And I walk Alone (River of Solitude Remix): the cold and melancholic sound goes now hand in hand with a warmer sound, a little bit of catchiness has also been added. Michael X ChristianRock Lobster is something completely new for me and this version is a nice discovery, far away from the B-52 version I know: more aggressive, more synths and a harsh voice. Substaat with Electric is a great melancholic wave track with a very poppy sound and vocals that remind me of Wolfsheim (it’s logic, I know). Substaat is one of these bands I have never seen on stage and I regret it. Closing band is one of my favorite ones of the moment: Touching The Void with Parallel lives (Dark Minimal remix). Check out their full length album and discover their great and very dark and depressive ballads. This version doesn’t harm its original strength, so let yourself sucked into their dark world and hope that at the end there is somebody to rescue you.

Once again I can say that Sub Culture Records serves us some of the finest tracks and lets us discover some really cool artists, touched by the hand of great artists! It’s also a perfect way for people who hear for the first time from this record company to see what they offer, so have a taste and enjoy!