Diastereomer: Ignition Advancer 12"

Diastereomer: Ignition Advancer 12"


Tags: · 80s · dark wave · experimental · Japan · minimal synth · no wave · post-punk · recommended · reissues · spo-default · spo-disabled
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"Diastereomer was a new wave two-piece formed in Tokyo by high school friends Katsuya Shoman and Yoshio Tanaka in 1986. An exemplar of 1980s Japanese darkwave, the band's lone release was the 1989 private press Mothersun 7", a Xymox-tinged single which saw the duo trade lead vocal duties between its songs “Mothersun” and “Place”. It was released on co-producer Sect Commune's Puppet Records and limited to a mere two hundred, hand-numbered copies. As one can imagine, Diastereomer did not reach much of an audience beyond the dozens of folks lucky enough to see them perform around Central Japan.

Now, remastered from the original reels, we here at Bitter Lake Recordings present to you the songs from the Mothersun 7", along with a selection of unreleased studio tracks from 1987-1991 that paint a more coherent picture of what made Diastereomer. Not only do they showcase a love for classic UK new wave and synth pop, but these unreleased tracks exhibit disparate sounds ranging from the gentle guitar ballad of "Within Me Calling" to the eponymous instrumental, which sounds as if it is scoring an intense cinematic moment set in an imagined, futuristic Neo-Tokyo.

The band eventually decided to cease playing as Diastereomer in 1991 and, while the duo continued on as The Twilight States until 1993, Shoman and Tanaka never managed to record new material. What we're left with is this essential collection of Japanese synth pop, perfectly encapsulating everything that makes the music of Diastereomer shine on thirty years later."



Our take: Bitter Lake’s latest reissue from the 80s Japanese new wave scene is this compilation from Diastereomer. As I’ve mentioned before, the new / no wave scene that Bitter Lake has documented so far had more overlap with new age and ambient music than comparable US and UK scenes, and Diastereomer follow that pattern. While moments will scratch your itch for early Human League and “The Diastereomer” has an early industrial, proto-Wax Trax sound, Diastereomer are less rhythmic and more atmospheric. Most tracks are deliberate and meditative, unfolding over several minutes. My favorite track on the record, “Ignition,” features a spooky, John Carpenter-esque synth line and vocals that have the eerie quality of monks chanting in unison. If the other releases on Bitter Lake have interested you, this warrants a listen, but know going in that, sonically, it might be the least rock or punk-adjacent release on the label so far.