E.M.A.K. [Electronische Musik aus Köln] was founded in Cologne in autumn 1981. Situated in the basement of a music store called ‘Hört-Hört’ [‘Listen-Listen’] was a small 8-track studio run by Matthias Becker. It was here at the ‘Originalton West’ studio that Becker and Kurt Mill, along with Michael Filz and Klaus Stühlen, formed E.M.A.K. and here also where Becker launched the Originalton West label with the release of ‘E.M.A.K.1’ in January 1982.
Joining the dots between German electronic experimentalists such as Cluster, Conrad Schnitzler, Tangerine Dream, the synth-core/minimal-wave of Germany’s electronic new wave such as D.A.F. (itself influenced by UK groups Cabaret Voltaire, Human League and The Normal) and with hints of the cosmic disco of Giorgio Moroder and Daniel Baldelli, Cologne’s E.M.A.K. remain one of electronic music’s best-kept secrets. This is a compilation complete with exclusive text and photos from a series of super-rare private press titles released in Germany in the 1980s. Lovely super-loud limited edition heavyweight gatefold double vinyl.