Victrola

Italian new wave band, born in 1979 in Messina. In 1983, reduced to a duo (Carlo and Antonio), they released their only 12", Maritime Tatami/Game Of Despair. They were initially a rock quartet consisting of multi-instrumentalists/vocalists Antonio Cuscinà and Carlo Smeriglio, along with bassist Tobia Squitieri and drummer Nino Belmonte. They began sending out demo tapes, leading to some of their tracks appearing on compilations. Eventually they moved to Florence to become a part of the city's music scene, and they slimmed down to the core duo of Cuscinà and Smeriglio, and had more of a stripped-down electronic sound. A compilation of their songs was issued in 1983, but the duo's only vinyl release was the Maritime Tatami single on [l45550]. Following 2 final concerts in 1984, Victrola came inactive. Both members later performed in a 1993 production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Beginning in the late 2000's Victrola's songs began appearing on compilations of obscure '80s synth pop and new wave tracks, such as 2009's Danza Mecanica. [l157905] reissued Maritime Tatami as part of their Dark Entries Editions 12'' series in 2014. Five years later, the label releases Born From The Water, a double LP of unreleases Victrola recordings and demos.