Dark Entires Records is honored to re-issue the debut EP by FALL OF SAIGON. The band was born in 1981 when Florence Berthon (Vocals), Pascal Comelade (Organ, Synthesizer) and Thierry Den (Guitar, Vocals) met at a concert in Montpellier, France. They chose to the name the project FALL OF SAIGON after a song by UK post-punk act This Heat. They self-released their debut EP in 1983 citing Nico & The Velvet Underground, Suicide and James Joyce as influences.
At the time the band formed, Pascal Comelade was an accomplished musician with instrumental sketches composed for the trio. The 6 songs on the EP were recorded in two stages. "She Leaves Me All Alone" and "On The Beach At Fontana" were sung by Thierry and recorded at Pascal's home on a Revox 2-track in one shot. The four songs sung by Florence - "Visions", "Blue Eyes", "So Long" and "The Swimmer" - were recorded and mixed at the Montpellier Languedoc Video Animation Center by Jean Alain Sidi on two ReVox A77 reel to reels and a small mixer. On "Visions," "Blue Eyes" and "So Long," the group employed a drum machine that could only play four or five rhythms with a single slider to increase or decrease the tempo. The songs were minimal: verse, chorus, no bridge, no intro. Built on a simple spine, they create a feeling of space with just a voice and an organ or synthesizer melody. Full of class and inventiveness, FALL OF SAIGON are often compared to Young Marble Giants due to the fragile, ephemeral quality of the songs.
All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Through two years of existence, FALL OF SAIGON only released one EP and 30 years later their subtle sound is an essential guidepost in post-punk history.
credits
released September 23, 2018
(C) + (P) 2013 Dark Entries Records
ALL SONGS WRITTEN & COMPOSED BY FALL OF SAIGON
"On The Beach At Fontana" is a poem by James Joyce.
Recorded between 1981-1982 and released February 1983.
Produced by Thierry Tannières/Fall of Saigon
Engineer: Jean Alain Sidi
Remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley 2012
Photographs: Pierre Bordes, Tony Tacoponelli, Philippe Cibille
Paintings: Laurent Swing Roche & Stephan Biascamano
Design: Philippe Cazal
Layout: Eloise Leigh
Thank you: Thierry Tannières, Bernard Gueffier, George Horn and Eloise Leigh.
I bought the 12 inch single for Bela Lugosi’s Dead at Fred’s records in St. John’s, Newfoundland in the eighties and it remained a treasured item in my collection until it was lost, left behind, stolen, loaned out, whatever. I accepted that that item was lost to time and likely irreplaceable. Hence my utter shock to see that I will once again hear this evocative masterwork on vinyl along with an extra three tracks. I recall Boys was included on the B-side of that long list single. Thank you! skritti
I first heard John Peel play XMAL back in '83 in the UK and I saw them live in Madrid in 1984, - have been a fan ever since. I never expected to have them on my BC ap, and so glad they're here. Hopefully the albums will appear here too - if the later record labels allow. zaclang
On their 10th record, the Glasgow-based group serves up more wonderfully menacing, gothy synthpop, perfect for dungeon dancing. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 19, 2023
Lumberjacks, right here, thrill, breakdown and maybe gieshas tune on a good day. The rest is too sparse and slow. After that killer porn trilogy nothing was going to come close. I'd say this and candida cosmica are closest in sound and thats probably why they got released back to back. Lo fi bleeps and blurps from the early to mid 70s, though candida is rewarding the more you listen. The mid stuff here, still not so much. mattyg107