Various Artists - Sowas Von Egal 3 (German Synth Wave Underground 1981-1986) Various Artists

With „Sowas von Egal 3”, the Hamburg-based Damaged Goods DJ team continues its compilation series on Bureau B, once again turning its attention to the underground scenes of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in the early 1980s. The selected tracks originate from a period in which, alongside the commercial Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW), a number of innovative and often more abrasive bands and artists operated outside the mainstream. They combined influences from new wave, synthwave, post-punk, and the avant-garde with German lyrics – and occasionally other languages – releasing their music in very small editions on indie labels or entirely DIY. As a result, many of these records are now rare and highly sought after. The tracks emerged in a cultural climate strongly shaped by the rupture brought about by punk. The rejection of the overproduced, bombastic rock music of the 1970s opened up new spaces for radically reduced and experimental approaches. What followed were diverse musical forms – whether labeled post-punk, avant-garde, synth-pop, new wave, or power pop. At the same time, the songs reflect a social atmosphere oscillating between uncertainty, protest culture, and a nihilistic “no future” attitude, shaped by fears of militarization, environmental destruction, and global conflict. These tensions gave rise to an aesthetic of cool, dark sounds, minimalist and angular arrangements, and a clear DIY ethos. Five years after the second installment, the search for hard-to-find artists and rights holders began again for “Sowas von Egal 3.” Thanks to the cohesion and supportive network within the scene, it has once more been able to assemble a carefully curated and lovingly compiled selection.

As with the first two volumes, part three follows an approach closely aligned with the DJ repertoire of the Damaged Goods nights. The focus is on captivating, danceable, and catchy tracks. Songs that often reveal their full impact on first listen in a club setting. The aim is to make forgotten or hard-to-access pieces audible and available again. The artwork is once again by Biljana Tomic, drawing on an industrial-apocalyptic sensibility and referencing the iconic facades of Horten department stores, evoking a visual aesthetic of the 1980s. The sound has once again been carefully remastered by Tom Morgenstern. “Sowas von Egal 3” seamlessly continues the series and presents itself as a lovingly curated snapshot of a highly productive yet often overlooked phase in German, Austrian, and Swiss pop history.