Konrad Evil

"It is very hard to know where to begin trying to explain Konrad," writes Jeff Hassett of the quietly influential online home for vinyl devotees Waxidermy. Picture a synchronicity-fixated young dreamer trying to talk his way into Studio 54 to speak with the DJ. The album under his arm is an odd-looking collection of bedroom electropop simply titled Evil. Every now and then the club lets him in, but the album goes unheard, and Konrad disappears into the night. A mystery for 25 years, Evil gradually garners cult status leading to Hassett's review. And then Konrad unexpectedly reveals himself as Barry Konarik living in Idaho in the comment section. Here's his number, give him a call. Konverts jam the line for the rest of the day, but questions remain. What's with the cloak? How did such lofty ideas emerge from the crime-infested Queens of the early 80s? And why does Konarik, who was adopted, have two birth certificates? One thing is certain; there has never been and never will be another Evil. Outsider, visionary, lunatic; the standard tags are inadequate -- and nothing could prepare you for how addictively fun this record is. Direct from the original master tapes, this long overdue new edition features high quality Stoughton tip-on covers and, for the first 1,000 copies only, a bonus 45 with three more killer tracks including 'Ethereal Sequence,' a cosmic theme song for the recently-reactivated label of the same name. The return of Konrad is an event not to be missed.