Antena

by Chris True
Destined to be overshadowed by their peers in the Factory Records universe, Antena were an underrated bossa nova-flavored electronic dream pop group that formed in France in the early '80s. Members Isabelle Powaga, Sylvain Fasy, and Pascale Moiroud created a sound not terribly out of place on the legendary label's catalog, but were overlooked due to the fact that their work emerged on Factory's Benelux label -- essentially a Continent-based label meant to test songs and do advance work for larger Factory U.K. acts touring Europe. In 1980, they released the single The Boy from Ipanema and a mini-album entitled Camino del Sol -- which would be expanded by Crepuscule in 1982. The band would eventually sign with major labels Island and Mercury, but by that time frontwoman and vocalist Powaga had taken sole artistic control of the Antena ship (she would later go solo as Isabella Antena, releasing more than ten full-lengths that touched on jazz, Latin, and funk stylings). In 2004, Numero Group once again repackaged and re-expanded the Camino del Sol record with two unreleased tracks, "Frantz" and "Ingenuous."