The Electronic Music Thread

[Jim Alfredson]

Not sure if this has been discussed here before or not. When I was a kid, my dad and I were really into electronic music. Not electronica, but electronic music, ranging from old Tangerine Dream to Vangelis to Wendy Carlos to Tomita to Steve Roach to a million others I'm forgetting.

When I was a boy, I used to fall asleep to the program Hearts of Space that used to be on WKAR here in Lansing. My dad made hours upon hours of his own "ambient music" as he called it that I've started to go through since his passing. It's pretty interesting stuff; very minimalist and meditative.

Anyway, I recently downloaded (from iTunes) two fairly modern Steve Roach albums. "Possible Planet" is my favorite so far; it was creates solely on an analog modular synthesizer system with no MIDI, no keyboard interface, no sequencers. It's a collection of self-oscillating patches run through various reverbs and delays and filters and it sounds really organic. It's just textures and sounds floating in and out. My wife hates this stuff, but I find it very interesting.

The other is "Proof Positive" and it's more rhythmic than the other, but I think it was still created on an analog modular.

Just wondering if anyone else is into this stuff and what you might be listening to.

[AllenLowe]

well, you know, I have, sitting in my basement (haven't had a chance to fully play it through) a collection of really old experimental electronic music, from the 1920s on - a few Italians, etc. Will look tonight and report back -

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

You do amaze me Allen!

MG

[7/4]

I love this stuff. Robert Rich has some nice stuff...I'm not familiar with a lot of it, because there's so much. Some Fax label is ambient..most of it out of print. Bill Laswell had some good uns. Eno too.

more later...

dB

[A Lark Ascending]

Not electronica, but electronic music, ranging from old Tangerine Dream to Vangelis to Wendy Carlos to Tomita to Steve Roach to a million others I'm forgetting.

I can recall when Tangerine Dream were not old!

There was something exotic about synths (or should that be the Moog) in the early days. I recall being overwhelmed by the bit right at the end of the first ELP album where it wheezes into life - sounded like 21stC music then!And if you listen careful to Abbey Road you can hear one whirring away.

One record I'd love to hear again is one called 'Zero Time' (I think!) by Tonto's Expanding Headband. Never owned it but it was played a lot on late night radio here around '71/'72. I remember really enjoying it but was too poor to buy a copy.

Edited November 13, 2008 by Bev Stapleton

[jostber]

I like this one:

V.A. - An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music: First A-Chronology, Vol. 1

[samnat]

You may be interested in the following: originally 3CD set, reissued with a DVD that has amazing footage. An early theremin recital is one of the highlights.

Here is the entry on amazon.com. I picked it up at half price books for like 18 bucks.

Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music Special Edition 3CD + DVD by Maryanne Amacher, Robert Ashley, Milton Babbitt, Louis and Bebe Barron, and Francois Bayle (Audio CD - 2005)

Buy new: $44.98 $40.4938 Used & new from $18.90

Get it by Friday, Nov 14 if you order in the next 2 hours and choose one-day shipping.

Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping.

[rockefeller center]

Oskar Sala, Trautonium

http://www.erdenklang.de/medium.php?mainid...unde=erdenklang (one long sample available)

[7/4]

One record I'd love to hear again is one called 'Zero Time' (I think!) by Tonto's Expanding Headband. Never owned it but it was played a lot on late night radio here around '71/'72. I remember really enjoying it but was too poor to buy a copy.

Yes, that tune Jet Sex is very cool. The guys in TONTO were hot shot studio synth programmers who worked with Stevie Wonder. I think they did a Steve Hillage album too.

I have the CD somewhere...

[rockefeller center]

Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Vol. 2" is another obvious selection, one track:

[7/4]

Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Vol. 2" is another obvious selection,

There's a classic.

I listening to Eno and screwing around with my 4-track

making ambient music when I read a review of this album

in the NY Times. I didn't know there was an underground ambient scene at the time!

[Joe]

Just this afternoon I listened to Charles Dodge's EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD -- an old Nonesuch commission -- for the first time in over a decade. Still intriguing, and oddly moving.

[Guy Berger]

Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Vol. 2" is another obvious selection, one track:

This one is a classic. A good follow-up is Autechre's "Tri Repetae".

As far as old-school electronic, Tangerine Dream is indeed great though I don't like what I've heard post-Rubycon.

Guy

[rockefeller center]

Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Vol. 2" is another obvious selection, one track:

This one is a classic. A good follow-up is Autechre's "Tri Repetae".

Yep. By the way: "Second Peng" and "Second Scepe" aren't too bad either (they come with "Tri Repetae++"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3-MWniTd3E

1995

[rockefeller center]

Just this afternoon I listened to Charles Dodge's EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD -- an old Nonesuch commission -- for the first time in over a decade. Still intriguing, and oddly moving.

Sounds good. I'll try to find this. Thanks!

[mjzee]

Anyone ever heard Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company?

And a second for Tangerine Dream. I really liked Phaedra.

[7/4]

Sure, I've heard Mother Mallard. Reminds me of Phillip Glass.

TDream on Virgin =

dB

[Quincy]

Just this afternoon I listened to Charles Dodge's EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD -- an old Nonesuch commission -- for the first time in over a decade. Still intriguing, and oddly moving.

I noticed the day after the election I started heavily listening all sorts of electronic albums. It's a good way to flush away the long campaign.

Another fan of Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works, and also have been playing Tangerine Dream, Neu!, and I may love it too much but The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld is a lot of fun. Look forward to other recs here.

[Shrdlu]

Not electronica, but electronic music

I take it that you are not including electro house, Jim, lol.

I've been having a ball with that during the last 18 months or so.

If anyone wants a copy of my new mix, message me and I can send it over msn.

[7/4]

I hope this doesn't turn into the techno thread.

dB

[Guest Bill Barton]

Recently I've enjoyed young British composer Natasha Barrett's Isostasie released on the empreintes DIGITALes label (2002). Lovely stuff...

For classic material, Iannis Xenakis' Electronic Music released in 1997 on the Electronic Music Foundation label is superb, especially "Bohor, for electro-acoustic sounds." This music was recorded in Paris in the late 1950s.

I'm by no means an expert in this field nor do I have many recordings in my collection but I too was a big fan of Hearts of Space.

Other pieces that I recall fondly include The World Music Theater of Jon Appleton on Folkways (likely rather hard to find, unfortunately) and Morton Subotnick's works, though I'm not sure that they fall into the category of the rather ambient sort of soundscapes that Hearts specialized in.

Edited November 17, 2008 by Bill Barton

[Sundog]

Cluster 71

Check this one out!

[Sundog]

Also check out www.somafm.com (Specifically the "Drone Zone" channel). Some interesting atmospheric textures with minimal beats.

[rockefeller center]

2ndMOUSE, "An Armful Of Opposite Lock"

http://www.sampleoakrecords.com/soak/ (the whole thing can be "previewed" @ 96kbps)

That track "little adventure beyond" I find pretty darn good.

[rockefeller center]

More vintage stuff:

Autechre, "444"