This is my first review on Waxidermy and I thought what better to do on December 25th but talk about “Christmas”, by The Howard Hanger Jazz Fantasy– a record that gives us some of the most unusual sounds of the season. O Come, O Come Immanuel is an eerie synth passage straight out of a […]
I bought this on the strength of STASH, and the intense high-contrast sleeve. But I didn’t have high hopes. Everything seemed to indicate that this was going to be boring seafood restaurant jazz. Three originals couched by standards like “Route 66,” “Robin Hood,” and “Summer Wind.” I was suitably impressed by the title track. Wait […]
Ambient / Electronic composer Tim Clark started his career in the early 1970’s composing Moog synthesizer soundtracks for Planetarium shows at the Strasenburgh Planetarium in Rochester, New York. According to the liner notes on this privately-pressed LP, Clark was the Music Director at the Strasenburgh, and it was his job to assemble complete soundtracks for […]
A few weeks ago I had to be out of my apartment for the better part of the afternoon due to a planned power outage on my street. As I stood around that morning watching people panic as they realized the electric gate wasn’t going to open so they could get their cars out of […]
R.F.D. (Rural Free Delivery) was developed in the 1890s so rural dwellers wouldn’t need to trek to the nearest post office to pick up their mail. “2002 R.F.D.” is naturally a rural rendition of the ever-reliable “Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey,” aka “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss. A disappointing recording of this tune […]
I brought this home last month tucked in a pile of ordinary slack-key & ukulele jammers. With the first needle drop it was fairly apparent this was a whole other thing. By the time I’d finished side 2 I was less sure than ever what on earth I’d just listened to. One thing’s for sure […]
Crunchy, lumbering outsider analog synth funk perfection. Created by the mysterious Spooky in 1984 in someplace called Warner Robins, GA. I need more of this kind of thing in my life. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
This record comes without labels or cover, so I have no idea what it is. Seems to be a test pressing of sorts. One side has typical test record stuff, with signals, a chunk of classical music and a bland pop song. Don’t know what happened and why, but on the flip side of this […]
I’ve been unable to piece much together about this musician or the original performance of this cassette recording. It seems that Becket G. Senchur is (was) a member of The Order of Saint Benedict and this is a recording from one of his concerts at the Basilica of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The […]
Polish mostly synthesized music from I don’t know when. On the Polskie Nagrania Muza label (who had rad sleeves). The A-side is comprised of 5 or 6 short synth experiments. The b-side is similar but halfway through some singing comes in. I wish it didn’t. Here’s one of the bit’s off the a-side: czeslaw_clip Also, […]
Who are these tribesmen the cover speaks of? A record that raises many what, why and when questions.The confusing juxtaposing of Taiwanese villagers and the African savanah is smoothly continued on the record itself. Taiwanese melodies have been given the Daktari treatment with exotic electronic melodies backed by wah wah and cool percussion. “African” grunts […]
OK folks. I admit it. I am a full fledged record hoarder. I am a good year into full on gluttony. Like daily thrift store visits, hours and hours in stores/dollar bins, weekends of garage/estate sales, ebay, craigslist, you name it. It is not easy with a wife and friends and neighbors. It is embarrassing […]
Released on “Palace of Lights” in 1981, Savant was a group lead by Kerry Leimer, the head of the label and someone who still releases electronic/ambient music to this day. The record contains only two tracks, both with a decidedly Eno-vibe (each in their own way). The a-side’s “Stationary Dance” reminds me of something that […]
Wow, an 80’s library record that doesn’t sound like it belongs in a corporate training video for IBM! Unfortunately these types are few and far between, but thankfully for fans of floating synths and electronics, this one delivers. The first side mainly consists of gamelan jams that (for the most part) do a good job […]
I wrote a little review on J. Matthews’ Electronic Music a while ago on this site. Here’s another very cool one that comes in the same pre-1968 library format, 78rpm microgroove. This one has the same title, be it in French, but it is 5 years earlier, from 1960. It’s by Eric Siday, an English […]
First I’ll start off with a disclaimer: I borrowed this record from my girlfriend who used to be a big industrial fan. I am really not that knowledgable on industrial stuff at all, hell I don’t really like it even, but this one seemed too weird not to be shared. Thanks to her for the […]
From around 1982 until about 1991 (dates are unclear) Marcel Dion ran a weekly Electronic/Experimental/Avant-Garde radio show on CJSR (campus/community radio station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) called Departures. It’s always unclear with campus/community radio how large your audience is and so it’s unknown how popular the show was. However, what is clear is that it […]
The messages on the sleeve of this record are somewhat confusing. First, the front promises us “easy listening” and adds a logo saying we are dealing with “background music” (or “BGM”). The back adds to the titles classical indications what style and tempo they are in. So we have scherzoso, moderato but also tempo di […]
A 1963 edition from the Office Catholique Du Disque with sleek cloth-bound good looks, chunky 24-page papyrus booklet insert and 5 discs all in superb condition despite coming from a dank junkshop corner amongst other stuff that was badly water-damaged. Imagine my delight when I open the box and see the fine print: Musique – Pierre […]
Bedroom electronics from a relatively unknown experimental composer on Folkways circa 1980. This one is the first of a two part “Reelizations” series. While there are a few acoustic guitar-only tracks on here, the majority of the record contains a real wide selection of instruments; ranging from heavily processed synthesizers to Roland drum machines to […]
The first father-daughter electronic library record? I can get with this. I’m sure most of you who read this site are already well aware of Jean Jacques Perrey, one of the biggest names in the 60’s moog scene. Well apparently his daughter (a musician herself), would join him in the studio and relay song ideas […]
Bernard Estardy was one of the most prolific (and sought after) sound engineers in the French music scene during the 60’s and 70’s. After being involved on a number of sessions with Nino Ferrer, he took the initiative to build his own studio from scratch (the CBE as it’s known, built in 1967). It is […]
Here’s an experimental record from 1980, featuring the side long “Formal and Informal Music.” It’s performed by three musicians and led by the electronics guy Tom Hamilton. I can best describe it as an oscillating electronic bee-hive with beautiful woodwind solo’s by J.D. Parran and percussion by Rich O’Donnell. Especially the flute segment is amazing, […]
Louis Andriessen, the well known anti-elitist Dutch avant garde composer, has always been boasting about the fact that he incorporates popular music in his work and that he cuts through high and low culture. But the fact is, nobody on the street would be able to wistle a Louis Andriessen tune (maybe apart from his […]
Here is another ‘space electronics’ library, quite similar to the Electronic Age LP i posted a week or two ago. Released on Orly’s “Kaleidoscope” series, these tracks probably first appeared on a small Italian label and were soon after re-licensed to this particular French library (there are a few other records in this series credited […]