Electronic

Recordings which were among the first to incorporate new sounds through the use of the moogs, synthesizers, mellotron, theremin, etc.

  • The Douglas Brothers - 2002 R.F.D. The Douglas Brothers – 2002 R.F.D.

    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 is [...]

  • Na Mele A Ka Haku (Music of Haku) Na Mele A Ka Haku (Music of Haku)

    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 [...]

  • Mystery Test Record Mystery Test Record

    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 [...]

  • Becket G. Senchur, O.S.B: Music For Electronic Synthesizers Becket G. Senchur, O.S.B: Music For Electronic Synthesizers

    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 majority [...]

  • Czeslaw Niemen - Muzyka do sztuki Juliusza Slowackiego Czeslaw Niemen – Muzyka do sztuki Juliusza Slowackiego

    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

  • The Sound of Taiwan's Tribesmen The Sound of Taiwan’s Tribesmen

    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 [...]

  • Toby and Barb - Father Knows Best Toby and Barb – Father Knows Best

    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 [...]

  • Savant - Stationary Dance / Sensible Music Savant – Stationary Dance / Sensible Music

    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” [...]

  • Orlando Kimber & John Keliehor - East Meets West Orlando Kimber & John Keliehor – East Meets West

    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 [...]

  • Eric Siday - Musique Electronique Eric Siday – Musique Electronique

    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 [...]

  • Anenzephalia - Lyse Anenzephalia – Lyse

    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 [...]

  • Driven Element (Various Artists) Driven Element (Various Artists)

    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 "Easy Listening" Group - Vol 1 The “Easy Listening” Group – Vol 1

    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 [...]

  • Barton Smith - Reelizations Barton Smith – Reelizations

    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 [...]

  • JJ Perrey & Pat Prilly - Moog Expressions JJ Perrey & Pat Prilly – Moog Expressions

    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 [...]

  • Bernard Estardy - Electro Sounds Volume 2 Bernard Estardy – Electro Sounds Volume 2

    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 [...]

  • Tom Hamilton, J.D. Parran, Rich O'Donnell - Formal & Informal Music Tom Hamilton, J.D. Parran, Rich O’Donnell – Formal & Informal Music

    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, [...]

  • Jurriaan Andriessen - Hardware Software Jurriaan Andriessen – Hardware Software

    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 [...]

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