Electronic

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

50th Anniversary ov LSD / Tribute to Albert Hofmann

Y’all guys seem to be sleeping on sect-tech. Not ancient or even rare but indiscutably contains some fully-formed facemelts and, to me, a paradigm shift possibly towards facebelt and a new thing called Swiss heat. Plus, I’ll take any opportunity to cause you all Waxi-annoyance with my 90s techno records. Plus this is an Anniversary […]

Electronic Age – Modern Science, Space & Mystery

Absolute classic as far as avant garde/electronic library records are concerned. A number of Studio G regulars are on this LP, all of whom display a deep appreciation for tape delay, distortion, warbling synths, and minimal ‘space age’ electronics. If there were ever a soundtrack to everyday space station living in the 22nd century, this […]

Russ Vines and the Contemporary Music Ensemble – Gemini

I have no clue what Russ was aiming for when he put this out. A majority of this record is tepid jazz, the track “zippy’s night out” gets pretty funky but then goes downhill. Here’s a soundclip of one of the spacy electronic tracks on the record – “Gemini 1”

Sounds Of Love …A to Zzzz

The sounds of a woman getting it on with a Moog. This is either one of the best or one of the worst records I own – I’m just not sure which… [Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Music for Electronic & Older Instruments

Impressive “tape music” record on the Composers Recordings Inc. label with sounds dating from the early to mid 1960’s. The first side is credited to Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky, co-founders of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. The b-side features Mel Powell, former director of electronic music at Yale University. The record begins with the […]

C – Dream One / In 1 Ear

For 7 or 8 years in the 90s I was selling records with my brother. I’m not going to pretend to you I was knowing my sh1t inside and out, my tiny mind was baffled from raves and with 2 hemispheres like Swiss cheese now it is just impossible for me to retain all the […]

J. Matthews – Electronic Music

The moment time travel will be made available to the general public, this is the kind of record I will be ordering, in retrospect, from 1965. Those who love vintage record oddities will agree this disc has a lot going for it. First, the very format is peculiar. It’s a 10″ microgroove record, but it […]

Walt Rockman – Pollution

I now have a new pick for favorite library record cover ever. It’ll probably change in a few months but wow is this great. “Pollution” comes from the German SONOTON label and features some excellent electronic drone action. The record is mainly electronic, aside from two very kraut-rock / motorik percussion tracks, “Pollution Drums” and […]

The New Volkswagen Transporter

This record was given to the new owners of Volkwagen Transporters back in 1980, promising them “technical impressions” of the van in question. Apparently, people who were into this particular Volkswagen van were heavily interested in abstract musical interpretations of the insides of their car, or so the people from the marketing department assumed. So how does […]

Michael Stearns: Planetary Unfolding

When last I spoke of Mr. Stearns, I believe I claimed something to the effect of “he fell off” after making one decent lp. Well, thankfully this claim brought about a reminder that I needed to revisit this, his second lp. While I’m not sure I agree that it “steps all over” Ancient Leaves, I […]

Phasing Drums & Electronic Sounds

Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with a discussion on how cool the “Phasing Drums” part is. As a matter of fact, that’s the most uninteresting part of the record (gasp!). The highlights of this record therefore fall under the “electronic sounds” section, which makes up the entire A side and a quarter of the […]

Masao Hiruma/Testpattern – Apogee and Perigee

This excellent robot cover houses a record that is a fake soundtrack to a non-existant animation film about the space adventurs of the robots Apogee and Perigee and their android dog, creations of the mad professor Persec, and their fight against a totalitarian society. Almost all tunes are anoying to a point that they are […]

Alojz Bouda – Synthesizer Sound

This is a totally common record from Slovakia that has pretty bad synthesizer pop tunes. One track is insane however. It’s the track that’s called Random and according to the sleeve, here Alojz explores the possibilities of the synthesizer playing on it’s own. I wish the synthesizer had played on it’s own for the entire […]

Carlos Farinas – Aguas Territoriales

The side long piece Aguas territoriales has a very cool concept that is executed perfectly. We start off with the sound of dripping water. Every minute or so the Cuban composer Carlos Farinas adds another electronic effect to it, progressively rendering it unrecognizable untill it sounds as the score for some scifi flick. Halfway into […]

Michael Stearns: Ancient Leaves

A later 70’s California New Age record that has a much more spacey sound than most. Reminds me a whole lot of the first few Klaus Schulze solo lp’s. Two side-long cosmic drones consisting of layered electronics and hypnotic wordless voices. Stearns’ best record by far. He went on to make a several more in […]

Francis Bebey – Un Petit Ivoirien

Cameroon born novelist, poet, musicologist, historian, radio DJ and multi-instrumentalist Francis Bebey (1929) conjured up this relatively unknown record for Ozileka Records in 1979. If you’re familiar with his classical guitar work, this stuff may come as a suprise. Deploying an assortment of synthesisers, the tunes range from feather-light afropop to very exciting grooves. One […]

Jean-Pierre Decerf and Gerard Zajd – Out of the Way

This record strikes me as being very odd. It sounds so contemporary, you almost suspect it’s a hoax by some sample dudes from 2006. But it’s not. It’s on the French Cam, so it’s probably from the beginning of the eighties. There are several stand out tracks, with subdued electronic beats, percussion and sound effects, but the […]

Units – Digital Stimulation

Duel male/female vocal and synth attack backed by some angular drumwork with the seed of Kraftwerk sewn so deep that it barely even manifests itself. Released in San Francisco circa 1980, this album is a much rawer and down to earth precursor to often painfully overproduced and empty genre of “synth-rock” that would dominate in […]

Ronald S. Marquisee-Electronic Music Vol. 1

This is a sound library on the Corelli/Jacobs Film Music Library label (a subsidiary of De Wolfe?) and I have never seen any other library on this label. According to the seller in which I bought it from, it was cut in the late 60’s. This album is broken down into two parts. Side A […]

Joseph Geczy – Bananas

Joseph Geczy is a pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor who moved from Hungary to Canada in 1969. Apparently already accomplished in Hungary, he continued his work in Edmonton, Alberta releasing a number of singles and even opening some Commonwealth Games. Bananas was his first album (1979), and as the back states consists of “all Geczy […]

Lorq Damon – Journey To The Land Of Forgotten Dreams

An obscure concept LP of analog synthesizer pieces, apparently recorded in 1972 and released in 1974 by the mysterious Lorq Damon of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to the information on the insert, ‘the collection is about the dream world and astral projection’ and the listener is encouraged to lie in a darkened room and listen to […]

Musiques De L’O.N.F. – Music of the N.F.B.

What makes this double-LP from 1977 special is it perhaps the earliest appearance of backing tracks to many of the avant-garde films in Canada. They were composed and sequenced (if you can call it that)using the earliest synthesizers and/or tape manipulation techniques. The compositions date from 1951 (!) – 1972, early in the game indeed. […]

Bernard Fevre – The Strange World of Bernard Fevre

File under: late 70’s science-fiction-themed after school special background music. This is one of the last releases on the great L’Illustration Musicale label; an “all electronic” album, as the back cover states. A top late 70’s electronic library (well, to me at least) — spacy moogs, clavinet, and analog drum machines. Fevre was also half of […]

Gianni Safred – Futuribile (The Life to Come)

This was originally released on the obscure “Music Scene” Italian library label, but soon after found a home with our good friends at Folkways. Rather than trying to come up with an entertaining review of this futuristic electronic/jazz/disco record, I’ll just let the liner notes do the job. It seems the people at Music Scene […]

Romolo Grano – Musica Elettronica 1

“A new dimension in sound — electronically tested in sound labratory.” This sentence, which is seen on the front cover, the back cover, and the label of the record itself successfully emphasizes what this LP is all about. Tons of analog drones, hums, bloops, delays. You know, all that good, test-your-patience-type stuff you hear on […]