Episodes
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Electronic Music of 1973
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
At last we return to the "Electronic Music of (insert year)" series. That's obviously not the actual title of the series but since I don't have a title that will do for this post. I really enjoyed putting together mixes for for 1970, '71, and '72 but then I got distracted and lazy, and I almost forgot about the series.
Now we're back to 1973 to continue our journey through the electronic music of the decade. I went down a Tangerine Dream rabbit hole recently and discovered their album Atem, which I had somehow missed. But I was happy to have found it because it fit in nicely with this '73 collection.
I'm already thinking about 1974 so hopefully there won't be so much time between mixes.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Between - Syn (And The Waters Opened)
- 05:45 Fripp & Eno - The Heavenly Music Corporation (No Pussyfooting)
- 16:22 Cosmic Jokers - Galactic Joke (Cosmic Jokers)
- 23:00 Kraftwerk - Ananas Symphonie (Ralf & Florian)
- 28:25 Tangerine Dream - Circulation of Events (Atem)
- 33:45 Vangelis - La Mer Recommencée (Apocalypse Des Animaux)
- 39:09 Klaus Schulze - Symphära (Cyborg)
- 45:58 Jean Michel Jarre - Les granges brûlées (Les granges brûlées)
- 48:48 Bob Callaghan - Noi Due Nel Mondo E Nell'Anima (Instrumental Moog Synthesizer
- 51:27 Neu! - Neuschnee (Neu! 2)
- 55:25 Kraftwerk - Tanzmusik (Ralf & Florian)
- 61:47 end
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Electronic Music 1972
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
The trip through the electronic music of the 70s continues with a stop in 1972. As with '70 & '71, this is a mix with some tracks that are very electronic, like the Wendy Carlos tunes, and others that are more electronic adjacent, like the Cluster or Pick Floyd tracks. But I think it gives a good sense of where things stood at the time.
I purposely stayed away from cheesy electronic versions of classical music like "The Electronic Spirit Of Erik Satie" or "The Unusual Classical Synthesizer." I'm just not a fan of that type of electronic music. I understand it's place in bringing synths to mass attention, I just don't like those recordings.
Enjoy 1972, I have a feeling 1973 will sound fairly similar. But things will start to change in '74 & '75.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 A.R. & Machines - Wie Ich Mir So Ich Dir (AR3)
- 02:12 Cluster - Im Suden (Cluster II)
- 08:10 Galactic Explorers - Lunarscape (Epitaph For Venus)
- 14:22 Terry Riley - Persian Surgery Dervishes
- 18:40 Klaus Schulze - Last Not Least (La Vie Electronique, Vol. 2)
- 25:15 Kraftwerk - Klingklang (Kraftwerk 2)
- 34:00 Wendy Carlos - Country Life (Clockwork Orange)
- 38:40 Tangerine Dream - Zeit (Zeit)
- 43:20 Pink Floyd - Absolutely Curtains (Obscured by Clouds)
- 45:55 Neu! - Im Glück (Nue!)
- 49:35 Wendy Carlos - Fall (Sonic Seasonings)
- 60:00 end
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
Electronic Music 1971
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
The Electronic Music of the 1970s series continues with a trip back to 1971. This year was a bit easier to curate than '70 because we have a few more good uses of electronic instruments featured prominently.
For me, the best electronic album of 1971 is "Zero Time" by Tonto's Expanding Head Band. It's very synthetic sounding without being too cheezy. I enjoyed discovering new music for this mix like "The Andromeda Strain" soundtrack and a Tangerine Dream soundtrack for an unreleased movie. I hope you too discover something new in this journey back to 1971.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Moog - Moog demonstration record
- 00:36 Tonto's Expanding Head Band - Tama (Zero Time)
- 05:48 Beaver & Krause - Nine Moons In Alaska (Gandharva)
- 07:30 Tangerine Dream - Sunrise In The Third System (Alpha Centauri)
- 11:07 Achim Reichel - Einleitung(Invitation) (Echo)
- 16:00 Deuter - Babylon (D)
- 19:49 Pat Prilly - Aerolithe Alpha (Moog Sensations)
- 21:15 Harold Budd - Pastoral Symphony (The Oak Of The Golden Dreams)
- 22:00 Popol Vuh - Aguirre (In the Gardens of the Pharao | Aguirre)
- 27:00 Ash Ra Tempel - Traummaschine (Ash Ra Tempel)
- 33:18 Pat Prilly - Coeur Synthetique (Moog Sensations)
- 34:12 Tonto's Expanding Head Band - Cybernaut (Zero Time)
- 38:30 Doug McKechnie - Moving (San Francisco Moog: 1968-72 Vol. 2)
- 41:10 Jean Michel Jarre - La Cage (La Cage)
- 44:25 Morton Subotnick - Sidewinder (Sidewinder)
- 46:15 Gil Mellé - Andromeda (The Andromeda Strain)
- 47:47 Tangerine Dream - Vampira VI (Vampira)
- 50:53 W. Merrick Farran & E. Vetter - Sea of Storms (KPM Electronic Music)
- 52:42 Tonto's Expanding Head Band - Aurora (Zero Time)
- 59:10 end
Wednesday May 03, 2023
Remember Tomorrow V2
Wednesday May 03, 2023
Wednesday May 03, 2023
This is a repost of an old mix from 2009. The is a retro synth mix with a sort of old space program vibe. I realized that I'd never posted it to Mixcloud so I thought I would haul it out of space dock and update it with a few more cuts added to the end. It's great to hear tracks from Freescha, Lunar Testing Lab, Bochum Welt and others for the first time in a long time.
Enjoy this trip backward and forward in time.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Countdown from "Lunar Adventure in 1985"
- 00:13 Belbury Poly - Adventures in a Miniature Landscape
- 02:00 The Units - Cowboy
- 06:05 Harmonic 33 - Departure Lounge
- 10:30 Lunar Testing Lab - Lunar Radio control
- 11:30 EU - New Osc's
- 13:00 Boards of Canada - Wildlife Analysis
- 13:50 Freescha - The Sun is Still
- 16:00 Lunar Testing Lab - Orbiting Lunar Observatory
- 16:40 TRS-80 - moon Patrol
- 22:30 David Bowie - V2 Schneider
- 25:10 Bochum Welt - interlude
- 28:25 Lunar Testing Lab - Phantom Cosmonaut
- 30:50 Signaldrift - Children of the 70's
- 32:20 Harmonic 33 - Planet 54
- 35:50 Frank Comstock - Music from Outer Space(when you wish upon a star)
- 37:50 Boards of Canada - Nova Scotia Robots
- 38:50 Bernard Szajner - A Kind of Freedom
- 41:30 Talvihorros - A Rural Place
- 43:35 David Bowie - Weeping Wall
- 46:20 Michael Garrison - Escape (Music From The 21st Century 1986)
- 48:42 Iguana Moonlight - V (WIld Palms 2017)
- 53:06 Stratis - By Water (Soul Jazz Records presents Space, Energy & Light 2017)
- 58:27 Chris Carter - Moon Two (Chemistry Lessons Volume 1 2018)
- 60:47 end
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
A Decade of Electronic Music - 1970
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
The Plan - make a mix for every year of the 70s, featuring electronic music from each year. Easy peasy! Well, not exactly. The early years are a bit tough. Electronic music wasn't really a genre yet. There are definitely electronic albums. But enough to fill an hour-long mix? Maybe...sort of.
So let me start by saying that some folks may disagree with my choices as I tried to fill out the tracklist. There may be some creative finagling in the mixes for the early years. But really, who cares? This is just a fun way to dive deep into the rise of electronic music.
In the early sets you'll hear plenty of krautrock or kosmische music. Bands like Popol Vuh, Amon Duul II, Can, and Ash Ra Temple fit that category and make appearances in the first two mixes. Again, some folks may balk at the inclusion of the artists but without them, the '70 & '71 mixes would not have happened. Even Tangerine Dream in these years is barely "electronic."
I discovered an artist named Doug McKechnie who experimented with one of the few Moog synths around at that time. I don't believe he ever released any music back then but there are recordings from many of his live shows. The albums were released in 2020 & 2023, so technically this shouldn't count in a mix of music released in 1970, but as I said, it was hard to fill out the mix. The tracks were recorded from 1968 - 72 so I grabbed one that didn't have a specific date on it and decided that it would count as being from 1970.
The more I listen to this set the more I like it. The unexpected tracks and artists made for a fun journey. I hope you all enjoy it too.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Kraftwerk - Ruckzuck (Kraftwerk)
- 05:10 Oskar Sala - In Leichtem Marsch-Rhythmus (Electronic Virtuosity)
- 06:45 Suzanne Ciani - Tenth Voice: Sound of a Lighted Window (Voices of Packaged Souls)
- 07:40 Tangerine Dream - Genesis (Electronic Meditation)
- 12:20 Popol Vuh - Affenstunde(excerpt 1) (Affenstunde)
- 16:15 Doug McKechnie - Berkeley Art Museum (San Francisco Moog: 1968-72)
- 23:42 Popol Vuh - Affenstunde(excerpt 2) (Affenstunde)
- 30:00 Philip Glass - Music with Changing Parts (Music with Changing Parts)
- 37:15 Mart Garson - Kevin & Paige (Didn't You Hear?)
- 42:05 Amon Düül II - Yeti Talks To Yogi(Improvisation) (Yeti)
- 50:10 King Crimson - The Devils Triangle (In The Wake of Poseidon)
- 54:40 Tangerine Dream - Cold Smoke (Electronic Meditation)
- 57:15 Suzanne Ciani - Twelth Voice: Sound of Love Turning (Voices of Packaged Souls)
- 58:23 Sylvette Allart - Berceuse du faon (Pour Ondes Martenot)
- 61:39 end
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Replicant Memories
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Blade Runner is obviously one of the great sci-fi films of all time, with one of the best soundtracks of all time. As a testament to the staying power of Vangelis' work, we still have a artists today that mimic the sound of the Blade Runner score.
The recording that got me started on this mix is brand new from Crows Labyrinth called "Neon Scenes I: Granular Dreams". It's a longform generative ambient drone track with a lead synth that has a great Blade Runner vibe. You can find it here... https://crowslabyrinth.bandcamp.com/album/neon-scenes-i-granular-dreams
As soon as I heard that track I knew I had to create another Blade Runner mix. This is my fourth one. Here are the links to the others:
https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/alternative-blade-runner-2049-soundtrack/
https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/blade-runner-is-now/
https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/blade-runner-pop-soundtrack/
One thing that sets this mix apart from the others is that many of the tunes are very purposely trying to replicate the sound of the original soundtrack. Some cuts even use rain, voices and effects to mimic the feel. I added a bit of BR sound fx on a couple of tracks to reinforce the vibe. Most of the time though it's that lead synth sound that transports me right back to 1982.
Some folks may have a problem with current artists so blatantly aping a style and sound(some more than others here). But I don't care, I just love the overall sound and feel of these tracks.
Here links to the music used in this mix:
- https://crowslabyrinth.bandcamp.com/album/neon-scenes-i-granular-dreams
- https://stateazure.bandcamp.com/album/nova-sonus
- https://andyhagerty.bandcamp.com/album/cadalach-ep
- https://the-rosen-corporation.bandcamp.com/album/pale-fire
- https://silentseason.bandcamp.com/album/infinite-horizon
- https://boardsofcanada.bandcamp.com/album/tomorrows-harvest
- https://decayingspheres.bandcamp.com/album/terminals
- https://www.amazon.com/Passengers-Original-Soundtracks-Brian-Eno/dp/B000001E8S/ref=sr_1_1?crid=11MWUX6Z1AL53&keywords=passengers+original+soundtracks+1&qid=1678645966&sprefix=Passengers+original+soundtracks%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1
- https://stateazure.bandcamp.com/album/folding-space
- https://subheim.bandcamp.com/album/conviction
- https://graintable.bandcamp.com/album/universal-ash
- https://pyecorneraudio.bandcamp.com/album/let-s-emerge
- https://the-rosen-corporation.bandcamp.com/album/neon-lovers
- https://boomkat.com/products/a-forest-c29998d5-512c-465d-ab6a-20cad1eed549
- https://the-rosen-corporation.bandcamp.com/album/pale-fire
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Strange Dream - The Curious World of the Ondes Martenot
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Maurice Martenot with his invention |
Last year in my Halloween mix I included a track that used an instrument called the Ondes Martenot. I new a little bit about it - that it was an old instrument played with a ring on a wire. But that was all I really knew. Then a listener pointed me in the direction of a piece for the Ondes Martenot written in 1937. Yikes, 1937?! I had no idea that "Oraison" by Olivier Messiaen was one of the first electronic pieces of music ever written. Of course this lead me down a Ondes Martenot rabbit hole and this mix is the result.
The Ondes Martenot was invented in 1928 by the French inventor Maurice Martenot. It sounds very much like a Theremin with it's wavering tones produced by oscillators. The Ondes Martenot can be played with a metal ring worn on the right index finger. Sliding the ring along a wire produces "theremin-like" tones. The music definitely can have a spooky, other-worldly sound. But it can also be quite expressive in the right hands.
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Artificial Harmonies - A Hymn to the Vocoder
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
This mix started with the track "Light & Grace" by Schneider TM. When I heard it I was reminded about how much I like the sound of a vocoder. I also realized that I never did a follow-up to the the vocoder mix I did all the way back in 2010 - http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2010/10/vox-electronix.html
So here is a new collection of vocoder tunes. I'm not sure how many of these tracks actually use a vocoder and how many are other vocal effects but I don't care. I'm just going for a sound and vibe. Many of these tracks are new to me as I discovered them in my search for vocoder songs. I am particularly taken with "Last Man Standing" by Cities of Foam. And of course the Eno track from his album of last year is fantastic.
Enjoy the robo-tunes!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Boards of Canada - Telepath (Tomorrow's Harvest 2013)
- 01:26 Schneider TM - Light & Grace (The 8 Of Space 2021)
- 05:18 Paul McCartney - Be What You See(Link) (Tug of War 1982)
- 05:43 Dimmes - I Am Still (2018)
- 07:53 Cylob - Are We Not Men Who Live & Die (IDMEMO - A Future of Nostalgia 2020)
- 09:20 Holly Herndon - Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (PROTO 2019)
- 12:06 Cities Of Foam - Last Man Standing (A Great Day For The Race 2005)
- 16:20 Vanishing Twin - Light Vessel (Ookii Gekkou 2021)
- 19:52 Röyksopp - Daddy's Groove (Late Night Tales 2013)
- 22:50 Peter Baumann - Biking Up The Strand (Transharmonic Nights 1979)
- 25:12 Plone - Plock (Plock 1998)
- 29:02 Tex La Homa - Vapour Trails (Some Lost Bliss 2006)
- 34:50 Boards of Canada - 1969 (Tomorrow's Harvest 2013)
- 38:40 Crys Cole & Oren Ambarchi - Burrata (Hotel Record 2017)
- 44:47 Brian Eno - Making Gardens Out of Silence (FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE 2022)
- 52:25 Brian Eno & J. Peter Schwalm - Rising Dust (Drawn From Life 2001)
- 59:53 end
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
A Tribute to Manuel Gottsching
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
I have been a casual fan of Manuel Gottsching for a long time but I never really dug into his discography until the last few days with the news of his passing. I don't have time to write much about him so I'll cut & paste a few things from Pitchfork.
"Manuel Gottsching, the Ash Ra Tempel bandleader who went on to compose the electronic cornerstone album E2-E4, died last Sunday (December 4).
Göttsching made his name in the West Berlin underground scene in the late 1960s and early ’70s. He was a core member of Ash Ra Tempel, a krautrock linchpin with revolving members including Tangerine Dream’s Klaus Schulze. The loose, shapeshifting outfit released five influential albums between 1971 and 1973. Göttsching’s solo debut, 1975’s Inventions for Electric Guitar, was subtitled Ash Ra Tempel VI; from then on he mostly produced records under his own name or as Ashra, such as the 1976 classic New Age of Earth.
In 1981, after a visit to Schulze, Göttsching improvised the composition that became known as E2-E4, hoping to throw together some listening material for an imminent trip. That mysteriously perfect hourlong exercise, which combined Prophet 10 synth pulses with waves of electronic percussion and electric guitar, came to define his post-krautrock output. After composing the track, Göttsching later recalled, the billionaire and Virgin Records owner Richard Branson invited him to his houseboat and, upon hearing the track, advised Göttsching that it could make him a fortune. But Göttsching decided to release the full improvisation on his friend Schulze’s label, without overdubs, in 1984, and it appeared to have little impact.
Though E2-E4 sold poorly, it had—unbeknownst to Göttsching—made its way across the Atlantic and into Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage sets, as well as the collections of key electronic music innovators. As Pitchfork’s Mark Richardson wrote in a 2016 review, the improvisation “wound its way across the world, morphing and changing with formats and remixes, finding new contexts, a music that is constantly in the process of becoming.”
It was a nice trip through Gottsching's music making this mix. I hope he is improvising with his buddy Klaus somewhere.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Ash Ra Tempel - Traummaschine (Ash Ra Tempel 1971)
- 11:37 Manuel Göttsching(Ash Ra Tempel VI) - Echo Waves (Inventions for Electric Guitar 1975)
- 24:35 Ashra - Slightly Delayed (Blackouts 1977)
- 30:55 Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4 (E2-E4 1984)
- 47:00 Ashra - Deep Distance (New Age Of Earth 1976)
- 52:12 Manuel Göttsching - Halensee(Excerpt) (The Best Of The Private Tapes 1998)
- 58:24 Manuell Göttsching(Ash Ra Tempel VI) - Quasarsphere (Inventions for Electric Guitar 1975)
- 64:52 end
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
Soothing Sequencers by Paul Asbury Seaman
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
I am always pleased to present a new mix from Paul Asbury Seaman and this one is no exception. It's a great collection of sequencer tracks that hits the ideal vibe. Coming on the heels of my Stranger Synths mix, I was still in a electronic, sequencer mood and this mix kept me in that zone perfectly.
Here's what Paul says about this mix:
“For a lot of people, the term ‘electronic music’ still brings to mind the chaotic synthesizer experiments of its early years, highly abstract and moody ‘space music,’ or the techno dance music that grew out of a merger of ‘70s disco with ‘80s pop. Or the characteristically propulsive textures associated with em godfathers Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, where a simple sequence of repeating notes provided both rhythm and melody. But some artists (including the aforementioned two) are able to infuse their beeping machines with warm emotions and heartfelt melodies, as presented here—a softer side of the electronic universe. If you like a steady, waterwheel flow and bell-like tones, this one’s for you.”
Paul mentions Klaus Schulze which is appropriate because we timed this mix to be posted just days after the release of the final Klaus Schulze album. I grabbed the last track from that album and made it the final track in this mix as one last tribute to Klaus.
Links to the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:
- https://andypickford1.bandcamp.com/album/radiosilence-objective-linearity-general-release-version
- https://larsleonhard.bandcamp.com/album/gravity
- https://macofbionight.bandcamp.com/album/auralities
- https://www.amazon.com/En-Trance-Klaus-Schulze/dp/B01K0BTEDW
- https://hollan-holmes.bandcamp.com/album/emerald-waters
- https://stateazure.bandcamp.com/album/dreams
- https://steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/spiral-revelation
- https://spiraldreams.bandcamp.com/album/journey-to-infinity-ii-24bit
- https://fritzmayr.bandcamp.com/album/milky-way
- https://tronestamjohan.bandcamp.com/album/next-step
- https://klausschulze.bandcamp.com/
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Andy Pickford - Temple of the Wonklord (RadioSilence: Objective Linearity 2022)
- 07:52 Lars Leonhard - Moon Gravity (Gravity 2022)
- 15:35 Mac of BIOnighT - Auralities (Auralities 2017)
- 20:36 Klaus Schulze - Fm Delight (En=Trance 1988)
- 28:00 Hollan Holmes - The River (Emerald Waters 2022)
- 33:22 State Azure - Ricochet (Dreams 2020)
- 41:45 Steve Roach - We Continue (Spiral Revelation 2016)
- 48:45 SpiralDreams - Pearl in the Sand part1 (Journey to Infinity II 2021)
- 54:30 Fritz Mayr - North Coast Night Lights (Milky Way 2021)
- 59:42 Johan Tronestam - Home Sweet Home (Next Step 2021)
- 66:06 Klaus Schulze - Der Hauch des Lebens Pt. 5 (Deus Arrakis 2022)
- 71:14 end