A Decade of Electronic Music - 1970

 

 

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