My Podcast: The Holmes Archive of Electronic Music
My blog for the Bob Moog Foundation.
This time around I’m going to share some recent additions to the Archive that use electronic music in a variety of ways. From live, improvised experimental music to lovely synthesizer soundscapes, to classical music adaptations, some popular jazz, funk, rock numbers, and even an early record of musique concrete for broadcast purposes.
This episode won’t be in chronological order because I’m presenting more of a snapshot of certain artists and styles of music, although the span of years in which this music was recorded ranges from 1960 for an Eric Siday broadcast library recording to Steve Roach’s first album in 1983. In between there’s a whole lot of 1970s going on.
We’ll begin with three artists and four tracks from a kind of sampler that Lovely Music Ltd. released in 1980. It was called Lovely Little Records and was a six disc collection of Eps. I recently picked this up and even though I am very familiar with Lovely Music’s catalog, I had never had a recording by Frankie Mann, and there are two in this collection. Plus, an improvisation for computer network by John Bischoff and friends and a kind of soundscape from Maggi Payne. All recorded in the late 1970s at Mills College in San Francisco. Then we will listen a couple of 45s featuring synths from the early 70s, Lionel Ritchies wailing on the ARP Odyssey on an instrumental track; an instrumental by Billy Preston from around the same time, in this case featuring the ARP Pro-Soloist synthesizer; George Duke plays a variety of keyboards on an extended track from Master of the Game, including the ARP Odyssey, ARP String Ensemble, Minimoog, Oberheim, Prophet-5 and Crumar synthesizers. Then we will in a more mellow, spacey vein with the first album by synthesist Steve Roach; some rare tracks from Reynold Weidenaar from one of his only albums. Weidenaar was an associate of Robert Moog back in the sixties and was an early user of the Moog Modular. He also edited Moog’s Electronic Music Review, a short-lived journal that came out of Trumansburg. So, in the works of his that we’ll hear, you get some classic studio composition using tape composition techniques. Which I think pair very well with the early musique concrete created by Eric Siday in 1960 and a 78 RPM record that only has three short tracks. This was several years before Siday was an early purchaser of Bob Moog’s synthesizer modules and features an earlier keyboard instrument, the Ondioline, and effects put together on tape. And to cap off this grab bag, we’ll hear two wonderful classical synthesizer tracks by Hans Wurman from a single released in 1970. Wurman may have followed Wendy Carlos in arranging classical tunes for the Moog Modular Synthesizer, but I think his work are fresh and worth recognizing.
Episode 135
An Electronic Music Mixed-Bag
Playlist
Time | Track Time | Start |
Introduction –Thom Holmes | 06:28 | 00:00 |
John Bischoff, “The League Of Automatic Music Composers: Recording, December 17, 1978” from Lovely Little Records (1980 Lovely Music Ltd.). Tracks from this six-EP collection of new music from a variety of Lovely Music artists. Computer, David Behrman, Jim Horton, John Bischoff, Rich Gold; Mixing, "Blue" Gene Tyranny. “The League Of Automatic Music Composers makes music collaboratively by forming microcomputer networks. … For this performance, “each composer independently created a music program for his own microcomputer; we then mutually designed ways to internconnect our computers, and modified our programs to enable them to send data back and forth.” | 08:40 | 06:58 |
Frankie Mann, “I Was a Hero” from “The Mayan Debutante Revue” (1979) from Lovely Little Records (1980 Lovely Music Ltd.). Tracks from this six-EP collection of new music from a variety of Lovely Music artists. Organ, bass guitar, voice, composed by Frankie Mann. “The Mayan Debutante Revue” is a reinterpretation of religious history. The work is a performance piece involving tape, slides, and one female performer.” | 09:22 | 15:38 |
Frankie Mann, “How to be Very Very Popular” (1978) (excerpt) from Lovely Little Records (1980 Lovely Music Ltd.). Tracks from this six-EP collection of new music from a variety of Lovely Music artists. Tape editing, organ, synthesizer, voice, composed by Frankie Mann; voices, Julie Lifton, Ellen Welser, and unknown others. “How to be Very Very Popular” began as a letter-tape to my best friend. … Later I began composing electronic music, initially using homemade circuits and later using expensive synthesizers in college electronic music studios. My friend and I continued to send each other letters cross-country in tape form.” | 08:49 | 24:58 |
Maggi Payne, “Lunar Dusk” from Lovely Little Records (1980 Lovely Music Ltd.). Recorded at the Center for Contemporary Music, Mills College, February 4, 1979. Composed, electronic music by Maggi Payne. This piece was “composed using the Moog and Aries synthesizers and the twelve-track recording studio at” Mills College. “Major concerns … are spatial location of sounds and complex timbral changes.” | 07:59 | 33:46 |
The Commodores, “Machine Gun” from Machine Gun/There’s a Song in My Heart (1974 Motown). Single release featuring the early Commodores on this instrumental with Lionel Richie wailing along on the ARP Odyssey. | 02:42 | 41:42 |
Billy Preston, “Space Race” from Space Race/We're Gonna Make It (1973 A&M). Single release. Preston was best known for his piano, Hammond, and Fender Rhodes work on Beatles’ records and his early solo work. By this time, he had picked-up on the unique sounds that synthesizers could conjure. He was inspired to create this song while experimenting with the ARP Pro-Soloist synthesizer. | 03:26 | 44:24 |
George Duke, “Part 1 - The Alien Challenges The Stick / Part 2 - The Alien Succumbs To The Macho Intergalactic Funkativity Of The Funkblasters” from Master Of The Game (1979 Epic). Written by Byron Miller, David Myles, Ricky Lawson; Producer, Acoustic Guitar, Arranged By, Bells, Clavinet, Composed By, Fender Rhodes, Keyboards, Organ, ARP Odyssey, ARP String Ensemble, Minimoog, Oberheim, Prophet-5 and Crumar synthesizers, written by and vocals, George Duke; Bass, Byron Miller; Drums, Ricky Lawson; Guitar, David Myles. | 09:21 | 47:46 |
Steve Roach, Side 2, “T.B.C.” (5:06); Canyon Sound (2:58); Time For Time (3:33); Reflector (6:50) from Traveler (1983 Domino). All music composed and performed on synthesizers by Steve Roach. American Roach has such a great legacy of electronic music that is clearly distinguishable from the German wave of the 1970s. This is from his first, official album released in 1983. | 17:56 | 57:02 |
Reynold Weidenaar, “Twilight Flight” (6:56) (1977), “Close Harmony” (4:44) (1977), and “Imprint: Footfalls to Return” (5:04) (1981) from Reynold Weidenaar / Richard Brooks Music Visions (1986 Capstone Records). Weidenaar was formerly the editor of Bob Moog’s Electronic Music Review journal (1968-70) and an early user of the Moog Modular synthesizer. He was director of the electronic music studio at the Cleveland Institute of Music and at the time of this recording was on the faculty of the NYU films and television department. Twilight Flight” for electronic sounds was composed in 1977. “Close Harmony” for electronic sounds was composed in 1977. “Imprint: Footfalls to Return” for soprano voice and electronically modified sounds of the bare feet of Bharata-natyam Indian dancer was composed in 1981. | 16:50 | 01:14:58 |
Eric Siday, three short works, “Night Tide” (2:56), “Communications No. 2” (0:24); and “Threat Attack” (2:05) from Musique Electronique (1960 Impress). Hard to find original disc by Siday, before he ventured into commercial recording using the Moog Modular synthesizer. His intereste in electronic music was deep, and he was one of the first customers of Robert Moog when his synth became available. | 05:28 | 01:31:58 |
Hans Wurman, “Etude In C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12” (1:54) and “Waltz In D-Flat OP, 64, No. 1 (1:24) from Hans Wurman – Etude In C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12 (1970 RCA). Arranged and performed on the Moog Modular synthesizer by Hans Wurman. Brilliant interpretations of two classical pieces. | 03:22 | 01:37:14 |
Opening background music: Einstürzende Neubauten [ein-sturt-zen-deh noy-bau-ten], “Der Tod Ist Ein Dandy” from Halber Mensch (1985 Some Bizarre). Noise metal from this dependable source of industrial music. (06:39)
Introduction to the podcast voiced by Anne Benkovitz.
Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes.
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