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Electronic Music

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 9:21 pm
by terrybooth
Thanks to Dave for posting a link to Redshift - had a little listen but saved it until later. But prompted this.

One of this months 'Society of Sound' Downloads is an album by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (and yes, it has the Dr. Who theme - or I should say themes - on it) and listening to it brought back memories of listening to some Electronic music by Ilhan Miramoglu and 'Sonic Seasonings' by Walter Carlos. I have, of course, got the obligatory Tangerine Dream album.

So what do you think? Electronic music: infinitely textured soundscapes or electronic farts?

Re: Electronic Music

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 10:01 pm
by jimbob
I'm a lover of electronic music. 'Ghosts' by Nine Inch Nails is where its at for ambient electronic music. Most NIN stuff has an electronic vibe to it and the new album 'Hesitation Marks' is super.

Re: Electronic Music

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 10:25 pm
by Sandman
jimbob wrote:I'm a lover of electronic music. 'Ghosts' by Nine Inch Nails is where its at for ambient electronic music. Most NIN stuff has an electronic vibe to it and the new album 'Hesitation Marks' is super.
Amazing band to see live, seen them twice now

Re: Electronic Music

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 10:32 pm
by jimbob
Indeed seen them at the Manchester Apollo, MEN arena and the 02. Mr Reznor sure knows how to put on a performance! Where have you seen them?

Re: Electronic Music

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 10:45 pm
by _D_S_J_R_
I made notes in the early 90's about NIN as albums to buy after dems, but never did! Thanks for jolting my memory!

'EM' definitely has it's own beauty and grace, but you have to be of a mind for it ('for those obliged to space' was a Tee Dee comment on their Alpha Centauri album - a bit early for me, I much prefer Atem from that pre-Virgin era). it works the other way too - Snowflakes Are Dancing by Isao Tomita introduced me to the sublime beauty of Debussy and although the 'technicolour' tonalities may upset some, I love both kinds of presentation, now finding and deeply loving the inner beauty of Clair de Lune as played on a piano for example.

Some EM fans dislike Redshift (Ether is a favourite as well as the first self-titled album and both now available again on CD) because much of the early stuff was almost derivative of mid 70's Tangerine Dream (Phaedra, Rubycon and Ricochet - ah those three...) and Klaus Schulze, who is something of a god in these circles. That Mirage track (LP side) needs to be listened to in total peace where you can give yourself completely to the music, which is deliberately half-composed according to the liner-notes.

Ulrich Schnauss is another to look out for. He uses vintage synths and keyboards and his 'Goodbye' album really taxes a good system as the production is like a thick treacle or fog of reverb with so much going on within the 'gloop.' He's now touring with Tee Dee and their new 'EP' is eagerly awaited when I order it in the new year...

So much out there and it's well worth subscribing to the groove.nl newsletter as they have most of it...

I know so little about this genre today, but uber-geek mode has kicked in. Sorry folks... :ugeek:

Re: Electronic Music

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 10:45 pm
by Fretless
When I started buying LP's in the 70's I was really excited by sounds that appeared to have come out of 'Doctor Who' and consequently would buy albums just because the word synthesizer was on them.
Major turning points were '... live ...' By Klaus Schulze and Stratosfear by Tangerine Dream (which I got mainly for the amazing gatefold sleeve).
The influence of Krautrock bands like Neu! and Kraftwerk came into the post-punk scene and I followed the trail of: Human League, Gary Numan, OMD, Thomas Dolby, Cabaret Voltaire etc. etc.

As a fan of EM I have tried to trace it back to the crude beginnings with bands like The Silver Apples and White Noise who were creating their own technology from scratch in the 60's. And the integration of electronics into mainstream music hit a peak around the period of Underworld and Faithless.

I'm not only an EM fan, but have regular phases of just wanting to hear synth music. And the clean dynamics and aural soundscapes of this genre have prompted me, more than any other, to invest time, energy and cash in my audio equipment.

Re: Electronic Music

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 10:51 pm
by Fretless
Afterthought: Ron Boots of Groove has a weekly internet music show called Dreamscape Radio. Featuring old and new synth music. The link is on the Groove Unlimited page.

Re: Electronic Music

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 11:03 pm
by Sandman
jimbob wrote:Indeed seen them at the Manchester Apollo, MEN arena and the 02. Mr Reznor sure knows how to put on a performance! Where have you seen them?
MEN both times, earlier this year and the final tour (after which Reznor sold all the bands kit on ebay) a couple of years before

Re: Electronic Music

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 11:42 pm
by zebbo
:shock: lost me now. I feel a Spotify moment coming on.

Re: Electronic Music

Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2014 1:20 am
by slinger
I've just opened up JRiver and had a quick count up, and I've got 23 Tangerine Dream titles in my collection. Air (I've only got 5 of theirs), Cybotron, Daft Punk, Deodato, Edgar Froese, Gary Newman, Röyksopp, Ulrich Schnauss, Tomita, Dieter Meier, Future Islands, Yello, The Future Sound of London... Then of course there's the stuff I've got "filed" under Prog like Eloy and Ekseption, and do I include bands like Pink Floyd and/or Emerson Lake and Palmer under the Electronic music banner and what about Pendragon and The Enid? Then of course there's my Ambient section, with people like Aphex Twin, Wendy Carlos, Eno, Klaus Schulze and Ryuichi Sakamoto. It seems that I quite like "Electronic" music, I'm just not sure where the classification begins and ends.