Analog Synthesizer Epics: S/D, POV

Secondly, early Jarre is strangely compelling — very...seductive sonically. In particular, "Equinoxe 3", with the baroque organ flourishes, is (as Jon might say) very swimmy-floaty.

I briefly considered a joke thread along the lines of "Arnolog Synthenegger Epics" but thought better of it.

Damn, nobody's mentioned Vangelis' Beaubourg yet. Seek this immediately if you're into exploratory analog-synth strangeness. It's his peak solo work.
Also seek M. Frog's Labat and Underwater Electronic Orchestra (the latter recorded as Jean Yves Labat). He was Todd Rundgren's keyboardist for a spell in the '70s.

-- Dave Segal (djvein...), September 5th, 2005.

I agree with you about "Beaubourg" being the best Vangelis record, and I also really like "Underwater Electronic Orchestra", but haven't heard any other of M. Labat's work - I didn't know him as M. Frog, either.

Also, if people are interested, Richard Pinhas has made many wonderful records, and I recommend that people hear at least any one of the first 5 Neuronium albums also.

I also just bought the UK reissues of Body Love and Moondawn by Klaus Schulze on CD. I like him less and less but these albums are both great. Body Love is Volume I and has a bonus track called Lasse Braun. Now if they would just reissue Volume II on CD.....

whoa. thanks!

It's not an "epic," in fact most of the tracks are meant to serve didactic purposes, but I can listen straight through the whole thing with a big smile on my face. (I generally prefer reading technical manuals rather than epic novels, too...)

Revive, nearly two years later, at which point I've gone from willfully ignorant about Jarre and Vangelis to loving them and contemplating how one might revisit this stuff in a modern context (since neither seem capable of doing that themselves).

Right now, I'm finding myself drawn back to Jarre -- listening to Concert in China at the moment, the most enjoyable parts of which are the new stuff: "Arpeggiator," etc. A bit of a mixed bag, but interesting nonetheless.

It really is interesting the extent to which he fell off the planet quality-wise after Zoolook, which showed such promise for him in a digital context (as a point of contrast, Eno took a very, very long time to get good w/ digital gear). As a sound sculptor, Jarre was really without peer for a while there.

The only solo Vangelis I've heard (besides Blade Runner) was something
called The Lizard and I quite liked it. I've always liked early Tangerine Dream, I guess I need to get into "mid-era."
I think that Rh Band should get a mention on this thread. I'm not sure if they use "banks upon banks" of synths, or guitars, or tapes, or what, but I think that the end result of whatever process they are using would place them in the same company as this thread. I listened to their live record on HP Cycle just last night and it is a very palpable analog drone epic.

Tomita pwnz this thread

king of all synthesiser disco epics surely = E=MC2

-- Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, September 5, 2005 1:47 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

lyric:
tea and coffee by Laurie

who was Laurie?

the world needs to know

I think that Rh Band should get a mention on this thread. I'm not sure if they use "banks upon banks" of synths, or guitars, or tapes, or what, but I think that the end result of whatever process they are using would place them in the same company as this thread. I listened to their live record on HP Cycle just last night and it is a very palpable analog drone epic.

definitely. in a similar "there may be no analog synths here" vein, the mouthus/axolotl LP on old english spelling bee.

Tomita pwnz this thread

based on pictures at an exhibition i concur.

i'm digging the escape from new york soundtrack at the moment

Shall we revive yet again?

1. Michael Hoenig "Departure From The Northern Wasteland"
2. Wolfgang Duren "Eyeless Dreams" http://dueren.waldorfian.info/
(download the whole super rare LP)
3. Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom "The Days Of Mars"

I also just bought the UK reissues of Body Love and Moondawn by Klaus Schulze on CD. I like him less and less but these albums are both great. Body Love is Volume I and has a bonus track called Lasse Braun. Now if they would just reissue Volume II on CD.....

I think this thread introduced me to all these records.

The Hoenig is a Berlin School classic -- a brief member of Tangerine Dream and also producer of Harold Budd's Lovely Thunder. The Duren is a pretty good example of the kind academic epics that Gleeson/Fast et al were doing on analog synthesizers but on the PPG wave sequencing digital synth. Days of Mars feels a little like its just a TD knockoff.

I like both the Body Love records quite a bit. I know Milton doesn't care for Schulze's soloing -- I think his noodling becomes more of a texture than anything.

a TD knockoff.

you say that like it's a bad thing!

checking out that michael hoenig now..

Was wondering if there's a Spotify playlist for the music from Cosmos. Would be the perfect forum for one.

That link upthread to a list of all the Cosmos tracks doesn't seem to work anymore either...

I'm really starting to like the Space Art albums. Dunno who else digs them. Schulze is a guy I've started a thread on and have tried multiple times to get into but I think that kind of music really needs maximum attention. I can't listen in the car because the road noise becomes a distraction, and at work I can't give it the proper amount of concentration, so it becomes digital wallpaper. I would have loved to see him live.

Vangelis on the other hand, I'm really starting to love, though I admit I'm only really getting into his 70's records. I haven't heard anyone capture the sort of pristine beauty that he does on L'apocalypse des animaux or, say, "My Face in the Rain". Are his later albums good?

also a big "fuck you" to Schulze for the ending of "Bayrueth Return" from Timewind, one of the most hypnotic pieces he's ever done for sure, but my copy is super quiet, so you have to crank it way up. it ends with this blast of white noise that's louder than anything else on the disc. what a prick.

That link upthread to a list of all the Cosmos tracks doesn't seem to work anymore either...

Vangelis on the other hand, I'm really starting to love, though I admit I'm only really getting into his 70's records. I haven't heard anyone capture the sort of pristine beauty that he does on L'apocalypse des animaux or, say, "My Face in the Rain". Are his later albums good?

I've been more into his late-70s/early-80s stuff in the past, but am trying to give the earlier records a bit more of a fresh listen. Heaven and Hell has some overly gothic moments but also some amazing stuff; "So Far Away So Clear," his first collab with Jon Anderson at the conclusion of Side 1 is particularly good.

I feel as tho L'apocalypse des animaux is a bit overrated. "Le Pettite Fille de la Mer" is the only thing I care for on Side 1 (and it is great) -- the rest sounds like kind of standard soundtrack music of the era w Rhodes and trumpet. Side 2 is more interesting overall as it is more, uh, cosmic, but the last two cuts pretty much outpace everything else by a good distance.

Thanks for that link. I actually own almost every classical piece on there...! Any idea what movement of Black Angels was used on the show? He lists specific movements for most of them but not Black Angels and not Le Sacre du Printemps...

>Any idea what movement of Black Angels was used on the show?

third movement

I can probably guess which parts of Le Sacre and Bartok MSPC.

Cosmos did play it mostly straight with its classical picks, but the way it seamlessly crossfades things like Shostakovich into Vangelis, Froese into Purcell, Gregorian Chant into Heldon was unprecedented and more than a little genius. This show did so much to canonize the 70's electronic / space / new concert music for a national audience, and these days it strikes me that all the electronic music it was introducing is now so taken for granted by later generations that this show can introduce those generations to the earlier classical music.

I've looked for interviews with the team of people who did the music curation, I've found nothing

Oh i did not mean to be patronizing toward the classical picks at all! I'm actually dying to put together a playlist from this.

One thing sticks out which is Heldon. I've never heard any in my life...

So awesome to see Numan's 'I Almost Married A Human' listed-- I adore this track so much and whenever I've played it it always reminds me of Cosmos for some reason-- and now I realize that's cause young me must've actually heard it tracked into Cosmos before I had a fucking clue what Replicas was!

One thing sticks out which is Heldon. I've never heard any in my life...

Thread worth checking out: Heldon/Richard Pinhas: S&D

Cosmos did play it mostly straight with its classical picks, but the way it seamlessly crossfades things like Shostakovich into Vangelis, Froese into Purcell, Gregorian Chant into Heldon was unprecedented and more than a little genius. This show did so much to canonize the 70's electronic / space / new concert music for a national audience, and these days it strikes me that all the electronic music it was introducing is now so taken for granted by later generations that this show can introduce those generations to the earlier classical music.

I've looked for interviews with the team of people who did the music curation, I've found nothing

Btw, this is interesting -- a bunch of music Vangelis did for the 1986 special edition of Cosmos that didn't make the final cut:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxl1vwsQJq4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Should also note that the entire Cosmos series (the DVD set I believe) is on Netflix Instant.

iirc the DVD verzh of Cosmos replaces a bunch of the original soundtrack - mine certainly sounds a bit samier and a bit less adventurous than i remember or than the internet tells me it ought to be. still great and not moaning but think potential watchers shd be aware.

http://digitalisrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/assimilating-the-shadow

this (ricardo donoso, 2012) is nice. very spacious and clear.

bit of a downer:

Charles Cohen arrested for attempting sex with a minor
http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=31722

might explain his cancelled London show on Wednesday

local news source
http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/10/09/charles-cohen-arrested/

it's his 70th birthday today then

jail cake for you charlie

mediocre