29/01/2020: “Jazz Et The Vert” by Souleance
14/01/2020: “Kiua” by Andrea Daltro
13/01/2020:”Bachelorette” by Bjork
11/01/2020: “Electricity” by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
31/12/2019: “Lucidity Gone” by Cristobal Tapia De Veer
15/12/2019: “The Sleepless” by Red Snapper and MC Det
10/11/2019: “La Petite Fille De La Mer” by Vangelis
More evidence that Vangelis has made some of the most beautiful music ever, this haunting piece was written for a French animal documentary called L’Apocalypse des animaux, which came out in 1970.
The album itself came out in 1973 – it’s wonderful!
06/11/2019: “Umi No Ue Kara” by Yasuaki Shimizu
Japanese electronic music is vastly underappreciated in English speaking countries, which is mental considering a lot of it is instrumental.
This gem was released in 1982, blending jazzy vibes with an electronic beat years ahead of its time.
12/09/2019: “1969” by Boards Of Canada
Boards Of Canada are undoubtedly a rare sort. You might put Aphex Twin and Burial in the same class; they make weird electronic music that straddles the world of Ambient and IDM.
“1969” exemplifies the strange charm Boards Of Canada’s music has. A scratchy, lo-fi beat holds up a truly cosmic synth. These two elements create the hypnotic backbone of the song. Then, some disturbing and garbled lyrics appear.
The “hook” of the song – in so far as it has one – is the discordant wave of bleeps.
As with much Boards Of Canada music, the sound is both beautiful and disorientating at the same time.
The song was released in 2002 on Geogaddi, which has a vaguely occult feeling, full of obscure references to vaguely occult things.
28/08/2019: “Music For Chameleons” by Gary Numan
Gary Numan has spent decades cultivating a unique sound and persona. I could possibly compare him to David Bowie, but Numan’s music is special because it was elaborately electronic and popular at a time where it was hard to make elaborate electronic music, harder still to make it popular!
It isn’t that the New Wave movement that brought him to fame was short on popular electronic songs. But he deserves some recognition for being something of a pioneer.
1982’s I, Assassin adds a funkier edge to the sound he was known for. Accordingly, although “Music For Chameleons” still has the trademark retro-futuristic synth sounds and ‘android’ singing, there’s an incredibly danceable rhythm section.
The drums canter along with a distinctive 3-step pattern, switching down for the chorus.
The song has lengthy breakdown sections dominated by the classic neo-noir Numan synths, building up to the next space age groove. The sound is very 80s, but still seems ahead of its time in its sheer coolness!