As was often the case among other avant-gardists at that time, Subotnick studied at Mills College – a sort of finishing school for 20th century musical vanguards – before founding his own San Francisco Tape Music Center, which provided a more playful alternative to Columbia-Princeton Lab.
West Coast band release an album featuring Moog-meets-rock sounds. Riccotic electronic grooves and hydraulic wheezes that provide genuine thrills make this album truly engaging.
The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds
Elektra released The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds as one of its psychedelic offerings during the early sixties (and a couple years before Sgt. Pepper), pairing moogy weirdness with spoken-word narration for each of the 12 zodiac signs. It boasted an exceptional cast of LA session musicians such as Carol Kaye, Hal Blaine and Bud Shank; plus Paul Beaver as an emerging pop-psychedelic artist.
Jacques Wilson provided narration while folk artist Cyrus Faryar sang the lyrics with his deep, dramatic voice – later recording more astrology-themed albums for A&M). Arranging features included Moog synth and other exotic percussive instruments like harpsichord organ and guitar; unlike many instrumental psychsploitation albums this one wasn’t just funky; rather one of the first astrology albums to include electronic music!
Silver Apples
Silver Apples was an early pioneer of electronic-driven rock, featuring drones, drone chants, and electronic instruments almost exclusively as instruments of their music making. Starting out as a conventional rock band in New York’s East Village, singer Simeon Coxe eventually introduced an audio oscillator from 1940 into their act – something which soon drove away most members except drummer Danny Taylor (who died later that same year).
This album shows how two musicians took an instrument into their hands and used it to craft intricate, otherworldly songs like ‘Program’ and ‘Dust’ that incorporate found sounds such as those recorded from Bavarian oompah bands or tuned radio/television programs – something sound collage builders such as The Orb would surely appreciate. Though only lasting a few years initially, this early glitch-pop masterpiece was revived during the 1990s by generations of new bands drawn to its primitive futurisim.
The Flowers of Evil
Dockstader stood apart from many of his colleagues at that time who explored electronic music through academic hubs or technical labs by working alone; with his background in film effects he focused on results rather than high theory; thus creating this suite of occult soliloquies which echo Charles Baudelaire’s poetry for their transcendence and hypnosis.
Mort Garson, better known by his stage name Simeon Coxe on the West Coast Moog scene, began by playing classic rock’n’roll covers in his garage before quickly evolving into an avant-garde electronics player with drums-and-oscillators prowess. His 1967 “Moog Meets Rock Album” may well have been the first full-length electronic release on major label; both Silver Apples and its counterpart make for enjoyable listening experiences.
The Barrons weren’t known for being cutting-edge experimenters, but their work on Forbidden Planet remains essential listening for anyone interested in electronic music. Louis and Bebe Barron used oscillators, pitch shifting tapes and reverse to craft an aural horrorscape which still chills today.
Dockstader
Dockstader stands as one of the pioneers of electronic music. As one of many early sound synthesis pioneers who used reel-to-reel tape machines and sine wave generators, as well as homebrew circuits and military surplus gear, he created entire universes of sound before synthesizers became widely available.
Dockstader led an extraordinary life as both a recording engineer and creator of educational filmstrips before embarking on his signature avant-garde compositions in the 1960s – using techniques known as musique concrete he created pieces from magnetic tape scraps spliced together and then let the sounds evolve organically.
This work creates a pulsing sonic assault that could come straight out of Merzbow’s studio, with backward voices, ocean sounds, and an eerie coda of electronic tones all present here – the sound so potency makes this work viscerally powerful; truly this work from an early pioneer was truly inspired!
Gaburo
Belgian-born, American-based composer Eric Toews had an exceptional pianistic talent before turning his talents toward electronic composition. This early collection of droning tape pieces displays his understanding of both sound texture and musical structure – from typewriter sounds in After Hours to multicolored dust clouds billowing across Drops from Forests! His nine tracks demonstrate both his fascination with Pierre Schaeffer’s ideas as well as a desire to reconcile electronic composition’s vast potential with its musical purpose.
Gaburo would later experiment with various styles and genres, but this LP proves he was among the earliest composers to understand that an array of synth sounds could convey melodic gestures and contours effectively. Standout tracks include Oscillations which mixes rickety rhythms with hydraulic wheezes reminiscent of steam train sounds and Program which has the feel of an intense nightmare soundtrack.
Pfeiffer
Subotnick made groundbreaking electronic music right here in New York during this golden era of electronic composition. While Holland’s boffins flocked to GRM, musique concrete enthusiasts convened at Cologne’s Electronic Studio and Stockhausen gathered his mighty Elektronische Musikstudio in Koln; Subotnick created groundbreaking pieces like his first large-scale composition for 13 month deadline written and recorded on Buchla 100 synth (first portable version of Brobdingnagian instrument), an impressive piece which demonstrated its potential without becoming overwhelming or restrictive.
The nine pieces – each an attempt to evoke images – are impressively bold and synthetic, from stippled chimes on ‘Warm-Up, Canon and Peace’ to multicolored dust-clouds billowing through ‘Take Off’. Although more similar to Phill Niblock’s trombone work than David Tudor’s piano playing virtuosity, its sheer concentration and purposeful composition makes this album standout; Additionally, Important records is notable as having issued this reissue as part of their commendably adventurous compilation series series!
Krause
Beaver & Krause was an unlikely pair: Paul Beaver was an experienced sound effects technician from Ohio working on Hollywood films while Bernie Krause, born and raised in Michigan was an established folk musician who’d performed with Weavers and Motown session work before coming together when Jac Holzman from Electra Records brought them in to demonstrate Robert Moog’s modular synthesizer on an astrological concept album The Zodiac Cosmic Sounds.
Beaver and Krause’s record was an instantaneous hit, cementing them as go-to session musicians for rockers like Jim Morrison (who used it on Strange Days). But its lasting legacy lies in its groundbreaking exploration of ecology – particularly as seen through hindsight – along with an unnerving unease at our relationship with nature. Field recordings married synthetic sounds with natural sounds (such as “Walking Green Algae Blues”) for this purpose; also foreshadowed what would come later when Krause took up documenting ecosystems through various recordings that documented these ever changing soundscapes over years and decades – something it foreshadowed forebearers at first thought!
Hyman
Hyman was an accomplished pianist in various genres (he composed ragtime and swing under pseudonyms, was musical director for Arthur Godfrey shows and toured with Charlie Parker), yet his forte lay with the moog. Here, he uses it as an electronic vehicle to produce rickety grooves with influences drawn from soul, pop music and beyond – such as Oscillations or Lovefingers tracks which provide mesmerizing sounds similar to that of steam train chuffing away into space!
Hyman had already established himself as an accomplished studio musician by the time this album was recorded in 1969, playing with Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Red Norvo as well as recording honky tonk and standard jazz albums; orchestrating TV score arrangements; scoring for film; and teaching piano lessons. This record with its haunting yet experimental Moog improvisations stands as a significant departure point in his career and fits neatly within the general avant-garde canon such as Wendy Carlos’ Switched On Bach or Morton Subotnick’s Silver Apples of the Moon.
Walter Carlos
In 1968, Carlos released Switched-On Bach, an album of Johann Sebastian Bach pieces performed using a Moog synthesizer. It marked the first time classical musicians used this revolutionary new technology; consequently its success led to many others wanting to use this form of composition in their soundscapes.
So that Carlos could make the most out of her Moog, she and musicologist Benjamin Folkman modified many pieces on her album to be played simultaneously by only one voice; since her Moog could only produce single notes at a time, creating harmony was laboriously tedious.
Rhode Island native Carlos became fascinated with electronics and technology at an early age. She started composing at age 10 and won a science contest by creating her parents a hi-fi system from scratch at 14. Later she would release several albums with classical influences as well as compose soundtracks for Stanley Kubrick films like The Shining and Tron.