Electronic music memories

My buddy Eddie Jerlin posted a real interesting electronic piece this month. Got me thinking about a few obscure electronic music cds I've listened to over the years.

First though, I really like new age music. All flavors of it. Lots of rock musicians don't, but I do. When I first heard Paul Avgerinos' "Muse of the Round Sky" in 1999, it sort of kick-started an electronic music infatuation I went through for a few years. Not many can do ambience like Paul. I've been fortunate to have Paul work on a few of my own projects in the years since.

Another guy I liked a lot was John Flomer. His first cd, "One", is my favorite of his. Very melodic and catchy - which is unusual for new age.

I was subscribed to a great magazine called New Age Voice around that time. It's long gone out of print now, but I still have all the excellent CD samplers that came with it. It was a great way to discover more artists.

I also like the synthesizer/rock hybrid work of guys like Larry Fast (Synergy) and Jan Hammer. Mike Oldfield too. I don't know how those guys do it. Whenever I try something like that it just sounds fake...

Then there's the experimental electronic work of Morton Subotnick. Subotnick's Gestures interactive software served as the springboard for one of my own pieces (check 'The Spectacle' on my site). I let Mr. Subotnick hear it, and he remarked that it was 'quite nice', and was glad his software was helpful.

David Borden's early work (with Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece) is also a real good listen...

Can't forget Frank Zappa. I used to go to sleep listening to Zappa's "Civilization Phaze III" (sidenote: Why, oh Why has FZ's final electronic album "Dance Me This" never been released? Seems there just aren't enough fans of his electronic work. "Jazz from Hell" is another good one by FZ). I had a crazy dream once about FZ (in fantastic Monty Python style animation, too! You had to be there...). Anyway, the dream ended with members of the PMRC (remember them?) grabbing Frank and throwing him into the grand piano (the voices on Phaze III were recorded inside a piano), nailing the lid shut and being quite happy about it...

....uhmm....oh...kay....

Anybody remember Eddie Jobson's "Theme of Secrets"? Great stuff. I met Eddie way back then, and he told me a few interesting things about the making of that album...

And of course I mentioned a few of the electronic film scores I really like in my previous post on film composing. Especially David Shire's score for "2010"!

A year ago I picked up the hard-to-find soundtrack to Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" (just don't get me started on evolution...). There are some great electronic pieces on there. Vangelis, Tomita, and an amazing guy named W.J. Boydstun (I couldn't find any more of his work anywhere though).

If you're into guitar you can check out a guy named Jim Bartz. Try "Pictures of Earth and Space". He invents his own string instruments too I think. I also remember reading he was an avid Yes fan. Then there's a guy I actually played with briefly many years ago - John Greenfield. He made an album called "No Age Music".

I even briefly got into electronica and modern synth pop too. A guy who calls himself Monolithic is pretty good. So is a band called The Nine. There are more, but that's what comes to mind without going through my cd collection. Of course no one does synth pop like they did in the 80's! Howard Jones, Thomas Dolby.... Those guys could really write!

Now that I remember, there was another magazine, called Lexicon, I used to get that went out of print too. It catered to the synth pop crowd and also had decent sampler cds.

(And to complete the trilogy, Film Score Monthly is now also out of print!).

Anyway, here are few more decidedly obscure cds that I've enjoyed:

Thomas Metcalf - "One"
(no I haven't confused the title with Flomer's cd. Same name)
I will just quote what I wrote on CD Baby:

"This is a work of genius. I listen to many types of electronic music, and I have never heard nor will ever hear anything that approaches the utter surrealism of this music."

Enough said. In fact, Eddie Jerlin's track has some timbres that remind me of Metcalf. I still can't adequately describe this cd. It's like being stuck in a black and white dream. [...I'm in a basement, hiding. The water heater is after me...] The compositions are brilliant.

Shirley Cason - "Winter Mornings"
This cd just hit me the right way. I love the snow, and this album captures it. Lush new agey stuff.

Cameron Lewis - "eX"
Really experimental. Dark, kind of minimalist.

Craig Furkas - Check out "Transmitter", "Out There" or any of his other recent releases. This guy is one brilliant composer!

Steve Hillman - "Matrix"
Didn't like it at first listen. Loved it on second listen. Don't even remember much of it now, but hey, there you go... It's good.

Cal - "Horizon"
I actually know Cal. He's a great guy (and a prog rock refugee). His work features orchestral sounds, and he performs it live too!

Sorry for not providing links to everyone here. You know how to use Google don't you?