HELLO
welcome to
Electronic
Sound 09
There’s a strong association between electronic music and
space. In 1964, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop sliced up tape
and manipulated sound with filters and effects to create the
sort of spooky atmospheres that perfectly matched the outof-this-world visuals of ‘Dr Who’. As the 1960s progressed, so
did synthesiser technology, the machines made by the likes of
Moog enabling faster sound processing. And while this sonic
revolution was underway, America and Russia were plunging
untold amounts of cash into one goal – to conquer space.
Another major feature in this issue is something we’ve called
50 For 15, for which we have selected half a ton of bands and
artists we think will be shaping the coming year’s electronic
soundscape. From the outré avant garde to the mainstream and
all points between, it’s clear that electronic music is in rude
health. As Noddy Holder said in Slade’s evergreen Christmas
hit ‘Merry Xmas Everyone’, a song you will have no doubt heard
about 487 times as 2014 burned out, “Look to the future now,
it’s only just begun”.
In the world of film, meanwhile, Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A
Space Odyssey’, was released in 1968. While the soundtrack
was not electronic, it did feature the work of modernist
composer Ligeti and HAL singing ‘Daisy Bell’ was inspired by
a performance Arthur C Clarke witnessed of an IBM speech
synthesiser six years earlier. A couple of years on, Kubrick
commissioned Walter Carlos to create synthesiser arrangements
for ‘A Clockwork Orange’, the soundtrack of which remains an
electronic music touchstone. The cover of Walter Carlos’ 1973
album, ‘Switched On Bach’ has Bach floating through space,
attached to a Moog modular by a lifeline (or a patch cord).
Heady times for the futurist.
As ever, there’s lots more inside. We’ve also interviewed
Roedelius (catching him on the eve of his 80th birthday),
Adamski, Felix Kubin, Stefan Schneider & Sven Kacirek, Cerrone
and Polly Scattergood. We have some new regular features
too, like Synthesiser Dave, who shows us around the innards
of a Roland SH-101 he is fixing, and 60 Seconds, which is an
exclusive one-minute video portrait. Our first subject is none
other than Wolfgang Flür, the one-time Kraftwerker.
It’s been fun to see this issue of Electronic Sound come
together, echoing some of these coincidences of technology
and sound. The release of Public Service Broadcasting’s second
album, ‘The Race For Space’, along with the Moog’s new Sub 37
synthesiser puts a 21st century glaze onto the space/Kubrick/
Moog intersection. The day after PSB told us about their
thinking behind the decision to base an album around the key
moments in what is arguably mankind’s greatest achievement,
Moog sent us a review model of their new Sub 37 synth.
The Moog is a beautiful thing indeed, destined to become a
classic, and we took it to suitably ‘Clockwork Orange’ location
to photograph it. As for the PSB album, its retro-futurism
seems entirely in step with the founding principles of popular
electronic music as laid down by Kraftwerk: that the past still
sounds like the future when electronic music is at its best.
Forward into 2015, then. There’s big news in the pipeline for
Electronic Sound, which we be sharing soon, and we’re looking
forward to having you along with us as we pile headlong into
an exciting future.
Electronically yours,
Push & Mark