Conference marvin::uk_music

    check out Eno (Before/after Science, and some others).  Also Tangerine
    Dream - Ricochet, Force MAjeure, Tangram, and loads of others. 
    Wakemans old lps are not really similar to Tangerine Dream, and are a
    little difficult to listen to these days.  White Rock isn't too bad
    tho.
    
    Mikef
    
    More after some thought

    Here are some synthesizer albums I have:
    
    MAGIC FLY -- French group called SPACE, c. 1977
    VOYAGE    -- Brian Bennett (the Shadows' drummer) c.1978
    OXYGENE   -- Jean-Michel Jarre
    EQUINOXE  -- "
    
    Of these, I would rate the first two as the best, at least for my
    tastes. They use "real" drums, as well as synthesizers. (SPACE had an
    instrumental called MAGIC FLY -- from the album -- in the British
    charts at one time. It got to number 2, but was stopped from hitting
    the no. 1 spot by virtue of the fact that a certain Mr. Presley had
    just passed away, and his latest release was consequently hogging the
    top spot).
    
    
    Dave Hazel

    
    There's also another Band Called "Stern Combo Meissen"
    They came from the Ex-GDR and are practicing since 1974, I think.
    They have a bass player, a singer, a drummer and three keyboarder.
    I have loads of their stuff. Very good.
    But it should be difficult for you, to get their stuff over in the USA.
    It is much terrible, to get their stuff here.
    
    More infos needed? Let me know.
    
    |PETER|_likes_them_a_lot
    

    Try and get a copy of "the Faust tapes" by (I think) Faust. Its a good
    example of wierd early 70's experimentation. 

    (Then, if you enjoyed that, you might be ready to sample some Throbbing 
    Gristle..)

    Dave

    PS. Along the lines of JM Jarre, YMO, Tangerine Dream etc, the stuff
        that always impresses me the most is by a band called "Tomita". I 
        don't know anything about them though... you'd need to ask my Mum.

    RE -a few
    
    A band called Tomita indeed !  Mr Hisao Tomita is the man :-)
    He does it all mostly on his own and has done his versions of classical
    music.  He had a greatest hits album out which gives an idea of what he
    sounds like.  He's done Holst's The Planets, Mussorgsky's Pictures At
    An Exhibition (The Great Gate of Kiev is brilliant) and Stravinsky's
    Firebird suite amongst others.  He makes synthesizers almost talk,
    listen to his version of Star Wars theme if you can.
    
    RE: Duncan Mackay.
    He's also done an album called Visa which is all pretty synthesizer
    tunes.  I though Score was mainly piano stuff, I've been searching for
    it for well over ten years now with no luck.  It seems to have been
    deleted ages ago.
    
    Peter Baumann, ex of Tangerine Dream has done a few solo albums. 
    Romance '76 was particularly dark and depressing.  Trans-Harmonic
    Nights was full of short pleasant tunes, reputedly based on European
    Folk songs.
    
    

    "Here Come the Warm Jets" by Brian Eno is a must for wierd synthesizer
    sounds. In particular a track called Blank Frank springs to mind. A lot
    of the music sounds like it is pure synthesizer but I think it is just
    electronically processed instrument sounds. I think Phil Collins
    (please don't be put off :-) and Robert Fripp also play on this album.
    
    Other Eno albums of interest :-
    
         "Before and After Science" v. good
         "Another Green World" good; with theme tune from "ARENA"
         "Taking of Tiger Mountain"
         "Begegnungen" - this is Eno, Roedelius, Moebius and Planck and is
                         good for weird sounds.
         "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" -with David Byrne (weird and
    								interesting)
         "After the Heat"
         "Wrong Way Up" - with John Cale (his latest)
    
    In addition to these he did lots of ambient records such as "Music for
    films", "Apollo", the Ambience series, "Cluster and Eno" which are
    all quiet atmospherical works.
    
    As a starter I'd recommend listening to "Here Come the Warm Jets" and
    "Before and After Science".
    
    Other Eno stuff of interest :-
    
       Side 2 of "Low" by David Bowie
       Side 2 of "Heroes" by David Bowie
       Roxy Musics first album which is a timeless classic.
       He also produced a few Talking Heads albums such as "Remain in
         Light" and "More Songs about Buildings and Food"
       He also did some stuff with Phil Manzanera from Roxy Music, I think
         "Diamond Head" and "801 Live"
    
    Sorry to waffle on, but as you can tell I like his stuff!
    
    Barry.

    re:-1 to -7;
    
    I'll extract these notes for when I go shopping on Saturday!
    
    I was watching a film on Friday (I think) night called Dogs In Space
    which starred  Michael Hutchence (from INXS).  The charachter he played
    was in a band.  The keyboard player in this band had a homemade synth
    which whistled and kept breaking down.  He kept going on about Eno.
    
    Point is - I just listen to all theis House/Techno/Electro stuff and
    have missed out on the groudbreaking music from the times when synths
    were hard to get hold of and costed the Earth.  Time to backtrack.
    
    Thanks,
    
    
    matty  

    Still thinking about synth stuff.... The only other synth music I have
    is by Hawkwind in particular an album called "Astounding Sounds,
    Amazing Music" has a few synth tracks on it. Similar albums from that
    period also have the odd synthy track :-
    
        "Quark, Strangeness and Charm"
        "PXR-5"
        "Hawklords"
    
    It's not everyone's cup of tea though! (unless its got mushrooms in it :-)
    
    I believe Steve Hillage did some ambient synth music; maybe someone
    else can enlighten us on his range of albums.
    
    Barry.

    If you can still get it, there was an album out many, many years ago by
    'Tonto's Expanding Head Band', who were a very minimalist synth duo.
    
    Also, as recommended by others, try any of Brian Eno's 70's albums, or
    anything by Faust if it's still available.
    
    Finally, if you *really* want to hear what rock bands were doing with
    synths (in a far-out man kind of style), anything from very early
    albums by Gong or Hawkwind should put you off.
    
    Bob
    
    p.s. What about 'Switched-On Bach', by Walter Carlos....?

    Wendy Carlos now...
    
    Rainbow Dome music by Steve Hillage is well ambient, and also crap.  I
    believe it was sampled on the Orb lp.
    
    I think Tangerine Dream are still the best bet, no point messing about
    with JM Jarre.  I think quite a few TD lps have been reissued at mid
    price (sarcastic hahha).  Also check out WH SMiths and Woolies, both of
    whom are selling off all thier vinyl cheaply at the moment.
    
    Mikef

    Mein Gott!,
    
    11 replies and no mention of the men from Dusseldorf, Kraftwerk. To say
    they are/were influential would be some understatement as these chaps
    have been name-checked by virtually every synthesiser band who formed
    from the mid-seventies onwards; and House etc owes this band a lot as
    well. Can't give you a complete discography since I only own two
    albums, "Man Machine", and "Electric Cafe". Others I know of are
    "Radio-Active","Trans-Euro-Express"(?) and "Computer Age" (or World?). 
    No doubt there's others as I read recently that these chaps have 
    been around since 1968.    
    
    Barry. 

    
    Yes, another Band from Germany:
    
    La Duesseldorf. They have had some albums in to 70's.
                    The have had a Top 100 hit "Reinita".
                    I have the album "VIVA" with Reinita on it.
                    Good stuff. I think Joachim Witt (Goldener Reiter)
                    was a member of the band, at that time.
    
    So, check it out.
    
    
    |PETER|_what's_about_Exeption_and_Sky?
    

    Re. .13:
    
>   |PETER|_what's_about_Exeption_and_Sky?
    
    Sky were an instrumental group, not specifically a synthesizer group.
    
    Dave Hazel

	Bert ! I thought you'd left ??

	Insulting bands such as Gong and Hawkwind on the 'Net' without
	prior permission is an offense under the "Kim Thomas Prior
	Approval" Policy No.1/216.

	I thenk yew

PS: 	I have a copy of Zeit (Tangerine Dream album of euro-syntho-crap)
	which I will pay someone to take off my hands. I may also deliver.

		p1

    re-1,
    
    How much for the T.Dream LP? and where are you?
    
    re previous few;
    
    I bought a Hawkwind LP (Masters Of The Universe) hoping it was all
    synth stuff, but it wasn't.  It's still bloody good though.
    
    I have all the Kraftwerk LP's already, and some JM Jarre ones too - the
    ones I haven't got I used to have anyway.
    
    
    matty

    re .15
    
    >> Bert, I thought you'd left.
    
    Maybe, maybe not. check the p-name.
    
    Bob

    Matty,
    
    Without claiming to be a synth. fan, I realize that I've got quite a
    few of the albums mentioned here.  Mostly from Roxy Music spinoffs.
    
    Brian Eno "Here come the warm jets" - brilliant, still play it.
    Roxy Music I - ditto
    
    Fripp and Eno - ?wossitsname?  - never play it.
    
    Quiet Sun (Phil Manzanera gone solo) -  Ok now and then.
    
    Faust tapes - always thought it too weird.
    
    
    Mail me if you want any more info.
    
    
    Paul 
    
    
    

    OK, hands up who knows anything about the Yellow Magic Orchestra???
    ie. What albums they have released, where I might find such albums, etc..
    
    I can't find any of there albums anywhere..(I've tried Adrians)
    
    TA, Craig...

    re-1
    
    Boy, that's cheap!  I'll contact you off line on Monday.
    
    Thanks!!!
    
    re-2
    
    Craig,  I've seen Yellow Magic Orchestra LP and 12" at record fairs for
    around a fiver.
    
    
    matty

    
     Some good electronic stuff on an album called "Mainstream" by Quiet
    Sun featuring Phil Manzanera and Eno.QS were a pre Roxy band of 
    Manzanera's which included Bill and Ian McCulloch.
    Eno was recruited for his synthesizer work on some very wierd tunes one
    of which was called "Mommy was an asteroid,Daddy was a small non-stick
    kitchen utensil"!
    
    Well it was cheap. 

    Eno also crops up playing his synth on Matching Mole's 'Little Red
    Record'. Matching Mole was the band formed by Robert Wyatt immediately
    after he left Soft Machine, and before he had his accident.
    
    Bob Fact

    	
    	RE: a few back
    
    	Not as old as the stuff you're interested in but who ever mentioned
    	Tonto's Expanding Headband I'd like to know more about them, likewise
    	about Section 25.  Other than hearing a couple of songs by both that
    	I liked I don't know anything about them.
    
    	- Jim

    Jim, I'm still here.  I leave 1 week from tommorrow.
    
    matty

    re -2
    
    TONTO's Expanding Headband is Malcom Cecil (who also did the
    electronics for a few Steve Hillage Lp's.."Motivation Radio" is
    definitely one he appeared on)
    
    Harv
    

    Re: .24
    
    I have the Tonto's Expanding Headband LP at home, together with a
    contemporary review from one of the music papers (Melody Maker?). 
    Tonto was actually (from memory) Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil. 
    The LP is called 'Zero Time'; the music is more atmospheric than
    melodic, and features really powerful bass (it will test your
    woofers!).  One piece is called Jetsex, and the inspiration for it
    becomes obvious when you hear the climax!
    
    I will dig out the LP and add another Reply if there is anything
    interesting in the aforementioned review.  If you want to hear it, send
    me a tape and I'll record it.
    
    Ian.

    I remeber that review of Zero Time - when the LP came out, it was
    hailed as the first synthesized composition to have "warmth". AS you
    can imagine a lot of synths(especially early) sound cold and
    impersonal. Definitely not so with "Zero Time". My only complaint about
    it was that it was far too short in duration. But the quality was
    there. I also remeber there to have been a followup LP, but can't
    remember the title (though I think it had a religious title .."Christ"?
    
    Other 70s synths:
    -----------------
    * Can (German U/ground exptl.) -listen to "Future Days" & "Soon Over
    Babluna"
    
    * All the other Faust LPs (including the very 1st one "Faust" - like
    someone drilling and chain-sawing through your head, but with very nice
    anaestetic!
    
    * Robert Wyatt: :"end of an Ear" some very original synth licks here!
    
    * White Noise:"Electric Storm" - reckoned by most to be the ultimate
    early 70's Synth album (even though released in 1968). Years ahead of
    its time, and featuring a real orgasm(from an orgy) combined with an
    electronic one! PLus a long track about a girl whose boyfriend
    bike-crashes on his way to see her, but still visits her spiritually
    -afterwards. She cries like hell when he starts to fade away from her.
    Very moving track. Just been able to get a re-issue on cd, which
    contains lots of extra info concerning the group who disappeared into
    the sort of legendary slot that Faust occupy (mainly because the LP was
    so good and that no-one was able to find any info about the band, who
    it transpires had members from the BBC-Radiophonic Workshop!)
    
    * Cluster (another Kraut band)
    
    * Neu (another Kraut band): Heavy synths that you can actually bop to!
    An astounding band in their own right. (like Tangerine Dream on speed)
    
    * Matching Mole: nice to hear this band resurfacing within these notes
    
    * Holger Czukay's(ex-CAN) "Movies" & "On the Way to Peak of Normal" have 
    some amazing synth material especially in the 20min track "Ode to Perfume",
    but this is very late 70's stuff. When I die, I'd like my wife to chuck
    these in my grave with me!
    
    Alex  
    

re .-1
Holdya Suitcases "Movies" is an excellent album, that makes less use of synth and
more of Holdya's dictaphone / skill with tape editing. It's something that users
of samplers should give a listen, or anyone else for that matter. 

Persian love manages to mix an Arabic sounding female vocal ( pinched from SW Radio
by the sound of it) with Karoli twiddling on his guitar.

(My Life in the Book of Goats is also a good one for that sort of thing)

ps - I only read .-1 so I apologise if I'm repeating previous notes.

re .-1; Surely you mean `My Wife and her brush with Goats?'

Another vote for mister Chookay.  Haven't heard `Movies', but `Rome...',
`Der Osten...', `Radio...' and `On the verge...' are all fab.

Lee

    Well I'm blowed!!! I never thought this conference would throw up 3
    people who have  heard of (or even liked!) Holger Czukay, who must rate as
    one of the weirdest & most obscure of musicians.
    
    Mind you with proper exposure & marketing his "Blessed Easter" track
    from "Rome remanins Rome" could've been a monster hit (it was a hit of
    sorts in the Indie charts), with royalties pouring in to His Holiness
    the Pope, who was of course the featured singer 
    (this is true - no kidding!)
    
    Any idea what Holger is doing (musicwise) at the moment? I didn't care
    much for his last release "Radio Wave Surfer" which was culled mainly
    from a live performance with a lead vocalist who I felt detractyewd
    from the whole thing (why didn't Czukay use the Pope again instead??)
    
    Alex 

    In last weeks' Peel show, Peely let drop that "Faust" are playing live
    at the Marquee Club 25th-Oct. 
    
    I had no idea that they had reformed, but as a slice of musical history
    & if you like experimental/synths., should be well worth going.
    
    Alex.