Features – Page 29 – Electronic Sound

2 minute read

Don Dorsey ‘Bachbusters’ (Telarc, 1985)

byMat Smith

Back in April 2012, at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, my two young daughters – then aged four and five – were watching the Electrical Water Pageant float past. Transfixed by its colourful show of lights, they genuinely believed it to be the work of pure magic.

FFeatures

4 minute read

Charlie Brooker on ‘Phaedra’

byIsaak Lewis-Smith

We spoke with Charlie Brooker, to hear why he finds this masterpiece “simultaneously fascinating, and a little bit scary”…

LLandmarks

5 minute read

Martha And The Muffins ‘Echo Beach’

byDavid Pollock

Singer Martha Johnson and songwriter Mark Gane of Martha And The Muffins discuss the making of their influential 1980 new wave classic, ‘Echo Beach’

TTime Machine

5 minute read

‘Under The Island: Experimental Music In Ireland 1960-1994’

byWill Simpson

A new album, ‘Under The Island: Experimental Music In Ireland 1960-1994’, focuses on an amazing bunch of late 20th century Irish bedroom producers and their early, lo-tech tinkerings

UUnder The Influence

4 minute read

Jim Coles

byRobert Harris

Bristol producer/DJ Jim Coles – aka Om Unit – has been exploring the outer reaches of dub, hip hop and downtempo for over 20 years. With the reissue of his 2013 debut album, ‘Threads’, he delves into the elements that shape him and his music

LLong Reads

9 minute read

Drew Mulholland: Tales From The Loop

byBob Fischer

Sound obsessive, tape loop guru, godfather of hauntology and – least likely of all – teen pin-up. For five decades, Drew Mulholland has been walking a very individual path

LLong Reads

9 minute read

Karl Bartos: Nothing Is Real

byMark Roland

Karl Bartos discusses his soundtrack for the expressionist shocker ‘The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari’, a film set in the 19th century, first released in 1920, and now reissued more than 100 years later

LLong Reads

8 minute read

Maya Shenfeld: Shine On

byOli Warwick

Embracing modular synths, acoustic instrumentation and superb depth of expression, composer Maya Shenfeld’s sumptuous arrangements make for a hugely compelling listening experience

LLong Reads

5 minute read

Office For Personal Development: Funny Business

byBob Fischer

Office For Personal Development are both a great synthpop band and a mischievous spoof of the more sinister side of motivational corporate culture. Where the line falls is anybody’s guess…

LLong Reads

20 minute read

Tangerine Dream: Paradigm Drift

byDavid Stubbs

Epic and mesmeric, sensual and influential, ‘Phaedra’ is Tangerine Dream’s definitive masterpiece. It was recorded under trying circumstances, but the album’s sequenced, otherworldly sounds – built on Mellotron and Moog synths – arguably resonate even more today than they did in 1974. To mark its 50th anniversary this month, we tell the story of an enduring cornerstone of progressive electronic music