Tag: electronicmusic

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30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 3: Incantations by Mike Oldfield

30 Tage, 30 Platten / 30 days, 30 vinyls day 3: Mike Oldfield, Incantations

30 records in 30 days goes into the second round, this time with düdeldideldü, ping, dum, dum and düdeldideldü again.

Please do not misunderstand, this introduction is not meant negatively. I just wanted to summarize what is the essence of the entire LP. The double album is characterized by medieval-like melodies, richly varied instrumentation and a complex arrangement. Overwhelming.

The 4th studio album of musician Mike Oldfield belongs to my category ” records for meditation and contemplation “. A record for the quiet moments, as a complement to a good book or simply as a trigger to think and ponder. Later I bought Tubular Bells and Ommadawn. And still Mike Oldfield is for me the ideal musical complement for the quiet moments of life.

Stay tuned

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30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 2: Genesis Live (1973)

30 records in 30 days. a challenge. Day 2: Genesis

30 records in 30 days goes into the second round, this time with knives, giants and a kick-out.

This time short and sweet. The combination of Peter Gabriel and Genesis is for me one of the musical highlights of all time. I have only one LP, but bought the rest – except Trespass – in digital form over the last years. Musically, I became unfaithful to Genesis after the leave of Peter Gabriel, because I didn’t like the soft and commercialized sound of Phil Collins. But I have been musically loyal to Peter Gabriel (CDs and downloads only).

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30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 1: Timewind by Klaus Schulze

30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 1: Timewind by Klaus Schulze

30 records in 30 days goes into the first round, with synthesizer chirping, pink noise, arpeggios, and more interesting sounds.

The meditative sounds of Klaus Schulze have accompanied me throughout my teen years. Sometimes these sounds were so meditative that I spontaneously fell asleep. Not because the music is bad, but because it is pleasantly soothing.

In addition, this LP strengthens the musical stamina of an average listener, because both tracks together are 50 minutes long. Therefore a lapse in concentration is possible. I have already praised this LP once in my blog and would have had two others by Klaus Schulze in my record collection, but for me it is still the artists highlight. And it has drawn me to the electronic side of music. Enough for today, now I’m going to listen to Klaus Schulze.

Stay tuned

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30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household.

30 records in 30 days. A Challenge

Normally I am very sensitive to such challenges, but about this nomination I was really happy. First, it has something to do with music and second, I can rummage through my musical past again. At the beginning I thought that this will be a relatively simple task. Go to the basement, briefly check the collection and present the most interesting pieces in the next 30 days. On Saturday – after the nomination – I disappeared into the basement and was only spotted again last night. Starved and close to dying of thirst. Was not so easy after all. Because some records I now simply find horrible, other records I once liked, but now I classify them under the category of irrelevant, musical blah blah blah.

It was interesting for me what I found again, because my records are since the move from Forchheim to Deggendorf (2000) in the basement. Last year in October I took 2 of my favorite pieces to a friend to digitize them with the help of his equipment. Of course they are also included. It was also interesting that I completely forgot about some artists over the years and when listening to them on iTunes (I don’t have a turntable anymore) I realized that they are still really good. So Apple will make some money again. Enough of the introduction. Tomorrow it starts with one of my oldest records.

Stay tuned.

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Severed Heads – danceable electronic experiments.

At about the same time that I discovered Alien Sex Fiend, I stumbled upon Severed Heads. In Munich’s biggest record store I came across the LP “Since the Accident”. I was simply thrilled by the weird cover. I really don’t remember if I listened to the LP, but most likely I didn’t. Except for one song – that I’m still celebrating – you can benevolently call this work experimental. Malicious tongues would simply call it noise. But “Dead Eyes Openend” was and is simply a blast. There is not much more to tell about it now, so this article will be very short. Have fun listening to it.

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Alien Sex Fiend – linking punk and electronic music.

After Human League there was no electronic milestone for a long time. O.k., there were some Neue Deutsche Welle/New Wave bands that inspired me, but in retrospect I had a musical AHA effect only with the British band Alien Sex Fiend again. A very adventurous combination of punk, synthesizer sounds and drum computer. Especially the dark lyrics appealed to me, here is an excerpt:

*Breakdown is on it’s way* 
*Breakdown in a month or a day* 
*Breakdown and cry, lay down and die* 
* Goodbye, goodbye. *

Somehow it was really cool at that time to learn these destructive lyrics by heart with enthusiasm and to set it as a counterpoint to the whole perfect Popper world. I still remember the lyrics and the song (“Breakdown and Cry”) is still one of my absolute favorites. But the absolute highlight on the LP was “E.S.T. Trip to the Moon”. In 1984 this track was in the British Independent Charts for quite some time and I celebrate it until today. Have fun listening to it.

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Human League – Babies, Crows and Empire State Human

My music stories: Human League – Reproduction

Today we come to another important milestone in my musical universe, the debut album “Reproduction” by the British band Human League. Knows today almost only the “older guys”. The band is assigned to completely different genres: starting with synthie-pop, over electropop up to post-punk. An impressive variety, I personally would also describe them as one of the great-grandfathers of electronic dance music. At least that is what it was for me.

I discovered the record in 1979 in what was then the largest record shop in Munich (a branch of the WOM World of Music; was closed a long time ago). I was on a school trip and after the usual cultural programme we were allowed to go shopping in the city centre as usual. I was basically drawn to the above mentioned record shop, because the offer in my hometown Füssen was limited. If you wanted to order something, it took at least 3-4 weeks and on top of that the records cost a lot of money.

Maybe that’s why I remember the class trip and the purchase of this album so well, because this LP was one of the most important musical milestones for me. And the milestones had to be tracked down laboriously, not in Füssen, but in the biiiiiiig Munich. Today I visit iTunes or Amazon Music, put a whole album or just single tracks into the shopping basket, pay the whole thing and a few seconds later it’s on my computer. This is not a special experience, unlike back then.

On the LP you can find the danceable hits “Blind Youth” and “Empire State Human” next to more experimental tracks. In the first two of them there are already two important elements of modern dance music: sparse synthesizer sequences, a monotonous rhythm. Simply ingenious.

Up to this point, synthesizer-based music was not really connected with danceable music for me. Rather something like Klaus Schulze and Pink Floyd. Danceable back then was actually only the disco music. And that was nothing for the cool guys. Now I stand by it, but that is another story.

I linked to “Empire State Human”, especially because of the nice presentation. Have fun listening to it.

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Klaus Schulze – the master of time

Pink Floyd (last story) helped me to enter the electronic music world, but the first real milestone was the LP Timewind by Klaus Schulze.

I bought the record in a freaky store in my hometown Füssen. There you found – for small-town conditions – an extremely varied, modern and mostly alternative assortment: a lot of reggae, a lot of electronics, hard rock, etc. The store combined a dusty pharmacy flair with the aura of a drug den, but you could listen to records for hours without being looked at crooked. Here the musical dreams of a music-loving 16-year-old were stored. A complete alternative to the biggest radio shop on the square, there were the Oberkrainer Musicians, Cindy and Bert, James Last, Heino and other monstrosities from the Schlager or folk music corner. In addition you were looked at crooked if you listened to a record for more than 5 minutes. So the shopping was not really fun.

One day in this shop I discovered the Timewind by Klaus Schulze and immediately fell in love with this record. At that time it was very expensive for me (20 DMark with 100 DM pocket money). But the LP was worth it, a window into a new music universe. To appreciate the tracks, I usually looked for a quiet place and enjoyed the spherical sounds to the full. Sometimes I also fell asleep during this process. Either way I have rested after enjoying the record.

Even today – in our hectic, fast-moving times – a wonderful musical resting place and a huge contrast to the Spotify consumption environment (just listen for a minute). Little by little, two other records by the artist were added, the Black Dance and the Body Love. But to the latter there is a nice extra story. But this one will be available soon.

Personal favourites in the work of the artist do not really exist. But because the Timewind was my entrance into the world of Klaus Schulze, I’ll play it briefly. Have fun.

Stay tuned.

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Pink Floyd – one of these days in Pompeji

It was Pink Floyd. Thousands of years ago the group ignited my enthusiasm for electronic music. Anyway, I can’t remember having been involved with this style of music before.

What happened musically before is now – even with enough distance – simply embarrassing. When I sat in front of the TV and recorded the hits from Ilia Richter’s show “Disco” with my cassette recorder. With the microphone, in particularly poor quality. Especially annoying were the disturbances by my siblings, who often burst into the recording noisily. Or my parents, who talked to each other. Once again in vain, once again waiting for the next chance. Today hardly more conceivable.

It’s good that these musical excursions into Ilia Richter’s universe have long been a thing of the past. Nevertheless, like zombies, one-hit-wonders from that time appear again and again, stretch out their claws and try to pull me under their spell. No chance. You captured my 14-year-old me, now you can’t do it anymore.

Back to electronic music. I believe that the first conscious contact with the genre was the music film “Pink Floyd in Pompeii”. It inspired me not only for the band, but for the whole music genre. The atmosphere in this film is fascinating, the ruins of Pompeii in the background, the band in front of it. Wow, after this film I knew: this will be my music.

My declared favourite was and is the track “One of these days”. At the beginning the noise, then the bass. In between again and again the synthesizer chords and the hihats. Then in the middle, the guitar, the break with the key phrase “One of these days, I will cut you into little pieces.” And then into the finale with the guitar solo. BAMM. A first and great milestone in the direction of electronic music in general. Have fun listening to it.

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