2025 Electronic Journal Vol. 2

*Fripp & Eno - Evening Star. 1979 Antilles (LP) (1975). Much of the ambient electronic genre can be attributed to the early Fripp & Eno albums. No Pussyfooting features more raucous guitar rave-ups from Fripp and clearly was an influence on Richard Pinhas and his future group Heldon. You can also hear Fripp & Eno in the works of many German artists as they moved away from their Krautrock roots into something more serene and surreal. Frequent Eno collaborator Cluster being probably the most well known. Evening Star is more subdued than No Pussyfooting, though no less engaging. The shorter songs on Side 1 even reflect what we hear coming from Jade Warrior during this era, given the Asiatic presence. The side long piece is more Germanic in tone. Deep space like early Klaus Schulze but with searing guitar, similar to a Gottsching contribution. When I get around to putting together a King Crimson page, I'll add these Fripp & Eno albums in there, for a lack of a better page. (12/6)

*Gil Trythall - Luxikon II / Echospace. 1980 Pandora (LP). Now here's something different. Found this at a thrift shop with another album of his, that's actually quite famous. It's called Switched on Nashville (Country Moog) and might be the craziest album I've ever heard. This album is nothing of the sort, a very academic electronic album commissioned by a couple of dance and multi-media companies in Atlanta. You wouldn't miss the front cover, presenting itself like the coolest private album at the record store. The back cover will give you some pause. He looks all the world like your local middle-aged short-haired church organist, sitting behind the Big Moog and a bank of wires. And he's happy. You can't be happy! lol. Actually he was a professor at the University of West Virginia when this was released. In any case, how is the music? It's excellent as it turns out. This is not Klaus Schulze or any of his followers. It's a serious electronic album that changes moods, textures, and rhythms throughout. Not ambient in the slightest. And nothing like Berlin School. Nor Gershon Kingsley. 1980 is a little late to rely heavily on the big Moog, but here is one example. Gets pretty wild on Echospace. Have to keep this one. (12/2)

Hoverkraft - Schwebende Musik. 2021 Special Low Frequency (MC). This tape was recommended to me by my record store partners at What's Left here in Colorado Springs. Hoverkraft is the name of an electronic project headed by Paul Riedi, here under the name of Wolfgang Sebastian Reidl. This appears to be his 5th album using this moniker. Everything is in German, and the album is clearly an homage to early Klaus Schulze, Deuter, Tangerine Dream (Zeit), and the rest of them. Paul Riedl's primary band is Blood Incantation, a highly regarded Denver based experimental death metal group, who mix in all sorts of prog and space rock into their mix. I haven't dug into their material yet, but probably someday will. The What's Left brothers are good friends of the band, and Paul in particular. And Paul's knowledge of the German masters is impressive, more so than one might expect. He's one of my LP customers via the shop, who buys some of my prog albums, though I haven't met him personally. Interesting to note he plays a Moog Prodigy, a synthesizer I once owned and sold to Ron Boots. Schwebende Musik is of the slow build ambient variety, and I find it to be a bit dull honestly. Really wanted to like this, for obvious reasons, but not really my kind of electronik musik. (10/30)

Synergy - Cords. 1978 Passport (LP) clear vinyl. Earlier this year I concluded Larry Fast's second album Sequencer with "I have his next album on LP here in the stacks. We'll see if it fares any better." Hmmm, not really. I figured he'd take a stab at the Schulze / Tangerine Dream sound at some point, but I guess he never did. It's more cinematic (in the traditional sense) and classical oriented. From 1978, this sounds more like a 1985 product, which I suppose should be a compliment. It is high praise from a technology standpoint, but not a musical one. Either they over-pressed these albums, or they sold gobs of copy in their day, as they remain somewhat ubiquitous in the marketplace. I need to lay off future Synergy titles unless I see some solid financial gains. Glad I never pursued these real time in the early 80s, as I'm sure I would have been disappointed. (9/4)

Ned Lagin - Seastones. 1990 Ryko (MC) (1975). I remember this album being something of a big deal when I first started going to record shows in the mid to late 1980s. Seems it was in high demand at the time. I never inquired further once I found out it was Grateful Dead related. I had presumed this album was in their west coast psych meets hippie blues meets country style. I could not have been further mistaken. This is really quite an intriguing release. Essentially it's serious electronic music, closer to Stockhausen than Tangerine Dream. Perhaps Klaus Schulze's Irrlicht could be thrown out here as a comparison. It's atmospheric electronic music of the blip-bleep variety, but very well done. Apparently Lagin, Lesh, and Garcia would perform music like this during interludes of their concerts from 1974. Definitely an academic left turn for a band with no such desires otherwise. Great thrift shop find, though I don't need to keep this. As noted elsewhere, I'll eventually build out a Grateful Dead page and include this. (7/20)

* - Keeping for the collection

2025 Electronic Journal Vol. 1

Synergy - Sequencer. 1976 Passport (MC). For Synergy's debut, I concluded: "Larry Fast's debut is definitely a well put-together album... but there is a bit of pop classical thrown in that is disturbing. If I didn't have racks of music like this already in the collection, I'd probably load up on Synergy. I'll also try his others as I find them, just for comparison. For music such as this, it's surprising how much copy was sold originally here in the States." I could conclude similarly here. For an album named Sequencer, there's a surprising dearth of it presented here. I have his next album on LP here in the stacks. We'll see if it fares any better (Jun).

various artists - Infrasonic Waves Volume II. 1999 Ocher (EP). 7 inch 33 RPM. One of those oddball things you sometimes find at a thrift shop. This short 15 minute plus EP features four bands that I was previously unaware of: Magnetophone, The Groceries, Salome, and Our Glassie Azoth. RYM pins the genres as Space Rock Revival and Post-Rock. I really didn't hear any rock on this. Mostly electronic music. Discogs says Abstract, Experimental, and Ambient, which is more accurate. 15 minutes is about the right length for this kind of thing. I enjoyed it but nothing I need to hold onto. (May)

Waveshaper - Retro Future. 2014 Werkstatt (LP). White vinyl 45 RPM. Found this at the flea market in Albuquerque for a couple of bucks, and it looked intriguing. Waveshaper is Swedish synthesist Tom Andersson and his stock in trade is known as Synthwave. There's an exhaustive description on RYM of what this genre means, and Waveshaper fits hand in glove. But to someone who doesn't live in the micro subgenre world of the 2010's, to me it sounds a heck of a lot like Tangerine Dream circa Le Parc. Upbeat synth music with wedgy 80s styled keyboards. It's a fairly monolithic affair, but it's fun to go back to the 80s like this. Nothing I need at this point, but I can see the appeal. Of note, RYM lists this album as a compilation, but it's not really. Andersson is a modern musician who will record a song and then publish it on a streaming service. Technically this a "compilation" of the "best" tracks according to his fans. But these songs don't exist anywhere else, especially in physical form. (May)

The Orb - Orbus Terrarum. 1995 Island (MC). The Orb is a collective that's been in and around my sphere of interest for many years. Especially in the 90s. They were the house club (or is that clubhouse?) electronic side of the UK Festival Psych movement. And many participants cross-breeded. But I never heard any of their albums until now. Honestly I didn't get too much out of this release. It always seems to be on the cusp of something interesting, but never really goes anywhere. It's not ambient and it's certainly not dance oriented (no beats for example). They were a "chill out" group for a lack of a better term. In reading reviews, it seems most of the UK press drubbed this title yet it was welcomed by American audiences. Today on RYM it rates relatively high. I'd call it good and nothing more. I'll definitely continue to seek out titles by them, and there are many. (Jan)

Steve Dougherty - The Journey. 1992 Blue Duck (CD). Dougherty is a Baltimore based electronic musician who describes the album as thus on the back tray: "Using heavy drums, bass and rhythms with electronic effects to form an intense electronic sound." Wow - that sold me! At the thrift shop, mind. So is it all that? Nope, but it's a intriguing effort all the same. The opening track does have quite a bit of percussion and one could see an attempt at the Shrieve-Schulze sessions. In other places Tangerine Dream's Hyperborea comes to mind. Overall it's a bright early to mid 80s styled electronic album. All plusses as far as I'm concerned. The issue is a lack of ideas. There's an enormous amount of repetition, and as the album journeyed on (so to speak) I found myself looking for the fast forward button. Tempted to keep this because of its obvious obscurity, but I think I'll move on from it. Discogs has an entry for the cassette tape (no owners and no wants), so I added this CD. The tape is listed as an EP (because of the silly six song rule), but it's a full length LP for sure. (Jan)

*Monta - Unsuspecting. 2005 private (CD). Found this at a thrift shop in Topeka, Kansas two years ago. Monta are a group from Kansas City and they categorize themselves as "influences of post-punk, new wave, dub, future jazz, abstract funk, space rock, Krautrock, synth-pop and psych rock." Which is fairly accurate if looking for an idea of what it sounds like. I tend to associate music like this with the turn of the century. What we used to call "chill out music". The first couple of tracks did seem more like the early electronic Krautrock experiments (Cluster maybe) with its shimmering electric piano and heavy analog synth textures. It doesn't take long for the beats to show up, but at least they are of the jazzy variety. It's an interesting album for certain and I like the use of real instruments (including guitar). (Jan)

The Presets - Apocalypso. 2008 Modular (CD). Got this for free from a local shop (Dec 2024). RYM attributes these genres to this album: Electro House, New Rave, Electroclash, Electropop, Synth Punk. It's more granular than metal genres! I don't know any of them, but you can still guess what it sounds like. You know those scenes in television shows and movies where they go to a flashy nightclub and a bunch of male and female models are dancing with their collective arms up in the air, looking like they all belong in a cage? This is that soundtrack. I have to admit to really liking the thick wedgy synthesizer tone they obtain, something Wavemaker would have been proud of (hey, I managed to get Wavemaker into a Presets review, not bad eh?). The only problem is - that's about the only sound they use. The vocals will remind you of those 80s synth pop bands like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. I think it's overall very good actually. But to get into the collection these days, another one has to go out. It's not that good.

*The Electric Groove Temple - Sequence Me. 1996 Trichone (CD). Collection revisit (Oct 2024). In 2005 I wrote: "The idea of real psychedelic / acid guitar played over synthesized techno music is very appealing to me, and that’s about all there is to say about this one." In reading more about the band, apparently they used all organic instruments, no samples. I couldn't figure out how I ended up with this CD in the first place, having purchased it real time according to my database. The internet preserved the Laser's Edge review of it, and then it became clear. His review is spot on calling out references such as Eat Static and Santana.

Surface 10 - In Vitro Tide. 2000 DiN (CD). What a surprising find! It's not every day that a DiN recording finds itself at a thrift shop in the USA. But it becomes apparent it's another casualty of Independent Records' closing last year as it has their markings on it. There's no way I'm leaving something like this behind. I'll buy it for a couple of bucks without research and figure it out later. So who is Surface 10 anyway? It's a pseudonym for a one Dean DeBenedictus, a Los Angeles based artist who specializes in "IDM". What does that stand for? Intelligent Dance Music. Sure, OK, I'll bite. Essentially Electronic Dance Music (EDM) for those that can't keep a beat. Well that would be me for certain. So it seems useless on the dance floor. Can't imagine my nieces' going much for this. How about for listening? Well, no, kind of annoying honestly. I can appreciate the effort applied, but not sure who the audience for such a thing would be? (Sep 2024)

* - Keeping for the collection

2022 Electronic Journal Vol. 1

Synergy - Electronic Realizations for Orchestra. 1975 Passport (LP). I remember hearing Synergy for the first time going back to my initial foray into electronic music in the early 80s while still in high school. Perhaps I was already gaining a bit of snootiness, but this just seemed so cheesy compared to the classy German musicians that I was into. Haha. Well... Larry Fast's debut is definitely a well put-together album, and it's his only feature of mellotron, but there is a bit of pop classical thrown in that is disturbing. If I didn't have racks of music like this already in the collection, I'd probably load up on Synergy. I'll also try his others as I find them, just for comparison. For music such as this, it's surprising how much copy was sold originally here in the States. (Dec)

Tangerine Dream - Frankfurt June 11 1983, Fassbinder Memorial Concert. 2004 Castle. This is the last CD in The Bootleg Box Vol. 2 and it's entirely superfluous. They really should have added a better show. Essentially this is the same concert as Logos with bad sound. And again, completely prescriptive and familiar. This isn't being counted as part of my collection though of course it remains inside the box. Very disappointing end to a great box set. (Oct)

Tangerine Dream - Turn of the Tides. 1994 Miramar (CD). Thrift shop find (Oct). As mentioned before, I've made the decision to pickup any and all Tangerine Dream post-Underwater Sunlight if I find them at a thrift shop. I found this along with Rockoon. I didn't write about Rockoon, but it wasn't terrible - had a few decent ideas. Turn of the Tides is similar but better. Plenty of good guitar here though the saxophone addition was never a good idea. It's too adult contemporary for a band like Tangerine Dream. 'Jungle Journey' is the highlight for me, recalling their early 80s efforts. As I will say ad infinitum, just not enough room to keep everything.

*Robert Schroder - Harmonic Ascendant. 1984 Racket (1979) (LP). Continuing on with my irrational love affair with 80s electronic (OK, 1979...) is Robert Schroder's debut. He has a million albums, but this is the first one I've heard. One of the early Klaus Schulze disciple recordings, that Schulze released on his IC imprint. Must have been a big hit in their native Germany, as there are many re-pressings. Wonderful Berlin School, though more melodic than usual and not as sequencer based. Maybe too much vocoder on side 2, though if you've had enough drinks, it starts to morph into something more pleasurable... (Feb) 

Neuronium - Heritage. 1984 Jive Electro (LP). Bought this one when it came out, but didn't survive the 90s purge. Now that I'm reliving my 80s Euro electronic experience, I thought I'd give this one another go. Mostly satisfying though the drum machine here is superfluous, without invention. And I have to admit that A2 is pretty dull. So yea, not the pick of the litter after all. (Feb)

Neuronium - Invisible Views. 1983 Roadrunner (LP). I sense a theme. Yet another repurchase, though I originally bought this one later in the 90s. A little bit better than Heritage, and the guitar is still present. These Neuronium's were part of my long game, but they're certainly enjoyable on the whole. (Feb)]

* - Keeping for the collection