Back 3: The End (For Now)

and for out final chapter, we visit similar synthy territory once again. It should come as no surprise by now that the 80's were a goldmine for those of us electronically inclined, with things like Vangelis' score for Blade Runner taking center stage. As I finish up this week's selections we take a walk on the more experimental side of things, taking a look at my other genre love, Ambient, The out and out synthetics of Kraftwerk, and a selction from an obscure New Age record.

Syd Mead - L.A Skyline West (1988)

Tangerine Dream were yet another case of me thinking I should definitely start listening to something, but being completely clueless as to where to start. Thankfully I found my way in eventually and I am so happy that I did. Their music is among the few that can take me back to being a bright eyed kid completely in awe at the sounds coming from a cassette. It ticks all my electronic boxes in the most sublime way.



Breaking the rules a little bit here, technically this one is from '79 but it was released as a single and eventually went to #1 in the charts in '82, and that's where I heard it first in that same tape collection. Out of all the song so far I have compared to electroclash, this one is probably the closest, from a lyrical standpoint it could easily have been from Felix Da Housecat's Kittenz & Thee Glitz and was even the base sample for Ladytron's He Took Her To A Movie.



And finally, a little something from a band called Software. I already gave the album the once over here, it's been in my library for some time now. Has my opinion changed on it? A little, some parts of it are pretty generic, (my older post pretty much is the best selections from it) but what 'New Age' music of the era wasn't? Still it's recent influence is apparent with Vaporwave, and Oneohtrix Point Never's label is called Software and I think might even use the same font as the cover.



There is plenty more I wanted to put in these posts, but it turns out I didn't have a lot of the things I wanted to post to hand, or in cases like the Blade Runner soundtrack were actually released later than the 80's. Still I see it as a plus should I come back to this again which is highly likely given the treasures on offer.

-Claude Van Foxbat

Back 2: New Wave

Moving on to other Genres of the era, a little more spread out this time however. The 1980's also saw New Wave burst onto the scene and stick it's synthesized self firmly on the charts, often accompanied by people looking moody at keyboards. You should all know by know that I adore Electroclash in all it's trashy glory, and New Wave contains much of the similar formula so it should come as no surprise I have a soft spot for it too. Let's have a look.

Patrick Nagel - 1310

A lot of this stuff is what kicked off my interest in all things electronic (not the first though, that honour goes to Autobahn). Among the earliest I can cite is The Human League. The eventual influence on Electroclash is most clearly seen here on the lyrics, I could easily see Miss Kittin & The Hacker giving this one a crack at some point. You've probably already heard this one a fair few times, and it's not aged well in parts for sure, but I do remember being mesmerised by the opening bars and the equally weird music video.



On the flipside, I think Blue Monday still holds up today very well. It's more than earned it's place in electronic music history but every time it comes up I am always surprised just how modern it sounds. Every single time I fall in love with it, from the instrumentation down to the stoic, disconnected lyrics. Granted, this isn't the original release from '83 (but it's the one I have to hand) so there are minor differences there, but it's largely the same.



Moving away from New Wave / Synthpop slightly to cover some Italo-Disco. Italo is very much a product of it's era, and there are more than a few tracks that are straight up bad by today's standards, but it's still a very important milestone in electronic music history that has influences to this day. For example, eagle eared listeners may recognise this as the sample on both Washed Out's Feel It All Around and Miss Kittin & The Hacker's The Beach.



There's plenty more I wanted to cover here but I think I've gone on enough here, and I would like to save some ammo for whenever I decide to resurrect this idea once again in future!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Back In Time

Hey y'all, thought now would be a good time to spring an idea we had a long time ago, for the next week or so of posts we'll be taking a trip back to the 1980's and seeing what musical trasures it has to offer. I realise this would have been better to start closer to BTTF day but you should all know by now I am far too organised to do anything like that. So let's take a trip back to when it was Maggie's Britain shall we?

Keith Haring - Pop Shop Quad 1 (1987)

I thought I'd start with some early house. Seems fitting as that was my first real love when I started following electronic music exclusively. The roots for all the stuff you and I adore on are all laid out here starting in 1987 with Derrick May's now legendary Strings Of Life. I gotta tell you it holds up real well though the piano hook may be a little dated to some ears, it kind of borders the line between Techno and House in some spots too. Regardless it remains an incredibly important milestone in House.



Following it up with another all time favourite of mine that's especially relevant today. I'm sure you're all aware that Deep House has been the in thing for a while now and I'm sure like a lot of you its fans really grate on me. The ones I've encountered keep talking like Deep House is this new genre that's only just come around, and that's when I like to spring a little Mr. Fingers on them. Can You Feel It made it's debut in '86 and it remains pretty much my favourite example of the genre to this day.



And finally, I may not be the biggest fan of Acid, but this one more than earns its place. Chances are you've heard this one somewhere before despite the tabloids of the time doing their best to demonise Acid House. It's a far cry from the screeching 303s one might usually associate with Acid, as is to be expected with its age. Now there's nothing wrong with the other tracks on the EP, but something about Voodoo Ray just pushes it above the rest. I suppose it makes sense given that it's the title track and all but still. Take a bite out of this one and treat yourself to some acidic goodness.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Done Goofed 2

I swear it keeps sneaking up on me that I have to post and once again I have nothing prepared. Other than these bits of my favourite late night tales compilations I was revisiting so they will have to do. Saying that I have nothing but high praise for Röyksopp's entry to the series, it's chock full of gorgeous tunes that fit he series' theme as well as tracks you can tell have influenced them a whole bunch in their own production.



Trentemøller's is also pretty good, not every track is a hit for me like on the 'Sopp one, but there are still some solid picks on there, and again some of the influence the songs have had on his own productions is evident throughout. And no matter how I feel about some of the choices, the cover of Blue Hotel included is still solid, and the way it's seamlessly introduced in this minimix is gorgeous.



-Claude Van Foxbat