drop_forge - I'm going to have to spend a little more time with the Michael Shreeve clips before I can see whether he's really up my alley. But what a great collection you've put together - man, what a time we live in when we can share windows into all these artists with a few keystrokes!
I've recently purchased some software that will allow me the opportunity to actually make this kind of music, which is something I've always wanted to do.
With plugins and virtual rack extensions these days you can emulate these old synths pretty well.
You go, man! And share with us when you've got some tracks laid down.
I've always resisted the urge to get into this, because I've always been happy just noodling with various electronic keyboard to make little songs. But I may have to get into this myself. What did you get?
I've recently purchased some software that will allow me the opportunity to actually make this kind of music, which is something I've always wanted to do.
With plugins and virtual rack extensions these days you can emulate these old synths pretty well.
You go, man! And share with us when you've got some tracks laid down.
I've always resisted the urge to get into this, because I've always been happy just noodling with various electronic keyboard to make little songs. But I may have to get into this myself. What did you get?
I picked up Reason 8 by Propellerhead. It comes with a pretty huge array of sequencers, arpeggiators, drum machines, synths and a massive sample library among many other things.
When I get some extra cash I'm gonna buy some rack extensions like the ARP, Polysix, 909, 808 and some other stuff.
It's a steep learning curve, but I'm really enjoying it so far. Will definitely upload to soundcluod and post here when I've got something.
drop_forge - I'm going to have to spend a little more time with the Michael Shreeve clips before I can see whether he's really up my alley. But what a great collection you've put together - man, what a time we live in when we can share windows into all these artists with a few keystrokes!
Those tracks are from Mark's 'melodic' phase, and the music's really energetic. On some tracks he plays a guitar-like patch to cut through the mix (it's also on "Black"), so I understand if it gets to be a bit much. When he got to record Legion at Battery Studios, he was able to use a larger arsenal and employed a wider variety of bass and string sounds (plus the recognizable 'orchestra hit'). On Assassin (1984), the last album he did with a fervent Berlin School approach, the sonic palette is expressly analog and may click better.
Steve Roach is hot and cold for me. Some of his sequencer based albums, Traveler/ Now/ Stormwarning are nice
Do you have Empetus? That's the third and best sequencer album he made (not counting the live Stormwarning) before he shifted gears and made ethno-ambient his focus for the next decade. It's fairly amazing how Empetus (which will be thirty years old in 2016) holds up all these years later.
Richard Burmer - Bhakti Point
Richard (R.I.P.) was able to achieve such an organic-feeling atmosphere with synthesizers. I still like his first one, Mosaic, the best.
Kevin Braheny - The Way Home and Lullabye For The Hearts of Space ( the latter hasn't been issued on CD, although Braheny said a few years ago it was being restored and remastered, but is still MIA )
This reminds me of Western Spaces, the collaborative album by Roach, Burmer and Braheny. Not only does it contain timely and timeless music, it has one of the best cover images ever.
Michael Stearns - Planetary Unfolding. Another album which is out of print and supposedly being "restored" for release, but seems to be dead in the water.
I wonder what happened to the remaster of Chronos. My CD sounds good, but the new version is also supposed to be a remix.
I ADORE Empetus - far and away my favorite Steve Roach album, and completely missed it for the first twenty years of its existence. Here are my favorite tracks - would be perfect for a movie (see how I keep desperately trying to connect all this non-film music to film scores?!).
drop_forge - I'm going to have to spend a little more time with the Michael Shreeve clips before I can see whether he's really up my alley. But what a great collection you've put together - man, what a time we live in when we can share windows into all these artists with a few keystrokes!
Those tracks are from Mark's 'melodic' phase, and the music's really energetic. On some tracks he plays a guitar-like patch to cut through the mix (it's also on "Black"), so I understand if it gets to be a bit much. When he got to record Legion at Battery Studios, he was able to use a larger arsenal and employed a wider variety of bass and string sounds (plus the recognizable 'orchestra hit'). On Assassin (1984), the last album he did with a fervent Berlin School approach, the sonic palette is expressly analog and may click better.
Oh, you're good, df - you know me well already. Yes, this is much more immediately appealing based on my current predilections. But I'm especially enjoying the live tracks of your other Shreeve samples on second listen - love the Assault on Precinct 13 cover in the last one!
But I'm especially enjoying the live tracks of your other Shreeve samples on second listen - love the Assault on Precinct 13 cover in the last one!
That's a nice one that harks back to the album (it's the title track of Assassin). There are numerous versions; the one played at EMMA '94 version is likely the fastest, tempo-wise.
Here's another great album on the DiN label from Dave Bessell. The album's called Black Horses of the Sun and it's got some big phat synthesizer soundscapes that are deeply cinematic. Listened to the album twice on a quick business trip to Washington D.C. and I didn't know what was gonna happen next.
Skyrim
My favorite track is the first one, which you can listen to complete on their bandcamp page:
Another guy you should check out is the late Michael Garrison. He released albums in the early 80s through the 90s before he passed away, and if you can find his first three without paying too much money (they're all OOP), they belong in your collection. In chronological order, those are In the Regions of Sunreturn, Prisms, Eclipse. Bitchin' analog sounds, Berlin School sequencing, sweeping vistas, the works.
Reviewing this thread, I realized I completely missed Garrison. So let's get some samples up! He's completely new to me. (I thought this thread was going to be about new stuff, but thanks especially to drop_forge, I'm learning about all kinds of things I've missed over the decades.)
Michael Garrison is one of electronic music's best kept secrets. He's admired and respected, in life and death (and rightfully so), but it seems too few people outside the circle of the most die-hard EM enthusiasts know of him or own his albums.
His first three are his best, IMO. His albums can be expensive to acquire nowadays. They're OOP, but reasonably priced copies do pop up.
Well, df, you got me with all these samples, and I'm ordering Garrison and Shreeve oop's! Well done.
Here are a couple more current artists whose music I enjoy a lot.
First: Lyonel Bauchet, whose Buchla Tunes series use the Buchla tools that Morton Subotnick among others made much of back in the avant-garde 70's. These are very wide ranging albums (5 volumes so far) I first explored on Spotify.
Here's the first track from Volume 3, The Road That Pointed Toward the Chosen Vale.
There's lots of variety in the Buchla Tunes series - so I'd advise you to sample them on his bandcamp site: http://lyonelbauchet.bandcamp.com/album/buchla-tunes-vol-3. (Digital only, I believe, and available in all the usual places.)
And second: Saul Stokes. He's among my favorite electronic artists, with subtle, often quite gentle music that has endearing melodies and more variety than I expect. Far less melodramatic than a lot of music featured here, but wonderful, calming stuff.
Here's a track from Fields, my first album of Stokes' and the reason I got into him in the first place.
Sean, that Buchla piece is very cool. Really nice sounds in that.
This guy, Dirk Jan Muller (who's a member of the space rock band Electric Orange – yes, I know) recorded a full-on EM album. As he puts it, "No MIDI necessary."
"The rig": MU Modular, Eurorack Modular, Fender Rhodes, Mellotron, Moog Sub Phatty, Philicorda, Farfisa Compact, Farfisa Pro Duo, Solina String Ensemble, Roland RS-202, Korg MS-20, Roland SH-1000, Hohner String Melody II, Elka Rhapsody, Nord Wave, Moog Voyager, Hohner Clavinet, Oberheim SEM, Korg Mini-Pops, Leslie 760, Hohner Orgaphon.
Dirk's alias is Cosmic Ground. It covers the same territory as Phaedra and Rubycon. The first two tracks are cool, but samey. I like the third and fourth better. The third track is simply titled "Ground," and it's 33 minutes long, too. One heckuva trip. The last one is called "The Plague." If spacing out is your forte, this album is your prescription. (No cowbell, though.)
