A treasure trove of early electronic music from these two Dutch giants of the field – both every bit as important as the more widely-circulated French artists of the musique concrete generation! Badings is featured here on a number of great tracks – including the sublime "Capriccio", which takes off on older violin sonata modes, by having a solo violin play next to two electronic tracks! "Genese" is even bolder, and uses five oscillators to create the tracks in three different movements! "Evolutions" is a ballet suite by Badings – short electronic pieces that point the way towards some of the dance experiments by Pierre Henry. Raaijmakers is featured in a number of shorter, more playful tracks – almost more along the lines of the 60s moog generation – with titles that include "Night Train Blue", "Song Of The Second Moon", "Contrasts", and "Colonel Bogey". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal session that forever put the British improvisational scene on the map – a great little record that features guitar by Bailey, soprano sax by Evan Parker, electronics by Hugh Davies, and work by Jamie Muir and Christine Jeffrey. Tracks are longish, and relatively free – and titles include "Tuck", "Third Stream Boogaloo", "Dragon Path", and "Packaged Eel". (Jazz, Out Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

(Classical, Out Sound) CD

... CD

Classic early album of electronic music that features some nice pieces by Walter Carlos – "Dialogues For Piano & 2 Loudspeakers" and "Variations For Flute & Electronic Sound" – both recorded in the years before he switched on Bach, and long before he changed to Wendy. Other works include "Le Tombeau D'Edgar Poe", based on a poem by Mellarme; "Vocalise" by Tzvi Avni, which features a Berio-esque juxtaposition of voice and electronics; and "Study No 1" by Andres Lewin-Richter, an attempt to achieve tonal instrumental qualities from electronic sources. LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

(Classical, Out Sound) CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

(Classical, Out Sound) CD

A landmark moment – both for Brian Eno, and for experimental music in general! Although Eno began his solo run with some searing, guitar-heavy records that were even wilder than his early work with Roxy Music – he also began experimenting with more sensitive aspects of sound on albums like Another Green World and Before & After Science – an approach he takes here to the farthest degree, by opening up himself and creating a whole new genre of ambient music in the process! Gone are the raspy, sometimes nasty vocals – and in their place is virtually nothing – just beautifully open music that uses scores that are somewhat cyclical – but at a pace that's very different than the minimalism of the period – and maybe even more minimal too. The record features four long tracks, one with piano by Robert Wyatt – really beautiful stuff, like some strange dark sonic crystal that fell out of the skies years ago, and which still remains a mystery to all ears that stumble upon it! (Rock, Out Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful sounds from the Entourage ensemble – a record that's got a really meditative blend of acoustic elements with a few electric touches – used in ways that start in jazz, then move way beyond! Instrumentation includes guitar, flute, keyboards, violin, and mbira – coming together with really unusual inflections that are partly borrowed from Eastern sources – like Noh theater, or Balinese music – but which unfurl with a more freewheeling, American underground vibe as well! No sounds are ever too sharp, and there's almost a hint of the instrumental experiments in the 80s underground – such as work by Penguin Cafe Orchestra or Soft Verdict – but with an earthier feel overall. Titles include "Jattle Boxes", "Giraffes", "Solo For Electric Viola", "Michael's Song", "Silver Drum", and "Percussion Dance". CD

Warmly experimental music from the 70s Folkways scene – music that's a mixture of jazz, folk, electronics, and improvised styles – played with an open, honest sort of feel! The Entourage Music & Theater Ensemble features four composer/musicians – Joe Clark, Wall Matthews, Rusti Clark, and Michael Smith – all individuals with a nicely subdued sensibility, despite the "theater" in the group's name. The work here is hardly performative – at least not in an aggressive sense – and instead is a beautiful matrix of sounds from instruments that include keyboards, acoustic guitar, soprano sax, viola, gong, and percussion – all used lightly, with an approach that's almost a folksier take on early 70s spiritual jazz – especially given the way the acoustic guitar is used. Titles include "Nature Spirits", "Incantation For The Death Of Self", "Space Needle Suicide", "Tar Box Poltergeist", and "Druid Dance". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A really unusual little album – one that partly embraces a globe's worth of acoustic percussion, partly expresses itself in the minimal percussion legacy after Steve Reich's Drumming, and partly embraces some of the electric/acoustic sounds of the New York downtown scene of the early 80s – in work by artists like David Van Tieghem or Peter Gordon! The group use a mix of vibes, balafon, marimbas, and other percussion instruments – then add in occasional beats or other electric elements, but usually in a subtle way – that blend of global and European modes that was also surfacing a bit on the Crammed label at the time. All tracks are instrumental – and titles include "Black Africa", "Back To The Factory", "Kpanlogo", "Biologic Music", and "Adowa". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Dreamy sounds from Iasos – an early proponent of the world of new age music, but one that's far hipper than the bigger-label acts to come in the 80s! This set is beautifully spare and meditative – two side-long tracks, each a kind of warmer, more sentimental take on territory that Brian Eno was exploring with his ambient music projects – inflected maybe with a slightly spiritual vibe, as you'd guess from the title! Instrumentation is mostly electric, but used in ways that also really show the manner in which these early American pioneers of the format were marking their own space away from German electronic experimentation. The album features extended versions of "The Angels Of Comfort" and "Angel Play – each around the 30 minute mark! CD

Amazing work from Philip Glass – his second great opera, and a long-overdue follow-up to Einstein On The Beach – a set of music that's every bit as great as that groundbreaking work, but maybe even with stronger, fuller execution overall! The piece looks at the early political years of Gandhi – the title is a term coined by him, as a reference to his philosophy of truth and love – with words by Constance DeJohng, and these amazing minimalist orchestrations by Glass – filled with the kind of long-spun lines you'd find in his instrumental work, but somehow made even more amazing with the presence of lyrics! Douglas Perry handles the role of Gandhi – and the performance is by the New York City Opera Orchestra and Chorus, directed by Christopher Keene. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record, and one that forever transformed the sound of opera in the US – the amazing summation of all the many musical ideas that Philip Glass had been cooking up since the 60s, done as a mindblowing stage presentation with Robert Wilson! Voices, organ, reeds, and piano come together in wonderful lines that go on and on, seemingly forever, in endless variations and rivulets of sound – as simple in structure as the leaner small combo minimalist work from Glass – but with a very different style in the fuller setting, with a sonic quality that still is as groundbreaking today as it was back in the 70s! 4LP set features all acts, plus the very cool "Knee Play" segments too! LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... CD

A great contemporary entry in the mindblowing musical legacy of Aksak Maboul – a group who first started mixing up many different genres in the late 70s, then went on to maybe set the tone for the whole creative legacy of the Crammed Discs label! Original member Marc Hollander is still at the core – handling keyboards, reed instruments, percussion, and all sorts of sonic elements – mixing them with that creative musicality that always made his vision so unique. And singer Veronique Vincent is at the forefront of the group now, after a few previous collaborations – heading things up by co-writing the material with Hollander, and opening the door for a host of guests, who include Fred Frith on guitar and viola, and Steven Brown on vocals. The sound has evolved since the early days, but is also remarkably true to the legacy of the group – with titles that include "Retour Chez A", "The Untranslatable", "Sgraffites", "True False Fictive", "C'Est Charles", "Silhouettes", "Martial Arts For Boys", "Tout A Une Fin", and "Fatarasie Pulverisee". (Rock, Out Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

Nice takes on the music of Erik Satie! CD

An incredible record from the glory days of Flying Dutchman! The session's one of a rare few cut by electronic musician Jon Appleton, and it's a stunning blend of analogue electronics and sonic cut up material – a record of musique concrete compositions to rival the greatest work coming out of France in the late 50s and early 60s! Appleton's approach to the material is at some level like that of Pierre Henry, but at another level, he's also using some bits of late 60s Americana – such as a Chef Boyardee commercial, or snippets of interviews done in an airport – and it's elements like these that give the set a darkness that makes it even more compelling. Titles include "Chef D'Oeuvre", "Newark Airport Rock", "Times Square Times Ten", "Second Scene Unobserved", "Nyckelharpen", and "The Visitation". CD

One of the spookiest albums we've ever heard from moog maestro Mort Garson – way darker and more complex than his Wozzard Of Id or moogy horoscope projects – with a feel that's much more like his legendary Black Mass album! Like that one, there's a fair current of supernatural running through the mix – an early use of the electronics to explore the darker corners of reality, served up with lots of cool 70s occult touches – in a way that's oddly more timeless than some of the later projects of this nature from the industrial generation. Garson's range of tones is wonderful – from fuzzy bassy bits, to sparkling keyboard lines, to lots of spacey sounds in between – and titles include "I Ching", "Tarot", "Deja Vu", "Seance", "Sorcerer", and "Astral Projection". (Rock, Out Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

A great package – one that features some wildly experimental work from French electronics whiz Philippe Besombes! First up is the album Libra – tripped out electronics meet progressive rock jamming – all in a weird and wonderful film score from the early 70s! The record's one of the best by French experimentalist Philippe Besombes from the time – and it's got a style that sort of starts in the territory of Francois De Roubaix similar electronic work for film – but gets a lot darker and noisier right away! There's a textural depth here that's really great – almost a pre-industrial music exploration of sounds – but the work's also not that over-indulgent, either – and Besombes always has a great way of getting back to a tune, especially on the shorter tracks. Titles include "La Plage", "Rugby", "Ceremonie", "Hache 06", "La Ville", "Les Cosmonautes", "Tis A Song", "Boogimmick", and "PJF 261". Next is the record Esombeso – also release as Ceci Est Cela – a strange mix of sound library electronics and much more experimental work from Philippe Besombes – a set that carries echoes of some of the best Italian soundtrack electronics of the 70s, but which also features much darker, more turgid moments as well! The album collects some of Besombes' performances for ballet and other settings – and stands as an even starker document of his talents than some of the other albums issued under his name in the 70s. Titles include "Pawa"," Geant", "Seul", and "Ceci Est Cela". Next are two more albums done under the name Hydravion – both of which show Besombes turning his electronics into tighter, more song-based territory – although not without some noise from time to time – shorter tracks that sometimes get a bit tuneful, but which are still light years from mainstream music of the period. CD set also features bonus tracks for the first two albums – 8 more numbers that include "L'Or Des Fous", "Traversee", "Trio", "Piano Prepare", "Orgue Hache", and "Chocolate Cream". (Rock, Out Sound) CD

Fantastic sounds from Tim Blake – an artist who previously worked with Gong, and sometimes worked with Hawkwind – but who really came into his own on this legendary album of electronics! Tim works here on a self-constructed "crystal machine" – a bank of electronics that was often played in performance to front some trippy film installations (as shown on the cover) – which perfectly suited the stretched-out spacey style of his music! The vibe is maybe a bit like early Tangerine Dream, but with some of the warmer modes of the French electronic scene of the time – and titles include "Midnight", "Last Ride Of The Boogie Child", "Synthese Intemporal", and "Crystal Presence". (Rock, Out Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

A great CD that brings together 2 different albums by Braxton – one a mixture of electronics and reeds, the other a laidback trio recording in an AACM mode. The first tracks feature Braxton's 70s explorations with electronic music artist Richard Teitelbaum. Together, the pair laid down some excellent sax/moog improvisations that still sound pretty incredible today. Braxton's icy tone was a great match for Teitelbaum's spare linear sound, and the result was a few great records like this one. The rest of the record is trio work with Leroy Jenkins and Leo Smith – both very long tracks, stretched out and freely creative. The album features 4 long tracks – "Crossing", "Off The Top Of My Head", "Silence", and "Behemoth Dreams". (Jazz, Out Sound) CD

A cassette-only rarity from the glory days of the tape-based new age underground – but a set that's much more strongly in line with 70s masterpieces from the German electronic music pioneers! Jeff Carney plays his instrumentation live here, and in ways that are hardly meditative or relaxing – as the whole thing really takes off into the cosmos with the sorts of sounds that would have made Klaus Schulze or Edgar Froese mighty mighty proud – long-spun tunes that pulsate with all these extended lines on keyboards and organs, used with bits of effects and just a touch of sequencer – all played live, with no overdubs or tapes. Titles include "Toys", "Trip", "Safety Hazard", "Voyage Of The Filters", and "Cloud 9". 2LP set also features bonus tracks – "Earth Escape", "Quark", and "Wailing Wall". (Rock, Out Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing work on solo flute – by a performer who's always captivated us in a live setting, but who really seems to knock things out of the park on this massively extended set! The title of the package is from a work by Edgard Varese for solo flute, first composed in 1936 – and an amazing showcase for the sense of subtle tones and textures that Varese brought to his music in the early part of the 20th Century. Chase takes off from that piece, and offers up compositions by sixteen composers, each of them a masterpiece – handled by Claire with a very organic approach to the sound, as things build up beautifully, in a very resonant way – on a variety of flutes that are occasionally augmented by a small bit of electronics. The spirit of the package is unique – and by the end of the whole thing, we actually find ourselves wishing that there were more than 4CDs – as Chase leaves us rapt throughout, moving through works composed by George Lewis, Pauline Oliveros, Jason Eckardt, Felipe Lara, Vijay Iyer, Tysawn Sorey, Marcos Balter, and others – plus a rendition of the original Varese work that inspired the whole project. (Jazz, Out Sound) CD

A wild mix of electric and acoustic sounds from Henning Christiansen – done as a soundtrack for a film that's represented with images inside the cover – images that make the movie look as wild as the music on the record! Sounds come from a variety of sources – glass bowls, tubes, piano, baritone horn, synthesizer, and many voices – but all often abstracted by the production, and taken into territory where even the more familiar moments get completely changed up – with a disorienting vibe that's almost an 80s evolution of earlier electro-acoustic modes. Titles include "The Mirror", "The Red Door", "Wolf Song", "Durand's Flute", "The End", "Landscape With Wolves Bed", and "The Blue Room". (Soundtracks, Out Sound) LP, Vinyl record album