#4273, Electronic Music From the Mid-1970's

For this New Sounds, hear electronic music from the 1970’s, with music by Paul Lansky, Irish composer Roger Doyle, Swedish-born Berlin- based Catherine Christer Hennix, and New York-based Laurie Speigel.

Listen to work by Paul Lansky - “mild und leise” from 1973 (sampled with permission by Radiohead on their Kid A), based on music by Wagner. Then, there’s a “krautrock” classic by Tangerine Dream – “3 A.M. at the Border of the Marsh from Okeefenokee” from their record Stratosfear, one of a trilogy of early studio records for Virgin Records (the other two are Phaedra, Rubycon.) This is electronic music full of psychedelic touches, which occasionally opens into eerie, nocturnal soundscapes. (John Schaefer)

There’s also music by electronic music pioneer Laurie Spiegel, who worked with Buchla and Electronic Music Laboratories, as well as Bell Labs. From a collection of her early works, called the Expanding Universe, listen to “The Unquestioned Answer” – a reference to the early 20^th century work, “The Unanswered Question,” by American composer (and insurance salesman), Charles Ives.

Plus, hear “The Well-Tuned Marimba,” by Swedish composer, philosopher, poet, mathematician, and visual artist Catherine Christer Hennix – which features well-tuned Yamaha, sheng, sine wave, and live electronics. Using a just intonation keyboard with marimba, the piece is "an undulating marvel of lysergic drone, equally deserving of its companion’s status as ‘THE obscure masterpiece of the days of the early American minimalism'” (Empty Editions Bandcamp.) Rounding out the show is newly-reissued music by composer, keyboardist and producer Roger Doyle.  

Program #4273, electronic music from the mid-70s (First aired 9/09/2019)

ARTIST: Radiohead
WORK: Idioteque [1:00]
RECORDING: Kid A
SOURCE: Capitol #27753
INFO: Available at Amazon.com, Apple Music, Spotify

ARTIST:  Paul Lansky 
WORK: mild und leise, excerpt [9:03]
RECORDING: Electronic Music Winners
SOURCE: Columbia Records
INFO:Out of print, but is available as an mp3 on Paul Lansky's site, http://paul.mycpanel.princeton.edu/mymp3.html

ARTIST: Tangerine Dream
WORK: 3am At The Border Of The Marsh from Okeefenokee [8:49]
RECORDING: Stratosfear
SOURCE: Virgin 0687021 
INFO: Available at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Roger Doyle
WORK: Baby Grand [3:58]
RECORDING: Thalia
SOURCE/INFO: rogerdoyle1.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Catherine Christer Hennix
WORK: The Well Tuned Marimba [8:27]
RECORDING: Selected Early Keyboard Works
SOURCE: Empty Editions
INFO: emptyeditions.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Laurie Spiegel
WORK: The Unquestioned Answer [6:20]
RECORDING: The Expanding Universe
SOURCE: Unseen Worlds UW 09
INFO: unseenworlds.net