As we type, Kraftwerk are in the middle of their second night of another all-album (well, from ‘Autobahn’ on) eight-night residency at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie. All seems well so far, with German media outlet Deutsche Welle having vox-popped a selection of suitably erudite Berliners outside the venue who variously praised …
Electronic Constantinople
They Might Be Giants are a difficult group not to like. They’ve been around for over 30 years, and have worn many crowns throughout their long existence; kings of alternative rock, kings of Accordion rock, kings of the Dial-A-Song (they would advertise a number, when you rang the answer machine …
The ARP Mechanical Band
Have a look at this video, brought to our attention by friend of the magazine and synth enthusiast of considerable standing, Matt Berry (Toast of London). It’s an all-ARP synthesiser blowout featuring Michael Brigida. Brigida is now an Associate Professor of Electronic Production and Design at Berklee, and if you’d …
VOTE KRAFTWERK
For anyone outside the UK, the fact that we have a general election looming is unlikely to be of much interest. It’s not until May, but already the knives are drawn and campaign teams are feverishly creating meme-ready slogans with suitable images. And that’s when Kraftwerk got dragged into it. …
TOTP 1980 – Missing In Action
Recently here in the UK the entire nation (well, it was trending on Twitter for an hour or two) was glued to their TVs for the BBC’s documentary about the year 1980, as seen through the filter of Top Of The Pops, the once-essential, now-cancelled weekly pop music show. The …
Python on synthesisers
Was it today that you put aside to listen to two speech synthesisers doing Monty Python’s ‘Argument Sketch’? It was? That’s great, because here it is. The Dectalk (on the left, which is taking Michael Palin’s part) was developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in the early 1980s and later produced …
Depeche Mode: New Year's Eve 1989
Here for your New Year’s Eve entertainment is the Mode playing ‘Enjoy The Silence’, two months before its release. for a Peter’s Pop Show New Year’s Eve special, broadcast on December 31, 1989. Recorded during the sessions for the ‘Violator’ album in 1989, the single went on to win a …
Kraftwerk and Duran Duran: Together at Last
The split single is a fine institution. Who can forget the Sonic Youth/Mudhoney 12-inch when Sonic Youth covered Mudhoney’s ‘Touch Me I’m Sick’ and Mudhoney the Sonic youth track ‘Halloween’? Sonic Youth ran away with it, to be honest. The ploy of introducing bands to each others fanbases makes a …
Electronic Sound Christmas Greeting
Merry Something to all, from us at Electronic Sound. And from our Texan pals Hyperbubble, here’s a Christmas song that echoes how many of us will be feeling. Hyperbubble – A Synthesizer for Christmas from Ambar Navarro on Vimeo.
Numan: The Most Expensive Electronic Record Ever?
An acetate of a Gary Numan single recently fetched £875 on eBay. The seven-inch features two tracks, ‘Replicas’ and ‘You Are In My Vision’, a combination that never saw the light of day as a single. Four minute and thirty five seconds (shorter than the versions that appeared on the …
Chris und Tina: Electronic Heads
The first five Talking Heads albums are, of course, essential. The band’s development from uptight post-punk for the smarter CBGB set to the world-conquering weird pop giants of ‘Remain In Light’ and ‘Speaking In Tongues’, with the peerless ‘Fear Of Music’ along the way, is breathtaking. Internally, however, relations got …
MOOG FACTORY TOUR
We’ve been playing around with the Moog Sub 37 at the Electronic Sound studio, and it’s fair to say that we love it. There will be a review of it in the next issue of the magazine in the new year, so make sure you get hold of it on …
FRONT 242: LIVE AND DANGEROUS
Behold the remarkable force that was Front 242 at their peak. We’ve been reminiscing about seeing Front 242 at The Astoria in London around the time that ‘Masterhit’ came out (early 1987, fact fans) and remembering how powerful their live performances were. With their punishing body beats, and their strobes …
DEVO CUSTOM GUITAR
The world of crowd-funding has allowed all kinds of interesting things to happen. Bands have released albums, including Devo themselves, whose recent tour of Hardcore-era material was recorded for a live album and video and offered to fans via Pledge Music. Quite a few small synthesiser manufacturers have used Kickstarter …
EBN: ELECTRONIC DISSENT
I was chatting to Public Service Broadcasting’s J. Willgoose Esq the other day, and we mentioned Emergency Broadcast Network. PSB are, in some ways, a tweedy and politely English version of the apocalyptic American outfit, who released one album proper in the early 1995 on TVT Records, produced by Electronic …
ANYONE REMEMBER HOHOKAM?
Our editor Push has just found this ticket for a “Gary Numan Tubeway Army Disco” at The Flag in Wembley buried deep in a drawer of his desk. He thinks it’s from 1986 and, as well as the disco, the night included a live performance by Hohokam, which Push reviewed …