Another electronic gem from Erwin Broers. He has become my go to guy for berlin-school music and I'm totally here for it. I've said many times that I like hosting guest mixes from artists and listeners because I always discover new music. And this set is a perfect example - other than Ron Boots, every artist in this mix is new to me.
Here's what Erwin has to say about this mix:
"The theme this time is "Electronic Gems From The Lowlands", the lowlands being Belgium and the Netherlands. Both countries are neighbours of Germany, where Electronic Music took off in the early 1970s. It was therefore inevitable that many local progressive artists became fascinated by synthesizers and inspired by this new genre known as "Kosmische Musik" (cosmic music). Influence of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze is obvious, but there's also a hint at prog rock and a few tracks come close to melodic synth pop similar to Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre."
Thanks for a great set, Erwin!
Cheers!
[ s t r e a m ] [ d o w n l o a d ] [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00:00 PeRu - Out Of Time (Constellations, 1981)
- 00:09:01 Pillion - Enigmas (Enigmas, 1980)
- 00:22:36 Par Example - Flarepath (Pharos, 1989)
- 00:31:57 Patrick Kosmos - Mindscapes part 1, 2nd movement (Mindscapes, 1987)
- 00:41:00 Johan Timman - Trip Into The Body (Trip Into The Body, 1981)
- 00:46:31 Walter Christian Rothe - Solitude (Solitude, 1982)
- 00:50:34 Ton Scherpenzeel - Heart Of The Universe (Heart Of The Universe, 1984)
- 00:58:02 Frank Van Bogaert - A Picture of You (Closer, 2004)
- 01:01:45 Ron Boots & John Kerr - Oceans Of Emotions (Offshore Islands, 1990)
- 01:15:11 end
Have you thought of a mix of early electroacoustic New Age from late 70's early 80's? The early more experimental material has some gems. there are elements that bridge the Berlin with early ambient elements as well as other more hybrid electroacoustic artists mixing synth with dulcimer and piano, etc Maybe it's the nostalgia... I can't believe I would ever say this... but I think some has aged rather well. Before New Age became highly commercialized it was rather experimental and has a certain charm and beauty. Many people were introduced to electronic music and ambient through early New age artists. Lots of it is "cheesy" but some of it is very deep and chill. Side A of Sunborne - a trippy dreamy track with lyrics grabbed from psuedo archeology occult writings of the early 20th century (oddly, the liner notes incorrectly credit the the historically accurate text, the emerald tablet ) - is an example:)
ReplyDelete"historically accurate" - I meant to convey that the Emerald tablet is a hermetic text that actually exists. I guess the relevance is that New Age music and artists were at often connected to eastern infused western cults and/or occult ideas and adjacent groups, etc. Giving the music a strange quality and often contained drones, a lack of chord progressions (like the structure of indian classical) and instrumentation that was not often heard along side electronic moog sequences. The lyrics in Sunborne are excerpts of "The Emerald Tablets of Thoth" - a popular occult book still based on psuedo historic fiction (once again the cd credits the hermetic text "The Emerald Tablet" incorrectly) giving the music a ancient vibe of mysticism. So ya, a mix of early New Age could be fun
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