Bebe Barron was the godmother of electronic music. With her husband Louis Barron they created the innovative score to Forbidden Planet in 1955.
Reviews & Commentary
The First Lady of Electronic Music Passes: Bebe Barron
Category: Reviews & Commentary
Reviews & Commentary
Two Drummers Passing: Stu Nevitt & Klaus Dinger
You couldn’t get two drummers more different than Stu Nevitt, the drummer with Shadowfax and Klaus Dinger, who percussed for Kraftwerk and Neu! Keyboardist Armen Chakmakian, from a later edition of Shadowfax, passed on the sad news of Nevitt’s passing on March 15 from complications of diabetes and heart disease. He was 55. Stu was…
Reviews & Commentary
HOLGER CZUKAY TURNS 70
A cult icon who influenced Pulbic Image Limited, Brian Eno and The Orb enters his 8th decade. Before samplers and computers; before rap and electronica; before ambient and new exotica, Holger Czukay was doing it all. A student of Karlheinz Stockhausen and a founding member of Can, the German avant-progressive rock group, the sound of…
Reviews & Commentary
New Tunes evoking ancient Celts and Native spirits: Coyote Oldman and Gerry O’Beirne
Coyote Oldman returns and Gerry O’Beirne creates a career defining album with new CDS. Coyote Oldman is the Native flute and electronic duo that single-handedly carved out the Native American space music genre in the 1980s and 90s. Michael Graham Allen, a scholar and maker of Native American flutes, plays most of the music on…
Reviews & Commentary
Echoes on the Road: Tom Rothrock, Jon Hassell, Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin and more
The first live performance by acclaimed producer Tom Rothrock and a transporting set from Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin highlighted a recent excursion to Los Angeles. After Kimberly Haas and I attended the Public Media Conference in Los Angeles, Jeff Towne flew out as we remained to record 7 interviews and performances in 3 days. Among the…
Reviews & Commentary
The Academy Awards Soundtrack Rejects
Another Academy Awards telecast is coming and while I usually find little serious disagreement in the films and actors nominated, the award for Best Soundtrack (officially Achievement in music written for motion pictures -Original score) always seems to elude me. Year after year, the Academy Awards selects bombast, sentimentality and faux classicism over innovation, atmosphere,…
Reviews & Commentary
50th Annual Grammy Awards Post Mortem: What do I know?
Apparently, absolutely nothing. While I didn’t make any predictions for this years Grammy Awards, I did make some personal picks. Evidently, that’s the kiss of death. Paul Winter took the New Age Grammy for his very fine album, Crestone, but I would’ve preferred Eric Tingstad’s Southwest, which was a much more ambitious recording and a…
Reviews & Commentary
A Reimagining of The 50th Annual Grammy Awards:
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards happen this Sunday, February 10. The Grammy’s wouldn’t appear to have much relevancy for Echoes listeners or most people interested in non-commercial or alternative music. And as far as the TV spectacle goes, you’re right. There hasn’t been an interesting non-Rock act on there since forever. The New Age Grammy,…
Reviews & Commentary
Synthesizers vs Acoustic Guitars-A False Paradigm
Is Echoes a haven of acoustic guitar or an outpost of electronic music? I ask that question because at a Loreena McKennitt show in Harrisburg, PA that Echoes hosted with WITF, a listener walked up to our table and stated simply, “Less electronic music. More acoustic guitars.” I glibly responded, “I hear you, but that’s…
Reviews & Commentary
A couple we may have missed: Mystical Sun, Japancakes and Patrick O’Hearn
Albums by Mystical Sun, Patrick O’Hearn, and Japancakes may have gotten lost in the shuffle of our year end best of lists. Mystical Sun’s Deeperworlds was a disc I’d been waiting for since we interviewed him in 2004. We played this CD a lot, but I think since we had been so familiar with…