Friday 2 September 2016

Dissevelt/Baltan.



This 4 track EP, which I bought back in 1962, was reputed to have been one of the very first records of 'Electronic Music'. However, not owning a record player I've been unable, since then , to hear what my schoolboy ears enjoyed so much. 

That is, not until yesterday; when it crossed my mind to see if it was on Spotify.... and I was amazed to discover that it WAS.

Listening to it again, what seemed so radical then seems so dated now.

Dutch pair Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan (below) were heroes of the radical 1960's underground music scene, and even to know their names was regarded as pretty 'cool'.

                              Afficher l'image d'origine

If you'd like to know what sounds excited the 16 year old Cro, go to Spotify and search for 'Electronic Movements'. The version they have was 'remastered' in 2013.

I don't guarantee you'll like it, but you'll be listening to a piece of history.




15 comments:

  1. Spotify is not available here in India, so I searched a bit. Some work by the two artists you mention is available on youtube. Will listen to that as soon as I get off work.

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    1. I'll have a look at that too. Thanks for the info.

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  2. Well, well, well. Fascinating and interesting too. Way out of my listening league in 1962 (far to classically conservative in those days) but I can appreciate it now.

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    1. My interest in this came from listening to Schoenberg Stravinsky et al. It seemed like a natural progression.

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  3. Just had a listen - wow, that really was electronic music in its infancy.
    Once artists like Jean Michel Jarre and Kraftwerk came along, things took a huge leap forward, although electronic music was still looked down upon by so-called purists. Of course when bands like Depeche Mode dragged synths into the mainstream, people quickly embraced this new technology.
    Interesting that the old electronic equipment still pops up occasionally today - often in the form of the unmistakable wail of a Theramin...

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    1. Little did these guys know, back in the 1960's, where their experiments would lead. Nowadays hardly any music doesn't use synthesised sounds of some sort.

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  4. My son, who read music at University (and now teaches it) was really into this stuff in the early early eighties. Used to drive us mad.

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    1. I know how you must have felt; our youngest was much the same.

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  5. Our own dear Delia Derbyshire had a lot to answer for too.

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    1. Didn't she do the Dr Who theme music? All around the same era.

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    2. Yes. She was the original BBC Radiophonic Workshop, but also made her own electronic music, some of which is still being sampled today. All done by splicing tape!

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  6. FYI -- bitaboutbritain.com has just posted an Ely Cathedral story. Your schooling? Very interesting.

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    1. Thanks for the link Potty. Yes, that's where the young Cro was educated; a wonderful place just for the architecture alone. I used to spend hours and hours in the cathedral.

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  7. I clicked over to you tube, and liked what was delivered very much. Especially while having a delicious supper of leftover CM chicken curry with some okra and sweet red pepper added.

    There are several tunes to be sampled over there at you tube.

    This is another example of what blogging can do to connect us across time and space.

    Happy weekend.

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    1. The curry sounds good. We can't buy Okra here, I don't think the French have ever heard of it.

      I shall visit YouTube later today. Thanks.

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