Image: ChrisBravoTown

Saturday Synth Porn: OK – there’s no synth in this shot, but this Lancia Delta Integrale looks extremely cool with an Aphex Twin paint job.

Unfortunately, it’s a virtual Lancia Delta Integrale, from the Xbox 360 game ‘Forza Motorsport 2′……

Earlier in the week, we put up a post on 9 Flavors of Popcorn, a collection of music videos for a variety of versions of the synthpop classic.

Once again, though, a Synthtopia reader, Ian Page-Echols, has topped us – finding an ancient WFMU post that offers no less than 79 covers of Popcorn. They cheat a little and use Prodigy’s Popcorn Techno Dance 99 Remix 1 twice, but it’s a pretty good cover, so why not?

Others on board for this massive collection include Aphex Twin, Kraftwerk, The Boston Pops & twisted children’s musician and techno pioneer Bruce Haack.

A few examples are embedded below; see the WFMU post for the motherload.

Just about everybody’s familiar with the synthpop classic, Popcorn, above.

Composer Gershon Kingsley first recorded the track Popcorn for his 1969 album Music to Moog By. In 1971 the song was re-recorded by Kingsley’s band First Moog Quartet. Stan Free, member of the First Moog Quartet, rerecorded the instrumental with his band Hot Butter in 1972, and it was a huge hit – probably the most recognizable track from the Moog explosion of the late 60’s and early 70’s.

Popcorn has since been covered by an insane variety of artists, ranging from DJ Voyager to a pre-fame Jean Michel Jarre to Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops to Richard D. James, AKA Aphex Twin to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. There are more than 500 cover versions Popcorn!

Here are nine flavors of Popcorn from over years, including a vocal version, a trance version and a set of piano variations that may surprise you.

Which one do you think is the most interesting cover?

Popcorn, by Hot Butter (1972)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Anarchic System – Pop corn (1972) – With vocals

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pop Corn (1972) : Pop Corn (2:32) – Jean Michel Jarre (1972)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jean Michel Jarre as Pop Corn Orchestra

Marsheaux – Popcorn (2003)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Crazy Frog Popcorn, (2005)

Click here to view the embedded video.

GermanNintendoGamer’s 8-Bit Popcorn (undated)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Medieval Popcorn (Renaissance Faire era)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gershon Kingsley plays Popcorn (2007)

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Composer himself at the August Foerster Grand, playing variations on the Popcorn theme.

Resources:

• Popcorn at Wikipedia
• Popcorn Song fan site
• Bob Moog interviews Gershon Kingsley

“We’re definitely going to be putting out a new album by him,” says Becket. “Hopefully it will be this year, if I can prise it out of his hands. It’s definitely on its way.”

“He’s got his own unique view on life and obviously he’s just a genius musician and artist and it’s brilliant to work with him,” added Beckett reflecting on his time with working the elusive artist.

“I don’t know a single note or anything about it,” adds Becket. “It will be as much of a surprise to me as anyone else. Basically I find out what it sounds like when we go into the mastering room and he puts it – well how it used to be, he’ll put the DAT player in and there it’ll be – so that’s the first time I’ll hear it. Then I’ll go onto my knees and thank him and then we’ll put it out.”

It’s probably safe to say that the new Aphex Twin album will be bizarre and disturbing – but also entirely original.

Leave a comment with your thoughts!

• Can You Tell When She’s Faking It?
  Posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 in Electronic Musicians – Comments: (7)
  This video catches trance artist Dali at the Psychodelic Progressive Trance concert, singing, soloing on the synths and adding a little percussive spice:

  Click here to view the embedded video.

• Proof That Herbie Hancock Is The Only Guy Ever To Look Cool Playing The Keytar
  Posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 in Music News – Comments: (6)
  It’s an unfortunate law of the universe that guys always look stupid playing the keytar. While there are plenty of memorable keytar goddesses, Herbie Hancock is the only guy, ever, to look cool playing the keytar.
• The Aphex Twin Mystery
  Posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 in Electronic Musicians – Comments: (5)
• Orbital Back Together
  Posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 in Electronic Musicians – Comments: (4)

  Click here to view the embedded video.

  Phil and Paul Hartnoll are reuniting as Orbital, after four years of relative obscurity, to headline UK’s Big Chill Festival in England, next August. 
• Control Ableton Live With Your iPhone
  Posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 in iPods & Portable Media Players – Comments: (4)

  Click here to view the embedded video.

  This video, via GoMakeMusic.de, is a quick Demo of controlling Ableton Live with iPhone-Application TouchOSC.TouchOSC is an iPhone / iPod Touch application that lets you send and receive Open Sound Control messages over a Wi-Fi network using the UDP protocol.

via todayandtomorrow

Variety reports that MTV Networks Europe has been fined a total of £255,000 ($484,500) by U.K. media regulator Ofcom for airing the uncensored version of Aphex Twin’s Windowlicker, among other offenses. 

The “highly offensive language and material” was broadcast before 9 pm.

In a statement, Ofcom said ”Ofcom concluded that this material was not justified by the context of broadcasts that were likely to appeal to children and that the likely audience would have expected to have been protected from the most offensive language and material in such programming.”

“MTV Networks Europe takes this sanction and fine very seriously and has taken a series of steps to minimize as much as possible any breaches in the future,” said a MTV spokesperson. “These include strengthening procedures regarding programs for pre-watershed broadcast, reviewing MTV’s archive programming, increasing the number of staff involved in compliance and investing in a new channel management system.”

This fine seems over the top, especially when the visuals are what’s likely to scar people for life.

Damn! I didn’t know they made stuff like this anymore!

Marieke Acidbitch, Gijs Nastygabber & Dalas Chickstealer teamed up for this videoclip shot on location in Hawaii.

Or at least in front of a big picture of a beach in Hawaii. 

This would get my vote for Video Most Likely To Ruin Your Life With Disturbing Imagery. 

Except that award already went to Aphex Twin’s Rubber Johhny.

Click here to view the embedded video.

By Chris Cunningham; Music by Aphex Twin

Never underestimate the power of scantily-clad women.

Duran Duran’s Rio has been named the greatest music video of all time in an MTV poll.

The 1982 video, featuring the band in suits on a Caribbean beach being teased by scantily-clad women, beat favorites such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Madonna’s Like a Prayer to claim the title.

I’m not sure how Rio beat out Aphex Twin’s Come To Daddy, though.

This cool video, Sound Reactive Boids In A Flowsphere, by Rui Madeira, uses generative video software to create an abstract take on Aphex Twin:

audio reative visuals made in c++ using the amazing openframeworks library

Song -> aphex twin – 4

i used a perlin noise class which can be found here :
flipcode.com/archives/Perlin_Noise_Class.shtml

and some of this is still adapted from a robert hodgin source which can be found here flight404.com/blog/?p=113

The generative approach to video works great with a lot of electronica, and this is no exception.

If you’ve seen any other cool generative electronic music videos, let me know in the comments.

via Califaudio

1. Michael Jackson – ”Billie Jean” (1983)
   
2. Peter Gabriel – ‘Sledgehammer” (1986)
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Give It Away” (1991)
4. Beastie Boys – ”Sabotage” (1994)
5. Björk – “It’s Oh So Quiet” (1995)
6. Herbie Hancock – “Rockit” (1983)
7. Jean-Luc Ponty – “Individual Choice” (1983)
8. Talking Heads – “Burning Down the House” (1983)
9. Téléphone – “Un Autre Monde” (1984)
10. The Cure – “Close to Me” (1985)
11. New Order – “Perfect Kiss” (1985)
12. Beastie Boys – “Fight for Your Right to Party” (1986)
13. Run DMC (Feat. Aerosmith) – “‘Walk this Way” (1986)
14. Paul Simon – “You Can Call Me Al” (1986)
15. Michael Jackson – “Leave Me Alone” (1987)
16. Madonna – “Like a Prayer” (1989)
17. Tone Loc – “Wild Thing” (1989)
18. Young MC – “Bust a Move” (1989)
19. Massive Attack – “Unfinished Sympathy” (1991)
20. Lenny Kravitz – “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” (1993)
21. Jamiroquai – “Virtual Insanity” (1996)
22. The Pharcyde – “Drop” (1996)
23. Aphex Twin – “Come to Daddy” (1997)
24. Devendra Banhart, ”A Ribbon” (2004)
25. R. Kelly, ”Trapped in the Closet” (2005)

There’s a lot of great, innovative stuff on Gondry’s list, but nothing is creepier than the video for Aphex Twin’s Come to Daddy:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Apache My Bitch Up

Air – Kelly Watch The Stars (Moog Cookbook Remix)

Apache Vs Chemical Brothers

Apache vs Voodoo People

Apache – the “Come to Daddy” mix

This gets my vote as the scariest mashup:

It just goes to show – any song can be mashed up with the Apache video. There’s plenty more at the

Click here to view the embedded video.

The video, by directory Chris Cunningham, is considered one of the best music videos of all time. In one recent poll, it was number three, behind Johnny Cash’s Hurt and Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean.

If they ever have a creepy electronica video award, though, Come to Daddy is probably a shoe-in.

The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance – The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age uses the term “ambient” music much more freely than common usage. To author Mark Prendergast, ambient music is interesting music of the twentieth century. He notes two significant aspects of it: the tendency to “deconstruct” the forms of Western music; and the influence of recording technology. Prendergast includes everything but the kitchen sink under this umbrella. Schoenberg and Webern, Satie, Raymond Scott, Morton Subotnick, Joe Meek, Bob Dylan, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, Mike Oldfield, Donna Summer, and the Chemical Brothers are just a few of the artists that are included.

The book starts with a Forward by Brian Eno. Eno’s essay is short and not his best, but his essay serves as an introduction to some of the ideas and music covered in the book.

The book is divided into four main parts:

• Book I: The Electronic Landscape
  This section covers the broadest timeframe, starting with Mahler, Satie and Debussy and continuing to almost the end of the twentieth century. The theme of this section is really less about the development of electronic music, and more just an overview of composers that Prendergast feels are significant in this era. For readers with a weak understanding of classical Western music of the twentieth century, this section hits some of the highlights. It does cover the development of electronic musical instruments. While it doesn’t delve very deeply into either electronic instruments of the musicians that used them, but it does put these developments into a historical context.
• Book II: Minimalism, Eno and the New Simplicity
  This section covers musicians that are closest to what many would consider “ambient” musicians. La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and other minimalists are discussed, along with other composers and popular musicians that create music that encourages different perceptions of time. Prendergast puts special importance on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, because of the influence that they had on other artists.  
• Book III: Ambience in the Rock Era
  This section looks at how technology has affected the way popular musicians record and perform music, and includes groups like the Beach Boys, The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, Ennio Morricone, Peter Gabriel, and Enya. Prendergast takes serious looks at the “Berlin School” of synth-rock, especially Tangerine Dream. This section covers many musicians that readers may find tangential to the subject matter of ambient music.
• Book IV: House, Techno, and 21st Century Ambience
  The last section tries to filter modern electronica through Prendergast’s broad ambient lens, and looks at everything from Donna Summer to Moby. Again, this section covers a little of everything, but is a good introduction to many dance-oriented electronic musicians.

The Ambient Century is a sprawling book, perhaps too sprawling, One occasionally gets the impression that Prendergast has simply included the music that he likes rather than conform to the common use of the term “ambient music”, or create his own cogent argument for what ambient music is. Prendergast’s book does a very good job of covering a lot of interesting musicians and composers of the last century. He also does a good job of introducing some of the ideas and technologies that affected the development of art music in this era.

Prendergast does a less convincing job of connecting these things together thematically. After reading the book, it’s still difficult to see the connection between musicians like Mahler, Eno, Miles Davis and Yes. The book is full of information, but doesn’t effectively tie this information together with ideas. Readers may find themselves asking “why was this musician included”.

One other weakness of the book is the number of typographical and factual errors it contains. The book is nearly encyclopedic in scope, but diminishes its value as a reference because of the large number of errors it contains. The Ambient Century could benefit from some editing and fact checking. Let’s hope that there will be a second edition. With some editing, this could become an excellent introduction and reference.

The book’s greatest strength is that it will introduce almost any reader to some interesting musicians. The Ambient Century coves one hundred years of interesting music. Because of its scope, it doesn’t look at any artist in great depth. However, it does cover many of the highlights of the last century’s music, and will inspire many readers to explore sounds that they might not have otherwise known about, and even to listen to some familiar works with open ears.

On Volume II, each track is electronic tone painting, that explore a broader palette of electronic sound generation than Eno’s work. There about 150 minutes of music, spread out over two CDs. The music draws heavily on synthesizers, but also on sampled sounds.

This collection is more coherent than his previous set of ambient pieces, Selected Ambient Works ‘85-’92. As a result, it works better as a complete listening experience. Most of the works have no beats, but are instead made up of slowly repeating electronic sounds, some acoustic sounds such as piano, and some unidentifiable noises. The music isn’t immediately accessible, like some ambient music. It covers a dark ambient territory, similar to Eno’s On Land.

The music is very evocative, and is a modern classic of ambient music.

In 1978, most people were listening to disco. The Village people had a hit with “YMCA” and Donna Summer with “Last Dance”. The disco era was in full bloom, and fringe hits were things like Jimmy Buffet’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, or “Werewolves of London”, by Warren Zevon.

Against this backdrop, Eno’s quiet, meditative Music for Airports came out. Music for Airports is a sound sculpture, designed to be ignored as much as listened to. It has  no easily discernable rhythm, and no hummable melodies. Yet 25 years later, ambient music has grown to be a busy category of music, and countless musicians name Eno and his ambient music as an inspiration.

Ambient 1 is simply one of the most important pieces of electronic music ever created. Music for Airports created a new genre, ambient music, that has grown to be a popular and influential style.

What is Ambient Music?

Eno places ambient music as an alternative to Muzak. Eno felt that Muzak had created music that was so lightweight and derivative that it had effectively eliminated environmental music as a subject for composer’s attention, or for that of serious listeners. His use of the term “ambient music” was to create a distinction between his music and the canned background music that was available at the time.

Most importantly, Eno wanted to make music that would support reflection and space to think. Eno did this by creating music that was beautiful, but did not have a center of focus to demand your attention. In his liner notes, Eno puts it this way: “Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.”