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Selected Radiophonic Works - three hour special on BBC Radio 7

More Radiophonic noise for you, via my dad who keeps on eye on such things, in the form of Selected Radiophonic Works, a 3 hour special on the Radiophonic Workshop, presented by Richard Coles. 


It includes the usual blatherings from Coldcut, Inferno Revisited - "a sonic drama set in the ruins of Hell", The Dreams - Delia Derbyshire and Barry Bermange combining cut-up voices with shit-scary tape electronics, Electric Tunesmiths - a documentary about the Workshop and its staff, an episode of the Goon Show, and Relativity - an "exploration in sound of Einstein's celebrated theory of relativity".

 

It's up on the BBC iPlayer until Saturday 27th December.

Filed under  //   bbc   electronics   music   radiophonicworkshop  
Posted December 21, 2008
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Coldcut does the Radiophonic Workshop

Matrixsynth has the scoop on a load of photos of Coldcut working on a live mix of BBC Radiophonic Workshop stuff for the Electric Proms. Look at that lovely EMS Synthi A. Mmmm. But what no massive tape loops, then?

Apparently it'll be on Annie Nightingale's show, possibly next Saturday at 5am?

Filed under  //   ems   radiophonicworkshop   synth  
Posted October 18, 2008
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Delia Derbyshire and Barry Bermange - The Dreams

Intergalactic FM played a whole bunch of Italian soundtrack rough funk earlier on, and then dropped the temperature a million degrees by playing "Falling" from "The Dreams" by Delia Derbyshire and Barry Bermange. 

I thought I had the lot, all the Delia Derbyshire bits floating around the ether, but it was the first time I've heard this, sounding utterly terrifying - a series of cut-up voices talking about dreams against a minimal electronic backdrop. Vaguely reminds of the also-very-scary "I before E except after C" by Yazoo. 

It was broadcast in 1964 on The Third Programme (shit, great name for a band that - shame it's taken by, um, this), but no need for a time machine: the always great Mutant Sounds blog has the five tracks, complete with evocative AM radio buzz and hum.

Filed under  //   bbc   deliaderbyshire   electronic   music   radio   radiophonicworkshop  
Posted October 16, 2008
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Intergalactic FM launches

Always loved and much-missed Holland-based electronic/disco/soundtracks radio station the Cybernetic Broadcasting System is reborn as Intergalactic FM with two out of three streams up and running at the moment - IFM2 is "The Dream Machine", featuring around the clock space, soundtracks and electronics, whilst IFM3 is "Intergalactic Classix" featuring loads of electro, Italo and hiphop. 

Sounds great so far - I was cynical about splitting off the spacey, soundtracky stuff off from the typical Italo and disco classics, but it's been working out pretty well so far. 

Filed under  //   cbs   intergalacticfm   music   radio   radiophonicworkshop  
Posted September 24, 2008
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A thing about machines - audio/visual arts event in Coventry

Just mentioned this over at paper-jam: A Thing About Machines, arts event happening all over Coventry from 19th to 21st September, with lots of good stuff including an all-day event dedicated to Coventry-born electronic music heroine Delia Derbyshire run by 7inch cinema. All we need is Broadcast to turn up and do a cover of "ziweh-ziweh ooo ooo" and I can die happy.

Here's a quick blast of Delia Derbyshire on the wheels of steel:

Filed under  //   7inchcinema   athingaboutmachines   deliaderbyshire   radiophonicworkshop  
Posted August 21, 2008
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Delia Derbyshire's dance track: "Dance from Noah" clip

David Butler comments on Create Digital Music with some more info on the mysterious Aphex-style dance track that's been dug out of the Delia Derbyshire archives. Rooting around my collection of stuff I found something which claims to be the track David mentions, seemingly off a demo record of the EMS VCS3.

 
It's a sweet little thing, only 54 seconds long. The driving, analogue drum machine-style beat is quickly drowned out by the piccolo-style synth line, it seems easily possible it's the same beat, or at least from the same session. I did a rough check on the tempo of each, and they're roughly in line at about 155bpm or so.
 
Now it ain't mine to go slinging round on the Internet, but I'm hoping it's OK to quote a tiny clip of the pertinent section, about ten seconds of the start of it.
 
 

Dance From Noah by Delia Derbyshire  
(download)

Update: Just for interest only, here's an interview with Delia by Radio Scotland in 1997. Let me assure you, we all speak like that in Coventry.

Filed under  //   bbc   deliaderbyshire   download   mp3   radiophonicworkshop  
Posted July 29, 2008
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Forget about this, it's for interest only: The Delia tapes

Great piece on the BBC website on the attic Delia tapes, including some fantastic Aphex-style beats, only 20 years or so before RDJ got going. Everyone'll be sampling Delia saying "forget about this, it's for interest only" at the start...
 
Just as interesting for me are her early recordings for "Blue Veils and Golden Sands", which demonstrate her working process. The demo includes some cut-ups of her voice which sound like nothing much, then replayed at different pitches, where the ghost of a tune appears, which is then put through some sort of reverb device for atmosphere, and then it's incorporated into the whole.
 
There's the usual speak-your-branes style comments from the Great British Public on the PM blog to wonder at as well ("No more music than fly in the air").
 
We want more.... (via Helen, ta)

Filed under  //   bbc   deliaderbyshire   music   radiophonicworkshop  
Posted July 19, 2008
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