TVTHEMES by µ-Ziq

Regenerations

I must truly have been spending my time living under a rock* recently because I almost missed out on this. See you in Brum? I'll be the one in the top hat and simian demeanour, trying to get Paddy Kingsland to sign his copy of Fourth Dimension.

And you'll probably want to check out Into The Music: That Doctor Who Sound courtesy of ABC Radio National.

Not to mention Radio Clash #173: Radiophonic At 50.

Also whilst we're at it, you'll be wanting a copy of the Wed, 5th March edition of the Radio on Music podcast download. It was "Sculptress of Sound: The Lost Works of Delia Derbyshire", a cracking Archive Hour I did intend to post on this blog, but now you can get it direct from the horse's mouth.

Coming up, I'm pleased to announce that I've just got my paws on a copy of Listen Move & Dance No.4. Ripping times ahead!

Oh, and this this is rather lovely too.

*Such a lovely rock though...

Hauntology for Halloween

The Shadow of Aethereus by Soulless Central Radio on Mixcloud

Recommended further listening: The Soulless Party - Tales From The Black Meadow



"If you were born between the late 60's and mid 70's then this is for you...don't blame me if you have nightmares...you have been warned!! - markmorb

Electronic Music For Schools

Electronic Music For Schools by Pattern & Shape on Mixcloud

OST: Paddy Kingsland

Mr. Kingsland, earlier.

Paddy Kingsland was a guest on Jonny Trunk's OST show on Resonance FM recently. You can listen/download/subscribe here.

Also while we're at it, here's a recent interview courtesy of Astronauta Pinguim.

OST: BBC Records and Tapes Special

Here's a great way to while away a couple of hours. Robin The Fog took over hosting duties on Jonny Trunk's OST show this week on London's Resonance FM. The theme was BBC Records and the show includes a few radiophonic favourites you can still find at Ripping Yarns, along with plenty more oddities to keep things interesting. I love the bits there BBC Sound Effects Vol.13 pops in and out of the mix. Full description, tracklist and HQ mp3 download can be obtained from Robin's blog here.

More Fog Signals

Recommended listening: The Outer Church currently hosts Robin The Fog's rather lovely Foggy Nightshift Mix “to be enjoyed at some point between midnight and 6am" complete with track commentary. The Ghosts Of Bush limited edition vinyl has now sold out, but you can still find the digital version on good ol' Bandcamp.

The New Radiophonic Workshop

Fantastic news! It appears that The BBC Radiophonic Workshop is back from the dead in a new virtual guise. Can't wait to see what they create. Find out more for yourself by following/getting on the mailing list and so forth:

- The New Radiophonic Workshop 

- @ Radiophonic Workshop

- The Space (click on the "Listen To The Space" link at the top of the page)

I found out all about these developments thanks to this post on Robin The Fog's blog. Whilst you're there, be sure to investigate his The Ghosts Of Bush project, a beautifully atmospheric piece of radiophonics which puts me in mind of Delia Derbyshire's Dreams -  inventions for radio.

The Lost Episodes

Archive On 4: Doctor Who, The Lost Episodes. "Shaun Ley investigates what happened to 108 missing episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s, why the tapes were wiped and how dedicated fans hunted down copies of other episodes in film collections from Cyprus to New Zealand. And while we may have lost those early programmes, Shaun hears how home recordings ensured all the audio survived." 

This fascinating radio feature includes interviews and conversations with '60's era Doctor's assistants Peter Purves, Pauline Collins and composer/sound designer/Radiophonic Workshop archivist Mark Ayres amongst other familiar voices.

dl

A Sound British Adventure

This week's listening recommendations are twofold:

1:A Sound British Adventure.

"Comedian Stewart Lee is passionate about electronic music and he takes us on a remarkable musical journey. We discover how, after the Second World War, a small group of electronic pioneers began tinkering with their army surplus kit to create new sounds and music.

Tristram Cary started the first electronic music studio in Britain but, while France, Germany, Italy and the USA had lavishly funded research centres, British electronic music remained the preserve of boffins on a budget.

As the programme reveals, this make do and mend approach prevailed long after austerity Britain had given way to the swinging 60s, with Peter Zinovieff developing EMS synthesizers from a shed at the bottom of his garden in Putney. (Paul McCartney put on his wellies and took a look). Zinovieff is interviewed about his experiments in sound.

Unsurprisingly, the electronic community in Britain was a small, intimate group and joining Cary and Zinovieff was Daphne Oram, who devoted decades to developing a 'drawn sound' electronic composition system that never really quite worked.

Brian Hodgson tells us about 1960s experimental and electronic festivals, including The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave (1967) at which The Beatles' electronic piece Carnival Of Light had its only public airing. We shall also hear how the radiophonic workshop broke new musical ground with Dr. Who.

Experts in the history of electronic music, including author and musician Mark Ayres and Goldsmith College lecturer in computer studies Dr. Michael Grierson give the boffins' view and Portishead's Adrian Utley explains why the early forays in electronics are still relevant today.

2:Book at Bedtime: The Greatcoat.

"A new ghost story from Helen Dunmore set during and after the Second World War, about the power of the past to imprint itself on the present, and possess it.

The Electric Music Machine

Five days at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (1988)

Delia Derbyshire interview 1997

A transcript is also available here

Audio only version I've stitched together, balanced and cleaned up a little here: dl

Bedtime Stories

A mix CD I cobbled together back in 2003. It's purpose: to give you a light snack, bathe you, put you to bed  whilst  calming voices from the BBC Records and Tapes back catalogue read you a psychedelic bedtime story as you drift gently beyond the wall of sleep. Do not listen whilst operating heavy machinery. May cause drowsiness.

01. Beastie Boys - Peanut Butter & Jelly

02. Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy (Little Lord Fauntleroy Mix)

03. Malcolm Clarke - Bath Time

04. Negativland - Over The Hiccups

05. Pizzicato 5 - Cornflakes

06. Eric Thompson - Banana Skin

07. Cibo Matto - Sugarwater

08. Neon Heights - Listen To The Music

09. Aphex Twin - Nannou

10. Johnny Morris - Bubbles The Hippopotamus

11. Richard Thomas - Pienso Que

12. Boards Of Canada - Aquarius

13. Boards Of Canada - The Color Of Fire

14. Eric Thompson - The Moody Concerto

15. Lemon Jelly - His Majesty King Raam

16. Mr Scruff - Ahoy There

17. Mr Scruff - Shanty Town

18. Mr Scruff - Fish

19. Funki Porcini - Tiny Kangaroo Dolphin (From Hell)

20. Funki Porcini - Long Road

Record Store Day and other stories

Three months in and this year is baring witness to a large and ever growing list of excellent new electronical/hauntological/psychedelical releases, not to mention a handful of welcome radiophonic collections*. Soon Record Store Day will be upon us here in Blighty. Aural treats this year include very limited re-issues for Radiophonic Workshop Dr Who: Sound Effects, and Out Of This World on 180g vinyl. There's also a groovy soundtrack 45 from the 1960's Dalek films in the style of the old Century 21 EP's.

Which leads me on to Vintage Beeb. At long last Auntie has seen the light and begun cleaning up and re-issuing some of the BBC Records And Tapes back catalogue. Amongst the first to be re-released back in February was indeed the aforementioned Dr Who: Sound Effects.

From the beginning I always intended that Ripping Yarns would stick strictly to only sharing rare, deleted and unreleased material. Vintage Beeb has meant that I won't now be sharing as quite much of that old BBC vinyl as I had originally planned. It also means that I've deleted the Dr Who: Sound Effects vinyl rip. When you can easily purchase a brand new, restored and well packaged hard copy for under a fiver, it's hardly seems worth treading on any toes. However, worry ye not listeners, there is always plenty more to share out there.

*Ripping Yarns recommended listening from the year so far (L-R):

Pepe Deluxē - Queen Of The Wave: An Esoteric Pop Opera In Three Parts (Catskills)

F.C. Judd - Electronics Without Tears (Public Information)

Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales (Ghost Box)

Suzanne Ciani - Lixiviation (Finders Keepers)
David Cain of BBC Radiophonic Workshop - The Seasons (Trunk)

DJ Format (feat. The Simonsound) - Statement Of Intent (Project Blue Book)

Pye Corner Audio - Black Mill Tapes Volume 3: All Pathways Open (Pye Corner Audio Transcription Services)

BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Doctor Who: Sound Effects (Vintage Beeb)

Air - Le Voyage Dans la Lune (Virgin)

Daphne Oram - The Oram Tapes Volume One (Young Americans)

DJ Food - The Search Engine (Ninja Tune)

Jon Brooks - Dieter Rams Reconstructions (Cafe Kaput)

Marshall McLuhan - The Medium Is The Massage (Five Day Weekend)

Practical Electronica Without Tears

For more about F.C. Judd, head here (for your eyes) and here (for your ears). Essential if you have a penchant for all things Radiophonic. 

Ian Helliwell

Pre-Recorded Briefing

Here's a CDR I made back in 2001 (..."back in 2001"? That just doesn't sound right) for my own amusement and to share with friends. I got inspired by listening to Solid Steel , especially Ninja Tunes artists Coldcut, DJ Food /DK, Kid Koala also guests artists like Steinski, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and the way they played around with old spoken word samples and beats. Hence I aped this approach in my own small amateurish way using clips of various Stanley Kubrick films, Blade Runner, Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, Stylophone commercials and other trippy silliness ripped off VHS tape as raw material. It's all quite relaxing and I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did the making.

Tracklisting:
01. Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Spectra Edit)
02. Steve Miller Band - Space Intro/Fly Like An Eagle
03. Susumu Yokota - Morino Gakudan
04. Lemon Jelly - Soft
05. Grantby - Grimble
06. The 5th Dimension - Stoned Soul Picnic
07. Lamchop - Up With People (Zero 7 remix parts 1&2)
08. Kool & The Gang - Summer Madness
09. Andre Previn - Executive Party
10. Hairy Diamond - Givin' Up
11. DJ Food - Conciousness
12. Akasha - Brown Sugar
13. Raymond Scott w. Jim Henson - Limbo: The Organised Mind
14. Sounds Orchestral - Image
15. Henry Mancini - Lujon
16. John Baker - Muzak from 'The Macra Terror'
17. Dick Mills - Macrocosm
18. John Baker - Muzak from 'The Invasion'
19. Dick Mills - Seascape

dl as individual tracks

Stereo Test Record mix

This superb mix comes from 2007 (I assume) but is new to me and comes courtesy of The Horse Drawn Zeppelin. I know nothing of God's Boyfriend and Go Away Records seems to have gone away for good, but they left this sonic gem behind for us all to enjoy. I'm not going to list all the 150 odd tracks included in this mix, instead, please peruse the image below:

"STEREO TEST RECORD provides a means for the demanding listener to check audio reproduction equipment without the need for expensive and complicated instruments. The sounds on this record are the final products of years of research and development of stereophonic recording techniques by 73 artists contributing over 150 compositions. 

# Test your stereo band levels with John Carpenter

# Check the channel orientation with Giorgio Moroder and BBC Radiophonic Workshop alumni

# Perform a phasing test with Eddie Warner, Klaus Schulze and Alan Hawkshaw 

# Envelope yourself in the sound of Raymond Scott's newly designed and manufactured electronic music devices and systems

All of the tests within are inter-dependent, and it is therefore suggested that it be played through once completely before attempting to interpret the results which may be obtained from it. 

This record is sponsored by Dübreq, makers of the Stylophone, a revolution in electronic music performance, introduced here by Rolf Harris.

These DYNAMIC DIRECTIONAL STEREO recordings are capable of bringing to you the most realistic width and depth plus the altogether thrilling addition of the actual movement of musical sounds in space - DIRECTIONAL STEREO EFFECTS.

Please download responsibly.

dl

No.36 - African Images: Suspense

Africa (1993). Library tracks and stings with an African flavour, made for documentaries and nature shows from the Radiophonic Workshop in it's final decade. Composers featured include Peter Howell, Roger Limb and Malcolm Clarke.

dl

No.14 - Signature Tune: A New Beginning

Brian Hodgson with the dismembered piano that created the Tardis sound.

Dr Who: 30 Years at the Radiophonic Workshop (1963-93). Essential electric goodness from Radiophonic heroes, Brian Hodgson, Delia Derbyshire, Dick Mills, Elizabeth Parker, Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell.

dl

No.27 - Staking A Vampire (3 Mallet Blows)

BBC Sound Effects No.27 - Even More Death and Horror. The son of the bride of a classic amongst sound effects records.

dl