Production Music Via Juicy Luke

So. This blog update is courtesy of mr Luke Vibert, the man behind IDM aliases such as Wagon Christ, Plug, Amen Andrews as well as other great recordings. He was first known for his work with Jeremy Simmonds as well as Richard D James in the earliest days of Rephlex Records, a seminal IDM label from the UK. You might be familiar with some of his stuff and not even know it, his music's got a very solid consistency to it that is definitely essential listening.

Enough about Juicy Luke though, this blog is an homage to great Library and Production bonzers and you can and will seek his stuff out as well, I command it. Luke happens to be a big fan of synthy/groovy production music, and over the years has released two volumes of 'Nuggets' prior to this, both were pretty important for me personally to get into the stuff in this genre that I dig the most.

This release has some really sledgehammering grooved jams on it, the work by Alan Hawkshaw, Trevor Bastow, Brian Bennet, and Francis Monkman are definitely some tracks from their respective releases that are some of the biggest gems to me, from the song construction as well as the production and presentation. Im fairly familiar with a lot of these songs and their lineage at this point, having spent a lot of time researching over the last few years, and after listening was pretty surprised to see how many of Luke's picks made it onto mix CD's i have made recently, it's quite uncanny.

I present to you Juicy Luke Vibert's third installment of the 'Nuggets' series, I can say with great conviction that there is not a bad song on this release. This is my favorite compilation of the three, and maybe the one with the most experimentation and synth. So if you're into the more driving and whacked out kind of stuff the genre has to offer, have a listen to his choices. Seek out the albums these songs originate from, Discogs can help you a lot with this. Most importantly, help keep this music alive! And dont sleep on Mr. Viberts music too, he, also like Production Music is a cut above. Thanks so much, Juicy Luke.

Luke Vibert - Luke Viberts Nuggets Vol. 3

Luke Vibert - Luke Viberts Nuggets Vol. 3 (Mirror 2 Link)

anders helmerson..magnificent technical soundtracks

Sorry for my absence on this blog recently, I have been building a holographic spacesuit and had a few complications with it. This release is pretty breathtaking to be quite honest with you. Anders Helmerson's 'End Of Illusion' is a fave of mine, and maybe one thats far ahead of the time that it was made, 1979.

Anders was a swedish keyboard player who unfortunately didnt have too much output, from what I can find he released only two albums. This is his first, it has a ton of snarl and growl to it, but a TON of really beautiful sections and a ridiculous amount of melody and texture to it. A continuous play through all the songs keeps a great flow with a ton of proggier elements and is a very driving listen. You MUST check this album out. For fans of nastier synths, tricked out drums, and gnarly melody. Have a listen!

Anders Helmerson - End Of Illusion (1979)

anthony hobson - an alias indeed

anthony hobson is a name in library music that not too terribly much is known about. mainly because its one of several aliases of trevor bastow, one of bruton music's top dogs and also the man behind unit 9. my guess is that he used the name anthony hobson to release music of a different feel on different labels. this particular offering here is possibly my favorite of what i've heard out of this alias, 1982's 'delta' on the Music DeWolfe label. give this one a spin, tons of great instrumentation, beautiful songs. the rip aint the best but hey, theres your incentive to track down this great record. for you chip heads, this is a great introduction to production music, for fans of chromelodeon, giant claw, etc.

anthony hobson (trevor bastow) - delta (music dewolfe 3483,1982)

Frederic Mercier - Driving Inspiration

Sorry for the delay in my postings, I was working on a new spaceship that took a little while longer than expected to complete.

Frederic Mercier is another great artists in the Library/Production realm, underdog of labels such as Patchwork, Polydor, Koka, Carrere and many more. Admittedly i know very little about this guy, it appears to me that info on him is a bit elusive. But if you enjoyed the Klaus Weiss entry I put up a little while back, and the Frederik Schikowski, you're bound to enjoy this. There is some other instrumentation in here, so its not just choom-and-zoom space disco. But there are very beautiful synths, and a great style of blending fm and beyond with driving rhythms here that will have you involuntarily bobbing your head. Have a listen and enjoy.

frederic mercier - pacific (carrere 67.242)

subpixel is chiptune and progs best kept secret

subpixel is the musical pseudonym of matt ross of new york. to describe his music is sometimes a stretch to do because he is a musician who truly has a strong understanding of instruments, instrumentation, and implementation, three traits when used together typically builds a musician with a certain je nes se qua that you dont exactly see in all musicians, these days maybe even moreso for a musician that has a manual approach with actual analog instruments as opposed to samples or sample-based music production.

for me, describing his music is as simple as calling it 'essential music', something that fits in my musical collection in the highest regard. you can listen to the music of subpixel again and again and hear a new melody, new drum sound, hell, new sound in general again and again, even after repeated immediate listenings. i urge you to check out his bandcamp and enjoy what he's made for all of us so far. here's my two favorite releases to start you out:

'the wave', this album truly leaves me speechless because of the fact that matt & co cared enough to release a chiptune version as well as a version with full instrumentation, a feat that with the complexity of the music is something i admire highly. hear this incredible piece of music here:

http://subpixel.bandcamp.com/album/the-wave

'birthdays', a beautiful tribute to friends, and as he mentions in the liner notes, sometimes belated, but with the beauty of this album, not a lick of effort is spared in these songs. this album also features a kill rendition of 'i only have eyes for you', which you should check out if you're into the older hits. check it out here:

http://subpixel.bandcamp.com/album/birthdays


truly sweet genre-breaking music by a great guy. i hope you'll check out some of his work, for you library and production music heads out there, maybe you'll dig it as much as some of those old killer brutons and kpm slabs and see some of the similarities that i do in his music.

Elusive Astral Sounds

what can you say about john saunders that HAS been said yet? its a name you may not recognize, but he was one of the true pioneers of library and production music among the greats such as andy clark and keith mansfield, making his home on the parry music library label.

very little information can be gleaned about the guy on the internet, which is a shame. but in your ears, theres a very signature sound that this guy gives through his projects 'astral sounds', 'patchwork' with other greats such as keith papworth and chris rae on the dewolfe label, and his work on the 'video tech' compilations on pml. i highly recommend you search out some of his music for yourself. dont even bother looking anything up, let your ears do the work. you will know this guys sound when you hear it, as goofy as that sounds. so without further ado, and by request, please enjoy one of his finest works, astral sounds' 'sound waves part 1'.

http://www.mediafire.com/?k9hcu7sj8rdrgwk

the amazing klaus weiss

this man is one of the most incredible production musicians of all time. something in his music for everyone, and theres a ton of it. analog meets acoustics and in a very stark, no-frills kind of way. for sure one of the best. dont sleep on this one!

klaus weiss rhythm & sound - sound inventions (selected sound 9076)