ELECTROFEAR...

It's been a while since I last invested in an original library LP. I don't tend to buy them for the sake of it, especially since the prices started rising a few years ago, and tend to look for ones with a very specific vibe, from a fairly narrow time-frame (specifically late-'60s - early '70s, though anything earlier than 1980 considered!) so couldn't resist a copy of "Electromusic", issued by KPM back in '72, when I spotted it on e-bay recently. Composed by Eric Peters, it ticks all my boxes in terms of the sound-sources (pure electronics) and general stylistic approach (experimental/atmospheric/spooky, though with a few more playful/humorous pieces on side 2). A couple of these tracks appeared on a compilation called "Electronic Toys" a few years back, so I had a rough idea what to expect, but even I wasn't prepared for the extreme depths this record plunges into.

I think this would probably be a strong candidate for addition to Woebot's 'Pre-History of British Electronics' (I say probably because I don't even know if Mr. Peters is/was British!). Certainly worthy of a re-issue I reckon. In fact the catalogue # (KPM 1103) suggests this was released in between Derbyshire's "Electrosonic" and Geesin's "Electrosound" as part of a KPM mini-series of twisted electro-experiments, so surely Glo-Spot should consider licensing it. Perhaps I'll e-mail them about it.

Best of all, I immediately spotted that the track "Industrial Activity" was used in early episodes of The Tomorrow People series (it's that 'drum machine-propelled synth dirge' that I mentioned in my review of Trunk Record's "Tomorrow People OST" - worth the price of admission alone! I suspect that several other cues included here were used as atmospheric backgrounds in the series although I haven't had chance to do any comparison tests yet. I e-mailed Jonny Trunk about it anyway and he wasn't aware of the connection, so perhaps he'll start researching the album himself at some point...