Zombi - Surface to Air

2006; 5 tracks This is an incredible combination of progressive rock and spacey synthesizers, like if you combined Isis and Umberto. Zombi is the project of multi-instrumentalists Steve Moore and A. E. Paterra, based in Pennsylvania. Surface to Air is their third album, and I couldn't pick a favorite track on here if I tried because they are all just that mind-blowingly good.

And to quote the person who recommended this to me:

"But Zombi... They remind me of early Trans Am but with elements of Wendy Carlos and Giorgio Morroder and 70's horror/suspense soundtracks. Lots of arppegiated synths which I've always loved."


Download.

Ensemble Pittoresque - For This is Past

1983; 10 tracks

Ensemble Pittoresque was a minimal/synthpop band that formed in 1977, a time when bands like Faust and Can bombarded the mainstream with completely entrancing electronic music. Ensemble Pittoresque's sound is utterly weird, full of strange samples and varying atmospheres, but the effect is the same - we are captivated by the inventiveness of this group. Sometimes we are in the world of Doctor Who, visiting the hauntology/library music of Belbury Poly, and others we glide into This Heat-era experimentalism. When the vocals appear, things become slightly more human (they sound a lot like David Bowie), but altogether this album puts forth track after track of brilliant synthpop.

Download.

Modified Toy Orchestra - Toygopop

2006; 12 tracks  Perfect description by weirdbrother:


Rare beastie. Electronica album sans midi, sampling, synthesisers, and laptops. Point of fact: no conventional instruments whatsoever. Five years in the making - two years stripping, tweaking, rebuilding and learning to play kids' toys; three years unearthing sound collages and musical phrases. Brian Duffy, Modified Toy Orchestra mainman, sees the process as "collaborating with the third mind of the machine." Whether viewed as exploring the hidden potential and surplus value latent inside redundant technology or more straightforwardly as pissing about with car boot sale cast off tech-toys (think Speak and Spell - danke Kraftwerk - Happy Farm Chorus, Play School Saxophone and the Melotone Electronic Jazz Drum), prepare for an accessible, sometimes funny, sometimes moving, sometimes dark and disturbing listen.

Eschewing novelty despite being obviously novel. Play away.

Vangelis - Blade Runner OST

2003; 2 discs, 33 tracks

So, yeah. I can't really imagine anything more glorious than this - Greek electronic composer and musician Vangelis' groundbreaking vision of a work, the accompanying music to Ridley Scott's 1982 film Blade Runner. This is indeed the Esper Edition, a bootleg released in 2003 including some previously unreleased background music and clips from the film. Click here for more information on this edition.

I actually recieved this soundtrack as a Christmas gift 2 years ago, although I only just watched the film for the first time last night. I can't imagine why I put it off for so long. The soundtrack works seamlessly with the film, each scene perfected by the unutterable beauty of Vangelis' futuristic score. Mantric and hypnotic, this soundtrack unites sounds from a variety of cultures and time periods. It is every bit as colorful and magical as the film... synthesizers meet Middle Eastern-influenced jazz, the pattering of rain sweeps over the orphic cascades of modern classical music in a gentle, almost scientific, way. "Rachael's Song" is definitely my favorite song, though.

Disc 1
Disc 2