inner nerd » Videodrome

VIdeodrome: Patrick Jean – PIXELS (2010)

beaker — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 20:14:07 +0000

This video is remarkably awesome.

Real Genius: Giorgio Moroder – From Here to Eternity (1977)

beaker — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:18:40 +0000

Moroder is the undisputed progenitor of Italo. The uncanny resemblance to SNL’s Father Guido Sarducci notwithstanding, Moroder is a synth god. More machine than man, Moroder is to Italy as Kraftwerk is to Germany.

Although Moroder made some Taleggio over the years, From Here to Eternity is an early Italo masterpiece. First published as an LP in 1977 on US-based Casablanca Records, near mint copies of this album are still widely available for about $20. Synthspotters love this video…

SCHEMATIC: Some Moroder TV appearances, a Casablanca Records promo video, more details…

Moroder’s discography is longer than the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among other massive hits, Moroder was behind Donna Summer’s 1977 smash, I Feel Love.

He also did the theme song for the crazy-ass movie Midnight Express in 1978. Below is a classic German TV show (check out those mics!) introducing Moroder and his oscar-winning track, The Chase, which is 13 minutes of mind-warping synthesizer amazingness. In this all-too-brief clip, Moroder goes from laying it down in German to working a Minimoog in an ultra-rare LIVE performance.

Here is the original 8-minute 45RPM version of the track. I can’t seem to find the 12″ version, so will upload mine.

Here is the Casablanca Records promo where Moroder demonstrates his vocoder skills.

Moroder produced everyone and everything in the 1980s. Beyond rescoring the 1920s Fritz Lang film Metropolis, he was responsible for Top Gun (along with German protégé Harold Faltermeyer), Blondie’s Call Me, Irene Cara’s What a Feelin’ LP which included Romance ’83 (and Flashdance), The Neverending Story and so forth.

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Robot Rock du Jour: Real Life – Send Me an Angel (1983)

beaker — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:03:08 +0000

RAD is to BMX what Gleaming The Cube is to skateboarding.

An instant cult classic when it hit theaters in 1986, RAD is an absolutely essential piece of 80′s history.

This next clip features a sick “bicycle boogie” set to Send Me an Angel by Australian band Real Life. I watched several versions of this clip on youtube and this one presents the best clip length, video and sound quality. Keep your eyes peeled for the Crimson Twins, Xamot and Tomax!!

SCHEMATIC: RAD BMX credits and three versions of the Send Me An Angel music video…

RAD (Opening/Ending Credits)

SEND ME AN ANGEL (1983 LP Version) Featuring Chewbacca’s Cousin??

SEND ME AN ANGEL (1989 Video Version)

SEND ME AN ANGEL (1983 12″ Extended Mix)

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Documentary: BBC Radiophonic Workshop – Alchemists of Sound (2003)

beaker — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:37:00 +0000

REQUIRED NERDLING EDUCATION!!!

This is a fantastic documentary on the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which was responsible for such tunes as the Doctor Who theme song. This electronic music primer traces the development of recorded sound from magnetic tape onward. Reel-to-reel beat matching included! Ultimately enlightening and presented in, I think, its entirety (over six roughly 10-minute parts).

SCHEMATIC: The remaining five parts…

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Robot Rock du Jour: Thomas Dolby – She Blinded Me With Science (1982)

beaker — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:03:12 +0000

This video was an integral part of my nerdlinghood. Visually rich to the nth degree: Besides the sweet sidecar motorcycle and lunatic scientists, you have the superhot lab assistant, Ms. Sakamoto, who doubles as a cello. Classic nerd track. BTW, Dolby has been the Musical Director of the TED conferences since 2001.

SCHEMATICS: Album artwork and other gems from Dolby…

Hyperactive! (12″ Version) (1984)

The beginning of this track always makes me think of The Bestie Boys. Great video.

Hyperactive! (Album Version) (1984)

Taken from Beta tapes, which is really cool. This version is much more in the vein of The Talking Heads.

One of Our Submarines (Live) (1982)

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Snort: Phoebe Cates – Paradise (1982)

beaker — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:27:03 +0000

Despite becoming the center of millions of pubescent fantasies that very same year, Phoebe’s Paradise didn’t quite launch her musical career into orbit. Strip the crappy music, run the vocals through a vocoder, add some beats, change that dress to skin-tight silver lamé and…VOILA!!…instant classic.

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Robot Rock du Jour: Kraftwerk – Autobahn (1974)

beaker — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:54:01 +0000

An 11-minute face-melting video edit of Kraftwerk’s 23-minute opus. The real cybernetic acid trip is the five-minute breakdown that beings around 3:06. Animation by Roger Mainwood and John Halas in 1979. The video was posted in two parts, so load the rest of the post to view the second half…

SCHEMATIC: Video part two, Mainwood interview and high res vinyl rip…

The title track off Kraftwerk’s 1974 LP Autobahn was a genesis moment in nerd music, marking the completion of Kraftwerk’s robotic transformation. Without this band or track, electronic music would probably not be what it is today. It represents the seemless merging of musical genius with avant-garde technology. The entire album is available on iTunes for only $3.49!!

Mainwood discussing the history of the film:

No, I never made contact with Kraftwerk, and they had no input into the film images themselves. John Halas got the commission from Kraftwerk’s record company, and it was deliberately experimental in nature and designed to be released on one of the first ever laser discs. Unfortunately the laser disc technology never took off. The film was entered into various film festivals around the world and won a few prizes, but it never got a commercial release in cinemas but was shown on the TV a bit in the UK and I presume in Germany too. I have no idea what Kraftwerk think about it or whether they have even ever seen it.

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Snort: Rémi Gaillard – The Astronaut Golfer

beaker — Sat, 16 May 2009 20:22:41 +0000

This frenchman is pretty much off his rocker.

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Turn your keyboard into Daft Punk’s “Harder Better Faster Stronger” or “Technologic”

beaker — Sun, 10 May 2009 16:32:06 +0000

HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGEUR! Don your robot helmet and climb aboard your psychadelic pyramidal spaceship. This funky little web app allows you to perform Daft Punk’s Harder Better Faster Stronger or Technologic live using your computer’s QWERTY keyboard! It has advanced considerably over time and now has built in beats and pitchbending. Even available as a free iPhone app through iTunes.

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Robot Rock du Jour: Ron Grainer & Delia Derbyshire – Dr. Who (1963)

beaker — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:23:24 +0000

While working with a group of nutters at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 1960s, Derbyshire pioneered loop-based composition by manually recording and piecing together magnetic tape loops and rocking multiple reel-to-reel machines (see below). This brief clip of Derbyshire reel-to-reel beat matching is taken from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop documentary Alchemists of Sound, which can be viewed in its entirety on our Equipment + Theory playlist.

To give you an idea of just how progressive this dame was, this audio clip from the BBC archives reveals the makings of a dense, tasty electro track that predates Kraftwerk’s Autobahn by at least four or five years.

Lastly, to demonstrate how all this theory and avant garde technical ability combine to create legendary music, I’ve included the original Dr. Who TV intro which, although composed by Ron Grainer, sounds so amazing because Derbyshire “realised” it.

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