BBC Radiophonic Music in Bloomington, MN

A treasured LP for fans of early
electronic
music, 1968's
BBC Radiophonic Music
compiles a series of short works composed as intros or occasionally, complete
soundtracks
, for various radio or television programs, representing hours of work by three of the
Maida Vale
facility's most enterprising minds:
John Baker
,
David Cain
, and
Delia Derbyshire
. The three, along with innumerable engineers and studio technicians, helped bring
music to a wide audience during the '60s, much as
Raymond Scott
had been doing in America. On the scale of early
music, these come halfway between the ditty
pop
flair of
Scott
and the more consciously composed symphonies of
Tod Dockstader
. Since most of these were show themes -- for
BBC
affiliates in Sheffield and Nottingham and programs aimed at everything from farmers to domestic audiences -- there isn't a great deal of experimentation. Unsurprisingly, it's only with a pair of science-fiction themes (
Derbyshire
's
"Ziwzih Ziwzih Oo-Oo-Oo"
and
Cain
"War of the Worlds"
) that this collections offers a degree of stylistic experimentation to match the technological sophistication on display. (A bonus track on the CD reissue,
"Time to Go,"
is also a bit abstract.) Still,
is practically unmatched for pure marvel at the hours of work involved in this pioneering field. ~ John Bush