Absolutely sterling, amazingly priced primer on the history of 20th century avant-garde and electronics, compiled and presented by notorious rock 'n roll, punk and electronic music scribe, Kris Needs. While there have been notable collections of early electronic and experimental music doing the rounds - Sub Rosa's crucial Anthologies spring to mind - we can think of few as comprehensive, and particularly curated as 'Giant Steps & Flashpoints In 20th-Century Experimental & Electronic Sound'. Taking the position of a very curious outsider, Needs picks those milestone pieces that capture the often exhilarating and pioneering spirit of New Music makers who sought to create new sonic languages and reset the music for the future in the wake of the early 20th world war atrocities, often by groundbreaking techniques making highly innovative use of new technology and philosophies. We can safely say that if you've been interested in early electronic music, but always found this massive, ancient yet hugely important world just a bit daunting and never known where to start: you seriously need this collection in your life, pronto. (Boomkat)
High Voltage! presents highlights from the last century’s most influential musical movements, including European classical tradition-annihilators (Olivier Messiaen, Edgard Varèse, Iannis Xenakis), avant-garde technology manipulators (John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Halim El-Dabh, Vladimir Ussachevsky), musique concrete layers (Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry), intrepid explorers (Sun Ra), synthesiser pioneers (Herbert Eimer & Robert Beyer, Otto Luening, Bülent Arel, Milton Babbit), atmospheric exotica foragers (Les Baxter), those who incorporated electronic music into film soundtracks (Louis & Bebe Barron, Miklós Rózsa) and ultimately used it to bring the pop mainstream into the space age (Joe Meek, Sweden’s The Spotnicks).
