IAN MACFARLANE-BACK FROM BEYOND, LP, 1980, AUSTRALIA
Wonderful and endearingly rinky dink Dr. Who-ish one-man space rock/electronic oddity and part of an unacknowledged (and rather late arriving) late 70's/early 80's Aussie cosmic rock scene that also included Rainbow Generator/Krozier & The Generator, Quasar and (ahem) Cybotron.
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10 comments:
unbelievable album! i like it a lot!!!
thanks,
todd
btw. is this the one and only album of him or did he made some more?
thanks,
todd
He did 'Void Spirit' LP earlier and a cassette 'Planetarium' later. Played live with the Australian electronic band Cybotron in the early 1980s.
There is a website -
http://users.westconnect.com.au/~ianmac4
This, is believe it or not, my all time greatest synth record. When i was 20 or so, was very obsessed by synthesiers, read and played everything i could find about it and also checked the dutch record library now and then for records, by reading the backs of thre record if synts where used on it. ( in the 80s thje general public wasnt very interested in synths) How this obscure record found its way to the library in holland ( almost exactly on the other side of the globe, i will never know, but i really loved it.
So Ian, if you read this, you are one of my heros. You didnt expect that did you:) I even once made a trach in reason using samples from back from beyound, but ik dint know where i stored that one....
After moving to amsterdam i losrt thje record during a raid in a squat where i was living, and althouhg i had still a mp3 made from a tape from it, im very pleased to find this in a better quality on the intert:) Well if this ist saying something about the power of the web:)
anyway, thank you very very much for sharing
marco.
oh by the way i sometimes do some synthesier stuff on youtube, check www.youtube.com/marcotmcom and dont mind the other cray videos i put online..
bye bye
I think this is an outstanding record. Remembers me of the very best GADGETS meet RUTH WHITE meets MORTON SUBOTNICK moments. But especially the vocoder-ing makes it so unique.
Now on youtube in 6 parts:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wLQ2wkAy-E&feature=channel_page
Voi Spirit coming soon
very exciting, thank you
Any chance of a reUPLOAD? please
Anonymous in October 2008's comment made me think.
Several sites on the net suggest MacFarlane's work was pioneering. If so, and comparisons exist with earlier pioneers like Ruth White and Morton Subotnick, why is he not better known?
I have copies of all his published recordings (I think), and find much of it amazing and agree it has many elements that were ground-breaking.
There is I think a large body of unreleased work and according to a recent interview with him, he is still composing!
There is a site Dreamchimney with recent info about him.
Reviews of these albums turning up all over the net. I bet the artist wishes these came out when the albums were available. Not much point in praising past works that are no longer available. Look at this one:
Back From Beyond
Ian MacFarlane Progressive Electronic
Review by admireArt
A memorable electronic journey!
When everyone turned to synth-pop or drum-boxes, Ian Macfarlane, went further by going back and staying in place.
Taking advantage of people selling whatever to attend the World Cup, I bought wholesale a bunch of late 60's to mid-80's, almost mint condition, "electronic prog" vinyls. Some are uninteresting, some are near jewels, and those which I will highly recommend. "Back from Beyond", 1980, IAN MACFARLANE's second known release, is one of those.
Highly creative, all the way through, it is deep, yet impressively playful. It travels in two, 20 minute compositions, routes that others, take records to pull out. It is "cosmic" and "space-like", but on purpose also "un-tech" and retro. Its inherent unpretentiousness helps to focus on its real beauty. (Although the "studio work" is apparently minimal, it is in fact amazing. )
Really, some parts seem to have been recorded with Casio's early mini, rudimentary keyboards and its drum-boxes. But good music needs no "Steinway", to still be good.
To explain the music itself is quiet a task. So, P/E's and Krautrockers imagine the best parts of your favorite segments of those electronics you like, slice them away of any unnecessary over production, simplify its timing, enhance the melody itself, undress it, and then shower it with artful electronic effects and thread them all in 2 long timed single compositions, connected by its sci-fi concept. There you go! Something like that is the way this album sounds like. The few vocal parts sound fresh, because there are few, and never preaching, but just singing along.
Instrumentation: Mainly simple electronic keyboards, synths, some piano lines, some splashes of acoustic and electrics, some also very poignant but still splashes of creative bass lines, lots of very imaginative sound effects, always kept in size, and best of all FLAWLESS music writing. And yes!, this is no synth-pop, this is a masterful progressive electronic album, which simply did not got a break! (no reviews since 1980, is shameful!)
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