"further confirmation of Scott's singular genius"

This critical assessment by Marc Medwin (Dusted magazine) of the new Raymond Scott electronica set, Three Willow Park, isn't just the best review of the package—it's the best TEN reviews.

Unlike many of his contemporaries who churn out assembly-line reviews by cutting-and-pasting passages from press releases, Medwin practices old-fashioned music journalism. That takes time, because it requires the writer to actually LISTEN to the music being reviewed.

Here's an excerpt:

There is something romantic about Scott's quirky visions, something slightly humorous in the sounds often squeaking and brapping from his devices, as if nothing could be taken completely seriously at all times. Revel in the electro-acoustically saccharine “Portofino 3,” in which high-register women’s voices and saxophone pepper the electronic ripples and arpeggios. This whimsy even applies to his own corpus, as heard in the completely reworked and daffy version of “Toy Trumpet” from 1966, complementing the longer one that can be heard on Manhattan Research Inc. It’s Scott’s most well-known melody, but it’s given a complete makeover, as Miles Davis might have done with “So What” or Chick Corea did with “Spain.” Then, there are the positively zany sounds taken from the effects reel for Jim Henson’s 1966 film “The Organized Mind,” whose soundtrack is heard complete on MRI. Hearing the sounds divorced from context, like little misshapen galaxies, is instructive and a bit unnerving, a few jump-cut and smile-inducing moments notwithstanding. It’s all very far removed from the “serious” worlds of Stockhausen, Berio and the weighty concepts they imagined and championed. Ultimately, despite its complexities of vision and execution, there’s something endearing, almost childlike, in Scott’s music, something wondrous, sparking the imagination to travel paths similar to the trails its creator blazed.

Medwin brings lots of knowledge to his criticism.—he's an assistant professor in the music program at American University's College of Arts & Sciences, and wrote his dissertation on the late works of John Coltrane.

Jeff Winner: Three Willow Park interview

Layne Weiss recently wrote a fine article for the L.A. Weekly about Raymond Scott's electronic music years. The online version can be read at "Can Synthesizers Compose Music? Nearly 50 Years Ago, This One Could."

Weiss conducted many interviews, and editorial space invariably limits each respondent to a few choice quotes. Last week we posted the full interview with Irwin Chusid, the co-producer of Three Willow Park, the new 3-LP/2-CD collection of vintage, previously unissued Scott electronica. This week we offer the complete interview with Three Willow Park Associate Producer Jeff Winner (who also co-produced Manhattan Research Inc., 3WP's Scott electronica predecessor).

Layne Weiss: When and where did Raymond Scott develop his Electronium?

Jeff Winner: Raymond had been developing Electroniums out of the public eye throughout the 1950s. He moved to L.A. in 1971. He was nearing his mid-60s, had lived his life in New York, and was willing to make a major transition at that stage. He had his third wife, Mitzi, and this was like a whole new start. It ended up being his final professional gig because his health declined during the period.

LW: How long did he work before his health started declining?

JW: He started having heart trouble much earlier—in the 1950s. Later he had a stroke and heart attacks. The span of his Motown tenure was about 7 or 8 years from the time he started working for them under contract on Long Island, through moving west and getting a full-time position with Motown. They retired him around 1977 because of his health.

LW: When did he start working for Motown and how did he transition to L.A.?

JW: In 1969 he started to publicize the Electronium. In 1970, Motown owner Berry Gordy and his entourage arrived at Scott's Three Willow Park facility in Farmingdale, Long Island, to see a demonstration of what was, at the time, Scott's state-of-the-art Electronium.  Gordy was so impressed that he said, “Here’s a check for $10,000 to get started and build one for me.”  That one that you see in the color photograph with the beautiful wooden cabinet—that’s the one Raymond made specifically for Motown.

When Gordy ordered the Motown Electronium, he stipulated that it was his exclusive thing. Raymond was not allowed to publicize the deal. He couldn’t even put out a press release declaring that he was employed by Motown. Gordy did not want word to leak out that hits were being generated by robots. Raymond was disappointed about that.

LW: When did all this info start coming out?

JW: It was known prior to Scott's death but hadn’t been explored in detail. We’ve made attempts over the years to reach Gordy for comment, but we’ve received only polite declines. Hopefully someday that will change. We would love to know how he looks back on it now.

LW: How did the other Motown artists react or warm up to Scott being there?

JW: Some of the studio musicians — when they attempted to play along with the machine, they didn’t like it. They resented being told to play to a click-track. Musicians rely upon their own internal metronomes, their own sense of rhythm—and these guys were amazing instrumentalists. For them to be asked to subordinate their talent to a machine, to let the machine be a leader, some resented that. On the other hand, Michael Jackson was fascinated by the Electronium and wanted to use it. He thought it was the future. And he was right.

Others? We don’t know. We don’t have any evidence. But we know they were all working at the same facility and we presume that everybody was at least given the opportunity to utilize the technologies that they were bringing in. This all goes to a broader wave of technology. Motown had the best recording equipment. As a new decade was dawning, there was buzz about this new thing called a "synthesizer." In 1970 Bob Moog introduced the Minimoog to the consumer market. Now you had a mobile synth. It could go from city to city on tour for the first time. That was the year when the revolution really coalesced in terms of technology, availability, price and mobility. It’s probably not a coincidence that Gordy was so turned-on by the Electronium at the same time.

LW: Do you have any examples of artists that weren’t thrilled by working with Scott or his Electronium.

JW: Hoby Cook, an engineer, was assigned to record session musicians playing along with the Electronium. He provided an interesting chronicle of the musicians rebelling against the experiment. We don’t know of any high-profile names who were not into it. People have speculated that Stevie Wonder would be a logical candidate to use it because he loves synthesizers. I don’t think he was a great prospect. For one thing, he’s blind and probably couldn't operate it. Second, the main purpose of the Electronium was to come up with its own bass-line, grooves, melodies, and rhythms. The last thing Stevie Wonder needed was help generating musical ideas.

ABOVE: Berry Gordy in Motown studio, 1960s.

LW: Scott was not very sociable and he created a lot of his devices so he wouldn’t have to deal with people. What was it like for him having to meet people and demonstrate how this stuff worked?

JW: He was fine with that — as long as there was something technical as a conduit. He was probably in his element at Motown. He respected them, and they respected him. They were fascinated by the technology and he was the grand wizard who was trying to give them the keys to the future. He taught studio staff at Motown how to help musicians use the device, so he wouldn't have to keep doing it. He was happier in that later stage of life because he was doing what he really wanted to do. He explained that in a letter to a fan in 1980. He said it was the most enjoyable time of his life, working with electronic instruments and electronic music.

LW: Do you know how his family felt about relocating?

JW: Mitzi, his third wife, loved him tremendously and she would have done anything he wanted. It was a lot of work for her because he was so busy — it fell on her to return to Three Willow Park to close down the facility. He had tons of equipment, and tape reels, and she had to sell some of it. Some stuff got thrown away and the rest of it she had transported to L.A. They rented a furnished apartment while Gordy and Raymond worked at Gordy’s house. He had an amazing estate in Bel-Air. They set up a laboratory above the garage, and then it all got moved to the Motown facility. Mitzi and Raymond eventually settled in Van Nuys. After Raymond passed in 1994, Mitzi moved to Santa Clarita. Raymond stayed in California for the rest of his life. He loved the weather and taking long drives through the mountains and near the coast.

LW: Was he star-struck at all?

JW: Not at all. He'd been a celebrity since he was young. He wrote his first hit tune at age 25. His older brother was a CBS radio star before he was. He rubbed elbows with everybody from Sinatra and Crosby to Smoky Robinson, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. He collaborated with Jim Henson. He was part of the 20th century entertainment industry. There were artists he admired, but the idea of him, say, asking for an autograph seems unfathomable. He was a celebrity himself, but he didn’t go out and party with other stars. He was a recluse who focused on work.

LW: Were Raymond and Gordy friends or was it just professional?

JW: They got along great. Raymond was at his house from 9 to 5 every day. They were close the first couple of years. Gordy was aware of Scott's early career as a hit-maker, starting in the 1930s. Gordy was aware that he was getting not just a technological wizard, but a guy who knew how to compose hit tunes. And of course Scott was aware of Gordy’s amazing accomplishments. In the 1960s Motown was unstoppable. They dominated the pop charts. Even in the ‘70s they continued to be potent with the Jackson 5, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Marvin Gaye.

ABOVE: 2-CD and 3-LP versions of 'Three Willow Park'

LW: How about some info on the new album, 'Three Willow Park'?

JW: This is the first time the public will be hearing the Motown Electronium. The span of the recordings is from 1961 to 1971, so there’s material that pre-dates the Motown Electronium, when Raymond was still living in Manhasset, New York, in a giant 32-room mansion, with then-wife Dorothy Collins. There’s material from #3 Willow Park after he moved there in 1965. And there's some material from the early part of his Motown tenure in L.A. through 1971. So the 1970-’71 recordings feature the Motown Electronium. All prior recordings with the Electronium feature earlier versions of the device. It’s a progression in terms of chronology — from the material on Manhattan Research Inc. to Three Willow Park.

The non-working Motown Electronium was purchased in 1996, a couple of years after Scott passed away, by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. He’s also a successful film composer. He's done Wes Anderson movies and Disney projects, such as The Lego Movie. Mark kept the Electronium in his L.A. studio for a long time. It was moved to Portland for restoration. It’s now coming back to L.A. because a new restoration attempt is being undertaken by Brian Kehew. Among many other roles, he’s a keyboard tech for The Who. He’s working with Wally de Backer (a.k.a. Gotye), who’s providing financial assistance.

Irwin Chusid: Three Willow Park interview

Layne Weiss recently wrote a fine article for the L.A. Weekly about Raymond Scott's electronic music years. The print version, genuflecting to Thomas Edison, bears the clever title "The Wizard of Willow Park." The original online title, "In the '70s, Motown Hired a Synth Wizard to Build Them a Songwriting Machine," was later changed to "Can Synthesizers Compose Music? Nearly 50 Years Ago, This One Could."

Weiss interviewed me two months before the release of Three Willow Park, the new 3-LP/2-CD collection of vintage, previously unissued Scott electronica, which I co-produced with Gert-Jan Blom (with Jeff Winner as Associate Producer). Weiss conducted many interviews, and editorial space invariably limits each respondent to a few choice quotes. Below are the full replies I sent to Weiss, provided here for additional background on the development of Three Willow Park.

Layne Weiss: Why is now the time to release this project? 

Irwin Chusid: Because we finally finished it. The followup to Manhattan Research Inc. (released in 2000) was long overdue, but for a number of reasons, was repeatedly postponed. The additional time made it a better project because we were able to collect more material and construct a more detailed chronicle about Scott’s years at Three Willow Park Center. 

LW: What should listeners expect as far as sounds, music, and content, and why is this release special for Raymond's family, you, Gert-Jan, Jeff, and for music fans in general?

IC: It’s different than MRI. For one thing, it features the sounds made on Scott's Motown-era Electronium, which was the "Mark 2," refined version. There was no "Mo-tronium" on MRI. An earlier, less-refined incarnation was featured. That album also included dozens of early TV and radio commercials with electronic music and effects soundtracks. There are no commercials on 3WP, although there are a handful of sound effects from ads. 3WP features a wide array of music and sounds. Some are accessible and pleasant. Others will peel layers off your cerebral cortex. We tried to program the tracks for constant surprises. Everything we used we consider listenable. There's something for everyone, but we can’t guarantee that everyone will enjoy it all. The moods range from relaxing to brutal. 

LW: Can you explain the significance of the title? Maybe give some insight on Raymond's life at Three Willow Park or just explain what it was and why it's so important. 

IC: Number 3 Willow Park Center was a large rental bunker in an industrial development in Farmingdale, New York. Built in the early 1960s, Willow Park Center was a patch of suburban real estate where corporations based headquarters, small companies leased office space, and manufacturers kept warehouses. Sometime after the summer 1964 demise of his marriage to singer Dorothy Collins, Scott moved to Willow Park to set up his electronic music lab. When I say "moved," I mean "moved in." He lived there. Residential occupancy wasn't legal under local zoning regulations, but Scott paid his rent and outfoxed the lease police. It was at Three Willow Park that he built the Electronium. He was living there when he met and married his third wife, Mitzi—who besides cooking his meals, kept his books and learned how to solder circuitry. She’s an important part of the story, and there’s a photo of her on the back of the LP set. This makeshift compound remained Scott's atelier and bedroom until around 1971, after which Raymond and Mitzi decamped for Los Angeles, where he went to work for Berry Gordy at MoWest.

LW: Why did you choose these particular ten years of music (1961-1971) to have on the album?

IC: It's a nice, tidy decade. The earliest tracks we considered date from 1961. Anything earlier was on MRI, whose oldest track dates from 1953. The recordings on 3WP end at 1971, because in 1972 Scott went to work for Motown. Gordy hired him to develop the Electronium—which composed by itself using programmed intelligence—as an "idea generator." In particular, the Electronium was great at improvising complex melodies and rhythms. While Scott was employed there he was under a strict gag order. Motown contractually prohibited him from publicizing the nature of his employment. They were worried that their fans might think that Motown’s instrumental stylings were being performed by “Mo-bots.” As far as we know, the Electronium was never used on any Motown recordings, but we know that a young Michael Jackson would occasionally drop in Scott’s on-site studio to watch the device work. We don't have a direct quote, but someone who worked there with Scott said Jackson was quite excited by the machine's possibilities. 

LW: Has this music been previously unheard by the public? How do you feel about releasing it?

IC: 98% of the music on 3WP has never been publicly circulated, altho a few pieces have been played on the radio or previewed for inquiring journalists.  

LW: Where will people be able to buy it?

IC: Anywhere fine music is sold. We have expressly forbid it to be sold where bad music is purveyed.  3WP will be available as a 3-LP set, 2-CD package, and digital. We will also offer a free 349-page downloadable pdf consisting of documents, photos, and ephemera chronicling Scott’s career in electronic music and engineering.

A Rhythm Ballet

NPR's "Songs We Love" premieres "A Rhythm Ballet," a track from the forthcoming Raymond Scott electronica album, Three Willow Park: Electronic Music from Inner Space, 1961–1971. The track is "performed" by Scott's Electronium—the "Mark II" version he built for Berry Gordy of Motown. Three Willow Park will be issued on June 30, on Basta.

Artifacts from the Archives

We are offering a FREE 349-page pdf compendium of Raymond Scott artifacts and ephemera, including previously uncirculated historic material. The contents of Artifacts from the Archives are intended as informational supplements to the Scott albums Three Willow Park, Manhattan Research Inc., and Soothing Sounds for Baby.

The chronological, annotated documents and images spotlight Scott’s career in the field of electronic music, from his 1920s Brooklyn high school days to his 1980s post-Motown years in Los Angeles. Much of the content focuses on Scott’s most productive period, from 1958 (when he began working on electronic music full-time) to 1972 (his first year at Motown). The collection features Scott’s handwritten and typed technical notes, photographs, sketches, correspondence, art, schematics, patents, circuit diagrams, vintage news articles, and family ephemera. The pdf is offered for download in two formats: high resolution (for viewing and printing), and reduced resolution, suitable for paging through on-screen.

The Portofino Variations

Raymond Scott's 1962 tune "Portofino" has become a belated "hit." It's been licensed for the TV show Narcos, the film Best of Enemies, used in a Gucci commercial, and garnered more single-track downloads than any track on Manhattan Research Inc., the Y2K anthology of vintage Scott electronica on which it was first released. Basta has commissioned 20 contemporary versions of the composition and collected them on a new album, The Portofino Variations. The album, officially released today, features "Portofino" recorded by Fay Lovsky, Arling & Cameron, the Metropole Orchestra, Ocobar, Davide Rossi (Goldfrapp, Coldplay, The Verve), Jacco Gardner, Eva Auad, and others. The tune is interpreted in a wide array of styles: surf guitar, whistling, electronica, chamber ensemble, minimalism, pop, rock guitar, and scat vocals. The compilation even contains two song versions with original lyrics. The album is available on CD and digitally on Basta, and on LP by Music on Vinyl (a limited edition of 1,000 numbered LPs on gold vinyl, featuring two previously unreleased 1962 takes by Scott). The cover art features an adaption of a painting by Jim Flora entitled Portofino—which by coincidence was rendered in 1962.

Listen here on Spotify.

Limited-Edition Color-Vinyl LPs

Basta's historic compilation of early Scott electronica, MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC., has been reissued in a tricolor 3-LP set by Music on Vinyl, under license from Basta. The newly designed package is officially available today. MRI, first issued in 2000, contains 69 tracks recorded 1953–69 — over two hours’ worth of Scott’s groundbreaking electronic work. Forays into abstract musique concrete are heard alongside film soundtrack collaborations with a young Jim Henson, and pan-galactic sonics seemingly beamed down from hovering UFOs. In addition, MRI presents some of the first TV and radio commercials to feature electronic music. ORDER: HERE

SOOTHING SOUNDS FOR BABY, Scott's 1963 proto-ambient music for infants and stressed-out adults, has been reissued in a 3-LP set by Music on Vinyl (also via Basta). Explore the overlooked roots of rhythmic minimalism, predating works by Eno, Fripp, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. Limited edition of 1,000 copies on silver vinyl, with liner notes and download coupon for all tracks. Purchase link in Euros, but if you're outside EU, Paypal will make the conversion. ORDER: HERE

Three Willow Park: Electronic Music from Inner Space, 1961–71

THREE WILLOW PARK: ELECTRONIC MUSIC FROM INNER SPACE, 1961–71, a new collection of previously unreleased Raymond Scott electronica, will be issued June 30th by Basta Music. The album features 61 tracks, many showcasing the Motown-era Electronium — Scott's invention that composed using programmed intelligence — which will be heard for the first time on disc. This long-awaited followup to Manhattan Research Inc. (recorded 1953-69) will be available in 3-LP, 2-CD, and digital formats, and includes a 20-page book, plus a free 350-page downloadable PDF of archival artifacts. Produced By: Gert-Jan Blom and Irwin Chusid • Associate Producer: Jeff Winner • Art Direction: Piet Schreuders • Order from Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2q2NZ11

Alarm Will Sound/Dance Heginbotham: Twinned

John Heginbotham's dance work, Manhattan Research, featuring the music of Raymond Scott, premiered in August 2013 at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. Heginbotham returns to the Scott catalog with Twinned, a collaborative performance with music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, which debuts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on February 20, in New York. Heginbotham will use seven short Scott electronic works as transition music during the evening's program, which includes music by Aphex Twin, Tyondai Braxton, and Edgard Varèse.

This is a one-evening performance at the Met's Charles Engelhard Court. Tickets are available here.

Cindy + Me

Stereogum.com: "Caged Animals is Brooklyn denizen Vincent Cacchione, maker of homespun indie-pop that leverages electronics and guitars in the pursuit of sweetly endearing pop awkwardness. He has an album titled Eat Their Own and EP called This Summer, both on UK label Lucky Number, and he’s back with a new single. The clattering, theremin-y synth-bounce of 'Cindy + Me' is built on a sample from Raymond Scott's 'Cindy Electronium'."

Get Vincent's backstory on the tune and listen to it at Stereogum. Then watch the new video, which features a quintet of medical academy-trained monkeys:

The Guardian's take is here. The original "Cindy Electronium" appeared on the Manhattan Research Inc. collection of Scott's 1950s-60s electronica, and the sample was licensed thru Basta.

New birthday tribute album:"Tokyorkshire Research Inc" by kidkanevil

Happy 103rd birthday to Raymond Scott, born on September 10th, 1908. Just released today, in honor of this milestone — "Tokyorkshire Research Inc," a new Raymond Scott by tribute album by Kidkanevil, who writes:

"Thank you - Stan Warnow, Irwin Chusid, Jeff Winner. Source material used with kind permission of the Raymond Scott estate. Mastered by Matt Colton at AIR STUDIOS, London. NOTE - This beat tape is intended to be listened to on shuffle/make your own track listing." • UPDATE — Watch the new video: here

Red Bull Music Academy Daily News adds: "Samurai-style London Academy grad Kidkanevil just released a tribute beat-tape comprised in it's entirety from the music of Raymond Scott. An audacious feat no less, but the results are incredible: the thing goes hard. And in case you're worried, the tape is 100% cleared by the Scott estate so you can rest easily knowing no bad karmic repercussions are in store. Btw, we're on our third listen right now, and it keeps getting better."

Mark Mothersbaugh and The Electronium

Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo) with the Motown version of Raymond Scott’s instantaneous-composition invention, THE ELECTRONIUM (and a Yamaha DX-7), in Scott’s guesthouse in Van Nuys, CA, 1993. [Photo by Mr. Bonzai, published in BILLBOARD magazine]

“Raymond Scott was like an audio version of Andy Warhol. He preceded Pop-Art sensibilities, and he played with that line between commercial art and fine art, mixing elements of both worlds together. I love and respect Raymond Scott's work, and it influenced me a lot. I'm a big fan.” —Mark Mothersbaugh

UPDATE — Synthtopia.com reblogged, and adds: 

Saturday Synth Porn:
There are multiple layers of music history captured in the photo. Scott’s work was an inspiration to Bob Moog, who created the Minimoog that was used extensively on Devo’s early albums. The Electronium is now owned by Mothersbaugh, but is not in working order.
Image: Mr. Bonzai, via Jeff Winner’s Raymond Scott blog

Watch The Closing Doors:A History of New York’s Musical Melting Pot

Watch The Closing Doors: A History of New York’s Musical Melting Pot is a new double CD and LP series, released today, and compiled by renowned journalist and author Kris Needs:

Needs’ frighteningly-ambitious project aims to capture the fast-vanishing magic of New York City, documenting major musical landmarks and developments. The first volume focuses on the 1940s and 50s, and is accompanied by a book containing the relevant musical and social history, artist biographies, illustrations and Needs own stories and recollections of the city that once never slept. It includes jazz giants such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and Thelonius Monk, while John Cage and Raymond Scott represent the avant garde. Among the other artists are Billie Holiday, Allen Ginsberg, Nina Simone, and Cab Calloway.

MOJO magazine: “An intoxicating aurel evocation of a lost world” 4-STARS

RECORD COLLECTOR: “One of the most fascinating compilations series we’ve ever encountered” 5-STARS

THE WIRE: “Essential”

VILLAGE VOICE: “A dream soundtrack of every book you ever read, or wanted to read, about postwar New York City” 

Passport to The Future

Dana Countryman's new biography detailing the life and career of French electronic pop music legend, Jean-Jacques Perrey, includes Perrey's memories of meeting Raymond Scott. Here's an excerpt:

"My sponsor, Carroll Bratman, drove me to the studio of Raymond Scott, the famous bandleader and composer," Jean-Jacques recalls. "I knew he was the man who had composed 'The Toy Trumpet,' and many other famous melodies, so I was very impressed to meet him. He had a huge studio in his home that was filled with his electronic music inventions. It looked more like a scientific laboratory, than a recording studio!"

"I played the Ondioline for Raymond Scott, and immediately he wanted to play it. He was very interested in how it worked. He didn’t offer to buy it right away, so Carroll suggested that we leave it in his studio. 'If you decide you like it, then you can buy it,'" Carroll said.

"Not long after, Mr. Scott called up Carroll, and said, 'Okay, I’ll buy the instrument from you.' But instead, Carroll decided to give the Ondioline to him — for free! The only other time that I remember him giving an Ondioline away, was the time he gave one to Arthur Godfrey."

• More memories of Raymond Scott from Perrey: here
• Book details and ordering info: here

"Music For A Retro Future"

New various-artists CD, Music For A Retro Future, from the Other Sounds label features important pioneers of electronic music, including Jean-Jacques Perrey, Louis & Bebe Barron, Dissevelt & Baltan, and others: "A companion album to the book Journey To A Plugged In State Of Mind, an introduction to 100 years of Electronic Music. This release traces the early experiments of the synthesizer in movies and into commercial music. Featuring the sounds of room-sized computers, early rhythm generators, and cognitive ideas of many men in white coats. Includes the earliest recordings of Zappa favorite Varèse, the exceptional 'Song Of The Second Moon,' and Raymond Scott's early experiments into synthetic sound." Order from Amazon.com: here

Don’t Overvalue The Present

LuvSound have released a new various artists collection of ambient music in tribute to Marc Weidenbaum, founder of Disquiet. Weidenbaum recently became a father, and the theme of the sampler is Raymond Scott's groundbreaking 1963 three-volume SOOTHING SOUNDS FOR BABY, which Marc declared one of the '16 albums that changed his life':

For a fan of electronic music, hearing this material by innovator Raymond Scott is akin to a comics fan discovering Windsor Mccay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland or Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix for the first time. The lesson is simple: Don’t overvalue the present. Often the innovations of the past are simply overlooked and under-acknowledged.

Listen to or download the new album here.

Part 2: Full Circle

A couple of weeks ago, I reported that an engineer, David Brown, was developing a replica of Raymond Scott's sequencer invention, The Circle Machine. Mr. Brown reports progress:

I mounted the base plate on a panel along with the 16 lamp rheostats and three control jacks. I built a separate desktop wood enclosure with an external power supply. I removed three of the vanes and the counterbalance weights to lighten the armature. This was rather a fun project and my first using a stepper motor. I built it for fun since I thought it would be visually interesting. I didn't intend for this to be a precision sequencer nor a faithful recreation of the Raymond Scott Circle Machine. However I am pleased with the results as it works well to generate interesting sequences and is fun to watch.

New video & details: here

Full Circle

Retired Tektronix engineering executive David Brown is constructing a working replica of Raymond Scott's sequencer invention, The Circle Machine. “I thought it would be fun to build something with motors and lamps," Mr. Brown says. "The only information I have is the picture on the Raymond Scott site. I used a Hammond vibrato scanner base as the base for the Circle Machine and mounted it on a plate with 16 potentiometers around it. I only have 8 lamps installed but I have it playing an octave scale. I’m not sure how practical it is but it’s kind of fun to watch."

See & hear Brown's replica in action: here

Electronium Restoration

Although Raymond Scott designed and built several versions of his automatic composing-performing machine, The Electronium, the only surviving model was one commissioned by Berry Gordy for Motown. Following Scott's death in 1994, the non-functioning instrument was purchased by Mark Mothersbaugh, who promised to restore it. That resurrection is now being attempted by engineer Darren Davison. 

Dubby Sounds for Baby

Boston-based musician/producer DJ Flack (aka Antony Flackett), who is the father of young twins, has released DUBBY SOUNDS FOR BABY. The mix mashes tracks from Trigga, Mouse On Mars, & music from Raymond Scott's original SOOTHING SOUNDS FOR BABY records.

>> Listen: here