Experimental Sound, Music, Circuits

For those of you who might be interested in some of the more far-flung possibilities for music making, I offer the following list. Feel free to add, comment, experiment.

Electronic/Experimental/Odd Music Discography:
Of course, this is completely subjective and filled with holes and fissures, but for those of you interested in learning more about these genres, here are some good starting points....

"OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music" Compilation (a really good place to start for more historical stuff)
"An Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music" (there are four or five of these)
Raymond Scott "Soothing Sounds for Baby"
Wendy Carlos "Switched on Bach"
Tony Conrad "Fantastic Glissando" and "Outside the Dream Syndicate"
Steve Reich (anything, really)
Bruce Haack "Electric Lucifer"
Philip Glass
Amon Tobin "Bricolage"
Tangerine Dream "Phaedra" and "Sorcerer"
Klaus Schultze "Cyborg"
Vangelis "Blade Runner"
Silver Apples "Silver Apple" "Contact" (there's a cd that has both of these albums on it... amazingly ahead-o'-its-time electronic drone pop)
Pierre Henry "Le Voyage" "Tibeten Book of the Dead" (seriously minimal and creepy)
V/A "Electronic Toys: A Retrospective of 70s Synthesizer Music"
Pauline Oliveros
Cornelius "Fantasma"
8 Bit Weapon "Vaporware Soundtracks"
Arthur Russell "First Thought Best Thought
Godspeed You Black Emperor "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven" (though not strictly electronic, the minimalist aesthetic is compelling--and it's a potentially life-changing record. See also Sigur Ros...)
Aphex Twin "Selected Ambient Works Vol. I and II"
Neu! (S/T)
John Oswald "69 Plunderphonics"
Merzbow
Biosphere "Patashnik" and "Autour del la Lune" (though all his records--and there are many-- are quite compelling)
Boards of Canada "Geogaddi"
Brian Eno "Discrete Music" and "Music for Airports" and "Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror" (crucial! important!)
Mouse on Mars "Autoditacker"
Neptune (experimental rock band from Boston, but they build all their instruments out of scrap metal... guitars included)
Kraftwerk, all records are worth owning. Really.
Manitoba "Start Breaking My HEart"
Gary Numan "Replicas" "The Pleasure Principle" "Telekom" (science fiction-ish electro pop that inspired NIN among others)
and so on.....


Experimental Music Bibliography
Christoph Cox "Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music"

Douglas Kahn's "Noise Water Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts"

Thomas Holmes' "Electronic and Experimental Music"

R. Murray Schafer's "The Soundscape" (a more general introduction to the idea of sound environments, really influential if a bit 70s)

Brandon Labelle "Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art"

John Cage "Silence: Lectures and Writing"

Michael Nyman "Experimental Music: Çage and Beyond"

Karlheinz Stockhausen "Stockhausen on Music"


DIY Bibliography
Reed Ghazala "Circuit Bending: Build Your Own Alien Instruments" (THE book for learning how to turn a speak and spell into a dangerously fantastic musical instrument)
http://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Bending-Build-Alien-Instruments-ExtremeTech/dp/0764588877/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195078334&sr=8-1

Nicolas Collins "Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking"
http://www.amazon.com/Handmade-Electronic-Music-Hardware-Hacking/dp/0415975921/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b


Web Links:
Make Blog
How to Solder tutorial
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/soldering_tutor_1.html

Circuit Bending:
Intro: http://instrumentalmusic.suite101.com/article.cfm/introduction_to_circuit_bending

DIY Synths
http://www.naturalrhythmmusic.com/diy.html
http://www.paia.com/
http://www.oakleysound.com/projects.htm
http://www.musicfromouterspace.com
(The "Weird Sound Generator" is a great place to start here (hunt around, the website is a wonderfully crazy mess).)

I'll update/correct this as necessary. Enjoy!
NL