Eurock Live! Best of Electronic Music

John Ubel formed AskaTemple in 1996. The music he made in some sense is otherworldly, filled with swirling extended celestial guitar excursions. Tracks were often 20 to 40 minutes in length, sonically saturated at times, pulsing and highly rhythmic. His guitar sound seemed as if he is playing in a trance-like state, with band members at times serving as a pulse propelling the musical energy to higher levels of intensity. The music of AskaTemple transcended the level of being simply music. It evoked the spiritual essence of John himself. Sadly, John Ubel died OCT 20, 2012 at 46 years old, leaving behind a musical legacy consisting of 30 LTD Edition albums of extreme, minimalist psychedelia. This Eurock 25th Podcast is dedicated to his work, and the spirit in which he created it. A free flowing, immaculate conception, the music of AskaTemple contained the essence of pure inspiration and creativity.

Stomu Yamash’ta performed his first concert ”Percussion Concerto” with the Kyoto Philharmonic Orchestra in 1963 at the age of 16. By age 17 he had transplanted to NYC and entered Julliard. During the 1970’s he became internationally renowned, releasing a series of albums adapting his more adventurous style to the creation of a new fusion of experimental jazz, symphonic and rock music. He released 3 albums entitled Go, featuring a cast of international superstar musicians In the 80s, he reached a spiritual impasse, returning to Kyoto where he took up buddhist studies. Yamash’ta returned to music when in the 1990s he discovered the musical powers of Sanukit stones. Sanukit stones are a particular form of volcanic rock found near Mt. Kanayama in Japan. They generate sound over an 8000 Hz spectrum, creating an 88-tone range. Using these stones, he created an entire line of new instruments and began creating a new sound concept, “sacred music of the stones”. Most recently, Yamash’ta has released a new album IN Zen Music, and been involved in the creation of a film documentary & transcontinental opera, a DBL DVD entitled Walking on Sound – Zen & Viking Opera. Eurock LIVE Podcast #24 features the latest music by Japan’s foremost modern music composer Stomu Yamash’ta. We think you will find it quite unlike anything else you have heard.

In the beginning, there was the music of nature. First came the thunder, then rain, the oceans and rushing rivers. Following that was the wind, birds, bees and pounding heartbeat of man. Luis Perez went back 3,000 years and discovered the first instruments of the Pre-Columbian era. Since 1971, Luis has dedicated his life to the study of Pre-Columbian musical instruments and researching musical traditions among Mexico’s ethnic groups. In 1980, he released his first album and pioneered a unique new music genre in the process. In the Navel of the Moon featured modern music he composed and played on those ancient instruments. Thirty years later in 2000, Luis received the Fellowship Award from the California Arts Council for his modern composition featuring Pre-Columbian instruments, Sanctuary of the Butterflies. Since then he has toured the American Continent performing, lecturing and teaching the history of ancient music. He has also composed music for dance, theater and film productions. Download the brand new Eurock LIVE Podcast #23 featuring Luis Perez’ brand new album, Sanctuary of the Butterflies. Listen to the music, see the instruments, experience the past and the present come together in a fascinating audio-visual way…

To kick off 2012, we have a very special multi-media program for you. Eurock Podcast # 22 features music and video by Art Zoyd from France. Art Zoyd formed in the mid 1970’s. Their musical influences were Magma, mixed with Zappa. They combined those with their French flair for improvisation into a stark, skeletal and frenetic structure to create a new hybrid of freewheeling “gypsy jazz” and neo-chamber music. Initially aligned with the “Rock in Opposition” movement, the bands focus later turned to making music that engaged the intellect and became more structured and composed. They wrote scores for dance performances as well as multi-media installations. Today Art Zoyd continues as a collective of diverse artists and musicians who continue doing numerous visual and stage presentations, as well as recording projects. This Podcast contains music and video from their early period. Enjoy!

Dirk Jan Müller formed Electric Orange in 1992 and released the bands first self-titled album in 1993 on the independent German label, Manikin Records. The sound of the band often pays homage to early period Pink Floyd, injected with a mega dose of their unique modern cosmic krautrock vibe. Müller’s dense layers of keyboard and mellotron along with Dirk Bitner’s soaring space guitar excursions characterize their sound that is propelled by a dynamic rhythm section that mixes heavy beats with exotic percussives. To date they have released 7 albums and 1 DVD. In addition, there have been a dozen private group and Dirk Jan Müller LTD Edition private releases. Today the band consists of Dirk Jan Müller, Tom Rückwald, Dirk Bittner, and Georg Monheim and they have a new album due out soon. If you are in search of instrumental space rock, Electric Orange makes some of the best to have come out of Germany since the original golden era. The five tracks featured on this podcast demonstrate that well.

Eurock first connected with Hiro Kawahara leader of Heretic in the early 1980s. He had just released his first album under the name Osiris, entitled In the Mist of Time. During the late 1970s and early ‘80s, Hiro was one of the early pioneers of a new form of Zen electronics combining mystical and spiritual influences with experimental electronic rock. Between then and 1999 he released nine albums, all but the first under the name, Heretic. In 2000, he moved to Tokyo, the band broke up, and Hiro’s life had moved on. We stayed in touch off and on however and in 2004, Archie had the pleasure of taking a short trip exploring the natural beauty of the Columbia Gorge with him when he came to Portland for a visit. As happens, time passed and we lost contact until 2010 when Archie got the idea to contact him and release a retrospective album covering his 20 years of making music. The result was Requiem, which as compiled became a fantastic tone poem, filled with powerfully emotional guitar playing underlined by gyrating, undulating layers of synthetic sound. A document of Hiro’s music made over two decades, it contains some of the deepest, most powerful and emotional music you will ever hear. At the time of release, no one could have imagined the events in March 2011. Perhaps now even more than ever the music on Requiem represents the timeless power of music to transcend the external world and connect with the internal. Listen & Enjoy!

Eurock LIVE Podcast #19 features the latest Audio & Video productions by Mikhail Chekalin. His new CD, CATHARSIS, includes his latest work recorded in 2010, which expands the range of his musical dynamic. A concept work in 9 Parts, it combines all the elements of his style, post-symphonic classical, jazz, electronic textures, with a hint of rock, weaving them into a new musical fusion that is both unique. The album centerpiece is the 26:32 piece, "In Memory of Fascist Victims, Commemorating the 65th Anniversary of Victory in WW II", a stunning new form of music where the various influences flow freely through changes in theme and musical texture to create his most compelling and accessible work to date. ALIVE@50 is his 4th DVD release in the USA. To celebrate his birthday last year Mikhail staged a private concert and this DVD is a live document of that. The music ranges from spatial electronic to post symphonic, neo-classic and tranceadelic. The film is a surreal spectacle and the music intoxicating sonically. The combined effect is hypnotizing. Enjoy the party! Working in virtual isolation in Russia today, Eurock is proud to offer the Western World a chance to experience the work of this Russian master. Enjoy!

In this Eurock Live special video podcast, Archie features the psychotronic music and art of Spain's Michel Huygen and Neuronium. Included are selections from his CDs, Irawadi and Etykagnostica, along with visionary music video animations from Mystykatea and Nihilophobia. Immerse yourself in some of the masterwork of an artist who has released over 40 albums and played in his day with Tangerine Dream and Vangelis.

In this historic Eurock Live special podcast, Archie interviews American ex-patriot rock star Elliot Murphy. Murphy reminisces about his earliest days as a guitarist and songwriter some journalists labeled, a "suburban Bob Dylan". After his early U.S. popularity waned with the '80s, he moved to Europe and became a favored performer, touring frequently from his home/base in France, teaming up at times in appearances with Bruce Springsteen. Listen in and enjoy the insights shared by one of the enduring survivors of the 1970's rock scene who continues making music today.

In this special interview podcast, Archie revisits the music of Gentle Giant. Featured are selected tracks and a conversation with front man Derek Shulman. He shares his recollections of the band's music and his later career as a producer and signer of new bands for major record labels. Gentle Giant was never one of the archetypal Anglo prog groups who traded in pomp and circumstance. Eclectic, they were made up of mates with different musical tendencies, who came together for music-making that explored collective ideas in search of a group sound and style. The Gentle Giant catalog was released digitally for the first time in November of 2009 on iTunes and other digital outlets. The 7 albums will also be reissued on re-mastered CD along with a DVD of previously unreleased live footage beginning in early 2010.

In this Eurock Live! special video podcast, Archie spotlights the music of Hungarian tribal rock guru, Atilla Grandpierre, and his bands Galloping Coroners (VHK) and Galloping Wonder Stag (VCSSZ). In a candid video interview, Atilla offers his thoughts on the role of cosmic connections and consciousness in his music, drawing inspiration from Hungarian composer Bela Bartok's classic definition of the roots and nature of folk music. Featured are music and early protopunk performances by VHK, along with selections from more recent, transcendent folk music and performance video by VCSSZ. A cosmic classic time capsule! Enjoy.

We celebrate the second anniversary of Eurock Live! with a special video podcast featuring the art, music, and video of modern Russian composer, Mikhail Chekalin. Archie launches us with a brief recount of Chekalin's pioneering 1970s music performances and underground Electronic Light and Sound Studio, through his days with the Soviet-oppressed dissident artists of the Moscow 20. Featured are selections from Chekalin's Eurock CD releases, his Video History of Light & Sound 1970s-1980s, Volumes 1 and 2 DVD's , as well as some of Chekalin's many paintings and photographs . See the Eurock home page, column left middle, for links to an interview with Mikhail and a gallery of his artwork. Enjoy

Our journey through aural space and time begins with Stephen Hawking's black hole warning from the new Eurock release, Analog Planetfall. Archie then offers up a sonic time capsule of German impressionist electronic music, with selections from Human Being (Live at the Zodiac 1968) and 2 new Conrad Schnitzler releases Kluster 2008 (with a K) and his new solo disc Windvogel. The segment concludes with excerpts off the brand new Cluster (with a C) album. It’s their first studio release in 14 years. Next up are "Taste It" and "Fruits of Fantasy" the two new projects by Robert Schroeder. They are followed by selections from 2 different and unique electronic works (Radiate) by Jeffrey Koepper and (Shade) by Parallel Worlds. In a more melodic, romantic mode, Archie features music from new discs by former Supersister front man Robert Jan Stips: "Rond" and "Was It Love?" The last musical segment of Eurock Live Podcast #13 features Germany's Embryo, world touring masters of ethnic fusion for over four decades. The program closes with a final selection by Doktor Bob from "Analog "Planetfall".

Archie's current tour of new world electronica begins with Eurock Live's own Doktor Bob and selections from "Analog Planetfall", his new ambient-techno space disc from Eurock Records. Next up are 2008 concert tracks from "Rheingold" by klangmeister Klaus Schulze with DCD diva, Lisa Gerrard, followed by the Moog-driven resonances of Redshift's latest, "Turning Towards Us". Our sampling of neo British electronica winds up with Ian Boddy's "Slide", followed by "Voices of Dawn", the most recent release by Germany's Axess. Melodic keyboard master Robert Fox next presents ethereal atmospherics from his 2009 release, "Evergreen". For our final set of new music, we return to the good old U.S. of A, with "Ambient Elsewhere", from the Ministry of Inside Things and Jeffrey Koepper's all-analog virtuosity on "Luminosity". We bid farewell (until next time) with a final rumbling phaseshift and groove from "Analog Planetfall". Enjoy!

Archie's latest sonic tour blasts off with master guitarist Manuel Gottsching and bonus tracks from his newly remastered "Belle Alliance". Next travel through time with veteran U.S. space rocker Ian Tescee, with interludes from Io, Continua, Breathworks, and his 2008 Traveler's Guide to Mars. We then head back to Europe for more soaring sounds from 4 favorite Eurock artists. The U.K.'s David Wright returns with a selection from his latest, Dreams and Distant Moonlight, Robert Schroeder then serves up another tasty treat from his Food for Fantasy project - Fruits of Fantasy. Following up, Krautrockers, Electric Orange, go Floyd-in-space with their latest - Fleischwerk. We close with a rock-out cut from Live at Heart, the lastest concert album from Finland's Hidria Spacefolk.

This Eurock Live Special podcast features the music and wisdom of Conrad Schnitzler, an early member of Tangerine Dream. In his own words and sonic wizardry, Con tells of his personal approach to creating with sound in his pioneering group Kluster. Archie has chosen interludes from a number of Con's albums, including some of the latest from Kluster 2007 with Michael Thomas Roe and Masato Ooyama. Be sure to check at www.eurock.com for the Online Historical Addendum to this Eurock Live time capsule.

This anniversary podcast takes off with the ethereal vocals and electronic atmospherics of Farscape, the new double CD from Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance) and Klaus Schulze. Next, we soar on to some more classically styled electronica with Instant Enlightenment (by Frank Fiedler with Guido Hieronymous, ex-Popul Vuh) and Inlandish (by Cluster's Joachim Rodelius with Tim Story). Then on to even more orchestral work from Serge Blenner, Musique de Chambre, and the new release, Music of the Spheres, from Mike Oldfield. Following up with more new and classical is Now, the latest from Jade Warrior, and Early Beginnings, previously unreleased early tracks from Johannes Schmoelling, formerly of Tangerine Dream. We wind up with several quintessential krautrock tracks from Agitation Free (Malesch and 2nd) and the remastered Made in Germany, the space opera by Amon Düül II. Enjoy!

This Eurock Live Special Podcast features a retrospective tour of the music of Cluster and a free-ranging interview with German electronic musicians, Dieter Moebius and Joachim Roedelius. The two reminisce about their early days with Human Being and Kluster (with Conrad Schnitzler) before they founded Cluster. Also featured is a taste of their more recent work, including a new album from Roedelius and American musician Tim Story, who also talks about their collaboration. Another sonic time capsule from Archie Patterson and Eurock!

Archie's latest world tour of new electronic music begins in England, with tracks from David Wright's Momentum and Robert Fox's theatrical Adonai. Next up is a taste of Playtime, the upbeat fifteenth album from France's Rene Aubry, followed by interpretations of folk themes from Russia's Caprice. Then shift realities with the electro-goth Exposition from Collection D'Arnell Andrea. Next up are Belgian-US collaborations from Sydnromeda & Matt Howarth, followed by Mythical Pursuit, a sonic blast from American Jeffrey Koepper's Sequentaria. Robert Shroeder gives us a flashback of previously unreleased music on D.MO Vol. 2. React, new ambient electronica from California's Robert Rich and Britain's Ian Boddy rounds out the international collaborations. After a quick spacial trip with Psicodreamics and Ambiethernum, K. Leimer sounds off on two new U.S. CDs, Lesser Epitomes and Useless Lessons. We close with tracks from the 3 CD box set Trigger Trilogy by Germany's Conrad Schnitzler. Grab your headphones and fasten your seat belt!

This Episode features new releases from Germany, Hungary, Australia, Poland and the USA, beginning with a news flash on the upcoming bio, Klaus Schulze - Electronic Music Legend, by Greg Allen. The tracks pick up with the latest from premier Deutsch space rockers, Electric Orange. Moving East, we take in new tribal sounds from Hungary's Korai Orom, followed by some Revelations from Australia's Mother Venus. Then return to Poland for powerful new instrumentals from Jozef Skrzek East Wind. We wind up back on home shores for a sonic flashback from Eurock's recently remastered 1982 classic, American Music Compilation, featuring works from Jasun Martz, Dr. Wize, Richard Bone, and Anode.

This Eurock Live Special Podcast features a retrospective tour of the music of Damo Suzuki, plus an interview with this ground- breaking vocal artist before his late November 2007 club gig in Portland. Damo reminisces about his early days with Can, his hiatus, and return to performing with Dunkelziffer and Damo Suzuki's Network. Another sonic time capsule from Archie Patterson and Eurock!

This Eurock Live 'cast begins with vibrant  selections from 2 new CDs by Russian electronic composer Mikhail Chekalin. Our tour of world electronica then moves west with darker tracks from England's Redshift and ARC, with collaborators Mark Shreeve and Ian Boddy. Capping off our British blast with some of Brendan Pollard's Flux Echoes, we take off with Brazil's Violeta De Outono. Back to France for some Nouvelles Lectures Cosmopolites (NLC), finishing in the good old US of A with tracks from Alpha Wave Movement and Portland's ARZ. So download, plug in your headphones and enjoy!

In this Eurock Live Special Podcast, Archie Patterson interviews one of the founding fathers of experimental rock, Mani Neumeier. Taking a break after his recent concert in Portland, Mani talks about his current tour and upcoming album, and reminisces about great days with the group. With selections from his albums, UFO, Kanguru, Mani Neumeier's Birthday, Moshi Moshi, and In the Guru Lounge.

The second Eurock Live podcast continues with in-depth coverage of new electronic releases from Germany by Ashra's Manuel Gottsching, Conrad Schnitzler, and "doombient synthie sculptors" Ramp and friends. We introduce Russian electronic composer Mikhail Chekalin in his first American release.We also include some great new Dutch EM from Emmens & Heij and FSP, as well as a brand new Interview, a chat with the US electro-duo, Parasites of the Western World. The Interview feature will morph into a full-blown mini-podcast series in the near future. So download, plug in your headphones and enjoy!

This first installment is truly International with Luis Paniagua (Spain), Klaus Schulze, Johannes Schmoelling, Thorsten Q, and Frank Klare (Germany), Hidria Spacefolk (Finland), Gert Emmens (Holland), Nattefrost (Denmark) + K. Leimer, Forrest Fang w/ Carl Weingarten and Richard Bone (USA). Download & Enjoy!