Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Wavemaker - Where Are We Captain? (England 1975) [ProgRock] @320



 Vinyl Rip - Not released in CD

Quite an excellent and unique take on electronic music from this somewhat obscure British duo. Brian Hodgson is far less well-known for this than for his work at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (he’s probably most famous for devising the devilish Dalek voices for TV’s Doctor Who). The two Wavemaker lads perform on the mammoth Electrophon synthesizer (essentially an EMS Synthi 100 with a bunch of custom modules  hooked into it) and invited a couple of guests to sit in on drums and “timpanii” (their spelling).

The result is one of the most rockin’ synth-only records I’ve ever heard. The first time I heard the raucous fuzz-tone at the start of “Double Helix,” I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Why didn’t someone TELL me a synth could do that? The A-side is a near-classic, with some unbelievably up-front synth-prog closing with the breathtaking “Syren’s Song.” The B-side is more low-key and contemplative, but no less high-quality. For fans of electronic music that are looking for something a bit different.
Progbear

01. Lodestar   5:06
02. Double Helix   10:13
03. Syren‘s Song   5:55
04. Wavemaker   6:42
05. Oracle   8:13
06. Enter the Eldil   7:43

John Lewis:
Keyboards
Brian Hodgson: Synthesizer
Jon Keliehor
:
Percussion
Anthony McVey
:
Timpani


16 comments:

  1. Thanks man, i searched this for ages.

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  2. Great!

    Thank you.

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  3. Many thanks for the Brian Hodgson, Dudley Simpson & John Lewis "Where Are We Captain?" album....as a child of the seventies and an avid Doctor Who fan I think my psyche was imprinted with an appreciation of weird & wonderful electronic music at an early age and I have people like Brian Hodgson & of course the legendary Delia Derbyshire to thank for this.

    I have been hunting for a rip of this album for ages (having stupidly got rid of my vinyl and decks years ago) or hoping a CD reissue would surface....its strange that even amongst Hodgson/Delia/BBC Radiophonic Workshop/White Noise/Electrophon fans this album is hardly known at all. When you listen to it, it makes even less sense as this is seventies cutting edge avant-electronica at its best, its prog Jim, but not as we know it!

    Many many thanks for sharing this uber-rarity...if anyone ever comes across a rip of the other Waveform album called 'New Atlantis' released in 1977 it would be really appreciated if they could leave a link here.

    From the sleeve notes of this album:

    this album..."explores the synthesizer as a sophisticated instrument in its own right, not as a substitute for conventional instruments"

    I could not have put it better myself!

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  4. Yes Saucer, I like a lot this album too! Very intrigant work!
    From the same vinyl source (a friend of mine), we can expect the "New Atlantis" album rip. Only I don't know when :)

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  5. Very interesting and cool record. Thanks so much.
    Excellent blog.

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  6. Wow....holy rarities. Big fan of all you do CrimsonKing - both here and there!

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  7. Hi. I know that this album is not on CD but where can I buy the Vinyl rip on CD. I need to get this.

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  8. Thanks a lot. Had almost forgotten how amazingly beautiful Double Helix and Siren's Song are.

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  9. I recently found both Wavemamaker lp's at a local record shop here in East Lansing, Michigan. The jackets were vg to nm condition and the vinyl appeared to have never been played. I knew I was in for a real zonker once I read the credits. I also really like the inner record sleeve's for these two lp's with the inside a smooth plastic for non-scratching and the outside,quality paper, with rounded edges for ease of in and out. "Where Are We Captain?" is breathtaking in all of it's zany space lurching. "New Atlantis" upon first listen was a bit disappointing. the composition's don't seem to be nearly as strong as on their first outing. I'll have to revisit it again though.

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  10. Wow, @320 in 2010!!! Most impressive and appreciated. Who needs silly lossless FLAC-encoded files, anyway, when you can get MP3s?!?

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  11. Hi captain
    Could you show me where is the link please ? I don' t see it
    Sosgotcha

    ReplyDelete

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