Electronic Sound Issue 131 (Cold War Electronica)
Electronic Sound
We are venturing out of our concrete bunker to explore the strange and unsettling world of COLD WAR ELECTRONICA for this month's Electronic Sound cover story. Tin hats are recommended for this one. We have a thrilling and chilling double CD featuring 35 suitably tense tracks to accompany the issue as well.Our cover story consists of 10 connected pieces detailing how the nuclear age rewired our ears. We look at pioneering artists such as KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN and DANIEL MILLER in the West and GEORG KATZER and RODION ROSCA behind the Iron Curtain, while MARK REEDER lifts the lid on East Berlin's deeply underground "walled in" scene. We select some of the biggest Cold War hits too, with Paul Rutherford talking about FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD's 'Two Tribes', Midge Ure remembering ULTRAVOX's 'Dancing With Tears In My Eyes', and Martyn Ware on HEAVEN 17's 'Let's All Make A Bomb'. Plus 'When The Wind Blows', 'Threads', the crazy tale of Radiophonic legend ROGER LIMB's role in the UK government's Protect And Survive campaign, and a whole lot more. Digging deeper, our other features in this issue include WILLIAM BASINSKI, CHICKS ON SPEED, GRAHAMMASSEY and JONNY SLUT. We also celebrate the life and work of EMS co-founder TRISTRAM CARY on the 100th anniversary of his birth, and pay tribute to Soft Cell and The Grid man DAVE BALL and Optimo DJ and producer KEITH McIVOR, who both died in the last few weeks. The electronic music scene is certainly a much poorer place without the two of them. To soundtrack this month's magazine we have an exclusive double CD featuring 35 tracks relating to the Cold War. Taking in minimal synth, darkwave, post-punk, industrial, weird pop and abrasive ambient, get ready for plenty of tension, anxiety, fear and paranoia, with a side order of doom and gloom. It's all quite disturbing and totally brilliant stuff. The first CD of 'Cold War Electronica' covers the 1980s, a decade when American-Russian relations were strained close to breaking point. The contributors include BILL NELSON, SECTION 25, OPPENHEIMER ANALYSIS, KONSTRUKTIVISTS, CULTURAL AMNESIA, 23 SKIDOO and NAGAMATZU, together with five key names from East Berlin's "walled in" scene. Most of their tracks first appeared on limited edition cassettes that were sold under the noses of the secret police. Our second CD boasts material from 2017 to 2025, beginning with the year that the global news media started talking about the onset of a new Cold War. The artists come from a dozen different countries, with VERYAN, CONCRETISM and POLYPORES among the UK representatives and MARY OCHER, SONOLOGYST, DESINTERESSE and NIGHT IN ATHENS just some of the others involved. We also have Ukrainian duo BLAZERJACKET, whose track is inspired by the Russian invasion of their country. As with all of our releases, this record is only available to readers of Electronic Sound, so grab your copy right away.