Today’s SOTD is a 1983 “proto-techno” classic from Conny Plank, Dieter Moebius and Mani Neumeier. As former members of Tangerine Dream, Cluster and Guru, the trio were pretty accustomed to pushing musical boundaries, as this energetic and mad effort shows. Taken from their album ‘Zero Set’, the track is still lauded amongst electronic/techno connoisseurs for its driving and dark bass and incredible percussive rhythms.  Have a listen and you’ll soon know what I mean (it still blows my mind!).

Moebius Plank Neumayer – Pitch Control

Hello Space Cadets! Join us as we continue our far out cosmic trip from the last post! Today’s SOTD comes from Michael Bundt, who was the bassist of German progressive rock outfit Nine Days Wonder.

Taken from his debut 1977 solo album Just Landed Cosmic Kid, “Brain of Oskar Panizza” is a cult piece of early electronica. Beaming warped breakbeats and synthesizers from outer space, this track is absolutely essential for people interested in electronics or house music or crazy shit. Also, Bundt kinda looks like Michael Caine from Dressed to Kill on the LP cover. Isn’t that just wonderful???

Michael Bundt – The Brain of Oskar Panizza

Just look at Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson doing the fabulous prog/folk/psych number ‘Witch’s Promise’ on Top of the Pops in 1970!

Look at him! He’s like a mad combination of Rasputin and someone you might see on Time Team! He’s singing about a witch, as well. Stick this on at your Halloween party and it’ll go down a treat… Or a trick?

If only they had performances like this on Top of the Pops these days. If only they had Top of the Pops these days.

I remember watching this on Sounds of the Seventies on BBC2 in about 1990. “Mummy?” I said. “Who is that weird man with the flute?” I think she told me to shut up.

What are they going to have on Sounds of the Noughties? Fucking Paloma Faith, that’s what.

Anyway, here’s Jethro Tull; scary, hairy men singing about witches.

The new Permanent Vacation compilation ‘Space Oddities Vol.2′, compiled by Alexis Le-Tan & Jess, is a brilliant collection of spaced-out, cosmic, groovy library music from the 70s and 80s. More psychedelic and proggy than Vol.1, it features some killer tracks from some of the finest soundtrack libraries in the world (CAM, Telemusic, Crea etc).

‘Equilibrium’ by H.Tical is a rare sound cue from Jesus Franco’s  sleazy 1973 film ‘Sinner’ and is taken from a library album entitled ‘Distortions Pop’ (see the cover). But according to Joel Martin’s excellent sleeve notes, the library album in question was a replication of an earlier commercial record on the British ‘Kaleidoscope’ label from 1971, that was entitled ‘Distortions’ by Blue Phantom. Then it was speculated that Italian composer Armando Sciascia was in fact behind the whole thing and was working under the pseudonym ‘Tical’! Confused? I certainly am.

Anyway, the track itself is a lovely, fuzzy psych number. The lonely, misty sounding organ, recalls Morricone at his finest and the gentle psych-jazz percussion softly eases the listener into a lovely cinematic calm. That sounds really pretentious, doesn’t it? Oh, sod it. Have a listen and judge for yourself.

H Tical – Equilibrium

H Tical – Equilibrium