released & unreleased vocoder recordings, 1970-1982
'Bruce Haack's music is rooted in the idea that humans and electronic machines share a reciprocal relationship that manifests itself through sounds. In order to further explore this dynamic, Haack dropped out of Juilliard to pursue a more experimental course in, surprisingly, educational children's music. Haack released material off his own label Dimension 5 Records in 1962, which allowed him to mix kinetic energy, infuse psychedelic philosophy, and pluck sounds from various genres across the board. Adding to his musical pastiches, Haack used home-made modular synthesizers, proto-vocoders, and the heat-touch sensitive Dermatron to expand his music into the technological realm of creativity.
After contributing to commercials, TV shows such as Mister Rogers, and theatre productions, Haack released the acid-rock-techno gem Electric Lucifer, a conceptual masterpiece that maps out a war between heaven and hell, and where notions of "powerlove" are mediated through Moog synths.
Farad serves as a glowing primer of Haack's work throughout his career. Touching on the lush, pysch-electronic grooves of the Electric Lucifer period and extending to his more abstract, angular works, this compilation highlights his use of the Farad, one of the first musical vocoders invented at the time. Yet amidst echoey reverb and haunting drones, Haack himself manages to create something primal and human, not necessarily conflating human and electronic but posing them as compatible partners.' ~ press hype
'Amazing electric grooves from synth innovator Bruce Haack – whose pioneering use of analog synths and vocoder vocals in the service of great, if far out songcraft was pretty much unrivaled in the 70s and into the early 80s – the period in which this excellent compilation on Stones Throw highlights! Haack's earlier successes were children's music in the 60s, and one of the coolest aspects of his 70s recordings was how that somewhat bright-eyed and innocent sing-song-y approach moved into more surrealist, weirder realms on albums like Electric Lucifer, that album's lesser known, still quite brilliant sequel, and albums like Haackula and Bite. Choice cuts from those albums as well as rare singles are rounded up for Stones Throw's impeccably curated overview. The electric voice and synth errata brings an otherworldly vibe to catchy songs – and Haack's use of the vocoder was followed by so many others who would become household names, from Kraftwerk to Pink Floyd to Moroder.' ~ dusty
snap up the re-ish
pretty slammin correction of uncle brucie's vocoder steez, even a couple we'd never heard before. for the uninitiated, it's highly recommended you trace both 'electric lucifer' lp's as well. they're owl up in the interwebs, just perform a quick search with yr favourite engine
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