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Baker's Dozen

While His Synth Gently Beeps: Benge's Favourite Electronic LPs
Luke Turner , February 15th, 2017 10:50

We know you all love a bit of synth porn so here's Benge's Baker's Dozen - a sort of synth erotica reading, if you will, as he guides you through 13 electronic favourites from Morton Subotnick to Else Marie Pade and George Harrison's Moog explorations to Air and Autechre. Benge photo by Ed Fielding

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Gil Mellé – The Andromeda Strain
In my opinion this is one of the best-looking vinyl packages ever made. It is a silver hexagon that folds out six ways to reveal the record which is even itself hexagonal in shape. The soundtrack is pure electronic experimentalism, by pioneering TV composer Gil Mellé. I think at the time this soundtrack was made he used a British synth called the VCS3, as well as electronic sound sources he put together himself, a sort of DIY studio made up from army surplus and radiophonic studio equipment. The result is a very unique sound that perfectly suits the edgy, gritty nature of the film, which is set in an underground scientific bunker where a team of scientists try and prevent an alien virus from killing off humanity.