Best Of Moog: Electronic Pop Hits From The 60's & 70's

This is a wonderful set of music that may not live up to the extremely lofty title, Best of Moog. Though I can quibble about some of the records selected, I must give this collection five stars for getting this material onto CD. (A lot of people don't have record players these days.) Martin Denny's version of the theme from Midnight Cowboy may be as good as the original and Stan Free's take on Popcorn is a classic. I'd mention who sampled E.V.A., but I don't want to violate. If you can find the full albums these songs are from in any format or if you feel like searching for obscure Hanatarashi CDs I suppose you could pass, otherwise this is a must-have disc.One minor thing, I did not get the snarky quip about Morris Jennings in the liner notes. His playing on Moog Groove is incredible.

The moog has always been one of my favorite instruments. If you like moog music you will like this CD.

Brings back memories

I had hoped for more creative sounds. Not stuff I grew up hearing.

If you have any love for the moog genre, or even just synth-rock in general, you simply have to hear this. Whether chuckling at Gil Tryhall's "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and Armando Trovaidli's "I Apologize Mr Rossini," or grooving out to Fat Boy Slim's remix of "E.V.A." (or the original version, for that matter). This whole record feels like retro music from the future... all the whistles and squeaks, while having enough retro kitsch to elicit a smile. Also works well as a cutesy Y2K New Year's party album.

Although this compilation of vintage electronic music starts out as a fun and highly enjoyable listening experience, it begins to drag and becomes somewhat annoying towards the end. Perhaps it would have been better as a shorter album, omitting inferior tracks such as "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Gil Trythall (one too many electronic hoedowns), and both of Electrik Cokernut's unintelligent covers of pop songs ("Jeepster" & "Back Off Boogaloo"). The good songs are very good, e.g. "E.V.A." by Jean Jacques Perrey, which sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday, and "Bond St." by Enoch Light and the Light Brigade which, although it barely features any synthesizers, is a highly entertaining version of the Burt Bacharach tune. But many of the inferior tracks become a chore to sit through, especially when you begin to feel, "Haven't I heard this before?". Despite its flaws, I would still recommend this to anyone interested in the origins of modern electronic music, anyone who wants the song "Popcorn", or anyone who loves Disneyland ("Baroque Hoedown" is the theme song to.....now with an electronically enhanced voice...."Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade!").

Though I'd certainly describe this as a good, fun CD, it lacks extremely necessary artists in the Moog (rhymes with Pogue, like the band the Pogues) era. As described by Disinformation Records representative Richard Metzger in the CD's liner notes, those who know their Moog will be severely disappointed in this collection of classics. You do get a good number of out-of-print hits from artists whose records would cost extreme amounts on auction sites and collector conventions, but there's no diversity and some of the best artists are completely absent. There is no Bruce Haack, (though he is briefly mentioned in the liners (where his name is misspelled!!)), no Wendy Carlos (or Walter Carlos!!), not even any Raymond Scott, the original creator of the prototype Moog later popularlized. Many of the tracks included are covers of Hollywood tunes and classical arrangements, and the last track is a completely worthless Fatboy Slim remix of E.V.R. Why is it included on a 60's and 70's hits CD? Who knows, maybe he's a shareholder...Anyways, here's a list of all the performers as they appear on the CD:1)Hot Butter2)Perrey-Kingsley3)Jean Jacques Perrey4)Richard Hayman5)Martin Denny6)Perrey-Kingsley7)Gil Trythall8)Enoch Light and the Light Brigade9)Perrey Kingsley10)Armando Travaioli11)Perrey-Kingsley12)Elektrik Cokernut13)Armando Travaioli14)Elektrik Cokernut15)First Moog Quartet16)Hugo Montenegro and his Orchestra17)Dick Hyman18)First Moog Quartet19)Jean Jacques Perrey (remixed)It's also helpful to note that many of these groups were actually organized by Perrey and/or Kingsley. In effect, this is nearly a best of Perrey and Kingsley CD! The label rep goes to all the trouble of claiming he wants to reissue OOP and expensive classic tunes, but he only has like 3 artists on here, not to mention the lame Fatboy Slim remix.Despite all the huge flaws in this release, it's still a fun listen. There are only one or two tracks on here that aren't worth the time, and even the covers are fun. I'd recommend it to those of you who aren't huge Moog fans, but not to the hardcore followers (though you guys probably know not to buy it already). For those who are still learning ot beauty of the Moog synth, I suppose I'd recommend this. The actual records are far too expensive now, so go ahead and pick up the cheap comp and see what you think before shelling out major cash...

.........and this is not it!The 2 cuts that stand out are Popcorn by Hot Butter and E.V.R. by Jean Jacques Perrey. The rest is a pile headache inducing kitsch. The appreciation of this quaint style of music lies purely in the mind and not in it's sound. No matter what is claimed, this stuff did not influence Krafwerk and should be sent back to the rubbish bin as it is begining to smell. Wendy Carlos was a pioneer on many fronts, but Bach's music is what makes her recordings last. The tracks included here are not even composition they are just pastiche.

初期ムーグをはじめとする黎明期の電子音楽に興味がある人ならきっと楽しめる。キングズレー＆ペリーなどの有名どころから、わりと貴重な珍しい音源まで網羅しています。初期電子音楽のかわいいらしい音が満載！