Since it was established in 1914 the Phillips Research laboratories (NatLab) in Holland has given us the very first artificial reverb, tape recording, stereo, the cassette tape, cd, DVD, blue ray, and Songs of the Second Moon (Omni). You see back in the cold war, with the arms race and the frequent threat of annihilation via an atom bomb, technology had developed something of an image problem. Consequently Phillips brought in some composers, in the hope that their technological music could put a human face on the new toys. The result was Songs of the Second Moon – the first piece of electronic pop music, recorded in about 1957. It was produced over a couple of days by Dick Raaijmakers (aka Kid Baltan), pressed as a single and given away to visitors to the lab. Despite the tune’ lofty status in the pantheon of electronic music, Raaijmakers was inexplicably demoted to assistant to fellow composer Tom Dissevelt. However the duo proceeded to record twenty or so tracks over the next three years in what was a quite laborious process.
The music is this jaunty space age swirl, with synthetic oscillations and bubbling textures, creating what is one moment playful, the next menacing, as they struggle reign in the beast that would become electronic music. You can hear everything from bachelor pad exotica to avant-garde electronics, and even a primitive precursor to acid house. It’s all here. As a side note it’s music that could’ve been the soundtrack to 2001 A Space Odyssey, as Stanley Kubrick requested the music for a new space project he was working on. The duo had never heard of him so they ignored the letter which is reprinted on this Omni reissue of the duos complete output during the period. Typical for Omni there’ extensive liner notes, great photos, both mono and stereo versions of the songs as well as some outtakes and alternative versions. Check out Youtube for videos of them smoking cigarettes and explaining tape machines in their lab. It’s in Dutch but the vibe is tremendous. But then what else would you expect from a lost relic of electronic music?
Bob Baker Fish
