Various ‎– "Flowmotion(An Album of Contemporary Electronic Music)" (ICR ‎– ICR 003) 1982

Well, as this compilation is over 35 years old, it can no longer claim to be an album of Contemporary anything, but it does have some electronic music on it ,by some of the bigger names of the UK's electronic underground of the early eighties. And I note that none of this lot have yet to retire.
A few of these tracks one would hesitate at calling them strictly 'Electronic'.Experimental pop with incidental electronics is good enough for Eyeless In Gaza,and Those Little Aliens hark back to the time when magnetic Tape manipulation was called 'Electronic' Music.I suppose anything made with machines that one plugs into the mains is technically 'Electronic' so there you are!?

Tracklist:

A1 –Chris & Cosey-Devil God
A2 –Those Little Aliens-Ismalia
A3 –Eyeless In Gaza-Dusky Ruth
A4 –Eyeless In Gaza-Through Eastfields
A5 –David Jackman-Do The Dog
A6 –Ian Boddy-Follow
A7 –The Legendary Pink Dots-Hanging Gardens
B1 –Ian Boddy-Skylights
B2 –Paul Nagle-A Journey In The Dark
B3 –Carl Matthews-As Above, So Below
B4 –Colin Potter-Rooftops

DOWNLOAD with the flow HERE!

Ian Boddy ‎– "Options" (Mirage ‎– M607) 1982

'Ian Boddy,composer, sound designer, DiN ambient music label owner & analogue synth aficionado', as it says on his official website; was another member of the British renaissance in electronic music in the 'Berlin School' style as made chart bound by german longhairs, Tangerine Dream.

Most of us would label this as'Ambient/New Age' these days, but its more than that.Especially when the sequencers get going.It has its repetitive synth lines that hit a chord in one's mind and body,and largely leaves the soft synth pads to the background.

I think one of the worst electronic inventions/innovations was the 'Polyphonic Synthesiser', especially when they got cheap.Up there with digital synthesis for awfulness.If music tech only stopped still at Monophonic keyboards that sounded like synthesisers, and drum machines that sounded like drum machines everything would be rosy in the electronic garden.

The temptation for Polyphony enthusiasts was to make terrible 'string section' backings for the otherwise excellent Lead synth lines; removing all breathing space in a recording by drowning it in emulated choirs and other orchestral pretentions.As annoying electronic sounds go, its up there with the Fairlight Orchestral Stab,and the DX7 Brass sound.

Non-Rick Wakeman Polyphonic keyboardists, also had a tendency to just rest their fingers on the plastic ebony and ivory keys and wiggle them about randomly,fed through a reverb unit and echo box, as if they knew what they were doing,which they patently didn't.

"Too many notes spoileth the broth", as the old adage goes; especially if you don't know what notes you're playing.

If you're ok with lush synth pads drowning out the good bits, then this is for you.  

Tracklist:

A1 Corridors 4:43
A2 Karina 3:32
A3 Water On Stone 2:40
A4 Into View 3:18
A5 Skylights 4:05
A6 Silhouette 3:31
A7 Follow 2:58
A8 End Sequence 1:54
B1 Till Quiet Descends (Live 07/11/1981) 13:55
B2 21 Degrees 14:05 (Live 07/11/1981

DOWNLOAD your options HERE!

Ian Boddy ‎– "Images" (Mirage) 1980

Another slab of post-prog prog, testcard music for the uninitiated.This is actually quite punk rock in its carbuncular anti-trend stance. If I had heard this in 1980 I would have thought Mr Boddy was having a laugh,but now I know better.He was deadly serious,he really wanted to be Vangelis,and probably still does. 

DOWNLOAD this economy brand chariots of fire HERE!

Ian Boddy - "Elements Of Chance" (Mirage ‎– M602) 1981

Back in '81,while you and your mates were all listening to "cool" music, like Josef K,The Fall,and Cabaret Voltaire. There was always some introspective loner,with a ponytail , and a quietly expressed preference for Tangerine Dream, lurking in the corner of the Sixth-form common room. Just behind the middle class kids in denim jackets with Blue Oyster Cult patches and Genesis written in Biro on their copies of the collected poems of Philip Larkin.
This lot were 'Weird', sucked into the prog vacuum left by Punk Rock,totally oblivious to that rowdy phenomenon,due to their complete and utter mis-comprehension  of anything vaguely proletarian in origin. But the weirdest of the lot was the Tangerine Dream worshipping teenager.
Of course this kind of geek could also find himself a home in Industrial Music, like Chris Carter of Throbbing Gristle,or they could end up like Ian Boddy.
The DIY era gave these misfits a chance to get their electronic symphonies out to bother the public,and so they did.
This stuff can sound like anything from a pale shadow of Steve Reich, to a radio shack Klaus Schulz,to mid-eighties Testcard music. 
This album manages to fit in all of these category's into 45 minutes; but at least he uses a Boss Dr. Rhythm drum box,which was my first drum machine, and I wish i still had it.

Tracklist:

A1 Iaja 4:50
A2 Natural Motion 3:40
A3 Four Views 18:00
B1  Surface Touches 9:05
B2  Elements Of Chance

DOWNLOAD some extremely unfashionable progressive electronics from 1981 HERE!

Various Artists - "Integration" (Integrated Circuit Records ICR12) 1983

Excellent minimal synth/experimental compilation realised in 1983 on Colin Potter's Integrated Circuit label. Full of all the usual suspects, Alain Neffe, Colin Potter,David Jackman,it goes on. A classic DIY electronica compilation.

Tracklist:

A1 Trevor Wishart -Anna´s Magic Garden

A2 Muslimgauze -Afrikaner

A3 Paul Kelday -Towards A New Clear Age

A4 David Jackman- Last Estuary

A5 Ampnoise - Floppy Disk Drive

A6 MFH - To Give Painless Light

A7 New 7th Music - Untitled No. 7

A8 Andrew Cox - Ritual Dance

A9 Andrew Cox - Silent Moorings

B1 Ian Boddy - Sundance

B2 Subject - What Happened To You?

B3 I Scream - Menace

B4 Human Flesh - Delon Enlarges

B5 Carl Matthews - Power of three

B6 Carl Matthews-Harmless Thought

B7 Monoplane - Fin

B8 Citizens Of Science - She Moves Like A Machine

B9 Colin Potter - Hills

B10 Stratis - By Water

B11 Dave Jones - Memories Of...

DOWNLOAD and integrate HERE!