It's 50 years since the launch of the Minimoog and the latest Electronic Sound has a very special gold foil cover to celebrate. Our lead feature tells the inside story of this superb machine and we also have an exclusive seven-inch reissue of 'The Sound Of Moog', the demonstration disc that Moog released to welcome the Minimoog to the world.
The Minimoog wasn't the first portable synthesiser, but it was the most widely adopted and the most successful – both technologically and commercially. It was a prog rock staple during the early 1970s and a regular solo feature of many soul and funk records of the era too, not least because of its ability to sound slinky and sensual. It was also a foundation instrument for Kraftwerk, who used the deep and rounded bass tones to create the rubbery hooks of ‘Autobahn’, and for Gary Numan, who made it the star component of Tubeway Army's ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’. In the years since, of course, the Minimoog has featured on countless other tracks, cementing its place in electronic music history as one of the very greatest synths of all time.
There’s plenty of other good stuff in this month’s magazine, including Clint Mansell on his soundtrack to Ben Wheatley’s new horror film, Mark Radcliffe and Paul Langley talking about their electropop project UNE, and details of this year’s Oram Awards winners. Plus Ian Boddy, Xeno & Oaklander, Efterklang, Humanoid, Richard Fearless, Portico Quartet, Lone, and a whole lot more besides. It’s nearly as phat as three slightly detuned Minimoog oscillators!
But that’s not all. We also have something a bit different to accompany this month's magazine – 'The Sound Of Moog', a black vinyl seven-inch reissue of the demonstration disc released by Moog in 1971 to introduce the Minimoog. Originally pressed as a flexi disc, it was given away in music shops and at musical instrument fairs in America, as well as being posted out to potential customers. On side one, narrator Jim Johnston discusses the next generation of “performance Moogs", by which he means the Minimoog. On side two, meanwhile, the company's new synthesiser is put through its paces by the acclaimed jazz keyboardist and Moog insider Chris Swansen. As with all of our seven-inch releases, this record is strictly limited and is only available to readers of Electronic Sound, so make sure you get your copy right away.
