Electronic System - Vol. II LP

Label: Real Gone

Limited edition of 900 copies on yellow vinyl.

In the early-to-mid 1970s, Belgian recording engineer and synthesist Daniel Lacksman née Lanckmans recorded and released a series of pop music records, using early analog synthesizers as a central sonic element. Under an admittedly confusing array of names, Lacksman (who later founded the group Telex) created music that was equal parts innovation and ear-candy accessibility. Those often happy-go-lucky records gained some popularity throughout Europe, but their lasting influence can be heard in the music of Portishead, Massive Attack, The Moog Cookbook, and Air, not to mention among the lengthy list of 21st century artists who have sampled these recordings. And a casual survey online quickly reveals that these records are among the most collectible of their kind, with original copies commanding hundreds of dollars.

Among those albums, the one Lacksman recorded in 1973 under the pseudonym Electronic System featured the first full flowering of his synthesizer mastery. His hit recording "Coconut" had enabled him to buy a modular synthesizer, which offered a vastly expanded sonic palette – if you had the patience to re-wire for each sound you wanted to achieve. Which was the perfect set-up for a studio engineer like Lacksman... the result is an album full of sonic surprises, with each track presenting multiple, unique synthesizer tones and attacks, even on such nakedly commercial moves as his cover of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba." An analog synth tour de force!