Sean Albiez

September and October releases from Nostalgia Deathstar and @ghost-elektron.bsky.social

They Kill The Flame, by Nostalgia Deathstar 11 track album

Out September 5th

Nostalgia Deathstar's new venture

Manchester Museum named European museum of the year ‘Gobsmacked’ director says 138-year-old museum aims to ‘build empathy for other people and the natural world’

I've not been there for about 40 years but have fond memories of bunking off here when I was in sixth form 😎

Music From the Air is Old, He Says Frank E. Miller, the Theremin Controversy and the Audion Electric Organ 1915-1932

I was sorting some research files over the weekend and realised I had enough to get a Song of the Atom post together on the forgotten electronic music innovator, Frank E. Miller ... so I put this together today ... songoftheatom.substack.com/p/music-from...

Phonomanipulation [1] Patrick Feaster and the Early Manipulation of Recorded Sound

Here's my last Substack post for a while - introducing the topic that will be the focus of the following few posts - phonomanipulation techniques - and a brief overview of Patrick Feaster's excellent article on the origins of the transformation of sound recordings on phonographs/gramophones.

My VE Day was nothing like our image of it today. I hope we can honour what it really meant | Sheila Hancock Our street party tea was a muted celebration, full of uncertainty. Then, as now, we faced a long struggle towards a better world, says actor and writer Sheila Hancock

A gentle reminder

Music of the Spheres Johanna Magdalena Beyer [1888-1944]

My latest 'Song of the Atom' Substack post - on German-American composer Johanna Magdalena Beyer's 'electronic' composition 'Music of the Spheres' [1938]. I 'may' have discovered previously unknown information of her time in Germany as well a a previously unknown composition, 'Song of New York' ...

Painting Sound and Music [2] Soviet Graphical Sound in the Press 1935-1936

Here's Part 2 of my Substack article on German and Russian graphical sound in the English language press in the 1930s - this time focusing on Russian innovators who had their moment in the sun from 1935-36

Painting Sound and Music [1] Eric A. Humphriss, Rudolf Pfenninger and Graphical Sound in the Press 1931-1935

Here's my latest Substack post - prompted by a key theme concerning drawn film sound in my last post on the 1935 John Mills book 'A Fugue in Cycles and Bels', Part 1 focuses on Eric A. Humphriss and Rudolf Pfenninger [1931-35]

An Electrical Future for Music John Mills and A Fugue in Cycles and Bels [1935]

This week's Substack post - on John Mills's 1935 book 'A Fugue in Cycles and Bels' that was another key source for John Cage's research in the late 1930s

The Ethereal Orchestra André Coeuroy on Electric Music [1932]

Wasn't really planning on doing this this afternoon, but this 1932 article has been on my mind ... a shortish post looking at French critic André Coeuroy's ‘L'orchestre éthéré / The Ethereal Orchestra’ article.

Toward a New Music Carlos Chavez on Music and Electricity [1932-1937]

This week's Substack post - on Mexican composer Carlos Chavez's book 'Toward a New Music' that heavily influenced John Cage's thoughts of new and future musics.

The Symphony of Mechanical Forces Carol-Bérard and the organization of noise 1908-1928

Here's my latest Substack post - on Carol-Bérard’s 1908 (?) La Symphonie des forces mécaniques [The Symphony of Mechanical Forces], and his thoughts on the 'organization of noise' in a 1928 article that preempts much of John Cage's 'The Future of Music: Credo' by 10 years ...

Music and the Laboratory From John Redfield to John Cage

Got a feeling I still might have to tidy this up a little, but here's my latest Substack post - 'Music and the Laboratory: from John Redfield to John Cage'

Organized Sound: Before and After Varèse Edgard Varèse, John Cage and the origins of 'organized sound'

Here's my second Substack post examining John Cage's 'The Future of Music: Credo' - focusing on the term 'organized sound', Edgard Varèse and John Cage's usage of the term, and the longer history of 'organized sound' as a formulation for understanding of music - before and after 1940-1941 ...

John Cage and the Past, Present and Future of Music 'The Future of Music: Credo' as scenius, not genius

Here's this week's short introductory article to further writing I'm going to be doing on issues surrounding Cage's 'The Future of Music: Credo' [18 February 1940]

Hugo Gernsback and Electronic Music [3] Postscript - Super Music, Micromusic and the Brussels World's Fair 1958

I thought I'd best put together a final short article so that I'd covered what I'd initially intended to on Hugo Gernsback and Electronic Music - so here it is - Part 3 ...

Hugo Gernsback and Electronic Music [2] Part 2 - Radio Craft in the 1930s

Think I bit off a bit more than I could chew on this one, so had to leave out a few things ... might mean Hugo Gernsback Part 3 at some point ... anyway, here's this week's 'Song of the Atom' Substack post 🙂

Hugo Gernsback and Electronic Music [1] Part 1 - The Staccatone and Pianorad

This week's 'Song of the Atom: Electronic Music before 1945' article - on Hugo Gernsback and his role (alongside Clyde J. Fitch ...) in propagating electronic music in the USA (and elsewhere) in the 1920s - part 2 next week examining the role of Radio Craft magazine in the 1930s #electronicmusic

Georges von Djounkovski and the Vibrophon A lost electronic musical instrument and a tale of patent and jewellery 'theft'

This week's Substack post - on Georges von Djounkovski and the Vibrophon - a lost (and very murky) story of electronic music in Paris and Berlin in 1928

No problem - I think these performances should be marked in some way on the 2028 centenary :-) And maybe a Manchester based researcher knows ways to find out more ... would give me an excuse to get back up there :-)

Electronic Music on Film 1929 "Das brennende herz" [The Burning Heart] (Germany 1929 - Dir. Ludwig Berger)

Here's this weeks Substack post (and there'll only be one this week ...) - on the lost film 'Das brennende herz / The Burning Heart' and the appearance of the Berlin Laboratory Theremin.

The 'Unknown' US Thereminists RCA Thereminists in the USA - 1930-1945

Something else to start pondering on Substack ...

Song of the Atom: Electronic Music before 1945 | Dr Sean Albiez | Substack Excavating lost stories from the early history of electronic music. Click to read Song of the Atom: Electronic Music before 1945, by Dr Sean Albiez, a Substack publication. Launched 4 days ago.

This is my early electronic music history Substack - I'm aiming to publish something every week, maybe more ... where possible new information that doesn't as yet appear in any established histories ...

When Electronic Music Became 'Electronic Music' The Origin of 'Electronic Music' and the 'Song of the Atom'

I wasn't really planning on doing this today, but sat down at the computer this morning and now here it is! The origin of 'electronic music' 😎

Lee de Forest and his Orchestra of Audions The audion vacuum tube and early developments in electronic music

Here's my 2nd Substack post - on Lee de Forest's role as an electronic music pioneer - and a mystery concerning Marcel Tournier's 'Orgue Électrique' 😎

Electronic Music Comes to Manchester Maurice Martenot and the ondes musicales: April - June 1928

It's time to start writing about the electronic music research I've been doing for over 10 years that hasn't found a home as yet. Started a Substack publication called 'Song of the Atom: Electronic Music before 1945' - first post - Maurice Martenot's forgotten Manchester concerts in June 1928

Dunroamin, by Mad Elektrons track by Mad Elektrons

Our latest Mad Elektrons release - Guthriesque guitars sprinkled with synths - proto-retro-space-pop …