Published
Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 15:52
- The 30-track collection of British library music will see release next month.
Public Information will release a compilation of library tracks from Standard Music's archives in May.
The collection, titled Happy Machine: Standard Music Library 1970-2010, is a kind of unofficial follow-up to 2012's Tomorrow's Achievements-Parry Music Library 1976-86 compilation, which focused on Canadian library music. This time the focus is on British institution Standard Music, which was founded in 1968 and went on to make several decades' worth of recordings for London Weekend Television shows like Black Beauty, Upstairs, Downstairs, On The Buses and The Professionals.
Public Information have compiled 30 tracks from Standard Music's catalogue. Split across two LPs, Happy Machine draws attention to musicians like Reginald J. Lewis, Brian Hodgson, John Gregory and Kirk Thompson, while Beatles producer George Martin can be found "jamming out on a Moog" on one track. The label says the compilation "trips from desolate Radiophonic ambient, to cute bleep-idents, to stark contemporary drone to jagged electronic scorch," as "Moog-heavy workouts sit nervously aside unsettling concrete."
Happy Machine: Standard Music Library 1970-2010 will be pressed onto double-vinyl in a run of 500 copies. There will also be a digital version. You can listen to a sample of the compilation below:
Tracklist
A1 Reginald J. Lewis - Logo Rhythmic II
A2 Brian Hodgson - Cathedral Of Space
A3 Reginald J. Lewis - Arcadian Valley
A4 Richard Hewson - Deserted Starship
A5 John Keating - Haley’s Largo
A6 Reginald J. Lewis - Programmadate
A7 John Kongos - Sidestreet
B1 Reginald J. Lewis - Happy Machine
B2 Mike Vickers - Curve Of The Wind
B3 George Martin - Eary Feary
B4 Mike Vickers - Homing Nucleus
B5 Chris McCormack - In The Shadows
B6 Kirk Thompson - In Safe Hands (No Bass / No Beats)
B7 Brian Hodgson - The Craters Of Mars
B8 Elliot Ireland, Alessandro Rizzo, Tom Greenwood - Sous Sol
C1 Naim Amor - Flutes
C2 John Gregory - Glass Corridor Into Hall Of Glass Clocks
C3 Richard Thair - Take Me Home
C4 Jim Lawless - Happy Soul
C5 Mike Vickers - The Wind From Nowhere
C6 Reginald J. Lewis - Banshee
C7 Mike Vickers - Headful Of Birds
D1 Kirk Thompson - The Seven Immortals
D2 Brian Hodgson, Reginald J. Lewis - Crystal Forms
D3 Brian Hodgson, Reginald J. Lewis - Song Of The Wilderness
D4 Mike Vickers - In The Beginning
D5 Marco Pirroni - Mystery Stomp (B)
D6 John Kongos - On The Streets
D7 John Keating - Haley’s Comet
D8 Chris Barron - Goodnight
Public Information will release Happy Machine: Standard Music Library 1970-2010 on May 5th, 2014.