How Dr Who Also Leads to New Music (4 comments)

How Dr Who Also Leads to New Music

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 06:30 PM

Do you remember, last week, when I mentioned that it was my English buddy Jon who introduced me to Doctor Who? He e-mailed me the other day to remind me that I actually asked, when he was first explaining the show: "...So, there's been all these Dr. Whos, right? Do they elect a new one, or what?"

(Fantastic. I must've sounded so, so lame.)

Also! Jon let me know that his band Burningpilot has a new album out of indie-disco synth-rock, titled "Cold Caller". The last time I was in England, Jon was in the studio working on it, so I'm excited to see it hitting iPods everywhere.

Here are some reviews of it:

"The newcomers are burning bright on the dancefloor with this Talking Heads-meets-Franz indie disco blaster" - NME Magazine

"Two songs in and you're thinking: this, with its art-rock music, Mark E Smith vocals and William Orbit synthy sounds, is the future of indie-disco" - The Independent

"First-rate synth rock" - The Big Issue

"Burningpilot favour a metallic, Eighties rush of sound, throwing out echoes of The Fall, The Stranglers and general post punk desolation and fizzing synths. The band do a sterling job of setting out their stall, showcasing all that's good about Burningpilot on these ten tracks that justify the rush for their previous sold out singles. 8/10" - Clash Magazine

If you're interested in checking out their sound, you can head over to iTunes or Play.com. (My favorite tracks are "Accelerate", "Moving Models", and "Case History".)

lynneb


Posts: 2

Registered:
Nov 2008
Re: How Dr Who Also Leads to New Music (Score: 1)
posted Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 02:10 AM (#45896)

No kidding, but Delia Derbyshire *STILL* doesn't get the recognition she deserves!

She largely created the original Dr. Who music. The tune was written by Ron Grainer, and the BBC still gives him credit for it -- but every single note of it was put together --and I mean that in the sense of utter craftsmanship-- by Derbyshire. She pioneered synthesizing techniques long before the technology to do it existed, by distorting, chopping and pitch-shifting individual pre-recorded piano notes, with wave signal and noise generators, filters and sine-wave oscillators, then cutting the tape by hand and manual adjustments of tape playback speed. The result was something decades ahead of its time and utterly extraordinary.

Look up the full article on Wikipedia, it's got some good detail.

The BBC prevented Derbyshire from being credited for her work, but I think she deserves one heck of a lot more recognition of her talent than she ever got.


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macsnafu


Posts: 79

Registered:
Jun 2008
Re: How Dr Who Also Leads to New Music (Score: 1)
posted Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 05:01 AM (#45897)

I loved that original theme music. Must've been the first "electronica" I had encountered. It was like nothing else I had ever heard, especially for television theme songs.

I also liked the regeneration idea for the Doctor. What a spiffy way of incorporating actor changes into the storyline!


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TheMagus


Posts: 3

Registered:
Nov 2008
Re: How Dr Who Also Leads to New Music (Score: 1)
posted Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 01:37 PM (#45906)

So, if you're a fan of Firefly, Star Wars, Doctor Who AND Star Trek (The Next Generation, mind), what do you do? Make fun of yourself?


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Allandaros


Posts: 4

Registered:
Jul 2008
Re: How Dr Who Also Leads to New Music (Score: 1)
posted Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 10:32 PM (#45913)
In Response to TheMagus (#45906):

No, TheMagus - you watch Babylon 5 and become a fan also. Loving all 5 gets you a set bonus.


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