In Music News today, everybody’s favorite acid punks, Protovulcan, report they will return this year with the duelling LPs Psychic Pinball and Life Is Twigs. While we first got a taste of Psychic Pinball last May with the track “Waking Up Dinosaurs,” featuring Grammy-award-winning synth-pioneer Malcolm Cecil of TONTO’s Expanding Head Band, release dates are yet to be announced for the upcoming albums. However, in anticipation of the LPs, the Chicago band recently dropped remixes by Odd Nosdam and Oscillator Bug for the Psychic Pinball tracks “Purple Sky” and “Celestial Slingshot,” respectively.
Discussing the remixes with Protovulcan’s Will MacLean, the synth player points to Odd Nosdam’s 2007 LP Level Live Wires and his more recent Flippies series, as well as Oscillator Bug’s 2014 album Bursts of the Million as inspirations for contacting the artists. Referencing Nosdam’s reappropriation of vintage vinyl thru effects processing like Space Echo and Distressor, MacLean explains, “He mutates the music, but with love and respect for the essence of the original;” before offering, “I think he approached our track in a similar way.” For his part, the Anticon label founder adds: “Because you handed over all the individual stems and because I dig your original arrangement, I figured instead of creating something different, I’d just straight mix the tune as is. It’s pretty fuckin’ massive”.
Similarly, MacLean’s admiration for Oscillator Bug’s Bursts of the Million, a record he calls an “amazing album” of “driving, catchy analog synth pop,” led him to contact the fellow Chicago musician. Sharing a love for analog synth gear, MacLean wondered whether the remix had been accomplished with the ARP Odyssey. Talking about the track with him, Oscillator Bug’s Zaid Maxwell explained: “I wrote it on the ARP but the (Moog) Rogue seemed to make it to tape in a way that I favored.”
Below, you can listen to remixes of “Purple Sky” and “Celestial Slingshot.” In addition, Protovulcan’s video for the Psychic Pinball track “Game Over Now,” directed by the artist/educator Phil Hastings, was featured as one of Live Eye Tv’s 35 Favorite Videos of 2018–so don’t miss it!
