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CD



BBC Radiophonic Music BBC Radiophonic Music [REISSUED AGAIN]



BBC Radiophonic Music, affectionately known as 'The Pink Record', was originally a BBC internal library disc, and then a commercial LP release in 1971 (BBC Records, REC25M). What this release best demonstrates (in no less than 9 tracks of the 31 on offer) is Delia's versatility and mastery of her medium. Pot au Feu is a pounding, fantastically rhythmic track - it's unsettling enough to have a speedfreak running for the breadknives in the kitchen. Ziw-zih Ziw-zih oo-oo-oo drags you along in the unrelenting tow of the lascivious tapeloop swiped from her own Science and Nature. Sitting between these two storms lies the fragility of Blue Veils and Golden Sands and The Delian Mode. Elsewhere, Delia will charm your socks off with Door to Door (which reduced her to fits of giggles when played during a BBC Radio Scotland interview) and show a far defter touch than Wendy Carlos with classical material (Air... which she dismissed as "rubbish", though it has a fair number of admirers). Other Delia tracks are Mattachin, Towards Tomorrow and Quiz Time.



The CD release features two bonus Delia tracks (Happy Birthday and Time to Go), plus a twelve page colour booklet by Mark Ayres, who also remastered the material for reissue.



Mark Deal



UK (CD): ORDER @ amazon.co.uk







Doctor Who 2 Doctor Who Volume 2: New Beginnings



The second of the recent Doctor Who compilations features two of Delia Derbyshire's most unworldly and beautiful tracks: Blue Veils and Golden Sands and The Delian Mode. Few could disagree with Delia's own remark on recently hearing Blue Veils: "Doesn't it just melt you!" Neither track was intended for use in Doctor Who - recorded in 1967, they were taken off an internal library record for use in the series in 1970.

Also featured on the CD are overdubbed and edited versions of her Doctor Who theme, including the version released as a single in 1973 (the first time Delia would be credited by name for her production of what remains one of the most famous TV themes of all time). Familiarity with the theme may cause us to underestimate just how different and unconventional Delia's work was then, but subsequent versions never hard quite the same magic as the original. Delia attributed this to the handmade nature of the 1963 version.



Mark Deal



UK: ORDER @ amazon.co.uk





An Electric Storm The White Noise: An Electric Storm



White Noise, the brainchild of Delia Derbyshire and David Vorhaus, was one of the first all-electronic groups ever, and contempories of the equally legendary Silver Apples. Their first and only true LP was one of the emerging Island Records early album releases and, along with Traffic, one of their first alternative signings (a distinct change from their blue beat fair). Whatever Island honcho Chris Blackwell saw in the demos of the sublime Firebird and symphonically psychedelic Love Without Sound (both used on the record) we shall never know, but he stumped up the cash for the pair to go back to their Kaleidophon Studio, situated opposite London psychedelic centre The RoundHouse.

Derbyshire had set the ante for purely electronic pop with her seminal recording of the original Doctor Who theme. But White Noise, and their strange blend of the Medieval and Futuristic music was to become one of Island's early best sellers and a student favourite for decades.



Peter Kember



This CD has now been remastered and comes with sleeve notes



UK: ORDER @ amazon.co.uk





Doctor Who 1 Doctor Who Volume 1: The Early Years



This CD features the original (and never bettered) Doctor Who theme, realised over two weeks using valve oscillators, tape loops and filters. Despite the labour-intensive production methods, the track sounds exceptionally organic. Also featured on the CD are three edited/overdubbed versions of the original used at various times during the 1960s. Finally, there's Chromophone Band, written by Dudley Simpson and realised by Delia. It isn't a classic Delia moment by any means ... it sounds rather end-of-pier ... although a distincitve DD rhythm track redeems it somewhat.



UK: ORDER @ amazon.co.uk





DVD



The Legend of Hell House The Legend of Hell House



Brian Hodgson and Delia Derbyshire recorded the music for this 1973 horror movie at Electrophon in London. Starring Pamela Franklin and Roddy McDowell, this film is, in some circles, regarded as a classic of the 'team of paranormal investigators get involved in strange affairs in a haunted house' genre.



A film review site this is not, so we'll not make a recommendation either way... we just promise you'll like the music, which is unavailable on record or CD.



UK (REG2 DVD): ORDER @ amazon.co.uk







