Kraftwerk: "The Hall of Mirrors"

Believe it or not, this electronic music group from Germany shaped the sound of modern music. Artists as diverse as David Bowie and Africa Bambaataa were influenced by this innovative band. Check out one of their songs here.

Mirrors weren't common when the Bible was being penned. It's why James 1:23 and 24 shows us how people could forget what they looked like. The Bible in Basic English phrases it like this: "Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a glass; For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like."

Furthermore, we're required to examine ourselves by the yardstick of God's Word. As 2 Corinthians 13:5 (BBE) reminds us, "Make a test of yourselves, if you are in the faith; make certain of yourselves. Or are you not conscious in yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, if you are truly Christ's?"

Even partaking of the Lord's Table is a serious matter to consider. As 1 Corinthians 11:26-28 warns, "For whenever you take the bread and the cup you give witness to the Lord's death till he comes. If, then, anyone takes the bread or the cup of the Lord in the wrong spirit, he will be responsible for the body and blood of the Lord. But let no man take of the bread and the cup without testing himself."

When we don't put the Lord first in our lives, we're like the  folks in Haggai 1:5 and 6 (BBE) who neglected rebuilding the temple. "For this cause the Lord of armies has said, 'Give thought to your ways. Much has been planted, but little got in; you take food, but have not enough; you take drink, but are not full; you are clothed, but no one is warm; and he who gets payment for his work, gets it to put it into a bag full of holes."

Mirrors, like the scriptures, show us what we look like. That's why Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17 (BBE), "Every holy Writing which comes from God is of profit for teaching, for training, for guiding, for education in righteousness: So that the man of God may be complete, trained and made ready for every good work."

If Christ hasn't come to reward us by Monday, I hope to post about a stranger witnessing to somebody.

Saturday Song: Giorgio, "Sun of my Father"

I'm sure most of us can name our fathers and many of us had good relations with both parents. We also tend to be reflections of them both.

Giorgio Moroder pioneered the use of electronic instruments in the seventies. He even performed the backing music to Donna Summer's 1977 hit, "I Feel Love."In 1972, Giorgio had a minor hit called "Son of my Father." Hear his song here:

Parentage was highly important to Israelites. It's why we have genealogies in the Bible. Ever since God told Eve that one of her descendents would crush the Devil's head, both women and men hoped to be the parent of the Messiah.

Though Joseph wasn't the biological father of our Lord, he and his wife had the unique blessing of raising the son of God. Luke 1:30 and 31 (BBE) records, "And the angel said to her, 'Have no fear, Mary, for you have God's approval. And see, you will give birth to a son, and his name will be Jesus."

Jesus knew that his real father was God but he also knew whose spiritual father the Pharisees was. John 8:44 (BBE) reads, "You are the children of your father the Evil One and it is your pleasure to do his desires. From the first he was a taker of life; and he did not go in the true way because there is no true thing in him. When he says what is false, it is natural to him, for he is false and the father of what is false."

The term "fathers" also means ancestors in the scriptures. Stephen used that term in Acts 7:51 and 52 (BBE) when he blasted the Pharisees. "You whose hearts are hard and whose ears are shut to me; you are ever working against the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets was not cruelly attacked by your fathers? and they put to death those who gave them the news of the coming of the Upright One; whom you have now given up and put to death;"

Let's be like our heavenly Father in all we say, think, and do.

On Monday, unless Christ returns first, I hope to post about the father to the fatherless.

Saturday Song, University of the Air theme

What would appeal to a ten-year-old child in a broadcast for university students? The CTV Network had a show called University of the Air. Beginning each show, they played the most incredible and awesome music I ever heard.

Listen to the show's theme music here.Electronic music, created with Moog and ARP synthesizers, was a new thing back then. I instantly fell in love with this spacey music. It appealed to my nerdish nature.

Ever since the summer of 1967, I have had a passion for electronic music. It was hard to find at first. Apart from a few novelty songs, no radio station played this futuristic music.

Eventually, rock bands began using synthesizers in their songs. Some groups later went on to use these endlessly-flexible  instruments exclusively.

In the same way, I had a passion for apologetics. I gave my life to Christ in 1969 but nobody mentored me. The only teaching I found was on the radio. And since I had some bad church experiences, I didn't attend any of them.

But not all Bible teaching is correct. I became hooked on Garner Ted Armstrong's "World Tomorrow" program. What I thought was deep teaching was actually blasphemy.

Getting back to electronic music, what do you think of it? Please leave me a comment in the box below. Have a wonderful weekend too.

My next post will be about charismatic believers and their misunderstanding of what faith is. It certainly isn't some mystical power we can harnace for our own ends, that's for sure.

THE FIRE OF HER DREAMS BURNED HER OUT

Today is Lauri Paisley's birthday. What's so special about that? Lauri was an electronic music composer back in the mid eighties. Through a fan magazine, I learned of her first LP, The Fire of Dreams. Not only did I buy a copy for myself but I gave several away as gifts and one to the local university station.

Lauri and I carried on a correspondence which only lasted about two years. We wrote each other and also sent each other cassette letters. Mainly, we discussed the music industry but we also told each other about our personal activities.

As time passed, Lauri began complaining about her lack of success. Hauling her mountain of gear around to various gigs in the Elizabeth, New Jersey area sprained her back. In fact, she woke up one morning and was unable to get out of bed for a while. That really frightened her.

In addition to the problem of being her own roady, Lauri felt hard done by because of the CD revolution. She felt that everybody wanted CDs rather than the vinyl records she invested plenty of money into. CDs were touted as being scratch-proof, higher fidelity, and almost indestructible. Lauri felt stuck with boxes of LPs which weren't selling.

Finally, Lauri told all her correspondents that she was quitting music. She had an episode on stage one night where her mind went blank in the middle of a piece. Therefore, she decided to end her musical career. She, who once begged correspondents to "give her mail man a hernia," now wanted nobody to write to her.

While I understand her profound disappointment, myself having two books which barely sold any copies, I realize her reaction to constant failure was churlish. She could have continued corresponding with fans and friends without continuing to flog her LPs and cassette tapes. Instead, she chose to cut us all off and she rebuffed any attempts to continue corresponding with her.

I certainly don't plan on doing that to any of my contacts. In the past, I've continued my correspondence with electronic music friends and musicians long after I stopped composing tunes. Though I haven't sold many books, I have no intension of slamming the door in the faces of my friends like Lauri did. I'll still sell my paperbacks, though I won't have any new copies printed for now, and I still have CD-Rs of most of my albums available.

If you're curious about my music, I've made videos  for some tracks and uploaded them to YouTube. I've also uploaded many tracks to SoundCloud. Additionally, you're welcome to check out my three memoirs at the Bruce Atchison's Books page as well as at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books.

THE ROCK STAR I'D LOVE TO MEET

If you have the chance to meet only one famous rock star, who would you choose? For me it would be David Bowie. I often fantasize that we're having tea and discussing music. It might never come about but if I can meet him, I will do those things.

One thing I'd like to talk over with David is experimental and electronic music. Like him, I find the first three Kraftwerk albums highly evocative. I'm sure David and I could have a great time listening to them and discussing each piece.

David's early tunes from the sixties are among my favourites. Songs such as "When I'm Five" and "Kooks"" show his more sensitive side. "The Laughing Gnome" shows his sense of humor. Early seventies classics such as "Space Oddity" and "Saviour Machine" show his love of science fiction.

I also love the three albums he recorded in Berlin. Hero's, Low and The Lodger  are beloved by me because of their aural textures and interesting lyrics. I've heard that David wanted to use German musicians but somebody in his agency told them that he had changed his mind. Being a fan of Krautrock, I wish David had met and put music together with those pioneers of German rock music.

Cat People is another album of David's which I enjoy. It has darker sonic textures than the German trilogy but I still enjoy it. The album also reminds me of the time I bought it in 1982.

David Bowie has worked with many different performers. The most famous was John Lennon. The two men collaborated on the song "Fame" in 1975. Brian Eno, pioneer of ambient music, also worked with David. It would be most interesting to hear David's take on those experiences. I'd also like to hear how he and Giorgio Moroder collaborated. He was the legendary electronic music pioneer who backed up Donna Summers on her hit "I Feel Love" in 1977.

Music has been a passion in my life since childhood. I mention it in my first two memoirs, available on my Bruce Atchison's books page. My most recent book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books.

Look Mom, I'm on YouTube!

When I was a child, I thought it would be cool to be on TV.  In fact, I often fantasized about having my own television channel.  Though some people felt angry when I bought a black and white video camera more than two decades ago, being that I'm legally blind, I made good use of it to create videos for my electronic music compositions.  I also bought a PXL-2000 Fisher-Price camcorder and enjoyed using it.

Thanks to YouTube, anybody can have their videos viewed around the world.  I regret that I didn't sign up for it years ago.  Friends kept sending me YouTube links but I didn't know how I could also participate.

When Writers Guild of Alberta members, such as Simon Rose, used YouTube to promote their books, I gave serious thought to making my own promotional book ads.  It took me more than a year to actually sign up for the service.  I had a notion that it would be difficult to do.  The relief that it wasn't hard at all felt like coming to school for a test and finding out the teacher canceled it.  I had already signed up with Google so joining YouTube was easy.

I have many videos on YouTube at the moment but that number might grow as I search my drives and disks for more of them to upload.  Though longer ones take a lot of time to put on the site, I can always use my old DOS computer and write while the file is being uploaded.  You can see my music videos as well as "footage" of my bunnies, at the VE6XTC page.While you're at it, why not check out my Bruce Atchison's books page? Additionally, my latest book, called How I Was Razed, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books.

Look Mom, I'm on YouTube!

When I was a child, I thought it would be cool to be on TV.  In fact, I dreamt of having my own television channel.  Though some people felt angry when I bought a black and white camera more than two decades ago, being that I'm legally blind, I made good use of it to create videos for my electronic music compositions.  I also bought a PXL-2000 Fisher-Price camcorder and enjoyed using it.

Thanks to YouTube, anybody can have their videos viewed around the world.  I regret that I didn't sign up for it years ago.  Friends kept sending me YouTube links but I didn't realize that I could also participate.

When Writers Guild of Alberta members, such as Simon Rose, used YouTube to promote their books, I gave serious thought to making my own promotional book ads.  It took me more than a year to actually sign up for the service.  I had a notion that it would be difficult to do.  The relief that it wasn't hard at all felt like coming to school for a test and finding out the teacher canceled it.  I was already signed up with Google so joining YouTube was easy.

I have many videos on YouTube at the moment but that number may change as I search my drives and disks for more of them to upload.  Though longer ones take a lot of time to put on the site, I can always use my old DOS computer and write while the file is being uploaded.  You can see my music videos as well as "footage" of my bunnies, at the VE6XTC page.

While you're at it, why not check out my Bruce Atchison's books page? My latest book, called How I Was Razed, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

"WHAT DID YOU DO, TAKE MUSIC LESSONS?"

Electronic music has been my passion for decades. The sound of analogue synthesizers evokes a sense of wonder in my soul. Being so moved by that futuristic sound, I purchased two electronic keyboards and a second-hand Realistic MG-1 synthesizer. With the help of an electronic music program host's four-track cassette recorder, I composed about six hours of tunes.

During the spring of 1989, I embarked on a project I called Seventeen Sites. Each track was named after an airport in Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories of Canada. Having no CD-R burner and having a CD made being so expensive, I recorded copies onto cassette tapes.

In the past, some of my friends complained that my music was repetitive and simplistic. I decided to strive for a melodic sound rather than only for a unique effect. The results astonished my friends, especially a DJ at CJSR, the local university radio station, named Gene Kosowan.

"What did you do, take music lessons?" he asked after hearing the tape. "This music is so much better than your other stuff."

I felt amazed that he was so impressed with my latest work. But an even bigger surprise came in July When a track from Seventeen Sites called "Hay River soared to the top of the weekly music chart. "You're number one," Gene announced over the phone to me one evening. I didn't understand what he meant until he explained that my tune was at the top of the chart that week. I had copied the tune to a C-10 cassette, never suspecting it would become so popular.

Twenty-five years later, I uploaded some of these tracks to SoundCloud, along with others that I recorded over the years. My hope is to create YouTube videos for these tunes using stock photos of the various places which each track is named for.

These days, I'm busily promoting my new book called How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. People need to be on their guard when listening to persuasive preachers peddling new ideas. I didn't know about such false shepherds and became trapped in a cult for fifteen years. Read more about this wondrous testimony of God's providential leading at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm.

MY "AUTOBAHN" TO CREATIVITY

Which musical group had the most profound effect on you? For me, it was the German electronic music group Kraftwerk. Their early works inspired me to make my own electronic music.

A local radio announcer named Len Thuesen played the side-long version of "Autobahn<" in the spring of 1975. I immediately fell in love with the band's analogue synthesizer masterpiece. Sadly, the music store I visited had sold all their copies of Autobahn.

Two years later, I happened upon Kraftwerk's albums at the music store. I purchased Radio Activity as well as Ralf and Florian. A couple of months later, I purchased Trans-Europe Express and instantly fell in love with the new musical direction the band presented. I continued buying Kraftwerk albums until I had them all.

Listening to the first two Kraftwerk albums, I felt amazed by the simplicity of their sound. Since there were no drum machines in the early seventies, Ralf and Florian made their own. You can see it in action on a video clip from the BBC's Tomorrow's World TV program. I believed that if they could make their own music without tons of synthesizer keyboards, so could I.

My early experimental sounds were very crude. All I had was an old guitar, a 10-In-One Electronic Project kit, and an old chord organ. I also used radio interference from my TV and a fluorescent flashlight in some pieces.

In December of 1984, I happened upon an electronic program broadcast from CJSR, Edmonton's university radio station. This was the music I'd been yearning for. When Marcel Dion, the host, asked for home recordings of electronic and experimental music, I gathered my tunes on a cassette and hand-delivered it to the station. Marcel was particularly impressed by a tune called "That Feeling You Get When You Stand in a Forest and Feel Time".

Thanks to Marcel's encouragement, I purchased a second-hand synthesizer and a few Casio electronic keyboards. He also loaned me his four-track cassette recorder so I could create more tunes. One piece from that period was "Echoes of Childhood".

I bought my own four-track open reel deck a year later and eventually recorded fifteen albums of music.

Recently, I made videos for many of my pieces. You can hear and see them on my YouTube channel.

As for my mentors, view Kraftwerk's page at Kraftwerk.com.

I mentioned my electronic music compositions in my When a Man Loves a Rabbit debut memoir. It and my Deliverance from Jericho paperback are on the Bruce Atchison's books link.

How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity is distributed through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

AUTOBAHN: THE HIGHWAY TO ELECTRONIC MUSIC EXPLORATION.

During twenty-one years of my life, I composed and recorded my own form of electronic music. My passion for this genre began in 1975 when I became an instant fan of the German group Kraftwerk. I first heard their hit Autobahn played on CHED, Edmonton's local rock music radio station.

When I bought their first three albums, I felt inspired to create my own sonic textures. Other electronic artists intimidated me with their racks of expensive synthesizers but Kraftwerk's early music could be produced even by poor musicians such as me.

I began tinkering with various circuits and acoustic sound-making devices in my housekeeping room, during the late seventies, for my own amusement. I couldn't imagine that anybody would be interested in my style of compositions so I never mentioned my hobby to anybody.

In December of 1984, I discovered a program on CJSR radio called Departures. The host, Marcel Dion, played all sorts of fascinating compositions plus he invited "home tapers" to submit their music for broadcast. Believing that my works might have a chance of being played, I copied all of my experiments onto a cassette and hand-delivered it to Marcel in March of 1985 as he was airing his program. Those early recordings were very primitive but as time passed, I bought better gear and improved my technique.

During the summer of 1998, and in honour of my beloved house bunny, Gideon, I recorded an album called Lagomorph. The title refers to the family of animals comprising rabbits, hares, and pikas. When I visited the House Rabbit Society web page containing the word rabbit in different languages, I decided to title each of my new tunes with those names. It took me a few months to finish recording and manufacturing the album at my home, partly due to my freelance writing work, but also because of other interruptions.

Though my music never sold well, I had fun creating it. I now write books and articles but I still have a large number of my electronic music CD-Rs collecting dust in my basement. Please contact me directly if you're interested in this style of music.

I also wrote about how I combined my love of house rabbits and electronic music in my How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity memoir. Please check out the links on the left hand side of this page for details.

ADVENTURES IN ELECTRONIC MUSIC.

I've blogged in the past about my love of electronic music, a genre not well known to most people. In fact, the work of one pioneering band of musicians from Germany inspired me to compose my own pieces. Though I'm far from being an accomplished musician, I did create some fascinating sonic landscapes. Some of my compositions were aired on radio stations in cities such as Moscow, Warsaw, Paris, and Helsinki.

In When a Man Loves a Rabbit (Learning and Living With Bunnies), I briefly mentioned my passion for this synthesizer-oriented music. Here's an excerpt that explains how I combined my twin loves of electronic music and bunnies.

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Over the past fifteen years, I had composed and recorded my own form of experimental music. My passion for that genre began in 1975 when I became an instant fan of Kraftwerk, a German electronic music group. I heard their hit, Autobahn, played on 630 CHED, Edmonton's rock music radio station, and I bought their first three albums.

Listening to them, I felt inspired to create my own sonic textures. Other electronic artists intimidated me with their racks of expensive synthesizers, but Kraftwerk's earlier music could be produced even by poor musicians.

During the late seventies, I had tinkered with various circuits and acoustic sound-making devices in my home. It was for my own amusement and I never mentioned it to my friends
because I never dreamed that anybody would be interested in my sort of compositions.

In December 1984, I discovered a program on CJSR radio called Departures. The host Marcel Dion played all sorts of fascinating compositions and he invited "home tapers" to submit their music for broadcast.

In March, 1985, believing that my work might have a chance of being played, I copied all of my experiments onto a cassette and hand-delivered it to Marcel while he was doing his program.

Those early recordings were very primitive, but as time passed, I bought better gear and improved my technique. During the summer of 1998, and in honour of my beloved Gideon, I recorded an album called Lagomorph.

The title refers to the family of animals comprising of rabbits, hares and pikas. When I visited a web page containing the word rabbit in different languages, I decided to title each of my new tunes with those names. It took me a few months to record and manufacture the album at home, partly due to my freelance writing work and also because of other interruptions.

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When a Man Loves a Rabbit is filled with many more fascinating stories of life with house bunnies. These vignettes range from the tragic to the hilarious. Read more about this memoir here. You're also welcome to contact me directly for more information.

THE SOUND THAT CHANGED MY MUSICAL TASTE

What was the sound that hooked you and changed your musical preferences? Was it Chuck Berry's guitar? Was it The Beatles' energetic pop songs? For me, it was an electronic device invented by Doctor Robert Moog. Having been somewhat of a maverick, unusual sounds often captured my attention. Imagine my delight therefore when I discovered music made from purely electronic sources.

In Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), I wrote about the time when, in the summer of 1967, I heard a tune that turned me onto a whole genre of music.

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My family stayed home that summer. Even so, I kept busy with my own activities. One television station aired a show called University Of The Air. The content of the program soared far beyond my understanding but its theme music entranced me. It consisted of a simple melody played on a Moog synthesizer. I had never heard such intriguing music before. Each weekday morning, I tuned in the program so I could hear the music at the beginning and end of it.

This began my life-long love affair with electronic music. In those early days, albums featuring synthesizers were hard to find. Recordings of this genre were usually used in commercials or as program theme music. Whenever I heard that futuristic sound, I drank it in as a desert plant takes in the rain.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this compelling story. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.