117-491: Goldfrapp were an English electronic music duo from London , formed in 1999. The duo consists of Alison Goldfrapp (vocals, synthesiser ) and Will Gregory (synthesiser). Despite favourable reviews and a short-listing for the Mercury Prize , their 2000 début studio album Felt Mountain did not chart highly. Goldfrapp's second album Black Cherry , which incorporated glam rock and synth-pop sounds into their music,
234-407: A Grammy Award nomination in 2007 for Best Electronic/Dance Album and " Ooh La La " was nominated for Best Dance Recording . The song was used for the iPhone 5S's commercial in 2013. "Ooh La La", the album's lead single , became Goldfrapp's first UK top five single. The song was chosen as the lead single "because it was up and in your face and carried on the theme of the glammy, discoey beat from
351-405: A PA system , several turntables, and mixers. The performance did not go well, as creating live montages with turntables had never been done before." Later that same year, Pierre Henry collaborated with Schaeffer on Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950) the first major work of musique concrete. In Paris in 1951, in what was to become an important worldwide trend, RTF established the first studio for
468-466: A slide show synchronized with a recorded soundtrack. Composers outside of the Jikken Kōbō, such as Yasushi Akutagawa , Saburo Tominaga, and Shirō Fukai , were also experimenting with radiophonic tape music between 1952 and 1953. Musique concrète was introduced to Japan by Toshiro Mayuzumi , who was influenced by a Pierre Schaeffer concert. From 1952, he composed tape music pieces for a comedy film,
585-1038: A "democracy", playing off one another while in the recording studio. While writing, Goldfrapp uses her vocals to create melodies and drumbeats. Gregory composes on vintage keyboards. The band believe that "music is a visual experience" and often visualise their songs before writing them. Electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments , circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers ) in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroacoustic music ). Pure electronic instruments depended entirely on circuitry-based sound generation, for instance using devices such as an electronic oscillator , theremin , or synthesizer . Electromechanical instruments can have mechanical parts such as strings, hammers, and electric elements including magnetic pickups , power amplifiers and loudspeakers . Such electromechanical devices include
702-544: A 700% sales increase of their album The Seldom Seen Kid after winning the Prize in 2008. In their winner's speech, Elbow's frontman Guy Garvey said that winning the Mercury Prize was "quite literally the best thing that has ever happened to us". Similarly, sales of The xx 's winning album rose by 450% the day after they won the 2010 Mercury Prize and 2013 winner James Blake saw a 2,500% sales increase on Amazon after he
819-465: A common household item, and by the 1920s composers were using them to play short recordings in performances. The introduction of electrical recording in 1925 was followed by increased experimentation with record players. Paul Hindemith and Ernst Toch composed several pieces in 1930 by layering recordings of instruments and vocals at adjusted speeds. Influenced by these techniques, John Cage composed Imaginary Landscape No. 1 in 1939 by adjusting
936-881: A long time. Everything is great, it's all good between us, ... but neither of us has plans to make any new music together." Although Goldfrapp's musical style has changed over time, they are considered to be an electronic music act. Goldfrapp has explored a range of musical styles in their songs, although many songs are characterised by Alison Goldfrapp's distinctive breathy, soft soprano vocals and Will Gregory's multi-layered synthesiser / string arrangements. Pitchfork described Goldfrapp's voice as "a cross between Kylie Minogue and PJ Harvey , between Annie [Lennox] and Siouxsie Sioux , between Rachel Stevens and Beth Gibbons ". The band's sound has progressed from electronic in Felt Mountain , through synth-pop in Black Cherry to
1053-482: A look-in, not even on the official entry information form: 'The Prize is open to all types of music, including pop, rock, folk, hip-hop, R'n'B, dance, soul, jazz, blues, electronica, classical…'" The only metal record that has ever been nominated for the Mercury Prize is Troublegum by Therapy? in 1994. In 2011, Mercury chair of judges Frith said "[Metal] is a niche that a lot of people don't listen to." In 2011, The Guardian music critic Alexis Petridis agreed that
1170-424: A member of Arctic Monkeys and one with The Last Shadow Puppets , winning once. Thom Yorke has six nominations, five with Radiohead and one for The Eraser , but has never won. The awards ceremony was postponed for the first, and so far only, time in 2022 following the death of Queen Elizabeth II . The Mercury Prize can have a considerable effect on sales for those artists who are shortlisted. Elbow saw
1287-704: A more glam rock -influenced sound in Supernature , and to a blend of ambient , folk , and electronic sounds in Seventh Tree and a 1980s synth-pop influence in Head First . However, they have experimented with other genres of music, such as cabaret ("Cologne Cerrone Houdini", "Human", "Oompa Radar"), operatic pop ("Utopia" and "Pilots"), folktronica ("A&E"), and trip hop ("Little Bird" and " Lovely Head "). Alison Goldfrapp listened to Kate Bush , Prince , T. Rex , Donna Summer , and Iggy Pop and The Stooges as
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#17329055615841404-990: A number of musicians, ranging from Neil Rolnick , Charles Amirkhanian and Alice Shields to rock musicians Frank Zappa and The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band . Following the emergence of differences within the GRMC (Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète) Pierre Henry, Philippe Arthuys, and several of their colleagues, resigned in April 1958. Schaeffer created a new collective, called Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) and set about recruiting new members including Luc Ferrari , Beatriz Ferreyra , François-Bernard Mâche , Iannis Xenakis , Bernard Parmegiani , and Mireille Chamass-Kyrou . Later arrivals included Ivo Malec , Philippe Carson, Romuald Vandelle, Edgardo Canton and François Bayle . These were fertile years for electronic music—not just for academia, but for independent artists as synthesizer technology became more accessible. By this time,
1521-688: A public concert in New York together with other compositions I had written for conventional instruments." Otto Luening, who had attended this concert, remarked: "The equipment at his disposal consisted of an Ampex tape recorder . . . and a simple box-like device designed by the brilliant young engineer, Peter Mauzey, to create feedback, a form of mechanical reverberation. Other equipment was borrowed or purchased with personal funds." Just three months later, in August 1952, Ussachevsky traveled to Bennington, Vermont, at Luening's invitation to present his experiments. There,
1638-465: A radio broadcast, and a radio drama. However, Schaeffer's concept of sound object was not influential among Japanese composers, who were mainly interested in overcoming the restrictions of human performance. This led to several Japanese electroacoustic musicians making use of serialism and twelve-tone techniques , evident in Yoshirō Irino 's 1951 dodecaphonic piece "Concerto da Camera", in
1755-777: A score. In 1955, more experimental and electronic studios began to appear. Notable were the creation of the Studio di fonologia musicale di Radio Milano , a studio at the NHK in Tokyo founded by Toshiro Mayuzumi , and the Philips studio at Eindhoven , the Netherlands, which moved to the University of Utrecht as the Institute of Sonology in 1960. "With Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel in residence, [Cologne] became
1872-459: A shortlisted classical album since 2002. The Mercury Prize also has a reputation for being awarded to outside chances rather than the favourites. The 1994 award winner was Elegant Slumming by the pop act M People , which some felt was a controversial decision considering the shortlist included popular albums from Britpop figureheads Paul Weller , Blur and Pulp , and electronica band The Prodigy . Other music journalists critical of
1989-454: A significant influence on popular music , with the adoption of polyphonic synthesizers , electronic drums , drum machines, and turntables , through the emergence of genres such as disco , krautrock , new wave , synth-pop , hip hop , and EDM . In the early 1980s mass-produced digital synthesizers , such as the Yamaha DX7 , became popular, and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
2106-567: A strong community of composers and musicians working with new sounds and instruments was established and growing. 1960 witnessed the composition of Luening's Gargoyles for violin and tape as well as the premiere of Stockhausen's Kontakte for electronic sounds, piano, and percussion. This piece existed in two versions—one for 4-channel tape, and the other for tape with human performers. "In Kontakte , Stockhausen abandoned traditional musical form based on linear development and dramatic climax. This new approach, which he termed 'moment form', resembles
2223-466: A teenager. In the early 1990s, while working in Belgium and travelling Europe, she discovered Serge Gainsbourg , 1970s Polish disco music, and Weimar cabaret. Gregory's musical background was in classical music and he has cited Ennio Morricone as his main influence. Other media, including film, have influenced Goldfrapp; Alison Goldfrapp cites Roman Polanski 's psychological thriller Cul-de-sac and
2340-450: A year-round hive of charismatic avant-gardism." on two occasions combining electronically generated sounds with relatively conventional orchestras—in Mixtur (1964) and Hymnen, dritte Region mit Orchester (1967). Stockhausen stated that his listeners had told him his electronic music gave them an experience of "outer space", sensations of flying, or being in a "fantastic dream world". In
2457-479: Is alone, a world of mystery and essential loneliness." In Cologne, what would become the most famous electronic music studio in the world, was officially opened at the radio studios of the NWDR in 1953, though it had been in the planning stages as early as 1950 and early compositions were made and broadcast in 1951. The brainchild of Werner Meyer-Eppler , Robert Beyer, and Herbert Eimert (who became its first director),
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#17329055615842574-580: Is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the United Kingdom or Ireland . It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the British Phonographic Industry and British Association of Record Dealers in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards . Any album released by a British or Irish artist, or by a band where over 50% of
2691-468: Is most recognizable in its 4/4 form and more connected with the mainstream than preceding forms which were popular in niche markets. At the turn of the 20th century, experimentation with emerging electronics led to the first electronic musical instruments . These initial inventions were not sold, but were instead used in demonstrations and public performances. The audiences were presented with reproductions of existing music instead of new compositions for
2808-701: Is to be realized as a magnetic tape. According to Otto Luening, Cage also performed Williams Mix at Donaueschingen in 1954, using eight loudspeakers, three years after his alleged collaboration. Williams Mix was a success at the Donaueschingen Festival , where it made a "strong impression". The Music for Magnetic Tape Project was formed by members of the New York School ( John Cage , Earle Brown , Christian Wolff , David Tudor , and Morton Feldman ), and lasted three years until 1954. Cage wrote of this collaboration: "In this social darkness, therefore,
2925-752: The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in the late 1950s. Following his work with Studio d'Essai at Radiodiffusion Française (RDF), during the early 1940s, Pierre Schaeffer is credited with originating the theory and practice of musique concrète. In the late 1940s, experiments in sound-based composition using shellac record players were first conducted by Schaeffer. In 1950, the techniques of musique concrete were expanded when magnetic tape machines were used to explore sound manipulation practices such as speed variation ( pitch shift ) and tape splicing . On 5 October 1948, RDF broadcast Schaeffer's Etude aux chemins de fer . This
3042-784: The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea , the tour was pushed back to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The rescheduled tour began at Oxford 's O2 Academy on 31 March 2022 and ended at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 15 April. In September 2021, Goldfrapp were awarded the Ivor Novello inspiration award, which celebrates "peer recognition for the excellence of Goldfrapp songwriting catalogue and in particular how it has inspired
3159-498: The Ensemble of electro-musical instruments [ ru ] , which used theremins, electric harps, electric organs, the first synthesizer in the USSR "Ekvodin", and also created the first Soviet reverb machine. The style in which Meshcherin's ensemble played is known as " Space age pop ". In 1957, engineer Igor Simonov assembled a working model of a noise recorder (electroeoliphone), with
3276-458: The UK Albums Chart , and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry . In 2001, Felt Mountain was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize , an annual music prize awarded for the best British or Irish album from the previous year. The lyrics on Felt Mountain were written by Alison Goldfrapp and are abstract obsessional tales inspired by films and her childhood. The song "Oompa Radar"
3393-402: The cult film The Wicker Man as influences. They also draw inspiration from surrealism and nature, both of which are reflected in the band's album artwork, which Goldfrapp designs in collaboration with Big Active. All the band's songs are composed jointly by Goldfrapp and Gregory, although they have collaborated with Nick Batt on several tracks. They have called their writing relationship
3510-432: The telharmonium , Hammond organ , electric piano and electric guitar . The first electronic musical devices were developed at the end of the 19th century. During the 1920s and 1930s, some electronic instruments were introduced and the first compositions featuring them were written. By the 1940s, magnetic audio tape allowed musicians to tape sounds and then modify them by changing the tape speed or direction, leading to
3627-451: The "strongest" each year, rather than according to genre. However, the presence of classical, folk and jazz recordings has been cited by some as anomalous, arguing that comparisons with the other nominees can be invidious. Classical acts to have an album nominated have included John Tavener , Peter Maxwell Davies , Gavin Bryars and Nicholas Maw . None has ever won, and there has not been
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3744-528: The 'cinematic splice' techniques in early twentieth-century film." The theremin had been in use since the 1920s but it attained a degree of popular recognition through its use in science-fiction film soundtrack music in the 1950s (e.g., Bernard Herrmann 's classic score for The Day the Earth Stood Still ). Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize , formerly called the Mercury Music Prize ,
3861-445: The 1950s and algorithmic composition with computers was first demonstrated in the same decade. During the 1960s, digital computer music was pioneered, innovation in live electronics took place, and Japanese electronic musical instruments began to influence the music industry . In the early 1970s, Moog synthesizers and drum machines helped popularize synthesized electronic music. The 1970s also saw electronic music begin to have
3978-659: The Louisville Symphony and A Poem in Cycles and Bells , both for orchestra and tape. Because he had been working at Schaeffer's studio, the tape part for Varèse's work contains much more concrete sounds than electronic. "A group made up of wind instruments, percussion and piano alternate with the mutated sounds of factory noises and ship sirens and motors, coming from two loudspeakers." At the German premiere of Déserts in Hamburg, which
4095-408: The Mercury Prize underrepresented heavy metal, but argued that this actually benefitted the genre because "At least part of metal's appeal is its outsider status." [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Totals listed are for bands or artists nominated more than once under the same name. It does not include appearances on compilations (e.g. Artists for War Child ) or individuals nominated separately as
4212-467: The Philips studio in the Netherlands. The public remained interested in the new sounds being created around the world, as can be deduced by the inclusion of Varèse's Poème électronique , which was played over four hundred loudspeakers at the Philips Pavilion of the 1958 Brussels World Fair . That same year, Mauricio Kagel , an Argentine composer, composed Transición II . The work was realized at
4329-446: The Poet , a 1959 series of electronic compositions that stood out for its immersion and seamless fusion of electronic and folk music , in contrast to the more mathematical approach used by serial composers of the time such as Babbitt. El-Dabh's Leiyla and the Poet , released as part of the album Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in 1961, would be cited as a strong influence by
4446-595: The UK Albums Chart and number 45 on the US Billboard 200 . The album earned Goldfrapp a Grammy Award nomination in 2011 for Best Electronic/Dance Album and " Rocket " was nominated for Best Dance Recording. The album's first single was "Rocket", a song about an unfaithful lover. Musically, The Times and Spin have compared the song to " Jump " by American rock band Van Halen. In the US, "Rocket" peaked at number one on
4563-501: The UK. " Fly Me Away " was released as the album's fourth single, but did not perform as well as its predecessors. In 2006, Goldfrapp released We Are Glitter , a North American-only compilation of remixes from Supernature . It included a Flaming Lips remix of " Satin Chic ", the band's favourite song from the album. Goldfrapp began writing and recording their fourth album, Seventh Tree , at
4680-421: The UK. The single received positive reviews from critics: musicOMH found it to be "a beautifully paced ballad" and Digital Spy called it "lush, folky and organic". " Happiness ", the album's second single, reached number 25 in the UK. The third single, " Caravan Girl ", which describes the story of a girl that suffers from amnesia , reached number 54 in the UK. In 2008, Alison Goldfrapp took inspiration from
4797-734: The US Hot Dance Club Play chart. " Alive " was released as the album's second single. The song's music video featured Alison Goldfrapp as a 1980s inspired aerobics instructor who leads a group of black metal fans and vampires through a fitness routine. The album's third single " Believer " featured remixes by Vince Clarke and Davide Rossi . In February 2012, Goldfrapp released the compilation album The Singles . The album contained previously released material as well as two newly recorded songs. In mid-June, Goldfrapp announced their forthcoming sixth album, Tales of Us , to be released 9 September 2013. The album features ten tracks. All
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4914-589: The United States following the end of World War II. These were the basis for the first commercially produced tape recorder in 1948. In 1944, before the use of magnetic tape for compositional purposes, Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh , while still a student in Cairo , used a cumbersome wire recorder to record sounds of an ancient zaar ceremony. Using facilities at the Middle East Radio studios El-Dabh processed
5031-454: The United States, electronic music was being created as early as 1939, when John Cage published Imaginary Landscape, No. 1 , using two variable-speed turntables, frequency recordings, muted piano, and cymbal, but no electronic means of production. Cage composed five more "Imaginary Landscapes" between 1942 and 1952 (one withdrawn), mostly for percussion ensemble, though No. 4 is for twelve radios and No. 5, written in 1952, uses 42 recordings and
5148-466: The United States. It sold well, reaching platinum status in the UK and selling 52,000 copies in the U.S. as of August 2006. The first single released from the album was " Train ", which reached number 23 on the UK Singles Chart . The song's lyrics discuss obsession and overindulgence and were inspired by Goldfrapp's visit to Los Angeles while touring in support of Felt Mountain . " Strict Machine "
5265-577: The WDR studio in Cologne. Two musicians performed on the piano, one in the traditional manner, the other playing on the strings, frame, and case. Two other performers used tape to unite the presentation of live sounds with the future of prerecorded materials from later on and its past of recordings made earlier in the performance. In 1958, Columbia-Princeton developed the RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer ,
5382-509: The album "represents a very special period in my life. It is the first album Will and I recorded as Goldfrapp, launching us in a new musical direction, and the moment for me, after 13 years or so in music, that I found a creative direction that I was truly excited about. Being nominated for a Mercury Prize was incredible and unexpected, and an affirmation that were embarking on an important journey." Initially scheduled to begin on 25 March 2020 at Manchester's Albert Hall and conclude on 1 April at
5499-546: The album was eligible due to Campbell's British citizenship, while Guillemots , whose album was also shortlisted in 2006, contained band members from Brazil and Canada, although the majority were from the United Kingdom. Current eligibility criteria state that all albums must be available to buy as a digital release in the UK. In September 2013, My Bloody Valentine vocalist and guitarist Kevin Shields expressed concerns about
5616-461: The album's fourth single and reached number 28 in the UK. In 2003, Alison Goldfrapp modified her image, from a sophisticated Marlene Dietrich inspired look to that of a new wave diva . The reinvented image included false eyelashes, customised T-shirts, military uniforms and fishnet stockings. Starting in March 2003, the band toured the album, with a concert series entitled Black Cherry Tour . In 2004,
5733-733: The ancestor of the ORTF . Karlheinz Stockhausen worked briefly in Schaeffer's studio in 1952, and afterward for many years at the WDR Cologne's Studio for Electronic Music . 1954 saw the advent of what would now be considered authentic electric plus acoustic compositions—acoustic instrumentation augmented/accompanied by recordings of manipulated or electronically generated sound. Three major works were premiered that year: Varèse's Déserts , for chamber ensemble and tape sounds, and two works by Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky : Rhapsodic Variations for
5850-432: The award in an interview with The Guardian , accusing the Mercury Prize's organisers of "banning" the band's self-released album, m b v , from the shortlist nominations and addressing the nomination criteria, which he claimed branded the album "virtually illegal". It has also been noted that heavy metal has been overlooked by the prize. A 2013 article by Vice on the Mercury Prize said "Metal certainly never gets
5967-511: The awards stated that the 2005 award should not have been given to Antony and the Johnsons for their album I Am a Bird Now as, although they are British-born and therefore eligible for the Prize, the band was based in the United States. In 2006, Isobel Campbell 's collaboration with Mark Lanegan , Ballad of the Broken Seas , was included in the shortlist, despite Lanegan being American, as
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#17329055615846084-568: The band further toured Australia, Japan, Europe and North America and embarked on the Wonderful Electric Tour. Sections of the stage show featured Goldfrapp in a white dress wearing a horse tail and dancers with deer heads, and were inspired by Goldfrapp's interest in animals and mythology. Supernature , Goldfrapp's third album, was released in August 2005. The album comprises pop and electronic dance music prominently featured on Black Cherry , but focuses more on subtle hooks instead of
6201-637: The borrowed equipment in the back of Ussachevsky's car, we left Bennington for Woodstock and stayed two weeks. . . . In late September 1952, the travelling laboratory reached Ussachevsky's living room in New York, where we eventually completed the compositions." Two months later, on 28 October, Vladimir Ussachevsky and Otto Luening presented the first Tape Music concert in the United States. The concert included Luening's Fantasy in Space (1952)—"an impressionistic virtuoso piece" using manipulated recordings of flute—and Low Speed (1952), an "exotic composition that took
6318-458: The character of Pierrot and English Folk. The artwork for Seventh Tree featured her dressed as a clown because it is an "iconic image" with "so many different connotations". Goldfrapp chose to tone down her overtly sexual image because she felt that it was taking over the music. Her new image, inspired by Paganism, featured her dressed in white or natural-coloured flowing gowns with loose, curly blond hair. Goldfrapp's fifth album, Head First ,
6435-412: The composition of microtonal music allowed for by electronic instruments. He predicted the use of machines in future music, writing the influential Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music (1907). Futurists such as Francesco Balilla Pratella and Luigi Russolo began composing music with acoustic noise to evoke the sound of machinery . They predicted expansions in timbre allowed for by electronics in
6552-424: The creative talent of other creators". Since 2022, the group has remained on an indefinite hiatus, with both Goldfrapp and Gregory embarking on solo projects. Regarding the group's future, Alison Goldfrapp has stated "never say never" to a reunion and that "we've had a pretty good stint together, ... Will has always had other projects in between, going off and doing his thing, and I've always wanted to do my thing for
6669-600: The development of electroacoustic tape music in the 1940s, in Egypt and France. Musique concrète , created in Paris in 1948, was based on editing together recorded fragments of natural and industrial sounds. Music produced solely from electronic generators was first produced in Germany in 1953 by Karlheinz Stockhausen . Electronic music was also created in Japan and the United States beginning in
6786-597: The development of music technology several decades later. Following the foundation of electronics company Sony in 1946, composers Toru Takemitsu and Minao Shibata independently explored possible uses for electronic technology to produce music. Takemitsu had ideas similar to musique concrète , which he was unaware of, while Shibata foresaw the development of synthesizers and predicted a drastic change in music. Sony began producing popular magnetic tape recorders for government and public use. The avant-garde collective Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop), founded in 1950,
6903-402: The direction of electronic music. Another associate of Schaeffer, Edgard Varèse , began work on Déserts , a work for chamber orchestra and tape. The tape parts were created at Pierre Schaeffer's studio and were later revised at Columbia University . In 1950, Schaeffer gave the first public (non-broadcast) concert of musique concrète at the École Normale de Musique de Paris . "Schaeffer used
7020-416: The early 1990s, Goldfrapp served as a guest vocalist with the electronic band Orbital and trip hop artist Tricky . In 1999, she was introduced to composer Will Gregory after he listened to an early version of the song " Human ". Gregory and Goldfrapp felt a mutual connection and wrote the track " Lovely Head ". Following several months of phone calls, they decided to form a band and began performing under
7137-586: The end of 2006 in Bath, England; released in February 2008, it débuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart. The album is a departure from the pop and electronic-dance music featured on Supernature , and features ambient and downtempo music. The band were inspired by an acoustic radio session they had performed, which led the duo to incorporate acoustic guitars into their music to create "warm" and "delicate" sounds. The album's lead single, " A&E ", reached number ten in
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#17329055615847254-721: The end of the 1960s, musical groups playing light electronic music appeared in the USSR. At the state level, this music began to be used to attract foreign tourists to the country and for broadcasting to foreign countries. In the mid-1970s, composer Alexander Zatsepin designed an "orchestrolla" – a modification of the mellotron. The Baltic Soviet Republics also had their own pioneers: in Estonian SSR — Sven Grunberg , in Lithuanian SSR — Gedrus Kupriavicius, in Latvian SSR — Opus and Zodiac . The world's first computer to play music
7371-449: The event. It was sponsored by Free Now , as part of a multi-year deal that began in 2022. In 2024, the award lost their deal with Freenow, prompting the cancellation of the ceremony and live performances for that year. To date, PJ Harvey is the only artist to have won the award on more than one occasion (in 2001 and 2011). She was also the first female solo artist to receive the award. Alex Turner has received six nominations, five as
7488-438: The first complete work of computer-assisted composition using algorithmic composition. "... Hiller postulated that a computer could be taught the rules of a particular style and then called on to compose accordingly." Later developments included the work of Max Mathews at Bell Laboratories , who developed the influential MUSIC I program in 1957, one of the first computer programs to play electronic music. Vocoder technology
7605-505: The first dates announced for their Tales of Us Tour . "Drew", the first single from the album, was released on 2 September 2013 with an accompanying film directed by Gunning, the first of five films subsequently released to promote the album. Preceding the album's release, Goldfrapp performed the album in its entirety with a 24-piece orchestra and choir over two nights at the Manchester International Festival. Tales of Us
7722-494: The first one felt fresh to us, and we wanted to put more kind of "oomph" in it." The album received positive reviews from critics. The Guardian found it to be an "unexpected delight" and About.com called it a "rare electronica album of warmth and depth...the ultimate chillout pleasure". Black Cherry peaked at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and number four on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart in
7839-539: The first programmable synthesizer. Prominent composers such as Vladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, Milton Babbitt , Charles Wuorinen , Halim El-Dabh, Bülent Arel and Mario Davidovsky used the RCA Synthesizer extensively in various compositions. One of the most influential composers associated with the early years of the studio was Egypt's Halim El-Dabh who, after having developed the earliest known electronic tape music in 1944, became more famous for Leiyla and
7956-516: The flute far below its natural range." Both pieces were created at the home of Henry Cowell in Woodstock, New York. After several concerts caused a sensation in New York City, Ussachevsky and Luening were invited onto a live broadcast of NBC's Today Show to do an interview demonstration—the first televised electroacoustic performance. Luening described the event: "I improvised some [flute] sequences for
8073-477: The forthcoming seventh album, but as far as a release date she could only state it would be "sometime in 2017". in December 2016 Goldfrapp posted on their Instagram page the covers of their first six studio albums. On 23 December 2016 Goldfrapp posted an image of two topless figures holding each other's heads, with bleached blonde hair covering their faces, and a black substance slicked across their forearms, along with
8190-617: The future)." Word quickly reached New York City. Oliver Daniel telephoned and invited the pair to "produce a group of short compositions for the October concert sponsored by the American Composers Alliance and Broadcast Music, Inc., under the direction of Leopold Stokowski at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. After some hesitation, we agreed. . . . Henry Cowell placed his home and studio in Woodstock, New York, at our disposal. With
8307-491: The group exploring 1980s-influenced synth-pop. Head First also earned the duo their second Grammy Award nomination for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2010. Goldfrapp released their critically acclaimed sixth studio album, the folktronica -influenced Tales of Us , in September 2013. Goldfrapp released their seventh studio album, Silver Eye , in March 2017, which debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart . The same position
8424-418: The hashtag #goldfrapp7. The social media upload was initially assumed to be the seventh album's cover art. This turned out not to be the case. The title of the album was confirmed as Silver Eye . The first track to be played from the album, titled "Anymore", was premiered on Lauren Laverne 's BBC 6 Music show on 23 January 2017. Silver Eye was eventually released on 31 March 2017. Silver Eye: Deluxe Edition
8541-575: The help of which it was possible to extract various timbres and consonances of a noise nature. In 1958, Evgeny Murzin designed ANS synthesizer , one of the world's first polyphonic musical synthesizers. Founded by Murzin in 1966, the Moscow Experimental Electronic Music Studio became the base for a new generation of experimenters – Eduard Artemyev , Alexander Nemtin [ ru ] , Sándor Kallós , Sofia Gubaidulina , Alfred Schnittke , and Vladimir Martynov . By
8658-547: The influential manifesto The Art of Noises (1913). Developments of the vacuum tube led to electronic instruments that were smaller, amplified , and more practical for performance. In particular, the theremin , ondes Martenot and trautonium were commercially produced by the early 1930s. From the late 1920s, the increased practicality of electronic instruments influenced composers such as Joseph Schillinger and Maria Schuppel to adopt them. They were typically used within orchestras, and most composers wrote parts for
8775-467: The instruments. While some were considered novelties and produced simple tones, the Telharmonium synthesized the sound of several orchestral instruments with reasonable precision. It achieved viable public interest and made commercial progress into streaming music through telephone networks . Critics of musical conventions at the time saw promise in these developments. Ferruccio Busoni encouraged
8892-473: The large choruses that made up its predecessor. The band never intended to create dance music, however, previous releases were popular across nightclubs in North America and as a result, they decided to write a more dance-oriented album. Supernature débuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart and was certified platinum in the UK. As of February 2008, it had sold one million copies worldwide. The album received
9009-434: The last album". "Ooh La La" became the first song performed by the band to feature the electric guitar and was cited as a highlight of the album by Allmusic . " Number 1 " was released as the album's second single. Constructed around a synthesiser and bass arrangement, it was written about the importance of relationships. The album's third single " Ride a White Horse " was inspired by the disco era and reached number 15 in
9126-509: The members are British or Irish, may be submitted for consideration by their record label. There is a fee for submission. Twelve submitted albums are shortlisted for the prize, chosen based solely on their musical merit and irrespective of how popular or successful an album or act that has been submitted may have been in the previous calendar year. The shortlist is chosen by an independent panel of musicians, music presenters, music producers, music journalists, festival organisers, and other figures in
9243-502: The music industry in the UK and Ireland. The prize is open to all types of music, including pop, rock, folk, urban, grime, dance, jazz, blues, electronica and classical. Presentation of the awards usually takes place at an Awards Show in October, after the shortlist is announced at the Album of the Year Launch in September. It is often observed that bands whose albums are shortlisted, or win
9360-451: The name Goldfrapp. In August 1999, Goldfrapp signed a recording contract with London-based record label Mute Records . They recorded their debut album over six months, beginning in September 1999, in a rented bungalow in the Wiltshire countryside. The recording process was difficult, as they were disturbed by the mice and insects in the bungalow. Goldfrapp's début album Felt Mountain
9477-799: The organization of electronic sounds in Mayuzumi's "X, Y, Z for Musique Concrète", and later in Shibata's electronic music by 1956. Modelling the NWDR studio in Cologne, established an NHK electronic music studio in Tokyo in 1954, which became one of the world's leading electronic music facilities. The NHK electronic music studio was equipped with technologies such as tone-generating and audio processing equipment, recording and radiophonic equipment, ondes Martenot, Monochord and Melochord , sine-wave oscillators , tape recorders, ring modulators , band-pass filters , and four- and eight-channel mixers . Musicians associated with
9594-550: The popular Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the United States. Experiments with graphical sound were continued by Norman McLaren from the late 1930s. The first practical audio tape recorder was unveiled in 1935. Improvements to the technology were made using the AC biasing technique, which significantly improved recording fidelity. As early as 1942, test recordings were being made in stereo. Although these developments were initially confined to Germany, recorders and tapes were brought to
9711-482: The principle of the theremin . In the 1930s, Nikolai Ananyev invented "sonar", and engineer Alexander Gurov — neoviolena, I. Ilsarov — ilston., A. Rimsky-Korsakov [ ru ] and A. Ivanov — emiriton [ ru ] . Composer and inventor Arseny Avraamov was engaged in scientific work on sound synthesis and conducted a number of experiments that would later form the basis of Soviet electro-musical instruments. In 1956 Vyacheslav Mescherin created
9828-501: The prize, experience a large increase in album sales, particularly for lesser known acts. Each shortlisted artist receives a specially commissioned 'Albums of the Year' trophy at the Awards Show. Unlike some other music awards, the overall winner of the Mercury Prize also receives a cheque; in 2017, the prize money was £25,000. The winner also receives an additional winner's trophy. The prize
9945-413: The production of electronic music. Also in 1951, Schaeffer and Henry produced an opera, Orpheus , for concrete sounds and voices. By 1951 the work of Schaeffer, composer-percussionist Pierre Henry, and sound engineer Jacques Poullin had received official recognition and The Groupe de Recherches de Musique Concrète , Club d 'Essai de la Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française was established at RTF in Paris,
10062-493: The recorded material using reverberation, echo, voltage controls and re-recording. What resulted is believed to be the earliest tape music composition. The resulting work was entitled The Expression of Zaar and it was presented in 1944 at an art gallery event in Cairo. While his initial experiments in tape-based composition were not widely known outside of Egypt at the time, El-Dabh is also known for his later work in electronic music at
10179-415: The shortlist, with cartoon bassist Murdoc Niccals saying that winning the award would be "like carrying a dead albatross round your neck for eternity". All genres of music are eligible for entry, and it is stated that all are treated equally, with only the music on the album being taken into account. Simon Frith , chair of the Mercury Prize judging panel, has said that albums are chosen because they are
10296-482: The speeds of recorded tones. Composers began to experiment with newly developed sound-on-film technology. Recordings could be spliced together to create sound collages , such as those by Tristan Tzara , Kurt Schwitters , Filippo Tommaso Marinetti , Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov . Further, the technology allowed sound to be graphically created and modified . These techniques were used to compose soundtracks for several films in Germany and Russia, in addition to
10413-666: The studio included Toshiro Mayuzumi, Minao Shibata, Joji Yuasa, Toshi Ichiyanagi , and Toru Takemitsu. The studio's first electronic compositions were completed in 1955, including Mayuzumi's five-minute pieces "Studie I: Music for Sine Wave by Proportion of Prime Number", "Music for Modulated Wave by Proportion of Prime Number" and "Invention for Square Wave and Sawtooth Wave" produced using the studio's various tone-generating capabilities, and Shibata's 20-minute stereo piece "Musique Concrète for Stereophonic Broadcast". The impact of computers continued in 1956. Lejaren Hiller and Leonard Isaacson composed Illiac Suite for string quartet ,
10530-546: The studio of Bebe and Louis Barron . In the same year Columbia University purchased its first tape recorder—a professional Ampex machine—to record concerts. Vladimir Ussachevsky, who was on the music faculty of Columbia University, was placed in charge of the device, and almost immediately began experimenting with it. Herbert Russcol writes: "Soon he was intrigued with the new sonorities he could achieve by recording musical instruments and then superimposing them on one another." Ussachevsky said later: "I suddenly realized that
10647-571: The studio was soon joined by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig . In his 1949 thesis Elektronische Klangerzeugung: Elektronische Musik und Synthetische Sprache , Meyer-Eppler conceived the idea to synthesize music entirely from electronically produced signals; in this way, elektronische Musik was sharply differentiated from French musique concrète , which used sounds recorded from acoustical sources. In 1953, Stockhausen composed his Studie I , followed in 1954 by Elektronische Studie II —the first electronic piece to be published as
10764-488: The tape recorder could be treated as an instrument of sound transformation." On Thursday, 8 May 1952, Ussachevsky presented several demonstrations of tape music/effects that he created at his Composers Forum, in the McMillin Theatre at Columbia University. These included Transposition, Reverberation, Experiment, Composition , and Underwater Valse . In an interview, he stated: "I presented a few examples of my discovery in
10881-399: The tape recorder. Ussachevsky then and there put them through electronic transformations." The score for Forbidden Planet , by Louis and Bebe Barron , was entirely composed using custom-built electronic circuits and tape recorders in 1956 (but no synthesizers in the modern sense of the word). In 1929, Nikolai Obukhov invented the " sounding cross " (la croix sonore ), comparable to
10998-412: The theremin that could otherwise be performed with string instruments . Avant-garde composers criticized the predominant use of electronic instruments for conventional purposes. The instruments offered expansions in pitch resources that were exploited by advocates of microtonal music such as Charles Ives , Dimitrios Levidis , Olivier Messiaen and Edgard Varèse . Further, Percy Grainger used
11115-403: The theremin to abandon fixed tonation entirely, while Russian composers such as Gavriil Popov treated it as a source of noise in otherwise-acoustic noise music . Developments in early recording technology paralleled that of electronic instruments. The first means of recording and reproducing audio was invented in the late 19th century with the mechanical phonograph . Record players became
11232-404: The track titles, with the exception of "Stranger", are given people's names. Goldfrapp confirmed via Twitter that the sound of the album focuses on their softer sounds similar to that of their début piece Felt Mountain as well as their 2008 release Seventh Tree . Accompanying this announcement was the re-launch of the duo's website which features a trailer video directed by Lisa Gunning with
11349-400: The two collaborated on various pieces. Luening described the event: "Equipped with earphones and a flute, I began developing my first tape-recorder composition. Both of us were fluent improvisors and the medium fired our imaginations." They played some early pieces informally at a party, where "a number of composers almost solemnly congratulated us saying, 'This is it' ('it' meaning the music of
11466-461: The work of Earle Brown, Morton Feldman, and Christian Wolff continues to present a brilliant light, for the reason that at the several points of notation, performance, and audition, action is provocative." Cage completed Williams Mix in 1953 while working with the Music for Magnetic Tape Project. The group had no permanent facility, and had to rely on borrowed time in commercial sound studios, including
11583-543: Was CSIRAC , which was designed and built by Trevor Pearcey and Maston Beard. Mathematician Geoff Hill programmed the CSIRAC to play popular musical melodies from the very early 1950s. In 1951 it publicly played the Colonel Bogey March , of which no known recordings exist, only the accurate reconstruction. However, CSIRAC played standard repertoire and was not used to extend musical thinking or composition practice. CSIRAC
11700-410: Was achieved by Alison Goldfrapp's May 2023 debut solo album The Love Invention . The duo has been on indefinite hiatus since 2022. Alison Goldfrapp began her musical career performing with Dance Company Catherine Massin throughout the Netherlands during her early twenties. Afterwards, she attended Middlesex University , where she studied fine art and started creating live performance pieces. In
11817-570: Was also a major development in this early era. In 1956, Stockhausen composed Gesang der Jünglinge , the first major work of the Cologne studio, based on a text from the Book of Daniel . An important technological development of that year was the invention of the Clavivox synthesizer by Raymond Scott with subassembly by Robert Moog . In 1957, Kid Baltan ( Dick Raaymakers ) and Tom Dissevelt released their debut album, Song Of The Second Moon , recorded at
11934-478: Was announced as the winner of the 2013 Mercury Prize. 2011 winner PJ Harvey's album Let England Shake jumped from number 181 to 24 in the UK official charts the week after the 2011 Awards Show. Despite being regarded by many as highly prestigious, it has been suggested that having an album nominated for or winning the Mercury Prize could be a curse on a career in music. In 2001, the band Gorillaz requested that their eponymous debut album be withdrawn from
12051-415: Was built in 1935. however, after World War II, Japanese composers such as Minao Shibata knew of the development of electronic musical instruments. By the late 1940s, Japanese composers began experimenting with electronic music and institutional sponsorship enabled them to experiment with advanced equipment. Their infusion of Asian music into the emerging genre would eventually support Japan's popularity in
12168-419: Was conducted by Bruno Maderna , the tape controls were operated by Karlheinz Stockhausen . The title Déserts suggested to Varèse not only "all physical deserts (of sand, sea, snow, of outer space, of empty streets), but also the deserts in the mind of man; not only those stripped aspects of nature that suggest bareness, aloofness, timelessness, but also that remote inner space no telescope can reach, where man
12285-726: Was developed. In the same decade, with a greater reliance on synthesizers and the adoption of programmable drum machines, electronic popular music came to the fore. During the 1990s, with the proliferation of increasingly affordable music technology, electronic music production became an established part of popular culture. In Berlin starting in 1989, the Love Parade became the largest street party with over 1 million visitors, inspiring other such popular celebrations of electronic music. Contemporary electronic music includes many varieties and ranges from experimental art music to popular forms such as electronic dance music . Pop electronic music
12402-662: Was inspired by Roman Polanski 's film Cul-de-sac , while "Pilots" describes travellers floating in the atmosphere above the earth. To promote Felt Mountain , Goldfrapp toured the U.K., Europe and North America, supporting the alternative music bands Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Doves . The band found it difficult to perform songs from the album live because of their complex arrangements which required up to forty musicians. They eventually settled on performing with violinist Davide Rossi , drummer Rowan Oliver and keyboardist Andy Davies. Goldfrapp's second album Black Cherry
12519-527: Was never recorded, but the music played was accurately reconstructed. The oldest known recordings of computer-generated music were played by the Ferranti Mark 1 computer, a commercial version of the Baby Machine from the University of Manchester in the autumn of 1951. The music program was written by Christopher Strachey . The earliest group of electronic musical instruments in Japan, Yamaha Magna Organ
12636-516: Was nominally successful upon release, charting in the top 20 in over 15 countries. In March 2014, the Tales of Us worldwide cinema event took place, featuring the full Tales of Us film and a live performance from Air Studios in London. Further singles from the album included "Annabel" and "Stranger". In July 2015, Alison Goldfrapp announced on Twitter that the group had returned to the studio to work on music for
12753-482: Was offered access to emerging audio technology by Sony. The company hired Toru Takemitsu to demonstrate their tape recorders with compositions and performances of electronic tape music. The first electronic tape pieces by the group were "Toraware no Onna" ("Imprisoned Woman") and "Piece B", composed in 1951 by Kuniharu Akiyama. Many of the electroacoustic tape pieces they produced were used as incidental music for radio, film, and theatre. They also held concerts employing
12870-475: Was originally sponsored by Mercury Communications , a brand owned by Cable & Wireless , from which the prize gets its name. It was later sponsored by Technics (1998 to 2001), Panasonic (2002 and 2003), Nationwide Building Society (2004 to 2008) and Barclaycard (2009–14). The 2015 prize was sponsored by the BBC, while in 2016 it was announced that a three-year deal had been struck with Hyundai to sponsor
12987-478: Was released as the album's second single. The song proved successful on several formats, and reached number one on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart. In 2004, "Strict Machine" won an Ivor Novello Award for "Best Dance Single". The third single released from Black Cherry was " Twist ", a song inspired by a fantasy that Goldfrapp had about a boy who worked in a fairground. The title track was released as
13104-545: Was released in 2003. The album's dance-oriented sound was carried over to their third album, Supernature . Supernature took Goldfrapp's work further into dance music , and enjoyed international chart success. The album produced three number-one US dance singles, and was nominated for Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 49th Grammy Awards . Their fourth album Seventh Tree placed a greater emphasis on ambient and downtempo music, drawing inspiration from nature and paganism , while their fifth album, Head First , found
13221-467: Was released in April 2003. The band recorded the album in a darkened studio in Bath , England. The album focused more heavily on dance music and glam rock -inspired synths than its predecessor. Alison Goldfrapp commented that the album differed from Felt Mountain because the band "felt that we really didn't want to repeat what we had done...we kind of wanted to do something that felt equally as fresh to us as
13338-491: Was released in March 2010. Recorded over a six-month period, it was a return to the dance oriented sound on previous albums. The album took inspiration from 1980s pop music and bands such as Van Halen and The Pointer Sisters . Alison Goldfrapp described its sound as "optimistic and vibrant." The album received positive reviews from critics, with Allmusic describing it as "a love letter to the frothy, fleeting, but very vital joys of pop music." Head First peaked at number six on
13455-478: Was released in September 2000 and produced the singles " Lovely Head ", " Utopia ", " Pilots (On a Star) " and " Human ". It featured Alison Goldfrapp's vocals over cinematic soundscapes and is influenced by a variety of music styles including cabaret , folk and electronic music . The album was well received by music critics, including Pitchfork Media who described its sound as "simultaneously smarmy and seductive, yet elegant and graceful". It reached number 57 on
13572-445: Was released on 6 July 2018. This was the original Silver Eye album with an additional eight remixes, including a collaboration with Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode on the track "Ocean". In November 2019, a run of six concert dates was announced for 2020 by Alison Goldfrapp on the group's official website, in celebration of the approaching 20th anniversary of the release of the group's debut album Felt Mountain . Goldfrapp commented that
13689-416: Was the first " movement " of Cinq études de bruits , and marked the beginning of studio realizations and musique concrète (or acousmatic art). Schaeffer employed a disc cutting lathe , four turntables, a four-channel mixer, filters, an echo chamber, and a mobile recording unit. Not long after this, Pierre Henry began collaborating with Schaeffer, a partnership that would have profound and lasting effects on
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