triptych 9 - Going Moog

Some 40 years after Robert Moog (pronounced like "rogue") invented the synthesizer, its bleeps and blips still signify the shock of the new.  From Parliament to Panda Bear, slippery synth lines continue to worm their way into our collective consciousness, a modern-day call and response.  Now anyone can play, thanks to the Filtatron iPhone app from Moog.  Filtatron Moog app

Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy - Brian Eno

Brian Eno has dabbled in so many genres -- glam rock, ambient, juju -- that its easy to overlook his pioneering synth pop as exemplified on the brilliant 1974 release, Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.  A free-ranging precursor to punk, metal and electronica, Tiger Mountain won critical acclaim but received little notice at the record store counter.  "China My China" is a Dada-esque pastiche of sights and sounds from Mao's Communist theocracy.  China My China (mp3) -- Brian Eno

Gary Numan and the Tubeway Army

Fellow Brit Gary Numan marshalled a synth-heavy orchestra of guitar, bass and drums with the Tubeway Army.  Dark, gothic and utterly devoid of emotion, Numan seemed to completely submerge his personality into a machine-ruled world where humans are irrelevant.  The accidentally funky "Cars" endures today as a masterwork of Polymoog pop.  "Are 'Friends' Electric?" recombines Philip K. Dick imagery with spoken word and flanged guitar, in what became the first post-punk synth chart-topper in the U.K. (1979).  Are 'Friends' Electric? (mp3) - Gary Numan and the Tubeway Army

Cute Machines

Out of the gumbo of Loyola University's music school comes the Big Easy's newest breakout artist, Cute Machines.  "Addiction," from their promising debut EP Drink Up, careers along a woozy synth bed into the fractured New Orleans night.  Definitely a group to keep an eye on.  Addiction (mp3) - Cute Machines