Open Mic: Pioneering synthesist Jean Michel Jarre shared a vintage shot of himself today on Facebook. He added the comment “Back in the Seventies, we had a romantic, poetic vision of the future, like it was in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.”
In the 60’s, 70’s and, to a lesser degree, the 80’s, the sounds of the synthesizer were shorthand for ‘the future’.
Synth artists like Jarre, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis created electronic soundscapes, inspired by futuristic themes. Kraftwerk created a futuristic synth pop world, populated with robotic musicians.
Science fiction movies, from Forbidden Planet to Blade Runner, often had electronic soundtracks. And mainstream funk and new wave musicians adopted synths and space age ideas and visuals.
In recent years, though, the sounds of the synthesizer are just as frequently used to evoke nostalgia as futuristic visions. Bands like Boards of Canada and others are inspired by vintage electronic sounds and use synths to create music that evokes the past or alternate histories. And sci fi cinema soundtracks are largely ‘action film’ scores.
Has electronic music lost track of the future? And does the electronic music you listen to deal with futuristic themes or nostalgic ones?