Customer Reviews

In Sound From Way Out

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I heard this album 20+ years ago. I was able to pick it up in vinyl. But when I found out it was re-released on CD, I had to jump at the chance to own it.

If you like earlier synthesized music such as Switched On Bach, (the original version,) then you'll love this.

Unlike a lot of the music from this era of synthesizer infancy, this CD is really cool! It's not just a bunch of funky sounds and wierd noises jammed together. Created in a painstaking manner with an early synthesizer and recorded with natural sounds, it's fantastic!

If you like any type of electronic music, then this MUST be a staple to your collection.

Enjoy it! I know I will.

All you need is this CD, a studio full of kids, a truckload of toys, and you've got all you need to do your own version of the 1960's kiddy-TV show, "Wonderama." Lord knows, this album brought back memories of being a PopTart-fueled youngster planted in front of the idiot box on a 1960-70 suburban NY living room rug, watching Sonny Fox/Bob McAllister.

I dare you not to recognize at least *one* song on this album. TV stations often used snippets as the audio portion of a "bumper" (what you see on tv between when a progam cuts to commercial and when the commercial begins).

If, however, you are not into 60's style experimental electronic music, you might find yourself saying, "Oh my God, I thought I'd *finally* forgotten that song twenty years ago! "

The rest of us however, will find ourselves wearing a wistful, nostalgic smile.

I also loved the off-the-wall, electronic magic of this album on Uncle Zeb's Cartoon Camp in Tulsa, but cannot recommend this album to buy when such a superior value exists elsewhere on this site. Click "all albums by Perrey and Kingsley" over at the left, then select "The Essential Perrey and Kingsley", which contains this entire album, plus another 14 ear-tickling tracks, for only 72 cents more. That's the album I'm ordering now.

Of Gershon Kingsley's Moog-Work, I would by far pick this collaboration with Jean-Jacques Perrey over Kingsley's "Music to Moog By" any day. While Stan Free's one man band "Hot Butter" is still my top pick of Moog music from the 60s-70s era, "The In Sound from Way Out" is one delightful & kitschy listen.

Where Stan Free did straight musical Moog covers of popular music, Kingsley & Perrey become playful with sound effects acting as musical notes; everything from cartoonish computeresque buzzings to Space-Age bleeps to a junilant baby's giggle. If you're one of the many folks these days who like to throw retro-martini parties complete with smoking jackets, shriners' caps, Hawaiian grass skirts, bowling shirts and bongos, than I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you have found the perfect soundtrack for your fiesta. Don't delay! This album is way-hep!

I'm delighted to discover this album is back in print. Alumni of SUNY Buffalo from the mid-1980s (and assorted hangers-on, such as myself) might remember many of the selections from this album, as they were frequently featured as part of "The Barnyard In Orbit" on low-power station WRUB-AM. (Of course, this was in the days of vinyl, and the album was a slightly-scratched thrift-store discovery, but the songs remain the same.)

By the way (if Amazon will allow me to point this out) another CD that's also available here, THE ESSENTIAL PERREY & KINGSLEY contains this album (THE IN SOUND FROM WAY OUT) in its' entirety, *and* an additional 14 tracks. (One of them, "The Savers," went on to become the original theme for the game show "The Joker's Wild" during its' original network run. Another, "Baroque Hoedown," you'll recognize if you've ever been to Disneyland. Many others are strange and bizarre cover versions of songs you'll recognize.) THE IN SOUND FROM WAY OUT is a sentimental favorite, but THE ESSENTIAL PERREY & KINGSLEY is a better value at more-or-less the same price.

Anyone tuned in to local afternoon TV shows in the late 1960s will surely remember a track or two from Perrey-Kingsley's THE IN SOUND FROM WAY OUT (1966). If this album has a Top 40 hit, "Electronic Can-Can" is the one. Also used as theme songs of kiddie programs where I lived (NY Tri-State area) were "Barnyard In Orbit" and "Computer In Love."

"Barnyard" has animal sound effects plus drums, bongo, organ and P-K's space-age sounds. "Can-Can" is augmented with banjo and percussion. "Spooks In Space" and "Girl From Venus" are underscored with rhythmic loops similar to those heard on Morton Subotnick's SILVER APPLES OF THE MOON (1967).

"Swan's Splashdown" is based on a Tchaikovsky theme. "Jungle Blues" features altered animal roars, trumpets, honks and squawks with rhythm guitar mixed in. The finale, "Visa To The Stars" is primarily a small combo playing against an electronic alto "voice" that warbles the melody, followed by a variation in a lower register.


PROGRAM--

SIDE ONE
[1:55] Unidentified Flying Object
[2:25] The Little Man From Mars
[3:24] Cosmic Ballad
[2:15] Swan's Splashdown
[2:49] Countdown At 6
[2:24] Barnyard In Orbit

SIDE TWO
[2:00] Spooks In Space
[2:21] Girl From Venus
[2:00] Electronic Can-Can
[2:55] Jungle Blues From Jupiter
[2:03] Computer In Space
[2:13] Visa To The Stars

TOTAL TIME: 28:44

Take my advice. If you are looking to purchase your first Jean Jacques Perrey CD, go look for the Essential Perrey and Kingsley. The reason for this is that you will get more value for your money. This is because the In Sound On the Way Out! is short in length. Most of the 12 songs do not exceed 3 minutes each.

Despite this, every the In Sound On the Way Out song is densely created. By this I mean, there is no filler. It is great (at time hilarious) listening from beginning to end. It possesses an authentic 60s sound of experimentation with no programmed drums of today.

My further advice however, is to stay away from Perrey's latest efforts with Dana Countryman. I find Countryman has kind of hijacked Perrey and added his own nerdy goofyness to Perrey's latest CDs. If you google Perrey's website it is the Countryman stuff that is being promoted. The new stuff just sounds too polished, programmed and rip-off-ish.

the In Sound On the Way Out is a great CD. With my order I also purchased Moog Indigo. This CD was not quite as good. It was also made 4 years after the In Sound On the Way Out.

I just discovered this the other day and am kicking myself for leaving it off my "1966: The Best Year In Music?" list. This album provides further evidence to support my hypothesis.

Unlike more "serious" explorations of the electronic music genre, "The In Sound From Way Out" uses standard guitars, bass guitars, drums, percussion, and other instruments to augment the blips and bloops. What you get is a great exotica-type album full of silly 60's pop genius. This is the hyperactive, electronic counterpart to Serge Gainsbourg's smoke-filled den/pervert aesthetic. You'll find yourself floating in a cinema full of colored gels and jump-cuts. It's a party that's all red lights and velvet, plus cookies and ice cream. Childish and sophisticated. Groovy, baby.

Especially recommended for fans of Stereolab, Pizzicato Five, Raymond Scott, Cornelius, the Ultra-Lounge series, Barbarella, etc. The downside: it's only about 26 minutes long.

This record is simply great. I love Electronic Music and all the E-Music fans MUST love this record. When you listen J.M.Jarre, Vangelis and other musicans you can fell a little of this album. The E-Music starts here. You MUST buy it. Ciao.

Yeah so the first time I found this in a friends attic, I was blown away. Its like pop video game classical techno Smashmouth stole a riff from here, and The beastie Boys stole the cover title and idea, but not nearly as wack-o as these dudes. All I have to say is like, wow, man...