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“Raymond Scott was definitely in the forefront of developing electronic music technology, and in the forefront of using it commercially as a musician.”—Bob Moog
He was the musician behind most cartoons, and was widely featured in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The Simpsons, Animaniacs, and Ren & Stimpy all did homages to him. His music had crazy titles like Dinner Music for a pack of Hungry Cannibals, In An 18th Century Drawing Room, and Powerhouse. He was the bandleader behind Perry Como, and gave unique sounds for the early experiments of Jim Henson, which led to future success with Sesame Street. He made thousands of hours of recordings of experimental electronic music.
For this album, The Bran Flakes, The Evolution Control Committee, and Go Home Productions were each given access to the archives of the Raymond Scott estate, and each mixed 50 years of material into 6 compositions. Then all three worked on Powerhouse.
Raymond was incredibly ahead of his town, and his music still swings and grabs today. On the other hand, most of the electronic experimentation wasn't great -- Raymond recorded lots of material seeking good stuff. He never got around to filtering through it all. These three teams have done that, and introduce some great new material, mixed in with some of Raymond's more famous material.
Hillbilly Hostess in Haunted Harlem is a great one to sample, for the curious.
Highly recommended.
