Pauline Anna Strom, who expanded synth music s color palette in the 1980s, died in December at 74. The posthumous album em Angel Tears in Sunlight /em , out Feb. 19, is her first in over 30 years.
On the cover of Pauline Anna Strom s 1982 debut, a Dali-esque eye hatches from a skyborn egg, framed by a rainbow wrapped around the cosmos. The image, painted by Richard Karma Moffett, sits against a plateau of perfect white; ornate calligraphic text is superimposed at the top and bottom, powder blue like the atmosphere. Like that visual introduction, the alias under which Strom recorded, Trans-Millenia Consort, instantly conveyed the epoch-spanning otherness of the Bay Area synthesist s instrumental space music. Initially, it took the form of mellow waves and pulses, evocative soundscapes with titles like Emerald Pool. The sonics would grow sharper and more discordant, but her work never strayed from its freewheeling take on memory and consciousness, always committed to exploding th
Pauline Anna Strom s Angel Tears In Sunlight, A Synth Visionary s Swan Song : NPR
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Music From The Mind s Eye
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Music From The Mind s Eye
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Sequential Prophet-5 & Prophet-10
A conquering hero returns to the fray after long years in exile. Does the new Prophet Rev 4 still have the power to take on the world?
Great excitement here at Stewart HQ as a courier drops off an eagerly anticipated package. No reflection on the UPS delivery service, but I’ve been waiting 20 years for this: since reluctantly putting my beloved Prophet‑5 analogue synth out to pasture in 2001 I’d lived in hope of finding a suitable replacement but, despite some promising leads, it never happened. Then out of the blue last summer, an email from the makers: “We are nearly finished with something that I think might interest you. I’ll get back to you soon with details.” Fast forward four months, and Sequential’s new Prophet‑10 Rev 4 analogue synth now occupies pride of place in my music room. The stars have aligned my trusty musical accomplice is back in the fold, spruced up, fighting fit and ready to rock.