Issue 118 PDF

This month's Electronic Sound cover stars are the fabled White Noise. 

Radiophonic Workshop mainstays Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson formed White Noise with offbeat American musician David Vorhaus in 1968. We've interviewed the band's two surviving members for our cover feature, which is the story of their witchy and wonderful 'An Electric Storm' album. It's an entertaining tale, with lots of strange twists and turns. Lots of sex and drugs as well. White Noise used reel-to-reel tapes and an early VCS 3 on the album, but it doesn’t sound the least bit dated. And while it wasn't a commercial success on its release in 1969, it's become hugely influential in the decades since, inspiring sonic adventurers like Throbbing Gristle, Aphex Twin, Broadcast and more. 

Our supporting cast this issue includes one-time 4AD band The Wolfgang Press, who are making a return after a gap of 30 years, and hyperreal post-punks Cumgirl8, one of the brightest pearls of the current 4AD roster. We also speak with techno kingpin Dave Clarke,minimalist composer Rafael Anton Irisarri, and former Low frontman Alan Sparhawk. Plus masked oddballs Goat, experimental percussionist Valentina Magaletti, and Durham DJ and producer Faithful Johannes, aka “the Alan Bennett of hip hop”. As unexpected cultural analogies go, that’s right up there.