Issue 72

We're going in search of Daphne Oram in the latest Electronic Sound. And to accompany the magazine, we are reissuing her 'Electronic Sound Patterns' EP as a limited edition pressing on turquoise vinyl.

For our cover feature, we take a road trip from the hallowed halls of the BBC's Maida Vale Studios to the leafy environs of rural Kent, where Daphne Oram lived and worked in a converted oast house for some four decades, before we head back up to London again to see her Mini-Oramics machine in action. Along the way, we dig into Oram's archives to help us tell the fascinating story of the founder of the Radiophonic Workshop and try to fill in the gaps in what we know about the first lady of British electronic music.

Elsewhere in this month's magazine, we profile the six winners of the recently announced 2020 Oram Awards and interview Ólafur Arnalds, Young Marble Giants and A Man Called Adam. Public Service Broadcasting frontman J Willgoose Esq introduces us to his new solo project, Late Night Final, and Andy McCluskey gives us the lowdown on the making of OMD's 'Enola Gay'. As it's our last issue of 2020, we also have our ever popular Review Of The Year, which weighs in at a very chunky 14 pages. How many of your favourites are in our Best Albums list? There's only one way to find out...

To accompany the issue, we're reissuing Daphne Oram's 'Electronic Sound Patterns' EP, which was one of the releases we picked out for our History Of Electronic Music In 75 Records special earlier this year. Featuring 10 minutes of experimental electronica across 14 short "bands", this seven-inch first appeared in 1962 and was essentially an aid for teachers of music and drama. “The ‘sound patterns’ are intended for children to enjoy and may lead them into movement of a dance-like character or involve them in imaginative situations,” declares the back cover. Our reissue is pressed on turquoise vinyl and comes in a replica of its original sleeve.