Manhattan Research

Raymond Scott - Manhattan Research, Inc.

Original post on June 26, 2006 by muse1453:

Perhaps some things in this blog and certainly everything in my other blog would not be possible without the subject of this post, Mr. Raymond Scott. His experiments turned out to be the blueprint of modern electronic music and Raymond even invented a few devices such as the clavivox, electronium, bass line generator, rhythm modulator, and some others. This release ended up making many best of year 2000 lists and drew many raves from professional musicians and probably from other human beings too. Here's what a few people had to say:

''I think MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is one of my favorite releases ever! And that's saying something, as I'm a complete music junkie.'' -Richard D. James, APHEX TWIN [musical genius]

''Raymond Scott was a true genius, deserving to be classified among the great pioneers of electronic music. He recorded with his own instruments, and did his own composing. I am amazed by the versatility of his talent, creativity, originality, and imagination. MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is a work of art. BRAVO!'' -Jean Jacques Perrey

''Whaaaaat?? This is from the fifties and sixties? I'm trying to achieve something like this now! Raymond Scott belongs to the phalanx of unique people like Les Paul, Oscar Sala, and Leon Theremin, to whom we owe so much in developing our own musical identity today. MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is one of the best CD presentations I have ever had my hands on.'' -Holger Czukay, CAN

''I rate Raymond Scott as one of the greatest music technology innovators the 20th century. Many musicians on the charts today are using his ideas fairly directly. His vision was so wide, that today it is impossible to turn on a piece of equipment in your studio without automatically issuing a benediction to the spirit of Raymond Scott.'' -Matt Black, COLDCUT

''Raymond Scott's MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC., recorded in the 1950s and 60s, sounds like nothing so much as the future.''-Peter Buck, R.E.M.

''Fabulous! MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is one of the most amazing CD packages I've ever seen. I've been listening constantly, and I've read the whole book several times. It's SO inspiring. Scott's electronic instruments have an incredibly organic sound to them.'' -Eric Harris, OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL

Now for the details. "This is a 69 track edition of over two hours of Raymond Scott's unreleased electronic recordings from the 1950s and 60s. The collection comes packaged as cd's and extensive book bound in hardback. The text features interviews with those who knew and worked with Scott (e.g., synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog, wife Mitzi Scott, electronic music authority Tom Rhea), along with countless previously unseen photos, lab notes, US patents, and scrapbook items. In 1946, Scott formed Manhattan Research Inc. (MRI), billed as Designers and Manufacturers of Electronic Music and Musique Concrète Devices and Systems. His colleague Robert Moog said, Scott was definitely in the forefront of developing electronic music technology and in the forefront of using it commercially as a musician. Soothing Sounds For Baby was just a warm-up. With MRI, prepare yourself for something beyond the pleasant parameters of pop. Scott's electronic experiments took him to uncharted netherworlds. The results are intriguing, compelling, and often far ahead of their time and ours. The personnel on MRI consists of such Scott inventions as the Clavivox, a keyboard theremin that was later modified to produce an array of sounds similar to a synthesizer; the Electronium, an instantaneous composition-performance console (conceived in the '50s, developed in the '60s, used at Motown in the '70s); polyphonic sequencers, including his Circle Machine ; the Rhythm Modulator; and the Bass Line Generator; along with existing sound devices (e.g., the Ondioline and tone generators). The recordings range from detergent jingles to decidedly non-commercial -- uncommercial, even -- experimental adventures in sound sculpture. Aside from several samples of Scott re-tooling old titles (e.g., 1937's The Toy Trumpet and Twilight in Turkey), the remainder is new material. Also included, for the first time in commercial release, are several mid-1960s film soundtrack collaborations between Scott and Jim Henson. Having been rated by everybody from Coldcut to Radiohead as one of the most important works of electronic music ever released, Manhattan Research Inc was listed in pretty much everybody’s top 10 listings for the year 2000 when it originally came out on CD. Absolutely stunning." 

[maybe reposted sometime soon]

Tracklisting:

CD1

1. Manhattan Research, Inc. Copyright {0:11}

2. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. {1:14}

3. Bendix: The Tomorrow People {1:06}

4. Lightworks {1:52}

5. The Bass-Line Generator {3:10}

6. Don't Beat Your Wife Every Night {1:44}

7. B.C. 1675 {3:16}

8. Vim {0:59}

9. Auto-Lite: Sta-Ful [instrumental] {0:47}

10. Sprite Melonball Bounce [instrumental] {1:01}

11. Sprite Melonball Bounce {1:01}

12. Wheels That Go {0:53}

13. Limbo: The Organized Mind {4:33}

14. Portofino #1 {2:13}

15. County Fair {1:01}

16. Lady Gaylord {1:02}

17. Good Air {0:38}

18. IBM MT/ST: The Paperwork Explosion {4:31}

19. Domino {0:33}

20. Super Cheer {0:34}

21. Cheer: Revision 3 {0:39}

22. Twilight In Turkey {1:34}

23. Vicks: Medicated Cough Drops {1:36}

24. Vicks: Formula 44 {0:46}

25. Auto-Lite: Spark Plugs {1:00}

26. Nescafe {1:06}

27. Awake {0:35}

28. Backwards Overload {6:06}

29. Bufferin: Memories (original) {1:01}

30. Bandito the Bongo Artist {1:30}

31. Night and Day {1:45}

32. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. (395) {1:07}

33. K2r {0:19}

34. IBM Probe {1:56}

35. GMGM 1A {1:49}

36. The Rhythm Modulator {3:37}

CD2

1. Ohio Plus {0:17}

2. In the Hall of the Mountain Queen {0:49}

3. General Motors: Futurama {1:04}

4. Portofino #2 {2:14}

5. The Wild Piece (a.k.a. String Piece) {4:07}

6. Take Me to Your Violin Teacher {1:40}

7. Ripples [original soundtrack] {0:59}

8. Cyclic Bit {1:04}

9. Ripples [montage] {4:06}

10. The Wing Thing {1:00}

11. County Fair [instrumental] {1:00}

12. Cindy Electronium {1:59}

13. Don't Beat Your Wife Every Night [instrumental] {1:45}

14. Hostess: Twinkies {0:32}

15. Hostess: Twinkies [instrumental] {0:32}

16. Ohio Bell: Thermo Fax {0:24}

17. The Pygmy Taxi Corporation {7:11}

18. Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (Announce Copy, Take 1) {0:29}

19. Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. {0:44}

20. Lightworks [slow] {1:40}

21. IBM MT/ST: The Paperwork Explosion {3:39}

22. Auto-Lite: Ford Family {1:03}

23. Auto-Lite: Ford Family [instrumental] {0:54}

24. Auto Lite: Wheels {1:50}

25. Bufferin: Memories (demo) {0:44}

26. Space Mystery [montage] {5:11}

27. The Toy Trumpet {2:15}

28. Backwards Beeps {1:05}

29. Auto-Lite: Sta-Ful {1:36}

30. Lightworks [instrumental] {1:29}

31. When Will It End? {3:14}

32. Bendix 2: The Tomorrow People {1:03}

33. Electronic Audio Logos, Inc. {5:23}