into futuristic realms

elsewhere classic

107-34-8933 – Numbers

(by Nicolas Pascal Raicevic)

(Narco Records 1968/69)

For this review we are going back further than fifty years, although the original first private issue of Nicolas Pascal Raicevic’s first album doesn’t bear a date, it’s thought to have been released as early as 1968, two years before it was reissued by Buddah Records under the different artist name Head in 1970. Given that this was first pressed in a very small edition in the US, it’s hard to say if the pioneers of the early 70s German experimental electronic music scene (like Konrad Schnitzler) had heard these first recordings by Raicevic that preceded similar German releases by several years.

It’s clear that Numbers is one of the very first US transmissions of psycho-electronic tripped out drone and processed, crystalline bleep strangeness, all Moog synthesizer purity, inspired by the new possibilities of this machine. The album features three tracks that are considerably more minimal but no less confident than Raicevic’s four other albums that followed, released under his own name or the shorter form: Nic Pascal. The music was complemented by science fiction style illustrations for the artwork and the Numbers tracks were all titled with names of drugs that were widely used in the sixties: Cannabis Sativa, Methedrine and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (I am not certain if the chemical names for similar substances used for the titles of the Time Machines album by Coil thirty years later were directly inspired by Numbers, although it would be an uncanny coincidence if not, given the similar musical nature of the albums). The surprisingly clear vision and realization of Numbers, with one single long track on the A side, that then reappears in a shorter, faster version as the final third track, makes the album a surprisingly satisfying and unique listening experience, even today after we’ve heard so many different attempts at creating the perfect synthesizer trip opus. An excellent album with a pleasant nostalgic flair when listened to today, owed to the strong focus on modern, future and science-fiction themes, which feel maybe slightly naive in hindsight but no less charming as Raicevic presents a rather bright and hopeful vision. Drugs on the other hand have lost none of their appeal, so in that aspect the album remains current even more than five decades later and I get the impression that Raicevic harboured a hope that we would still be high on Lucy in the sky with diamonds even today.

Nic Pascal – Zero Gravity (Wah Wah Records reissue, 2018)

After further experiments with the Moog and additional, different ideas, adding some drums and Organ on his next albums, Raicevic returned to the awesomeness of Numbers with his last album Zero Gravity featuring the nearly 23 minute long track of the same name on the A side. Released in 1975 his trip into the realms of the electronic future had come full circle and even incorporated some proto industrial ideas, interestingly Raicevic was already working as percussionist for The Rolling Stones at that time. His five solo albums nearly disappeared from the face of the earth, never to be reissued until Wah Wah Records from Barcelona took it upon them to reissue the Narco Records catalogue in 2018. With a little searching you can still find new copies of these, the label also has a bandcamp page but the music is only available on physical LP and CD formats. The sound quality of these reissues is really excellent and the replica „Do not listen to this album if you are stoned“ hype stickers are a nice touch. It’s very good to know that this exceptional work is being preserved, on Zero Gravity’s track Sounds From The Blue Planet a voice asks if there’s any intelligent life on this planet, maybe there is.

(Jenus)