Carlos, Wendy (Walter) – “Switched-on Bach II” – [CBS Records /Columbia]

“SOB-II” is a 1974 sequel to “SOB”, the 1968 release of historic significance in the annals of electronic music. According to Wendy Carlos’s website, using the Electone E-5 organ allowed her to add polyphony lacking in the Moog synthesizer at the time. I would guess that in 1974 there was still a lot of tweaking required to produce this quality of sound.

Some of the tracks (for example, the 2-part inventions) sound rather wooden and a bit lacking in articulation and dynamics – perhaps that was just Carlos’ choice of interpretation. Other tracks are quite lovely – the Brandenburg #5 is remarkable in its distinctive sounds for different instruments and a rich sound for synthesizing an orchestral work.

Interesting liner notes from Robert Moog primarily pertain to the first SOB release. KFJC’s copy is the vinyl release from the 1970′s, not the CD with cleaned up audio released in 2002.