Orfeón Gagarin — Orfeón Gagarin
Consisting of 13 tracks, three of which weren't on the original Orfeón Gagarin cassette release, and one of which is new to any of the album's releases, Orfeón Gagarin's debut album is a wonderful time capsule of the Spanish underground. Composed on a Korg synthesizer, sequencer, organ, and tapes, Orfeón Gagarin displays a wonderful and innovative sound that is different from the other scenes throughout the world at that time. Strange, weird, and oddly soothing, Orfeón Gagarin fits midway between full on, out there experimentalism and loosely structured electronic music. Whether through oscillating, rolling electronics, sampled processed grooves, or interstellar, ambient pieces, Orfeón Gagarin mixes varied electronic styles in a very intriguing fashion, not only in current times, but even more so in 1986. With a cover depicting a surprised man watching a UFO, one can't help but picture how alien these songs must have sounded when they first dropped twenty-three years ago. While history may have caught up with Orfeón Gagarin, there remains an untouchable originalness to the songs on his debut. Not caught up in modular weirdness and self-righteous experimentalism, Orfeón Gagarin uses novel approaches to moderately experimental song structures and creates a very accessible bridge between both worlds.
Although it's nearing the twenty-third anniversary of its release, Orfeón Gagarin still feels fresh and will have great appeal for modern audiences. Combining different techniques and a handful of different approaches, the self titled debut sounds like an alien soundtrack that helped shape music on Earth. Available on vinyl and digital for the first time, Verlag's remastered re-issue is a treat for all fans of electronic music.