Influences: Si Begg

My first exposure to electronic music was probably all the BBC Radiophonic work for Dr Who in the late seventies. Still love the aesthetic, very raw, very scary.

One of the first gigs I ever went to was Gary Numan on the Warriors tour at the Coventry Apollo. His nihilistic vision and electronic sound were such a great combination. Made a lot of the synth pop of that era sound lightweight in comparison. Just check out the power of this. Brutal.

So when I was a bit of rock head in my youth I discovered all this incredibly unfashionable electronic music in second hand record shops. I just used to go through racks looking at the equipment lists, and if there was a large amount of synths mentioned, I’d buy it. This was one of my favourites.

This track still blows my mind. I use to listen to it on my Uncles really nice Senhiser headphones when we went to visit. The abstract section half way through is just so intense, but also so tight. This wasn’t just guys going nuts in the studio trying to make weird noises, this was carefully constructed abstract electronic music.

Zappa has been one of my most enduring loves since a part time art teacher lent me a cassette of Joes Garage back in the early eighties. He does everything I love in music and often did it first. Always makes me mad when people bang on about Sgt Pepper etc. Listen to what Frank and the Mothers of Invention were doing then on “Absolutely Free” blows it out of the water.

Before the acid house explosion electro was where it was at for me. The Street Sounds Electro series were a total revelation. This was probably my favourite track alongside Detroit’s Cybotron with Clear (featuring a young Juan Atkins).

These were one of the first bands I listened to that made me think “i could do this”. On their early albums it wasn’t all high end synths and samplers but amazing tape work, cheap synths and a lot of imagination. Their career in music and media is unique. Helter Stupid remains one of the best pieces of 20th century art of any type for my money.

First piece of techno that really hit me hard. Back in 88 I played this whole album (New Build) to death. Still stands out as a very forward thinking piece of work. More than just acid house tracks.

An incredible cut of Detroit Techno that I first heard on a Derrick May mixtape from a set he did at an Amnesia rave in Coventry. He did a lovely mix into it from the track by Liaisons Dangereuses that is sampled in the tune. I spent ages trying to track this down. Carl Craig at his most sublime.

In terms of scores, the Reznor / Ross combo seems to just work every time. They combine serious electronic music with great emotional depth. For me they are a benchmark for modern film scores. Check out their latest score for Patriot’s Day too.