CD-Charts Position 1
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Switched-On Bach

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date September 20, 2004
Like Bach? Like Electronica?
If you do, you need to buy this platinum selling album.

An album of straight classical keyboard virtuosity in experimental timbres.
Before this album, nobody had ever heard of a "synthesizer".
After this album, everybody knew the name Moog.(Rhymes with Vogue!)

Wendy Carlos? Genius! Pure genius.

There aren't that many genuinely seminal albums - but this is one of the very most original and best.

CD-Charts Position 2
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Clockwork Orange (Carlos) (Bonus Tracks)

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date February 14, 2000
The album was first released by CBS in 1972, shortly after Warner's official soundtrack album. The electronic-only offering contained two tracks not featured on the soundtrack and the only complete version of "Timesteps". The sound quality was also superior, particularly at the low-end of the audio spectrum.

In 1998 Carlos remastered her electronic score for CD. New to this release are two bonus tracks - charming but slight- that could not be included on the original vinyl release due to space contraints. It all sounds excellent and the CD booklet contains the original liner notes and cover art as well as the story of the remastering and the bonus tracks.

If you cherished the CBS vinyl album, then this CD is an essential ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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The Well-Tempered Synthesizer

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date April 24, 2007
Despite taking its title from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, this album explores a wider range of music than its predecessor, the justly famous Switched On Bach. Here, music by Monteverdi, Handel and Scarlatti sits alongside the Bach piece.

I'd advise anyone wondering whether to buy this album or Switched On Bach to buy this one first. Carlos' technique has advanced since the earlier album, and the result is possibly her most brilliant of the early Moog albums. The sound-colours are simply beautiful, the blending of textures by various means (outlined helpfully on Carlos' `secrets of Synthesis' CD) and the sheer overall musicality of the album make this one of the finest synthesizer albums ever recorded.

Wendy Carlos has been a pioneer of new ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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Switched On [BOX SET]

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date November 01, 1999
Have been a fan since the early days with my scratchy vinyl and audio cassettes Switched on recordings - which have long worn out. This reprocessed version is excellent and also enjoyed the explanitary sections Wendy puts in. Remembering the early days of the monophonic Moogs through to the extraordinarily 'easy' time for today's artistes makes you really appreciate the effort the musicians, engineers, producers put in to provide us with such superb entertainment. The arrival and development of any new instrument can provide a tremendous spiritual uplift and insight into the beauty of music. (Tchaikovsky's Sugar Plum Fairy hints at this). But Wendy's treatment of that great master Bach's work, brightens up the dullest of days and brings joy to the soul.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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Switched-On Bach 2000

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date
Have been a fan since the early days with my scratchy vinyl and audio cassettes Switched on recordings - which have long worn out. This reprocessed version is excellent and also enjoyed the explanitary sections Wendy puts in. Remembering the early days of the monophonic Moogs through to the extraordinarily 'easy' time for today's artistes makes you really appreciate the effort the musicians, engineers, producers put in to provide us with such superb entertainment. The arrival and development of any new instrument can provide a tremendous spiritual uplift and insight into the beauty of music. (Tchaikovsky's Sugar Plum Fairy hints at this). But Wendy's treatment of that great master Bach's work, brightens up the dullest of days and brings joy to the soul.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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Sonic Seasonings

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date March 14, 2003
When I first heard this album in 1972 I was amazed. The reason I'd never heard anything like it was that back then there really was nothing else like it. Since then we've had Eno's ambient electronic music and a host of other, similar things which resemble some aspects of Sonic Seasonings, but in 1972 this was totally groundbreaking.

Back then most of didn't even know what a synthesizer was. I certainly didn't. Now I can find my way around the Moog modular Wendy Carlos used on this album, but the music sounds as fresh as it did originally. Time has only made it more and more clear how skilled Wendy was on her early Moog albums.

Sonic Seasonings was originally a double album on vinyl, with one side each devoted to one of the four seasons. The Moog synthesizer ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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Tales of Heaven and Hell

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date March 14, 2003
When I first heard this album in 1972 I was amazed. The reason I'd never heard anything like it was that back then there really was nothing else like it. Since then we've had Eno's ambient electronic music and a host of other, similar things which resemble some aspects of Sonic Seasonings, but in 1972 this was totally groundbreaking.

Back then most of didn't even know what a synthesizer was. I certainly didn't. Now I can find my way around the Moog modular Wendy Carlos used on this album, but the music sounds as fresh as it did originally. Time has only made it more and more clear how skilled Wendy was on her early Moog albums.

Sonic Seasonings was originally a double album on vinyl, with one side each devoted to one of the four seasons. The Moog synthesizer ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

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Clockwork Orange

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date May 29, 2006
The album was first released by CBS in 1972, shortly after Warner's official soundtrack album. The electronic-only offering contained two tracks not featured on the soundtrack and the only complete version of "Timesteps". The sound quality was also superior, particularly at the low-end of the audio spectrum.

In 1998 Carlos remastered her electronic score for CD. New to this release are two bonus tracks - charming but slight- that could not be included on the original vinyl release due to space contraints. It all sounds excellent and the CD booklet contains the original liner notes and cover art as well as the story of the remastering and the bonus tracks.

If you cherished the CBS vinyl album, then this CD is an essential purchase.

For those unfamiliar with the soundtrack ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

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Switched On Bach II

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date January 01, 2007
The album was first released by CBS in 1972, shortly after Warner's official soundtrack album. The electronic-only offering contained two tracks not featured on the soundtrack and the only complete version of "Timesteps". The sound quality was also superior, particularly at the low-end of the audio spectrum.

In 1998 Carlos remastered her electronic score for CD. New to this release are two bonus tracks - charming but slight- that could not be included on the original vinyl release due to space contraints. It all sounds excellent and the CD booklet contains the original liner notes and cover art as well as the story of the remastering and the bonus tracks.

If you cherished the CBS vinyl album, then this CD is an essential purchase.

For those unfamiliar with the soundtrack ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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By Request

by: Wendy Carlos

Release Date November 17, 2003
A few vinyl copies with 'Pompous Circumstances' on did 'escape' onto the UK market, though they are now very rare. (If you are a vinyl collector, remember to search the second-hand market for Walter Carlos (later to become Wendy)). Pompous Circumstances is a cleverly constructed dialogue between Britain and the USA in the form of musical fragments that are identifiable as representing each country - from Camptown Races to Yellow Submarine. The fragments become shorter as the piece progresses, so that it is tantalisingly difficult to identify every quotation. There is also a wry ambiguity as to which country has the last word!