If you think of what the word psychedelia means, then it can conjure up all sorts of images of flowers beads, love-ins, peace etc., but there have been albums that, whilst being set firmly in the broad church of the psychedelic genre, just do not really give you the 'feel good' experience that you would normally expect to derive from listening to them, none more so than the extraordinary debut album 'An Electric Storm' from White Noise, released in1969. White Noise consisted of American born, classically trained double bass player David Vorhaus, assisted by Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson and were based in London, England. The latter pair had been members of the experimental outfit Unit Delta Plus, but more significantly were part of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the television company's in house music and special effects unit. Delia Derbyshire herself is also famous for painstakingly assembling the groundbreaking, eerie electronic theme music to the BBC's long running series, Dr Who.
The band, if that's what you can call them, set about recording a couple of songs to take to record companies for a possible single release and it was whilst they were trying to get a deal that David Vorhaus came into contact with Chris Blackwell, head of Island Records who heard their offerings and turned down the opportunity to release them as a single in favour of commissioning them to record a full length album and put up £3000 to fund the project. The band, or shall we say collaborators, as this sounds a better suited description, set about assembling what would become 'An Electric Storm'. The recording process was based on the working practices of the Radiophonic Workshop, which relied on the recording of 'found sounds', signal generators and anything suitable that came to hand onto tape recorders, which was then then cut and spliced, speeded up or slowed down as necessary until some unearthly sounding musical soundscape was created. So, to say that progress on the album was slow, would be an understatement. After about a year, Chris Blackwell was understandably concerned about his investment and wanted to find out how they were progressing. When he was treated to an album that was only 75% completed, his concern turned to anger and he demanded that they complete the album within a matter of days or he would pull the plug on the project. This ultimatum would have significant bearing on the production of the album's final track, the one that has a reputation that has passed into musical folklore.
The first track on the album, 'Love Without Sound' is a good introduction to the world of White Noise, all soundscapes and effects that hang in the air so that it all has a dreamlike quality. Track two is 'My Game of Loving' and although the tune and song 'treatments' are different it seems to follow the same sexual themes explored on track one. I suppose that these two tracks were there to be daring, provocative and have some sort of shock value, but that was 40 years ago and time has lessened the impact considerably. The third offering is the wild and wacky 'Here Come The Fleas' which is very clever and still very funny. Even though the songs lasts barely two minutes, it is evident that a hell of a lot of work went into putting this( and indeed all the songs) together. 'Firebird' is basically a White Noise attempt at a straight pop song, which was one of the first songs to be recorded and along with 'Love Without Sound' and so has a slightly more conventional song structure and so one presumes that this was the A side of the proposed single that never was. Song number five is 'Your Hidden Dreams' and this track, although it is equal parts orchestral and electronic in structure it's sound is more darker than the previous four songs and gives an indication of where things are heading on the final two tracks.
On the original vinyl pressing the final two tracks occupied side two and with these, the whole vibe turns from light and playful to very dark, foreboding and scary. This is where the real meat of the album lies and, as has been mentioned many times over down the years when referring to the listening experience, it's best to put a pair of headphones on and then brace yourself.
Track six is 'The Visitations' which deals with a 'Leader of the Pack' type scenario, but with more accent on what happens after the fatal motorcycle accident, when the dead boyfriend decides he needs to see his lover once more and returns to 'visit' her. The musical motif that hangs in the air has a fairground air to it and adds to the atmosphere, there is also a string part that sounds very odd and one assumes that it is a recording of Vorhaus' double bass varispeeded to change it's pitch. It is an eleven minute opus that is chock full of carefully assembled soundscapes, effects and disembodied voices that must've taken ages to assemble. It's a very disturbing and effective piece of music that even all these years later puts a shiver up the spine.
The last track is 'The Black Mass: An Electric Storm In Hell' and considering the small amount of time they had to put it together to finish off the album, they did a remarkable job. The 'Black Mass' part is exactly that, a devilish chant about being called to appear at court in Hell and then the piece starts. It is based around a jammed drum pattern or solo with overdubbed drum parts that begin to pan wildly round the speakers and start to disorientate you after a while. Throw in some gut wrenching screams of lost souls and other efffects and the hairs are up on the back of your neck and it will have you jumping out of your skin!
All in all his is a very unique album and listening experience and whilst there were other experimental outfits operating at the same, nothing they produced has had the same impact that 'An Electric Strom' has. Although it wasn't a massive seller at the time, over the ensuing period it has sold very well and stands to this day as a remarkable achievement.
After his album, David Vorhaus continued White Noise by himself and has done to this day. Recently he took part in a festival in France and for the first time recreated 'An Electric Storm' in front of a live audience.
Kevin Wallbank (UK)
M100 and Honeymoon On Mars
