Irmin Schmidt ‎& Bruno Spoerri – Toy Planet (1981)

German keyboard player and founding member of the band Can Irmin Schmidt, and Swiss multi-instrumentalist electronic / jazz musician Bruno Spoerri (whose 1978 album Voice of Taurus is a must hear, a perfect blend of kraut / disco / ambient) got together to release this very... mystifying album, which came out initially on French label Celluloid in 1981.

MANY synthesizers and fancy analog sampling and effects equipment went into producing this, countless untold hours of painstaking attention to detail and at times over 100 individual layers of sound went into producing the textures and atmosphere behind them. The styles here are broad and no two songs sound alike; I almost hesitate to say that there is no central theme here to bind the songs together, except that there is, only it is beyond words. The first and third tracks (which I've uploaded and posted below) are somewhere in between progressive electronic, space disco and funk but the second track which occurs in between them on the album is a sort of ambient vocal choral pastoral romp in syncopated bursts of sound following incessant staccato chant sounds which ascend in tone slowly during the entire song. The b side starts off with a traditional Russian Gypsy folk song on acid and the rest is a bit too strange for words.

That being said, when this music wants you to dance, it is strong enough. Ultimately, this is one of the strangest albums I've ever heard, although I don't believe this was intentional; I assume beauty and sonic soundscape exploration were the desired results and they are here in abundance. It may take quite a number of repeated listenings before the genius here sinks in, but when it does...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSlmAGwjW2k"]Irmin Schmidt‎ & Bruno Spoerri - The Seven Game - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU7vSzKrVQ4"]Irmin Schmidt‎ & Bruno Spoerri - Two Dolphins Go Dancing - YouTube