"My name is Robert Moog and my email address is realmoog@bigbriar.com. I would like to present to you The Dark Side of the Moog."
The Dark Side of the Moog is an ongoing series of eleven albums on FAX +49-69/450464.
Created between 1994 and 2008 by German electronic pioneers Pete Namlook and Klaus Schulze, and occasionally Bill Laswell (on IV-VII), each of these albums give the fortunate listener a unique journey. The concept was to create new, modern music using some old synthesizers and more un-modern machines, hence the use of the Moog name in the title. The project is also a play on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
While the first two in the series are simply long single pieces (indexed to a new track every 5 minutes for the listener's convenience, as was custom for earlier FAX albums). From III-on, while differently separated into distinct "songs", are collective known by a similar title with "Parts", as movements in an extended work.
1994.10.06 — PK 08/96
— The Dark Side of the Moog
—— Wish you Were There (51:21)
1995.04.14 — PK 08/99
— The Dark Side of the Moog II
—— A Saucerful of Ambience (61:04)
1995.08.28 — PK 08/101
— The Dark Side of the Moog III
—— Phantom Heart Brother - Part I-VI (59:00)
1996.02.12 — PK 08/108
— The Dark Side of the Moog IV
—— Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn - Part I-IX (60:00)
1996.02.12 — PK 08/123
— The Dark Side of the Moog V
—— Psychedelic Brunch - Part I-VII (60:20)
1997.09.29 — PK 08/133
— The Dark Side of the Moog VI
—— The Final DAT - Part I-VI (64:20)
1998.11.25 — PK 08/143
— The Dark Side of the Moog VII
—— Obscured by Klaus - Part I-VI (50:00)
1999.05.31 — PK 08/146
— The Dark Side of the Moog VIII
—— Careful with the AKS, Peter - Part I-VII (76:51)
2002.04.15 — AW 023
— The Evolution of The Dark Side of the Moog
—— Compilation, comprises bits of volumes I-VIII
2002.05.10 — PK 08/163
— The Dark Side of the Moog IX
—— Set the Controls for the Heart of the Mother - Part I-VI (54:32)
2005.03.15 — PK 08/168
— The Dark Side of the Moog X
—— Astro Know Me Domina - Part I-VI (50:20)
2008.04.15 — PK 08/182
— The Dark Side of the Moog XI
—— The Heart of Our Nearest Star - Part I-IV (56:10)
As one can expect from the title, each album is a journey of dark music, ranging from peaceful ambient music and airy empty space, to pounding beats and harsh dark techno. Often each release ranges between the extremes within its own self. Each release is epic and long, as the releases, which can each be considered one work with a few 'movements', range from 50 to 77 minutes.
The Dark Side of the Moog X was considered (and noted as so in the press release) as the final in the series. Afterward, Pete Namlook sold the "Big Moog" synthesizer that was the trademark of the series. However, three years later the eleventh in the series was announced. In the press release, it is noted to be a step forward in the series, using a lot of new technology, and is the first in the series to be released in
DTS surround-sound, which Namlook has been using since 2007. It is also the first in the series to use a title
not based on a Pink Floyd spin.
For more information, go to http://2350.org/
or, the official FAX +49-69/450464 site:
http://www.hyperreal.org/music/labels/fax/
I - IX have also been re-released on
Ambient World, a sublabel of
FAX +49-69/450464, because the original releases were very limited in numbers (as with any release on
FAX +49-69/450464).
Another note: aside from providing a 10-second
voice-over for
Psychedelic Brunch Part I,
Robert Moog himself had no involvement in the production of these albums.