After last year’s incredible compilation of unreleased 1970’s instrumental synthesizer compositions Synthesizer Pop for a New Age (1974-1978) we thought that we had heard the very best of Don Muro’s treasure trove of unreleased tape reels. And then he drops this on our heads!
Off We Go: More Synth Pop From 1970-1979 combines 7 of the best instrumental synthesizer songs ever recorded and presents them to the world for the very first time! Actually, the album opener, “Jump For Joy”, might sound familiar if you paid attention in high school as it was the opening music for a slideshow that Mr. Muro produced in 1975 titled An Introduction to Electronic Music Synthesizers. “Blues Tune” really isn’t that bluesy sounding at all and feels a bit like Giorgio Moroder’s Einzelgänger, which would be released 5 years later. “Off We Go” is the sort of blissful, carefree anthem that would have been used on one of those Sandals Resorts informational videos had they been around 1974. On “Fly”, Muro takes the sort of joyful excitement found in Edd Kalehoff’s background music cues for The Price Is Right and injects a heartfelt sentimentality through his singlular vision and hard-earned skills as a musical genius. Fans of the first album Muro released, 1977’s It’s Time, will love “The First Look”, which can hang with the work of any of the caped prog keyboard giants of the seventies. 1979’s “The Glimpse” is a dense, soothing blanket of Tangerine Dream/Vangelis/Ciani-esque brilliance. And album closer “Summer of ‘72” makes you wonder what it would have been like if Don had soundtracked the summer camp horror film The Burning instead of Rick Wakeman.
First time release of these 1970’s Don Muro synthesizer instrumentals
Artwork by David Orr
As the composer of keyboard demonstration compositions for Korg, Muro will be featured in upcoming archival book/album from Korg Japan