Now I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, everybody has to push a button when you see one.
I remember when Ross from keep it fast had a microwave that was made for blind people. When you pressed a button, the ghostly voice of Stephen Hawking’s would blast out of the machine. So this would naturally lead to pressing loads of buttons to try and get Hawking’s to rap:
“2 minute , 1 minute, po, po, po, popo, power up!”
This of course sounded shite, but a group who have made old battered electronic toys sound like the next Custom Modular Synth is the Modified Toy Orchestra.
The award winning sound artist anddfrontman, Brian Duffy, has been leading the way in a ever growing underground movement, circuit bending.
This art involves keeping your eye out for those really old electronic toys at the boot sales and having the courage to spend more then a pound on them. Such classic items as Texas Instruments ‘Speak and Spell‘ are a must have, as by taking apart this 80’s child toy and doing a little bit of re-wiring you could be the next Alec Empire… Or just sound like a twat..
For six years Brain has been performing, lecturing and demonstrating the Modified Toy Orchestra and the philosophical implications of his experiments, but it wasn’t until 2006 that he got 5 Electronic Wizards to join and show off what Tomy toys can really do.
As you listen to each track such as ‘This is the Monkey’ you really don’t know which direction it is heading in, with its deep slow progressive thumps and eerie deep voices, calling out ‘this is the moooonkey’. It almost seems that subliminal messages are being fed through your brain, as they infiltrate through the thick Mattel electronic gaming grinds.
“Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuy more Toy Orchestra cds…..”
Other tracks like ‘A Grand Occasion’ would be fitting for police to flush out a group of people from a house/hole/wheelbarrow, as the sweet clinks of the child toys go in your head and never leave, possibly driving most people insane!
But playing at such places as Tate London and the supersonic festival, plus supporting bands such as Melt Banana, this is a band that is climbing to the electronic peak.
Below is a short but sweet clip I found of them live, enjoy!
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If you would want to buy any of their albums you can at www.warmcircuit.com – a music label dedicated to Outsider Electronics and Mutant Pop.
