The Holmes Archive of Electronic Music

Thom Holmes
  • 4.9 (13)
  • Music History
  • Updated Semiweekly

Thom Holmes is your curator and guide to vintage electronic music recordings and audio experimentation. Drawing from his collection of vintage electronic music recordings spanning the years 1930-1985, each episode explores a topic or theme of historical interest. Holmes is the author of the book, Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, 2020.

  1. 14h ago

    The Seam 9.0

    Welcome to the podcast and thanks for listening. As I prepare a large batch of episodes to drop when the revision of my book Electronic and Experimental Music appears in August, I thought why not release a few additional episodes that have nothing to do with the book. I have a fairly large vault of original electronic works and figured that this might be a good time to share a smidgen of it. Each of these works comes from a place of experimentation. Most include vintage recordings as part of their overall texture. Many include original electronic sounds that I’ve composed for this purpose. In this episode, we will hear The Seam 9.0. I will let the music speak for itself. Thanks for listening and see you next time.

    22 min

  2. 3d ago

    EcoStoackhausen

    Welcome to the podcast and thanks for listening. As I prepare a large batch of episodes to drop when the revision of my book Electronic and Experimental Music appears in August, I have been releasing a few select experiments of my own in electronic sound. This episode is loosely connected to the book. I put together a series of sound experiments using AudioMulch and source material from the famous Stockhausen lectures in the early 1970s. This is one of the experiments. This piece is called EcoStockhausen.  Thanks for listening and see you next time.

    19 min

  3. 5d ago

    Cybelle

    Welcome to the podcast and thanks for listening. As I prepare a large batch of episodes to drop when the revision of my book Electronic and Experimental Music appears in August, I thought why not release a few additional episodes that have nothing to do with the book. I have a fairly large vault of original electronic works and figured that this might be a good time to share a smidgen of it. Each of these works comes from a place of experimentation. Most include vintage recordings as part of their overall texture. Many include original electronic sounds that I’ve composed for this purpose. In this episode, we will hear Cybelle. I will let the music speak for itself. Thanks for listening and see you next time.

    31 min

  4. May 28

    Clouds

    Welcome to the podcast and thanks for listening. As I prepare a large batch of episodes to drop when the revision of my book Electronic and Experimental Music appears in August, I thought why not release a few additional episodes that have nothing to do with the book. I have a fairly large vault of original electronic works and figured that this might be a good time to share a smidgen of it. Each of these works comes from a place of experimentation. Most include vintage recordings as part of their overall texture. Many include original electronic sounds that I’ve composed for this purpose. In this episode, we will hear Clouds. I will let the music speak for itself. Thanks for listening and see you next time.

    18 min

  5. May 25

    Frizzle

    Welcome to the podcast and thanks for listening. As I prepare a large batch of episodes to drop when the revision of my book Electronic and Experimental Music appears in August, I thought why not release a few additional episodes that have nothing to do with the book. I have a fairly large vault of original electronic works and figured that this might be a good time to share a smidgen of it. Each of these works comes from a place of experimentation. Most include vintage recordings as part of their overall texture. Many include original electronic sounds that I’ve composed for this purpose. In this episode, we will hear Frizzle. I will let the music speak for itself. Thanks for listening and see you next time.

    19 min

  6. May 22

    Elite Beats

    Welcome to the podcast and thanks for listening. As I prepare a large batch of episodes to drop when the revision of my book Electronic and Experimental Music appears in August, I thought why not release a few additional episodes that have nothing to do with the book. I have a fairly large vault of original electronic works and figured that this might be a good time to share a smidgen of it. Each of these works comes from a place of experimentation. Most include vintage recordings as part of their overall texture. Many include original electronic sounds that I’ve composed for this purpose. In this episode, we will hear Elite Beats. I will let the music speak for itself. Thanks for listening and see you next time.

    21 min

  7. Jan 9

    The BBC Shipping Forecast Soundscape, No. 2, for 2026

    Episode 183 The BBC Shipping Forecast Soundscape, No. 2, for 2026 Playlist This soundscape consists of selections of BBC Shipping Forecasts from the past two years, bits of other broadcasts from the BBC and others, plus electronic sounds and audio treatments that I’ve created. BBC Shipping Forecasts are ©copyright BBC and located at the BBC Radio 4 Website.  Here is a rundown of the various recordings I’ve included in this version of the soundscape: BBC Shipping Forecasts—Individual episodes featuring both men and women readers. The final section of the podcast includes an elaborate five-track remix of five female readers (and one male), stuttered and jogged in various patterns to create a soothing, if nonsensical conclusion to this edition. These forecasts are from 2024-25. BBC World Service Annual Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast: June 21, 2024 Jane Barbe voice clips from the archives of AT&T. Barbe was the “voice of the operator” during much of the 1960s and 1970s. Miscellaneous Shortwave Broadcasts—These were retrieved from the wonderful The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, which I highly recommend. Radio Canada Shortwave Club (1973). Radio+Gjirokaster (Albania) (1988). Shortwave Stations Eastern Europe (circa 1980s). Shortwave Stations Western Europe (circa 1980s). Voice of America (Skylab Re-entry Coverage)--July 11, 1979. Republic of Yemen Radio--February 15/April 9, 2025. Short clips from Seoul, South Korea, Japan, and the Voice of Armenia. Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation. For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations. Links for The BBC Shipping Forecast: Website from BBC Radio 4 for clips of The Shipping Forecast. From the BBC: What does the Shipping Forecast Mean? Script Guidelines for the Shipping Forecast from the Met Office

    1h 59m

  8. 12/05/2025

    Merry Moog 2025 A Soundscape of Vintage Holiday Synthesizer Music

    Episode 182   Merry Moog 2025  A Soundscape of Vintage Holiday Synthesizer Music   Thanks for your patience while I’ve been producing podcast episodes for my book, the seventh edition of which will be released next year. I produced 62 of them and it diverted me from the regular episodes. However, a friend asked me if I was preparing the holiday episode and that’s exactly what I’ve done. This is my annual holiday podcast. The purpose of which is to play synthesizer-based holiday tunes from the ages—from 1967 to the present day. This edition will be a little different than previous holiday episodes. Rather than play a set of individual, synthesizer-based tunes on the holiday theme, I decided to put together a soundscape that integrates the holiday music, mostly in short excerpts and mixed in various ways, along with an audio environment made up of shortwave radio sounds and broadcasts. There is something about the global appeal of holiday music that fits with the theme of universal shortwave sounds, sounds that know no borders. If you listen carefully, you will hear many of the holiday tunes that I usually stack up in these editions. I try to garner the most representative themes from each yet provide a soundscape that you can sit back and relax to while doing other things this holiday season. There are literally dozens of tracks represented in this episode, each with its own distinctive sound imprint. Jean Jacques Perrey, Douglas Leedy, Hans Wurman, Joseph Byrd, The Moog Machine, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Greg Lake, Taeko Onuki, the Joy Electric, Bernie Krause, The Star Wars Christmas album, The Smurfs Christmas album, the Romantic Synthesizer, Armen Ra, Don Voegeli, The Roots, and Paul Tanner. Among others. I also threw in a decidedly not electronic track by Ron Sexsmith, one of my favorite songwriters. It is lurking the mix, too. So have a happy holiday and I wish you healthy and wondrous listening for the new year. Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. My Books/eBooks: Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, Routledge 2020. Also, Sound Art: Concepts and Practices, first edition, Routledge 2022. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation. For a transcript, please see my blog, Noise and Notations. Original music by Thom Holmes can be found on iTunes and Bandcamp.

    1h 44m
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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Thom Holmes is your curator and guide to vintage electronic music recordings and audio experimentation. Drawing from his collection of vintage electronic music recordings spanning the years 1930-1985, each episode explores a topic or theme of historical interest. Holmes is the author of the book, Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, 2020.

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