Electrophon’s
album "Zygoat" is a much better and more interesting piece of work than
"In a Covent Garden". There were no cheesy interpretations of classical
music around this time (although some passages undoubtedly are inspired
by classical music), and the record consisted instead of entirely
original material composed by Burt Alcantara. His compositional style is
dynamic, energetic and downright weird on some passages, but fresh and
interesting through the whole album. All the music was played on RSE and
ARP synthesizers, and the virtuosity of the playing is quite
impressive. "Leaves of Sand" opens the record with a theme that surely
must have inspired Tangerine Dream a bit when they wrote the
introduction theme to "Tangram" six years later. The track quickly
evolves into one of the main themes of the album, which obviously is a
conceptual work about the goat creature on the cover. The title-track is
something as unlikely as electronic progressive rock'n'roll, and this
unusual approach is repeated in the even more energetic and faster
"Zy-Clone" that has to be one of the wildest electronic progressive
pieces of music recorded. This and the far more classical-influenced
"Pillar of Salt" features some of most insanely fast playing on an ARP.
The weirdest tracks are "Ybur Knom" and "Ybur Doon" which both are based
around the same theme and reminding a bit of Vangelis' most
experimental works from the 70's. "Movement to the Earth" is based in a
slowly gliding pace with lots of quirky synth solos that are anything
else than slow. This track transcends smoothly into "Seeds Cast to the
Wind" that is one of the highlights of the album together with the
mighty "The Ladder of Zeugma". "Zygomania" is a pure cacophony of
tortured synth solos. "Preserverance Furthers" closes the album by going
through several of the main themes. "Zygoat" is a quite unique and
unusual listening experience. Line-up / Musicians Burt Alcantara/All Instruments Discography Zygoat 1974
1.Leaves of Sand 2.Zygoat 3.Ybur Knom 4.Pillar of Salt 5.Movement to the Earth 6.Seeds Cast to the Wind 7.Zy-Clone 8.Ybur Doon 9.Zygomania 10.The Ladder of Zeugma 11.The Libran Sea 12.Perseverance Furthers
