This is the fourth and final part of the Great Bleep Forward, a BBC 6 documentary series about the history of electronic music. Listen to the previous parts here: Part 1: The Pioneers, Part 2: Synths for the Masses, Part 3: The Advent of Dance Music.
Throughout the last quarter of the 20th century, technology kept making it easier for bands to make music. But it was the home computer that finally gave artists the ability to fully write, play, record and even distribute music entirely from their bedroom.
In this final part, Andrew Collins talks to the bands, including Air, Radiohead and The Chemical Brothers, who used the computer’s power to go beyond human capabilities and free themselves from the pression of the studio and the record labels. They discuss what technology changed in the bands’ relationship with their audience, the return to low-fi analog and the synthpop revival.
Listen here:
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The Great Bleep Forward – Part 4
What Happened Again? 