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[#166] SEKRET MACHINE MUSIC, Part 2: Leon Theremin and the Sounds of a Soviet Super-Patriot
🕑 Added 2023-10-22 01:30:00 +0000 UTCSEKRET MACHINE MUSIC is a multi-episode series investigating the origins of synthesizers, electronic music, and rave culture from the early 20th century to today.
PART 2: LEON THEREMIN AND THE SOUNDS OF A SOVIET SUPER-PATRIOT
Dimitri and Khalid jump to the opposite end of the political spectrum to explore the fascinating life of Soviet inventor Leon Theremin, including: the intense ideological contention over Theremin’s musical inventions in the West, Theremin’s incredible story of showing Vladimir Ilyich Lenin how to play “The Lark” on the Thereminvox in 1920, his move to New York City in 1927, becoming a celebrity sensation for the NYC silk toppers, losing his wife to an American Nazi, modern attempts to frame Theremin as a “Soviet Faust” who sold his soul to Stalin in order to keep inventing, his friendship with synesthesia enthusiast Albert Einstein, Theremin’s employment at RCA and early television innovations, getting married to African-American dancer Lavinia Williams, his mysterious disappearance from NYC at the start of World War 2, being “a bit of a rezident” in New York, Armand Hammer and the AMTORG Trading Corp, spying on all the silk toppers, spending WW2 in a top secret Soviet science gulag, creating “The Thing” powerless surveillance device, and Leon Theremin’s long-awaited triumphant admission to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1991.
![[#166] SEKRET MACHINE MUSIC, Part 2: Leon Theremin and the Sounds of a Soviet Super-Patriot](https://img5.runfaps.com/storage/12/sp/zg/e9630c-019e83b4-5af2-7078-bec3-509a56957751.jpg)
Comments
Jacob Hargrove
Also Theramin recounting his own birth is a straight up Pynchon passage. Great episode!
Jacob Hargrove
What’s the book quoted from toward the end regarding tracing a subtle web of thought among intellectuals, artists, etc in pursuit of understanding how one arrives within a totalitarian state?
Liam Cameron
"electrocution" doesn't necessarily mean like execution, I think theremin probably meant it in the way we would use "electrification" so like just providing electricity to useful devices.
spectacularcommodity69
would love to see an episode on dub, lee scratch perry in particular would be interesting for you guys to cover
Dakota B
Outstanding!
Raymond Owen
For detroit techno, you might wanna look into Rik 3070 Davis for some rlly wild stuff if you havent. Was in the Chieu hoi PSYOP program and came back to the states and released Cybotrons Clear, which blew up thanks to his vietnam vet buddy Electrifyng Mojo. Very weird guy.
ampgorky
What kind of things does the 808 do to one?
ampgorky
Ah I’m late I was in a work hole. Ok what about the documentary elektro Moskva? Anyone see that or like it?
William Brame
Love the series. I think you guys should look into who funded a lot of the bigger labels and also some of the taste makers like Boiler Room, Resident Advisor, NTS, etc.
Subliminal Jihad
dr. poshlost - soljanka :)
Joseph Guerra
What's the track at the end?
Jacob Mead
Loving this series :))
