The Sub Rosa label is releasing a compilation of electronic music made by Don Preston, former keyboardist in Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention and a man once described as “the father of modern synthesis”.

Michigan-born Preston was classically trained, and after a stint in the army he became heavily involved in the jazz scenes of Detroit and then Los Angeles. He played in Mothers during the key period of 1966-74, recording his first solo electronic piece, appropriately titled Electronic, in 1967, with his own set-up of home-built synthesizer, filters and oscillators (around this time he was also acting as musical director for Meredith Monk). A couple of years later he befriended Robert Moog, and would quickly come to be known as one of the most iconic and innovative players of the Mini-Moog (“You can’t do that on a Moog!” Bob himself was moved to exclaim when he heard Preston’s solo on ‘Waka Jawaka’).

“We’re coming to the beginning of a new era wherein the development of the inner self is the most important thing,” the visionary Preston said in 1969, inspired by Stockhausen, Dockstader and Berio. “We have to train ourselves. So that we can improvise on anything: a bird, a sock, a fuming beaker. This is, this too can be music. Anything can be music.”

Over the next twenty years Preston would continue to experiment, garnering most acclaim for his dreamy, synth-driven jazz sound, essayed across numerous solo albums, soundtracks and collaborations with the likes of Michael Mantler and Carl Bley. Over the course of his long and winding career, he’s also played on records by Captain Beefheart, The Residents, Gil Evans, Yoko Ono, Jefferson Airplane and Robbie Krieger. He remains a prolific recording artist to this day.

Sub Rosa’s compilation, Filters, Oscillators & Envelopes 1967-1982 isn’t a “best of” Preston, but rather a valuable exercise in archaeology that uncovers several key “pure” electronic works by Preston that have never been released before: Electronic Music (1967), Analog Heaven parts 1-7 (1975) and [a CD-only bonus track] Fred & Me (1982).

The comp is available to pre-order from Sub Rosa now, on CD and LP (the first 150 copies of which are pressed on white vinyl).

Tracklist:
1. Electronic Music (1967) 15’21
2. Analog Heaven #1 (1975) 10’24
3. Analog Heaven #2 2’16
4. Analog Heaven #3 3’47
5. Analog Heaven #4 2’28
6. Analog Heaven #5 1’31
7. Analog Heaven #6 3’06
8. Analog Heaven #7 2’51
9. Fred & Me (1982) 20’37 (CD only)