Released: 1968
One of our common frames of reference is ancestry. Because (nearly) everyone comes from somewhere, understanding that point and the links it has to other parts of shared history is something ingrained in human patterns of behaviour.
Music is no different; whilst it may have started with flutes roughly carved from bone circa 40,000 years ago, in the more modern era a whole industry in sonic archaeology now traces formerly obscured ley lines between one sound and another. We know for instance that Kraftwerk amongst others are often hailed as one of the sources of techno, as are Suicide for white noise and static, a strain of punk which ultimately led to the dystopia of early synth pop.
Who inspires the inspirers? Well, if you’re Alan Vega, it was a now obscure New York act called Silver Apples, who led by Simeon Coxe were the first to use an oscillator in an (unwitting) attempt to sabotage rock’s trad dynamics. Released as a single out mostly of a sense of duty, Oscillations was a surprise hit locally in Philadelphia; employing a motorik template and a palette of weird and very wonderful electronic noises, it represented a huge leap forward almost nobody else was able to make. Like a character from everyone’s family tree, the Apples turned out to be the mad uncle who nobody realised was a genius until it was way too late.
The Voice Of Unreason 