“Before Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Brian Eno dropped conventional instruments to focus on electronic sound generators, composer David Borden was working with Bob Moog as a leader in the development of the Moog synthesizer. In 1968, Borden took this experience and drafted like-minded artists Steve Drews and Linda Fisher to form Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Co., the world’s first live-performing all-synthesizer ensemble.... Most of the early attempts to make serious music with synthesizers came off like a child learning how to ride a bike; awkward and uncoordinated, generally resulting in a painful experience for all involved. In contrast, the pioneering efforts of MMPMC stand as a monument to the gimmick-less magnificence that can be achieved with a pure application of this technology.” – Magnet, Michael Hopkins, 1999 (USA)
“Aside from being an invaluable historical document for any serious fan of ambient/electronic music, this is also a warmly enjoyable collection. Mother Mallard’s PMC... was sort of the house demo band for Robert Moog’s nearby studio/factory where the keyboard synth was invented. This CD consists of five long cuts that add up to 65 minutes of music showcasing early kernals of what became the electronic rock of Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, as well as classical minimalism and th more rhythmic style of space music. With only four-track recording and patch cord tuning, Mother Mallard made incredibly alive electronic music.” NAPRA Review, Nat Friedland, May/June 1999 (USA)
“Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company was the very first synthesizer ensemble (one which included a woman, no less) and one of the first to do live performances... Their style derived in large part from the Minimalists, especially Philip Glass and Terry Riley. However, Mother Mallard’s music also fits in with that of such Germans as Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerek and Klaus Schulze. The ensemble favors repetitive modules, clearly tonal musical materials, a steady pulse and extended electronic drones. The first track, “Ceres Motion,”…[has] color and character [that] is quite a lot like that of early Terry Riley, especially A Rainbow in Curved Air, but with more rock...”Train” sounds rather like something from Brian Eno and Robert Fripp’s Evening Star, but predates it by some three years...this music has a timeless quality. 3 1/2 stars” Pulse!, Dean Suzuki, 1999 (USA)
“...in the letter “M” of the ”Records which Changed My Life”…we now have the original Mother Mallard silvered. Titled Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiec Co. 1970-73… the CD has tightened up the bass and retained the wonderful sonorities of these analog synthesizers, mostly Moogs and miniMoogs. “Ceres Motion” begins with a striking repetitive figure…This was minimalism before it became mechanical or intellectual; soaring flights of fancy within a loosely-held structure. Pieces like “Cloudscape fro Peggy” or “Train” are tone poems; these are precursors of what later became the scourge of “ambient” (read “new age” for those who don’t dare call it that) music. Slowly developing and evolving, these retain the human touch uynlike so much done by the robotic synthesizers we’ve inflicted on ourselves…Mother Mallard is a must-get for anyone interested in any genre of music…If your tadstes tend toward electronic, drone, trance, free jazz, even to composers of such disparate sonorities as Olivier Messiaen and Arvo Pärt, you must buy this disc. You must. That’s all.” La Folia, Steve Koenig, www.lafolia.com
“Borden put together a group known as “Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Co. - the first all-synthesizer band on the cutting edge of bringing to the public the sounds of the early Moog. The same year, Wendy Carlos was acquiring fame with Switched-On-Bach, Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company was turning their talents towards more minimalist music styles.. the music is comparable with the best minimalist music composed of the day. The compositions employ the long outdated techniques of strip tape looping, pad recording, and ribbon controlling. This album is truly a historic journey of the original pioneers during the early days of synthesizer music.” NAV Music Reviews, Peter Manzi, May 1999 (USA)
“Calm, slow beautiful music played on those huge modular Moogs that need a million patch cords to make one sound.–the kind Wendy Carlos used to make “Switched On Bach.” “Cloudscape” perfectly evokes such a thing; so does “Train” and the slower moments of the others, but when they get kicking, it’s reminiscent of other pulse-music made at the time by Riley, Reich & Glass, and most worthy of that company. “Easter” bops and gurgles in a most Kraftwerk-like fashion, foreshadowing the “Kraftwerk” that was to come.” Mole Magazine, Jeff Bagato, #12 (USA)
“Mother Mallard’s newest record is a historical document, reissuing the band’s 1974 debut LP, but there is no need to avoid it, because it sounds contemporary, fresh, exciting and possibly easier to understand than when it was recorded…When [Borden] finally figured out how to adapt his classical training to the modular Moog, Borden formed the first all-synthesizer band and produced sophisticated , evocative, and upbeat work that demonstrated the full possibilities of the new instruments to a legion of artists to come. Washington Post, Jeff Bagato, 4/1/00
“The sound is largely ambient - school of Riley, Glass, etc - featuring mini-Moog drones and subtly shifting textures, but one track percolates nicely around a sampled loop... this was 1972. Fascinating stuff.” Mojo, March 1999 (England)
“Cuneiform has just released the early works of Mother Mallard, an early electronic/prog/new-music band, and it’s eye-opening in terms of innovation, providing the missing links between several disjunctive musical styles. They took textbook minimalism and added a rock beat to it; they created ethereal synthesizer landscapes, the worst aspects of which would molt into new age, the best of which would emerge as playful, intellectual electronica by Ryoji Ikeda or Aphex Twin. They were the first rock band to work closely with Robert Moog, bringing the innovations of Raymond Scott’s “Music For Babes” into the rock sphere (Moog built synthesizers for Scott in the 60s). Mallard also aligned themselves with avant-gardists like David Tudor and John Cage (an early work was called CAGE, using only the chords C, A, G and E on an electronic keyboard), providing a solid historical foundation for their experiments.
Each of the five tracks here provides some sort of Rosetta stone in terms of figuring out how several styles of music evolved in the way that they did. The first cut, “Ceres Motion” (1973) shows the transition between pulse-based high minimalism and full-blown prog rock; its the missing link between the loopy keyboards of Terry Riley or Philip Glass and the baroque precision of Tangerine Dream or early Yes....
“Cloudscape for Peggy” (1970) sounds like it could have been recorded in 1995. It’s a quiet, 12-minute soundscape of pulsating electronics that easily fits the genre of ambient music, written 25 years ahead of its time. In a visionary move, Mallard took the ways and means of dry academic electronic music, softened the approach, added structure and stripped out the dissonance, without letting the piece turn into overcooked mush. On “Easter” Mallard tackles what was to become mechanistic pop, best expressed by early Kraftwerk. The most stunning work on the disc is a piece called “Music” from 1972, which starts out with a sample from that old “Put another nickel in...all I want is music music music song and then glitches on the word “music” for 13 minutes...While Mallard saw it as a pop update to Steve Reich’s “It’s Gonna Rain,” the use of an appropriated repetitive sample didn’t become common practice until the 90s. It’s just another reason to be thrilled that Cuneiform brought these essential, long-lost works to light.” New York Press, Kenneth Goldsmith, 1999 (USA)
During the late 60s…only pioneers like Walter Carlos and John Cage were using [synthesizers] to record and play live. But according to Cuneiform Records, the trio Mother Mallard was the first “ensemble” to use synthesizers exclusively. A quick glance through history confirms this claim, as early records by electro-vanguardists Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Silver Apples utilized regular instruments alongside the primitive electronics. So Mother Mallard… have their place in history. But is the music any good? You bet. This disc is pretty much essential for collectors of electronic music, as well as anyone interested in its origins. …plenty on this disc will cause synth-heads to recall groups like T. Dream, Neu!, Cluster and other classic electro projects. 4 stars.” Atlanta Press, Mitchell Foy, Jan 14-20, 2000
“This timely release charts the original works of Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company, who have a pretty fair claim to be the world’s first all-synthesizer group. The initial lineup of David Borden, Linda Fisher and Steve Drews came together in the late-60s.. to work through the possibilities offered by Robert Moog’s first commercially available synthesizers... their investigations formed an important stage of development in electronic music. And, unlike other early electronic contemporaries, very little here sounds dated. Indeed, its amazing how fresh much of this music sounds, “Ceres Motion” in particular could be played in open-minded clubs...The 1972 track “Music” must be a pretty early example of sampling... “Cloudscape for Peggy” and “Train” (both 1970) are actually the deepest ambient experiences - extremely lovely liquid drones... perhaps now Mother Mallard will get the recognition they clearly deserved.” Motion, http://motion.state51.co.uk, Dan Hill, May 99 (England)
“From some of the earliest days of American popular electronic music comes the work of “Mother Mallard,” the first all-synthesizer band in the United States… This CD features some of the earliest music “Mallard” produced. It was an age where even classical ensembles could have odd names... and where composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass were disturbing the “classical” music world with the loud, repetitive, trance-inducing sound known as “minimalism”. Mother Mallard was part of that world of flexible musical boundaries, able to borrow styles from both the Minimalists as well as from current psychedelic rock and jazz. Masterpiece contains five pieces which range from what we would now call “trance rock” to quiet, impressionistic “ambient”...
The sound of these Moog Synthesizers is a bit raw compared to our current computerized, refined synthesizer sounds. You can hear the whine and buzz of those old oscillators and sound filters and rhythm generators which went into these first portable synthesizers. But the tradition lives on even though the technology has evolved.” Wind & Wire, Hannah Shapero, July/Aug.1999 (USA)
“Most of the music here is beyond minimalism; in fact, it’s much closer to exploratory proto-space music or new age on the highlights “Ceres Motion and “Cloudscape for Peggy,” the latter of which was composed around the time acts like Tangerine Dream and Cluster were just getting started.” All Music Guide http://allmusic.com/, John Bush, 1999
“…in the late ‘60s... [Borden] was hunkering down at Bob Moog’s lab in nearby Trumansburg where the inventor was developing the first voltage-controlled electronic synthesizers, an unknowing guinea-pig who later learned he’d been “idiot-proofing” the new models as he fooled around with the instruments (Borden remembers one keyboard “looked like the cockpit of an airplane”).By the end of the ‘60s, Borden began thinking about how the synthesizer could be applied to minimalism and modern creative music on the concert stage; “I wanted to present very new and startling work,” he has simply stated. Influenced by electronic musicians like Gordon Mumma and David Tudor, as well as the new pieces by young composers he discovered in an avant-jazz publication... Borden began to put together the collective ... known as Mother Mallard. Throughout the ‘70s, MMPMC pioneered the use of Moog’s keyboards, particularly in live performance settings.. Drones and complex rhythms mark their recordings, with multitrack layering borne out of his contrapuntal approach to composing. Critics missed the point as usual, complaining that “nothing happened”. Now, years later, the original Moogs are prized collector’s items and the analog synth is attracting newfound serious interest.” Signal to Noise, Peter Gershorn, Nov/Dec 1999 (USA)
“One of the lesser known chapters of American electronic music is documented with the release of Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company. This was the first all-synthesizer enesmble that became closely associated with Robert Moog and his creation, the voltage controlled electronic synthesizer, in the late ‘60s…Although Walter Carlos’s Switched On Bach brought public attention to Moog’s synthesizer, Borden took inspiration from composers like John Cage and Terry Riley and delved into the avant-garde of electronic music. Mother Mallard share similarities with synth groups spawned shortly thereafter like Synergy and Tangerine Dream by working with drones and complex rhythms to create trance-like, looping layered melodies and ambient works of tonal textures. There’s even an instance of looping samples on “Music.”” Exclaim, Ian Danzig, April 1999 (Canada)
“To say the sound is “Moogish” would get a bit redundant in that they were using some of Robert Moog’s first commercially available synthesizers: 2 Mini-Moogs, a RMI electric piano, and 3 Custom Moog Modular Systems. Despite the date on these recordings… some of these 5 tracks would go over well with fans of contemporary ambient electronics (…all or most of them would go over well with fans of Tangerine Dream, etc). Ceres Motion fairly well epitomizes the basis of that sound, despite being analogue and without lapsing into boringness. Droning and wavering synths steadily weave together with more melodic strains, and eventually both of the former become a fast and repetitive basis as their tempo steadily shifts upward… Music crescendos into much fun with the keyboards towards the end… Easter(‘s)…ending is very loud, layered and manic: analog sounds of many types zip, burble, bleep, and loop everywhere. I most enjoyed this one and Music, which were perhaps the two most raucous tracks on the CD. The bulk of this music’s style is very minimalist, but it doesn’t make the mistake of simply droning into unrelenting repetitions of nothing interesting.” Cyber-Psychosis AOD, Jasmine Sailing, #9 Aug. 1999 (USA)
“David [Borden] is now known as an innovator in systemic and neo-classical music, and the Mallards were technically of that ilk, being notably inspired by Terry Riley for one…also important in this band was Steve Drews, an innovator and major composer himself with the Mallards. Linda Fisher completed the trio… she is responsible for the faster nimble keyboard work here. Anyone familiar with early organ-based Riley, Steve Reich’s Phase Patterns, and the more systemic elements of French Acts like Lard Free or Ilitch, will have a good idea of what to expect here. But, instead of organs you’ll hear big modular Moog synths, beefy chunky electronics in dazzlingly complex arrays, ably turned out by three dexterous musicians. Audion, #41 Nov. 1999 (England)
Borden came to Moog excited about the prospects of creating electronic music. Moog taught Borden how to pilot the massive control panel that powered his unusual invention, watching the mistakes that Borden made in an effort to simplify the Moog for more universal use. Without Borden’s naïve attempts to navigate the Moog’s arcane possibilities in the late ‘60s, the entire timetable for the evolution of electronic music would have been derailed for years… The music on 1970-73 shows a range of styles, all of which are familiar in hindsight, but which Mother Mallard predated by several years. Eno’s ambient wallpaper, Glass’s minimalist manifestos, and the German clockwork calibrations are all evident in these compositions dating from an era when electronic music was still being met with confused stares. Borden, Drews and Fisher not only used the Moog to create tone poems of pure ambient atmosphere, but drew heavily on jazz influences as well as uniquely American composers like Aaron Copeland to create this revolutionary hybrid that was so far ahead of its time that its influence has been largely forgotten. This Cuneiform reissue resurrects Mother Mallard’s… seminal synthesizer experimentation along with an additional 25 minutes of never before released material. …To listen to Mother Mallard’s quiet experimentation today is to be reminded of the 25 years that followed their tentative but innovative footsteps. For fans of this brand of music, 1970-73 is a thrilling archival piece that gives a rare glimpse into the primal beginnings of a style of music that barely existed and was years away from acceptance when these recordings were made.” Audio Café, 2000
“There hardly is a dance club and definitely not a rave that does not boast a “chill-out” or “come-down” room for ambient and relaxing tone basking. Before many of these ravers and club-goers were even born, Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Co. induced such mind-calming therapy in its listeners through the sole use of Moog synthesizers….”1970-73” features only pure-Moo[g] compositions by the original trio of Linda Fisher, Steve Drews and David Borden. Moog enthusiasts should take note that “Music” on this collection is performed on the first MiniMoog ever made… The layers and repetitive interaction of two or three Moogs interacting on the twelve-minute-plus tracks here is a gateway to a comfortably cushioned analog sonic paradise.” In Faction, Tom Schulte, 2000 (USA)
“We’re talking History here, folks! David Borden, Steve Drews, and Linda Fisher, neighbors to Robert Moog near Ithaca, NY in the early ‘70s, were the first to try, idiot-proof, and perform music on, the original prototypes of the Moog synthesizers. The earliest of these 1970-73 recordings were even produced in the Moog factory in Trumansburg, NY… The word “minimalism” hadn’t yet been coined, but Mother Mallard’s music would end up being one of the genre’s forerunners…the sound forms and compositional techniques are still very much with us today…unless Terry Riley’s Rainbow in Curved Air, and some early Glass and Reich, were your daily music fix some thirty years ago, this will sound as new as anything. …Mother Mallard’s was able to be quite UN-self-conscious, to be humorous in its compositions, and actually grooved and rocked a good deal on some of the pieces therein. …if you know and like the composers mentioned above, this is hugely recommended.” Carbon 14, Michel Polizzi, 1999
“Sometimes a writer gets a release that… evokes such strong, pleasant memories of discoveries made in one’s youth… I was overjoyed to find this release…I have listened to this music since 1971, and bought their first LP at a 1974 live show at NYC’s “Public Access Synthesizer Studio” (PASS), which existed to serve as a non-profit performance Space for Electronic Music, and allow local composers, musicians, and artists the ability to utilize Electronic Music instruments economically.
MMPMC originally began as the test crew for Moog synthesizers in late 1969. Founder David Borden had been an award-winning Pianist and Composer when he became seduced by the possibilities of Electronic Music…recruiting compatriot Steven Drews and Pianist Linda Fisher, Borden began to experiment with ideas and arrangement for a trio of electronic Keyboardists. Many concerts were given as the trio worked on developing a group sound based on ostinado sequencer patterns and cyclic counterpoint. These ideas seemed to find much favor amongst many Classical Avant-Garde composers of this era, from Terry Riley to Steve Reich to Philip Glass to Lamonte Young.
“Cloudscape for Peggy” is a well-know Electronic Music composition and usually opened MMPMC live performances…”Train” was another staple of the band’s concert music, and appears on the first LP…
MMPMC’s approach to creating live Electronic Music was very successful from about 1972-76, and they did many performances at radio stations and college campuses throughout the US. I first experienced them during a radio broadcast in 1971, when they performed live at WBAI-FM….a connection was made for me aurally with music I’d begun to hear from the likes of Tangerine Dream, or Popul Vuh. Obviously Borden’s approach would be adopted by Froese, Schulze and comp[any, whose adaptation involved the removal of classical influence, and replacing it with an understanding of the creation of Electronic Music in a Rock context, hence MMPMC’s relevance to the SpaceRock genre.”
Aural Innovations, Doug Walker, #9 Jan. 2000