Zorch were an English electronic duo that formed as a four-piece in 1973, eventually pairing down to keyboardists Basil Brooks and Gwyo Ze Pix. In 1975, the pair recorded an album’s worth of material that was ultimately released a quarter-century later as Ouroboros on Zorch Records.
Members: Basil Brooks (synthesizer), Gwyo Ze Pix (synthesizer)
Ouroboros
“Mother Earth” (11:55) features a reverse-heartbeat sequencer loop, layered with winding/descending tonal colors and oscillating echo effects. The melodies bend in tone and slide in scale over the 24-bar E/A/D synth-bass pattern.
“Electro Flow” (6:10) is framed by trebly, Clavinet-like synth arpeggios that interlock in a 48-bar F/B♭/Gm/Am/Dm/E♭ progression, soon overlaid with cosmic and celestial runs.
Along with Wavemaker and Tim Blake, Zorch were among the few U.K. purveyors of electronic music during the mid-to-late 1970s. Unlike the German acts of the time (Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Temple) that relied mostly on tonal colors, the material on Ouroboros is built around chordal patterns and harmonic layers that reveal the duo’s English melodic sensibilities. The disc indicates what might have been had more U.K. acts of the era explored this very European vein of music.
Discography:
- Ouroboros (2000, recorded 1975)