Vintage classic Minimoog analog synthesizer. In production between 1970 and 1981, and costing between $4500-$9500. A staple of progressive rock music, but also used by the Beatles and many other bands. This photo taken 6/11/2011.

Weird News from the World of Synthesizers

November 13, 2016 Alan Cross 0 Comments 1 min read

Item 1: Kraftwerk Banned in Argentina

Back in the 70s and 80s, there was a backlash against new electronic keyboards by musicians’ groups and unions, saying that such new machinery wasn’t “real” music and threatened to take away jobs from human musicians.

Eventually, though, they got over it. Well, most people did. There are some folks in Argentina that are still suspicious and bitter–but now for different reasons. From Gigwise.

After the drug-related deaths of five people on 15 April at Time Warp Festival in Argentina, the government moved to stop issuing permits for all major electronic music festivals and a Kraftwerk gig has been denied.

They were initially allowed to sell the tickets and started doing so in July and sold 70 pecent of them. But two weeks ago the permit they thought they’d be given was denied for the gig which was supposed to go ahead on 23 November, as Clarín reports (via Exclaim).

Promoters Move Concerts have argued that the Kraftwerk gig isn’t like an electronic music festival. It would be alcohol-free, all-ages, and last two hours at the most.

Item 2: Amish exposed to electronica for the first time.

Watch.