If the name PBS’73 brings to mind fond memories of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Sesame Street and Zoom, check out Austin, Texas’ Elijah Franks. His solo project is the closest thing to an electronic music time capsule you’ll find on Bandcamp.
After recording two full-length discs last year – the aptly titled Viewers Like You and Rainbow TV – Franks remains busy.
He began 2017 with “Antennas In Air,” an upbeat contribution to the SleeplessCollective Volume 2 Compilation. His latest is Yesterday Network, an indie release that dropped July 21.
Franks’ music is pure analog synth nostalgia. He can take credit for a rare accomplishment – producing original old modernism. The music sounds just as fresh today as it would have between programs on early-1970s public television.
There’s not much emotion here; the music verges on antiseptic. But then that could just as easily be a compliment as a complaint. If you’ve never stared up at a 12-inch cathode-ray from a patch of shag carpet, now’s your chance to at least hear what it sounded like.