The last few years of the 70's signaled a huge explosion in music genres. One of them was the introduction of Techno, or Synthpop. Mostly relegated to Disco and soft-Jazz in the early 70's, Techno branched out and crossed paths with Experimental and turned what was formerly a dance genre into something new.

Human League were at the forefront of the movement. Along with bands like OMD and Ultravox!, Human League embraced a cool and detached approach - stripped down and basic. Initially their was more akin to the German techno of Kraftwerk, rather than Tangerine Dream and it eventually paved the way for the New Wave and New Romantic genres.

Tonight it's a session Human League did for the BBC, recorded on August 8, 1978 when they were relatively new and finding their musical voice.

Here's what they perform:

1. Being Boiled
2. No Time
3. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling (yes, THAT one).
4. Blind Youth

It's interesting, the inclusion of a song made famous by The Righteous Brothers and iconic in its production by Phil Spector. Done by Human League the warmth is stripped away and the message seems sinister in comparison, becoming almost an anti-love song. Which, considering the times, was probably the intention.

Further evidence the playing field was up for grabs and it was open season for everything.

The last song from our look at the 1987 IRS Records Christmas sampler is also the last track on the album. The Synth-Pop Trio Torch Song and their contribution Hark.

This ought to put you at least in the techno spirit of Christmas.

Ho-ho-ho.

Staying at The Electric Picnic in Ireland tonight and putting up an extended excerpt of a set by 80's Techno/Electronica pioneers OMD, recorded live by RTE FM2 this past Saturday (September 3rd).

I almost forgot just how many hits this band had throughout that decade and just how influential they were. Although by no means the only Techno band at the time, they were certainly one of the more popular and judging by the crowd at this festival, they still very much are.

Here's their set:

EXCLUSIVE PERFORMANCE - O.M.D

Enola Gay, Performing Messages, and Tesla Girl

Admit it, you remember this band really well.

Ah, the 80's.

A change of pace tonight. Some electronica/Techno/Experimental/Pop from L.A. duo The Bird And The Bee, who consist of Greg and Inara in the studio but a full compliment of band members for live gigs.

In the six short years they've been together they've managed to put out an impressive avalanche of material and are doing quite well in the area of soundtracks.

Tonight's track, I Hate Camera is off their self-titled first album, released in December of 2006.

They have a website, a Facebook page and a pile of other goodies with which to connect. You might want to check them out and see what's going on.

It seems to go along with Saturday night quite nicely.

Continuing our week of discoveries - Glitter Bones is a band I ran across on a French Experimental Indie site (Les Boutiques Sonores) via Soundcloud (it's starting to get complicated as you've noticed). Ironically, they're from Chicago and their MySpace page doesn't really acknowledge their Trance leanings, but rather says they're Gospel. Okay . .I can see the god in this.

Tonight it's a track I found on the French site, Glow In The Dark - I think it's from last year and I suspect it's off an album or an ep, but you can't really tell. All I know is that it grabbed me in the first few seconds and ten plays later, it's still grabbing me.

Perhaps it will do the same for you? Play loud - play often.

New Fast Automatic Daffodils (New Fads for short) were a somewhat short-lived Indie band from 1988 to 1995. They came in around the Madchester period but weren't associated with it. Even though with a name like you'd think . . . . - actually, it came from a poem by Adrien Henri that mixed an ad for a car with a poem by Wordsworth that just seemed like a good idea at the time.

They never really made over here in the States, although they had a pretty good following in the UK - not massive, but respectable with several singles reaching the charts and their first album hitting the top 50.

Tonight's track, All Over My Face is a remix of a track that appeared on their second album Pigeonhole. This one originally appeared in the second issue of Volume Magazine (the magazine with accompanying CD of new acts) that came out in November of 1991.

It is very possible these days to be an artist no one has ever heard of, with no label deal, a moderately successful MySpace or Facebook page and be recognized instantly by millions because of a popular TV commercial you've become associated with.

It seems to be happening more frequently now and that's good news for a lot of struggling musicians - not good news if you're one of those people who made a living writing those catchy (and sometimes really annoying) jingles for TV commercials. Or sometimes a feeling of violation if you're a viewer who has just witnessed a song you've held sacred from your youth now turned into a testimonial for a tennis shoe or brand of mouthwash.

Art versus commerce and I suppose we have to get used to it, even though I hate the idea.

Case in point is tonight's band Jesus Jones, a band that got together in 1986 and turned out a few albums and several memorable tracks which have wound up becoming the soundtracks for the likes of Walmart and Ford.

Tonight's track, International Bright Young Thing was the follow up track to Right Here, Right Now and did very well on the charts here and in the UK.

Perhaps you remember it? Fortunately, it's not helping sell anything - at least not that I know of, anyway.

Something different tonight. Royskopp are a Techno/Electronica/House group from Norway who have been together since the early 90s. Tornbjorn Bruntland and Svein Berge make up Royskopp and they are doing rather well in Europe, with a new album that just came out this past Sunday (Senior, which you can pick up via iTunes or as a stream via their MySpace page) and a U.S. label deal via Astralwerks.

This track, This Must Be It came out late last year and I believe it's off one of their earlier endeavors. They're an interesting group, and if this track appeals (Electronica doesn't have mass appeal I've found out), by all means check out their MySpace page, which is a good starting point to hear and learn more about them.

The world is a big and interesting place and it doesn't always have to be scary or strange.

(Pablo Bolivar - Techno/Ambient from Barcelona)

I had something else planned tonight and then I ran across this. Pablo Bolivar comes from Barcelona Spain and its wonderful. I admit I haven't posted very much (or at all) techno/ambient/electronica and I suspect this won't be the only post I'll do of this genre. It seems completely apropos on a Tuesday night.

There's not much I can add other than fall by his MySpace page - he has an ep just issued which you may want to check out.

But in the meantime, here is Memories Featuring Sistema.

(Claudia of Gamine - Techno Chanteuserie . . whether that's an actual word or not)

Jumping into a bit of Techno tonight, by way of UK band Gamine, fronted by singer Claudia who puts a nice atmospheric presence on things. They have one album out so far and are going the indie route. And as is the case with all the MySpace discoveries of recent months, they need support and listeners. Check them out here and you can pick their album up through the site as well. This track, Oh What A Kiss off their album Sabotage gives a good idea of what they're about.

Good, tasty moody stuff - and you can never go wrong with moody.