Tom Dissevelt
The Electrosoniks: Electronic Music
Tom Dissevelt and Dick Raaymakers, who also went by Kid Baltan, were Dutch composers and electronic music innovators who studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, with Dissevelt studying trombone and Raaymakers studying piano. They were both influenced by the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Anton Webern.
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Tom Dissevelt and Dick Raaymakers, who also went by Kid Baltan, were Dutch composers and electronic music innovators who studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, with Dissevelt studying trombone and Raaymakers studying piano. They were both influenced by the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Anton Webern.
In the mid-1950s, Raaymakers began working at Philips NatLab, the Dutch research division of Philips, and Dissevelt was soon recruited to work alongside him. There, they worked on Philips stereo equipment and electronics, and eventually collaborated on electronic music and musique concrète pieces. Together, they released their first recordings in 1959, titled "The Fascinating World of Electronic Music" which showcased their experimental synthesizer space odysseys.
Their 1962 LP, "Electronic Music", released as The Electrosoniks, was a masterpiece that influenced many, including David Bowie, who cited it as one of his all-time favorite albums. Despite the assumption that their music would be soulless and restrained since they were employed by a research lab to compose and record electronic music, the reality was quite the opposite.
Dissevelt and Kid Baltan's music was joyful, haunting, and soulful, and they are finally receiving the recognition they deserve as undercelebrated Dutch pioneers in the field of electronic music. Fantôme Phonographique has brought their essential pioneering electronic music back to life.