Russ Garcia - Fantastica (1959)

Russ Garcia´s "Fantastica" from the year 1959 is a bold and spectacular musical journey for serious armchair-adventurers. Garcia masterfully composed and conducted this musical suite depicting "fascinating, exciting sounds from other planets". His unique ensemble omits violins and includes woodwinds, trombones, a harp, percussion and "electronic devices and effects created by Ted Keep, Liberty's chief engineer".

As Ken Saari says it in his review on Jeff Central: "The flutes sometimes flutter furiously, as in "Nova (Exploding Star)," to great effect. Occasionally, there are electronic beep-like sounds as on the pieces "Lost Souls of Saturn" and "Water Creatures of Astra." "The Monsters of Jupiter" paints a vivid, bone-chilling picture that begins with a fast-clicking sound panning back and forth between the stereo channels, and then bold trombones create an aura of impending danger. Strange electronic sounds follow, including a high-low-high frequency sinusoidal sound, and then kettledrums indicate the approaching footsteps of these leviathan beasts. The cover of this amazing album features a great Spiro graph and an Earth-like globe in space, with the title "Fantastica" emblazoned in comet-like lettering at the top. Without a doubt, this is one of the very best outer space records ever made." Have fun on your trip through space...