Tod Dockstader was a cult figure back in the seventies. At least in my house he was. This was back when KPFK still ran an electronic music show every Saturday night, and everyone who listened to that show was snapping up Owl records like mice. Well, it’s no news any more that Dockstader is back, and making new music with computer technology. How much the difference from the old Dockstader is owing to the technology and how much to David Lee Myers, I don’t know. If you were a fan of Dockstader in the Owl days, you won’t necessarily like the new stuff. If you simply enjoy good music, though, you will. Aerial, along with Pond and Bijou, is not as rough and gritty as the tape pieces were. I would have said I preferred the grit, myself, had I not had this adventure: I had Aerial # 1 in the six disc magazin that comes with the 2000 VW New Beetle. I hadn’t driven the car for several days, and when that cd finally came on, I’d forgotten which cd I’d put in which slot. All I knew was that what was on was utterly entrancing. That’s my story… (Pictured is the cover to Aerial 1. The other two are similar.)

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