Music nerds of a certain persuasion have spent countless hours debating the minutia of Brian Eno’s historical precedents and innovations. Did Eno steal the “double Revox endless tape loop” technique from Steve Reich, or did he arrive at it independently for Discreet Music? Who cares?

This captivating track from Holger Czukay’s 1979 record Movies pre-dates My Life In The Bush of Ghosts by a year or two and employs some of the same techniques, appropriating Persian vocals snagged from shortwave broadcasts and combining them with Czukay’s own brand of hi-life, featuring guitar work reminiscent of another tech monster, Mr. Les Paul.

Czukay studied under Stockhausen in the 1960s and was a member of the German braniac band Can, and was certainly a pioneer in the mixing of “world” music sources with Western style Pop and Art Rock. His 1968 record Canaxis combined many shortwave “samples” of international music sources with his own electronic music sensibility and grooves. Czukay went on to work as a bassist, composer, and producer with The Eurythmics, Eno, Phew, David Sylvian and Jah Wobble, among many others.

Movies is out of print, but you might find a copy here. On The Way to The Peak of Normal is another excellent Holger Czukay record, which is available here. The artist has a useful web site here, which has news of a new record, 21st Century, arriving soon along with much of his back catalog re-mastered and re-released.