Barrel organ music (and the world of mechanical music)

You mean like that Pierre Bastian album Mecanoid (on Rephlex) where all the tracks are built around rhythms played by robots the guy built?

Search. It's a good "talking point" album. And pretty pleasant clonky ambient music.

I also remember hearing on Radio 3 about 15 years ago, some carribean band who mixed latin percussion over a hacked victorian mechanical organ. Was one of the most amazing things I've heard, the organ was playing pure victoriana chords and fluting pipe melodies and these guys were laying down some kind of Cuban or Salsa-like groove underneath. Anyone have an idea who they were?

Pianola rolls recorded by Fats Waller were taken and attached to an adapted theatre organ. The results were used in the Eraserhead soundtrack.

Conlon Nancarrow is the first to come to mind. His compositions for player piano are pretty amazing. Harry Bertoia might qualify as well.

Captain Sleep stole my post. That Ligeti disc is amazing.

Yes, that Ligeti disc is great.

Another disc; The Busy Drone on BVHaast. Pieces by various
composers on a Dutch mechanical concert organ.

Maxine de la Rouchefould -- Canadian dude, makes music by animating sound making puppet-sculptures he makes!

http://www.cam.org/~maxime/

WARNING: This site is about music performed by automatons: mechanized acoustic sculptures animated by inaudible frequencies. Their oddly organic polyrhythms are orchestrated to produce a ritualistic trance-like music.

Also, I think there are recordings of Jean Tinguely's sculptures. I have a few albums of the sounds of merry go rounds that are awesome, too.

Joe Jones - mechanical instrument builder. I've only heard 'solar music' but it is incredible.

Any of the old "Gay 90's Village" records on Audio Fidelity. My favorite is "More Music From The Gay 90's Village":
http://www.bandorganmusic.com/pcd2030__more_from_the_gay_90.htm

though searching for that turned up this, with tons on mp3 samples:
http://www.bandorganmusic.com/preservation1.htm

and, the legendary: http://www.aquariusrecords.org/bin/search.cgi/artist=Musee%20Mecanique

also that trimpin guy: http://www.otherminds.org/shtml/Trimpin.shtml

that The Busy Drone record looks great. I've been buying a lot from the Bvhaast acousmatrix series recently.

i have Tresors de la Musiqe Mecanique, and its really great, barrel organs, l'eppe, music boxes etc etc. this page has some interesting looking stuff, released by the same people. i like the look of the carousel one in particular

http://prehistoiredufolk.free.fr/musique_mecanique.htm

these all seem to be out of print? the karrousel one looks great, i did find a site with some mp3 samples from the comps thuogh, but i forgot where the site is