| Artist: |
SUN CITY GIRLS |
| Title: |
Juggernaut (Original Soundtrack Recording) |
| Label: |
ABDUCTION |
| Format: |
CD |
| Price: |
$15.00 |
| Catalog #: |
ABD 002CD |
Originally released as a limited edition LP by Abduction Records in 1994, and released on CD for the first time ever, this is an essential yet overlooked Sun City Girls recording consisting of various electric and acoustic tracks with a few compositional ideas rarely heard or revisited in their immense back catalog. And when we say compositional, we mean improvisation as composition which was basically the SCG method of operation in the studio. The record opens with two patented SCG stretched electric guitar/bass/drum works of dark beauty and then things become weirder as odd keyboards, acoustic instrumental and percussive pieces, and strange vocals start to dominate the rest of the album, setting the mood for Piasa… Devourer of Men which was recorded directly after Juggernaut. These tracks were exclusively created for a short film project by Mark Roman Bodnar and Kyrill Kazemirovitch Protsenko (a Ukraine/USA co-production) which resulted in a limited promo VHS release and a few festival screenings before the film was buried and forgotten. Segments from many of the ten tracks were actually used in the film, although there is much more to hear on the original full-length cuts found here. Some of the most unusual SCG studio recordings are contained on Juggernaut, all recorded live to 4-track cassette in 1993 in Seattle by Scott Colburn.
| Artist: |
SUN CITY GIRLS |
| Title: |
Piasa… Devourer of Men |
| Label: |
ABDUCTION |
| Format: |
CD |
| Price: |
$15.00 |
| Catalog #: |
ABD 003CD |
One of the strangest and most overlooked Sun City Girls recordings, Piasa… Devourer of Men was originally released on vinyl in 1994 and went out-of-print almost immediately. The record contains a series of short, folk-based tracks of raw beauty and intense moods. Most of the tracks were recorded in 1993 right after the completion of the Juggernaut soundtrack and some of the same ideas carried over into this project. A young and enthusiastic Italian director by the name of Antonio Pomola contracted SCG to create these recordings for his new film. The film was never completed and perhaps it was only an idea, but if it were to ever manifest, this music would certainly seem to fit the story line and the director's vision; the legend of a giant pre-historic flying reptilian terrorizing an early 1800s Indian tribe in Midwest America. Most of the tracks were created with acoustic instruments and voice and, with the exception of two tracks, the entire score was improvised. Recorded live to 4-track cassette by Scott Colburn, there is a strange, cohesive feel that runs throughout the album including several ceremonial and pan-ethnic tracks. Some cuts are completely indescribable. Reissued here on CD for the first time on Abduction, here is your chance to finally hear the cigarette played as a percussive instrument in an ashtray on the track "Nighthunting," among many other highly unique SCG tracks.
Never even knew these existed but they seem like as prime SCG as you're going to get. Not a SCG devotee by any means, though, and I doubt these would change that.
—
"An immersion into the sonic matter from micro- and macro-environments dominated by wind in Patagonia. A vast barren space shaped and inhabited by the ever-changing forces of unmuted plants, rocks, sand, snow, and ice. An irregular broad-band environment of relentless strength and richness. And above all, a tour de force of profound listening."
I would like to hear this. Lopez does quality field-recording based soundscapes. If not always the most engaging artist in this field, he's one of the best and most active and the level of dedication to the work is high enough to know that you're not getting the short end of the stick as a listener.
—
"Nono's 'Prometeo,' available on CD in surround sound for the first time ever! The glorious union of a legendary past, a Venetian atmosphere, philosophy, literature and music, merged by Nono into one of the greatest 'Gesamtkunstwerke' of the history of music and art. Technology and music: while there are certainly numerous examples of recordings of various kinds of music that use surround sound technology simply as an effective gadget, the adequate realization of 'Prometeo' indeed requires more than mere stereophony — simply the material extravagance including four orchestral groups, choir, narrators, singers, instrumental soloists and two conductors makes every performance of 'Prometeo' a very special sound event. And what is of particular importance is the exact distribution of the music, which is made to move through space virtually timelessly, with no beginning and no end, by the application of sophisticated live electronics. But Nono was not content with a perfect performance by all musicians involved 'but also expected very specific attitudes to the music from these musicians; things developed by the composer in a lengthy process together with all those who performed in the 1984 première; to some extent individual results and covenants, which had to be understood and passed on over and again ever since, for more than twenty years now.' –Lydia Jeschke. This exemplary reference quality recording is the first to succeed in adequately preserving the 'reproduction of the comprehensive spatiality' in 'Prometeo' for posterity. The double SACD includes a detailed booklet in German, English and French as well as a graphic score, comprising the complete text and a guide to the work." This is a hybrid SACD release that will also play on any CD player.
This and the new Music For 18 Musicians surround sound recording are good reason to start seriously investigating a surround sound setup.
—
| Artist: |
REICH, STEVE |
| Title: |
Music For 18 Musicians |
| Label: |
INNOVA |
| Format: |
CD/SACD |
| Price: |
$17.00 |
| Catalog #: |
INNO 678CD |
"1970s downtown New York City and Steve Reich's brand of minimalism are inextricably linked. That is all about to change. His era-defining opus, 'Music for 18 Musicians,' one of his most enduringly popular works with its creamy orchestration and trippy patterns, has found new roots in the heartland. A band of regular Michigan students and volunteers led by Bill Ryan has devoted the last year to perfecting it; in the process, turning it into something of a lifestyle. This hybrid SACD/CD audiophile, surround recording captures every phrase of the work, as though you were hearing it for the first time in your life, farm-fresh. Engineered by Silas Brown on location at Grand Rapids' Victorian temple to great music, the St. Cecilia's Music Center, the work seems newly-minted for the 21st century. Walking around Allendale, Michigan, home of the ensemble, where the land is flat, where one can see for miles and miles and miles, and where this view sometimes seems infinite, the music seems written for the location. The piece is huge, monolithic, yet unencumbered by its hour-long frame, by its huge staff of players and interlocking rhythms and melodies. It stretches long and far and encourages deep breathing and space, as does the home of this recording: The Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble performs 'Music for 18 Musicians' with a spirit and abandon befitting the passion of its composer, inspired by the commitment and experience of its leader, and with the exuberance and vision of its youth. With performances lauded by The New York Times and Bang On a Can marathoners, we now invite you to discover this ensemble, and to rediscover this extraordinary work in its 100% organic glory."
Yes, please. (If I get this I'll surely do a more in depth review.)
—
"At long last, the complete Now Eleanor's Idea quartet of operas is available on CD with the release of the final opera in the quartet, also called Now Eleanor's Idea. This release includes a booklet with the libretto and several pages of fantastic color photographs from Chimayo, NM, the town that helped inspire the story (well, that and Low Rider magazine). 'Opera likes to simplify and enlarge its characters to make them fit grand themes. Mr. Ashley goes in the opposite direction and arrives at the cosmos just as easily. Mundane chitchat about good eating habits or car repair turns to metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, not to mention psychiatry, before we know it.' –Bernard Holland, The New York Times. Robert Ashley's Now Eleanor's Idea is a quartet of short operas based on the notion of a sequence of events seen from four different points of view. At the same time, each opera is an allegory, like Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, for an individual's self-realization within the context of a major religion found in the United States. Improvement takes its imagery and plot from Judaism, 'Foreign Experiences' from Pentecostal Evangelism, 'eL/Aficionado' from Corporate Mysticism, and 'Now Eleanor's Idea' from (Spanish) Catholicism. While working at The Bank, the title character, Now Eleanor, has a sort of 'religious experience' that fills her with an 'approach of the end of the world feeling.' This feeling compels her to leave her job in the Midwest, move to New Mexico, and become a newscaster to try to discover the point where the religions of America — Judaism, Protestantism, Business and Catholicism merge. But there is more in store for her than she realizes."
I'm behind on these new Ashley operas. eL Aficianado and Your Money, My Life, Goodbye (despite it's great title) both scared me off from a good chunk of the newer material. Regardless, anything Ashley is worth a listen.
—
"Produced by Four Tet with artwork by Eye. The relationship between Four Tet & SHOTM began in August 2003 when Kieran Hebden read the cover story of The Wire, which touted SHOTM as leaders of the 'new weird America.' That story sent Hebden on a search for Sunburned records & he's been a fan ever since. In 2004, Hebden asked Sunburned to tour with him. A couple of years later in March 2006, Hebden asked the band if they would like him to record them with the idea that he would take the recordings & construct his vision of a Sunburned record."
Both Four Tet and Sunburned have been very boring recently, but I'm definitely not counting this one out just yet.
—
The Sub Rosa label presents the work of Alireza Mashayekhi and Ata Ebtekar/Sote, two essential, key luminaries in the so far very unknown electronic music scene as composed in Iran from the '60s until today. These Iranian music masters work on ancestral structures to create something radically new, travelling around the world as vivid creators, working through the hazards of history. Alireza Mashayekhi (b. 1940) is a pioneer Iranian avant-garde composer whose ideas and works have been performed in his home country and abroad for more than 35 years. Ata Ebtekar aka Sote (b.1972) is an electronic composer, sound artist and recording engineer who is interested in recasting the tuning of Persian classical scales (radif) and melodies from old Persian folk songs within a new electronic framework. Since he has a firm conviction that rules and formulas have to be deconstructed and rethought, he alters some of these modal systems from their original tonality and rhythm. He has released several CDs and vinyls on Dielectric/RLR, Spundae and Warp. Sub Rosa offers you a Persian history lesson that finally exposes this region's rich and significant contribution to the realm of electronic music. "This feels like the historical electronic music reissue of the year." — Mimaroglu
We're all such suckers for early electronic music, aren't we?
—
"There are few things in life as exhilarating as a new album by The Fiery Furnaces. Establishing themselves as one of rock music's most consistently engaging, exciting and thought-provoking bands, The Fiery Furnaces — made up of core brother/sister duo Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger — are well-versed in creating an album that manages to balance melody, originality, and a seemingly endless arsenal of instrumental ideas. Since their debut, Gallowbird's Bark, was released in 2003, The Fiery Furnaces have challenged the notion of what makes a song, weaving aural fragments into ten-minute-long opuses that take any number of melodic turns. Their songs often transcend categories redefining the pop song through their rapidly changing tempos and inventive sound selections — almost as quickly as Eleanor can spit out proper noun-laced lyrical gems, often so otherworldly, that they border on magical realism. While the band's sixth LP, Widow City, is rooted in the Furnaces' aesthetic of challenging conventional notions of timing and song structure, the record is absolutely unlike any other LP in their expansive and brilliant repertoire. In fact, Widow City, their first for Chicago's renowned Thrill Jockey Records, features some of the finest, catchiest Furnaces compositions to date."
A co-worker's comment about the album "She's a babe." That's obviously the idea here. I hope the album is a babe, too.
—
WOODEN HILL (UK)
FE just stocked on all the Wooden Hill UK releases. They're responsible for the great Bill Fay collection of demos and their others sound interesting from the copy. They're quite expensive, but if they're near the level on the Fay collection, they'd be worth it.
—
From September:
-
| Artist: |
IELASI, GIUSEPPE |
| Title: |
August |
| Label: |
12K |
| Format: |
CD |
| Price: |
$13.00 |
| Catalog #: |
12K 044CD |
"12k presents the latest solo work from Italian composer Giuseppe Ielasi. August is the 4th full-length CD from Ielasi following his critically-acclaimed debut, Plans (Sedimental, 2003) and the stunning Gesine and Untitled (Häpna, 2005, 2006). August takes a more linear approach to Ielasi's composing with sounds stretched like layers of gauze forming a thick, soft blanket. Utilizing piano, Hammond organ, guitars, dobro, synthesizers and shortwave radio, Ielasi creates deep, warm drones and suspended, scratchy melodies with a hint of despair and melancholy that make this a very introspective album. His trademark guitar and live approach to instrumentation are in the forefront, yet set behind an expertly processed veil of subtle electronics. The textures are unabashedly acoustic but buried and moody enough as to question their origin. August is a haunting, but beautiful album that falls neatly between the starkness of Gesine and the scattering rhythmic complexity of Untitled. Like music for a farewell, an ending of ends, August is moody, static, slow and emotional."
May have actually been the first person to buy an Unseen Worlds release whom I didn't know. Thanks, Giuseppe! Not a repeat customer yet (as far as I can tell), but that fact and the fact that he put out some fantastic CDs (Alvin Curran, Eliane Radigue, Rolf Julius) on his Fringes record label make me curious about all his work. Very highly esteemed improvising guitarist, too, it seems.
—
Staggering sound poetry document, in deluxe boxset. "Alga Marghen presents one of the most impressive sound poetry anthologies ever published, introducing you to the sound works of the Nouveau Realiste artist, Francois Dufrene. His work, along with that of Gil J Wolman and Brion Gysin, was a strong influence for experimental poets like Henri Chopin, Bernard Heidsieck and Ake Hodell. François Dufrene could be considered the younger of the first generation sound poets. Already in the Lettrist Group when he was only 16 years old, with his own style marked by an hyper-powerful voice. In 1953, at the age of 23, he became Ultra-Lettrist, starting his first Crirhythms by overpassing the alphabet in the perspective of the physical improvised scream. With the Crirhythms sound poetry enters for the first time in the factory of projective sounds. In the beginning Dufrene uses the tape recorder only to document his creations. These recordings show him that through the tape machine his poems could reach deeper and wider creative dynamics. Since the mid-1950s, the tape-machine became for him a poetical and experimental tool and Dufrene fully develops its potentials with stereophonic recordings as well as with the superimposition of his Crirhythms. The loudspeakers amplifies sounds while the microphone captures even the most detailed concrete sound produced by his voice. The physical tempest he produces is a real concrete electronic sound attack. Dufrene produced primitive, brutal poems opening the path of vocal sounds to contemporary composers: it's known that Pierre Henry was deeply inspired by Dufrene. The anthology presented here includes 10 Crirhythms from different periods dating from 1965 to 1976. Also included is 'Osmose-Art,' a long piece from 1969 divided in two suites where Dufrene superimposes his Crirhythms to classical music. A similar technique was applied a few years earlier adding jazz music (specially drum and percussion pieces) to poems marked by strong lettristic aesthetic. Two of those 'Lecture-collage' dating from 1965 are presented here, as well as two 'Comptinuum' from his early on-progress works started in 1958. François Dufrene also developed unique performances, with a live reading of his written text. The most famous is Tombeau de Pierre Larousse, published in 1958. This is a work half way between the written text and the sound poem whose unity is achieved through Dufrene performing it. It's a masterpiece of synthesis of active poetry. 'Eryximaque, suite choreographique au Tombeau Pierre Larusse' is also included in this anthology. Apart from the crirythmes that Henri Chopin issued on his Revue OU disc magazine (the complete OU anthology is available from Alga Marghen as a 4CD set) and a few short pieces issued on obscure sound poetry anthologies in the end of the 1960s, François Dufrene's work is practically unavailable. This 4LP anthology, conceived by the same author and privately issued as a 3 cassette edition in the mid-1970s, includes only previously unpublished sound works that finally fully documents the creativity of such a radical artist. Deluxe heavy boxset edition limited to 345 copies."
"François Dufrêne (1930-1982) is one of the leading artists from the post-war European and French art scene. He played a key role in many of the initiatives of Lettrism, Nouveau Réalisme and sound poetry. In François Dufrêne's oeuvre, art and poetry intersect in a reciprocal experimentation of the possibilities of transgression of their specific grammars. His oeuvre constitutes a singular example of this special relationship between art and language, which throughout the 20th century proved to be one of the most fertile grounds for expanding the limits seemingly imposed on Western art via the history of artistic genres. Many of his artistic creations use objects retrieved from the urban context, such as posters or stencils, or use the voice in non-linguistic contexts. Examples of the latter include his creation of the crirhythm, wherein he reinvented sound poetry and the relationship between performance and text. The present catalog attempts to present François Dufrêne's work as a totality, wherein it would be artificial to separate his status as a poet from that as a visual artist. Poems, books, records, recordings, reverse sides of posters, stencils, films and photographs documenting the artist's actions are combined together in a mosaic that makes it possible to reinterpret François Dufrêne's work as one of the most singular adventures of his epoch, and also re-evaluate the relevance of the challenges he posed to contemporary culture. The CD offered in the catalogue includes the fantastic crirhythm from 1970 titled 'Belle nuisances hantez nos nuits,' the complete 'Osmose-Art' from 1969 where crirhythms are superimposed to classical music, 'Eryximaque' and two 'Lecture-collage' from 1965 as well as the 1958-70 'Comptinuum.' All the sound works presented on the CD are also included in the 4LP boxset anthology issued by Alga Marghen and titled Oeuvre Desintegrale. Full colour catalogue in A4 size, 250 pages, all texts translated in English, French and Portuguese. The book includes a large selection of experimental visual works dating from 1957 to 1981 as well as the biography, essays and original texts (among them 'Pragmatics of Crirhythm' and 'The Crirhythm and the Rest' both from the mid-1960s). Full discography and filmography are also included. First edition of this large catalog, the first ever to fully document the work of François Dufrêne."
Sound poetry! When it's bad, it's really bad. When it's good, it's reallllly good. Like a lot of drama I guess. Anyhow, this seems like it could be especially nice if Henri Chopin is a fan.
—
Performed by Theatre of Voices, under the direction of Paul Hillier; recorded Sept. 2006. "With the 1968 Paris première of his 'Stimmung,' Karlheinz Stockhausen (b. 1928) exploded the very definition of vocal performance. This musical tour de force, made up of an unbroken sequence of 51 sonic models — entirely built on the overtones of B-flat and presented in every possible voice combination — experiments with new compositional techniques and deconstructs the mechanics of speech and song. Paul Hillier, a champion of early and contemporary vocal repertoire, leads Theatre of Voices in his newly created 'Copenhagen Version' of a 20th-century milestone that today remains as relevant as ever. Hillier's life-long relationship with 'Stimmung' began in the 1970s when he performed it as a member of Singcircle with the composer at the controls. With its serene but highly-charged aural landscape, the work is surprisingly one of Stockhausen's most accessible compositions: spiritual yet humorous, mystical yet worldly and erotic in its poetry." Hybrid CD/SACD disc that can play on any CD player, as well as SACD players.
The usual sort of too-clean blandness in Hilliard's work might actually be used to good effect here.
—
"Bob Downes is most often thought of as a jazz flautist, composer and group leader, but throughout his varied career that has included such diverse musical activity as working with the John Barry Seven and playing on Egg's second LP, he also had his own fluid conceptual group Open Music with principle bass player Barry Guy and drummer Denis Smith. Other players that passed through Open Music include Chris Spedding, Kenny Wheeler, Ray Russell, Ian Carr, Henry Lowther, Harry Beckett, Harry Miller, Barre Phillips, John Stevens and many others. Besides the free jazz and jazz rock influences, Bob Downes has also been involved in much experimental music. After his early '70s releases on Philips, Vertigo and Music For Pleasure there appeared a series of 3 private pressed LPs on his own label Openian that explored this more experimental style. Episodes at 4AM is the second in this series and is by far the strangest of the three. Released in 1974 and commissioned by the Welsh Dance Theatre, it consisted of 10 short duos performed by Wendy Benka on zither, dulcimer and small percussion, and Downes on flutes, various percussion and plenty of electronic manipulation. Nearly every sound on this LP was processed using a variety of shimmering delays, controlled feedback, reverb and speed change to create a haunting and delirious mix of musical styles and atmospheres. Taken from the master tapes, this 33-minute LP has been expanded for the CD release with 35 minutes of previously unreleased experimental works, mostly from the same period, that cover even more ground than the LP, including one piece made entirely from the sounds of various phone booths on the streets of New York."
Paradigm does good work, and this seems especially prime given all the references.
—
"Alchemical Playschool is easily one of the most unusual Legendary Pink Dots albums ever released. Based on the LP and double CD Indian Soundscapes (on Soleilmoon), these recordings are best enjoyed with a cold glass of Bhang Ki Thandai, following which the operation of heavy equipment or motor vehicles is strongly discouraged. Yes, this a trippy, psychedelic album, in the tradition of earlier 'Chemical Playschool' albums, but it's been dusted with magical powders from The Orient, making it an altogether different experience from its predecessors. As experimental and esoteric works go, this is the band's definitive work. The album was conceived at the end of the the Dots' 2004 North American tour. Edward Ka-Spel met with Soleilmoon owner Charles Powne, who had recently returned from a stay in India. Charles gave Edward a copy of his Indian Soundscapes 2CD, and invited him to take the material and use it in a new Dots recording. The resulting music borrows lightly from the source material, deftly blends it with the band's signature electronic wizardry, and distills a potent brew redolent with the aromas of saffron, cardamom and flowers. We think you'll find it both irresistible and unforgettable. This vinyl edition, limited to 250 copies, is presented in a deluxe silkscreened gatefold folder made of recycled sugarcane fiber, with a full-color 9.5 x 20 inch (24 x 51 cm) poster. Each record is kept in its own hand-made marigold flower petal-infused, plastic-lined sleeve."
A fragrant record, at least, this could be very good. I saw them on that 2004 tour and it's easily one of the best shows I've ever seen.
2007 repress of this 1998 release. "Our best-selling LPD release, back after a year-long sabbatical leave in East Diskothekistan."
This is a best-seller? I like the album title, but I bet a good album in addition to that is probably asking too much.
Originally recorded in 1972, as part of the long-standing Lansdowne Jazz series, this remarkable session was shelved and never issued. Recorded over two days in these famous studios, with a sublime line-up of top musicians, this represents a stunning but forgotten tribute to one of the UK's great lost jazz artists, Mike Taylor. Little is really known about Mike Taylor: an inspiring, unpredictable piano player, he recorded two super-rare albums for EMI Columbia, and later some of his compositions were recorded by Cream on their Wheels of Fire album. Taylor's music is like no one else's. It has a strange mystery, a strong and prescient feel — full of darkness, light and poetic jazz phrasing. Mike Taylor's 1965 trio would find themselves banned from London jazz venues, and their live shows were extraordinary, LSD-fueled affairs, unlike anything else on the scene at the time. Taylor enjoyed and experimented heavily with drugs, and succumbed to mental illness in the latter half of the 1960s. Homeless and broke, he deteriorated quickly, and his body was washed ashore in the Thames Estuary in late January 1969. He left behind a number of musical manuscripts he'd thrown away, rescued by a good friend from the bin. It's these compositions that form the basis of this album. Issued on vinyl for the very first time, featuring the cream of progressive British jazz artists of the late 1960s, early 1970s period: Neil Ardley, Ian Carr, Dave Gelly, Jon Hiseman, Henry Lowther, Barbara Thompson, Norma Winstone and more.
I don't loathe jazz as much as I used to, and I dig Ian Carr in that field.
It did peak my interest though, and when investigating later it turns out it's a disc that I'd already heard and forgotten about. Previously it had been packaged by Sony as Well, well, Cornelius, a piece on the disc and a reference to the late Cornelius Cardew, whom Skempton helped in his formation of The Scratch Orchestra around 1969.
