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The Philip Glass Ensemble was formed in 1968, because as Glass recalls, “I needed to have a consistent group of musicians to develop a new technical way of playing”. “Music with Twelve Parts” was completed between the years 1971 and 1974. The work’s compositional structure embodies all of the warmly hypnotic elements of Mr. Glass’s new musical language. Indeed, early performances of the piece tested the ensemble player’s physical and psychological perseverance.
This magisterial three-disc set was recorded over a period of four months, during the year 1993. Though there have been subtle changes in the personnel of Mr. Glass’s ensemble over the years, there have now been close to twenty years of performance experience with the twelve individual sections of the work. Or as Glass puts it: “Now we know the language and we’re fluent in it”.
An epochal three hour and twenty-six minute work, “Music with Twelve Parts” is intended to be heard in one sitting, without distractions of any kind. Indeed, preparing a time and place for such an intensive immersion, in this day and age, can be seen to be a type of rarefied art work, all on its own. In 1968, as Glass fondly recalls, “it was easy to find people to listen to this music every Thursday night, because nobody had anything else to do anyway”.
In early days of 2008, however, listening to this ecstatic work, with its systematic augmentation and contraction of harmony, is Glass’s way of “making serious fun not only with other people, but with myself as well”. “Music with Twelve Parts” is a compelling and original musical statement that will inspire earnest listeners for many years to come.
01. Philip Glass: “Part 1″ (from “Music In Twelve Parts”, Nonesuch, 1996)
02. Philip Glass: “Part 3″ (from “Music In Twelve Parts”, Nonesuch, 1996)
03. Philip Glass: “Part 4″ (from “Music In Twelve Parts”, Nonesuch, 1996)
04. Philip Glass: “Part 5″ (from “Music In Twelve Parts”, Nonesuch, 1996)
If you are going to own one Philip Glass cd, let it be this one. Yes his later work has some value but this is Philip Glass at his most original and amplified. Obviously, an influence (remember that it was recorded years after it was written) on krautrock, synth pop, maybe even industrial. Suicide and Spacemen 3 are known fans. Is this pretentious? Probably but try rock operas or concept albums and maybe this isn’t quite as bad. After all, before the minimalists, the classical fare of the day was serialism and twelve tone music, meaning that any music that displayed any signs of musicality would be disregarded. Also popular among the avant-garde at the time were the beginning of today’s free improv. scene, groups such as AMM or Musica Electronica Viva that would literally play randomly as long as the audience could tolerate it. Not too much fun. Just as punk was to rock and free jazz was to jazz, minimalism was to classical music. All of these pieces still sound original and fresh, though Philip Glass’ much more conventional recent orchestral and choral works border on tedium. One of the most important works of contemporary classical.
01. Philip Glass: “Two Pages” (from “Two Pages, Contrary Motion, Music In Fifths, Music In Similar Motion”, Nonesuch, 1994)
02. Philip Glass: “Contrary Motion” (from “Two Pages, Contrary Motion, Music In Fifths, Music In Similar Motion”, Nonesuch, 1994)
03. Philip Glass: “Music in Fifths” (from “Two Pages, Contrary Motion, Music In Fifths, Music In Similar Motion”, Nonesuch, 1994)
04. Philip Glass: “Music in Similar Motion” (from “Two Pages, Contrary Motion, Music In Fifths, Music In Similar Motion”, Nonesuch, 1994)
Michael Stearns is a composer and soundtrack designer who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has traveled the world recording indigenous music while absorbing the flavors of faraway sacred places. His work includes music, sound design and soundtrack production for feature films, large format films, commercials, documentaries and theme parks. He has thirty three published recordings, twenty solo works and thirteen collaborations. Other credits include music for Disney Films, PBS, HBO, ABC’s “The World of Explorers”, 20/20, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and Ron Fricke’s non-verbal global film masterpieces “Baraka”, “Chronos” and “Sacred Site”. His music has been used by NASA, Laserium, and choreographed by the Berkshire Ballet. Among his special venue credits, he has produced the soundtracks to “Back to the Future, The Ride” and “Star Trek, The Experience”. Stearns works in his multi channel surround recording and post production facility, Earth Turtle Studio. His stylistically diverse and technically polished body of music moved one English music critic to write, “Michael Stearns is probably the best, and certainly the most consistently intriguing American synthesist around”.
01. Michael Stearns: “Elysian E” (from “Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987, Fathom/Hearts of Space, 1996)
02. Michael Stearns: “M’ocean” (from “Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987, Fathom/Hearts of Space, 1996)
03. Michael Stearns: “Morning” (from “Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987, Fathom/Hearts of Space, 1996)
04. Michael Stearns: “Ancient Leaves” (from “Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987, Fathom/Hearts of Space, 1996)
05. Michael Stearns: “Subterranean Ambiance” (from “Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987, Fathom/Hearts of Space, 1996)
06. Michael Stearns: “Jewel” (from “Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987, Fathom/Hearts of Space, 1996)
07. Michael Stearns: “Night Currents” (from “Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987, Fathom/Hearts of Space, 1996)
08. Michael Stearns: “The Dragon’s Dream World” (from “Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987, Fathom/Hearts of Space, 1996)
09. Michael Stearns: “Desert Moon Walk” (from “Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987, Fathom/Hearts of Space, 1996)
Possibly the longest continuous musical composition ever released on any format, Somnium represents an ambient music landmark. Robert Rich has meticulously crafted a fresh studio interpretation of his notorious all-night Sleep Concerts, incorporating newly recorded electro-acoustic, electronic and environmental textures, with elements created for the original live events. Somnium guides the listener through an ever-changing dreamscape, with levels of subtle detail that reward both active attention and background listening. Deep and sonorous, mysterious and diffuse, liquid and hypnogogic.
01. Robert Rich: “Somnium Part 3b” (from “Somnium” DVD, Hypnos, 2001)
Possibly the longest continuous musical composition ever released on any format, Somnium represents an ambient music landmark. Robert Rich has meticulously crafted a fresh studio interpretation of his notorious all-night Sleep Concerts, incorporating newly recorded electro-acoustic, electronic and environmental textures, with elements created for the original live events. Somnium guides the listener through an ever-changing dreamscape, with levels of subtle detail that reward both active attention and background listening. Deep and sonorous, mysterious and diffuse, liquid and hypnogogic.
01. Robert Rich: “Somnium Part 3a” (from “Somnium” DVD, Hypnos, 2001)
Possibly the longest continuous musical composition ever released on any format, Somnium represents an ambient music landmark. Robert Rich has meticulously crafted a fresh studio interpretation of his notorious all-night Sleep Concerts, incorporating newly recorded electro-acoustic, electronic and environmental textures, with elements created for the original live events. Somnium guides the listener through an ever-changing dreamscape, with levels of subtle detail that reward both active attention and background listening. Deep and sonorous, mysterious and diffuse, liquid and hypnogogic.
01. Robert Rich: “Somnium Part 2b” (from “Somnium” DVD, Hypnos, 2001)
Possibly the longest continuous musical composition ever released on any format, Somnium represents an ambient music landmark. Robert Rich has meticulously crafted a fresh studio interpretation of his notorious all-night Sleep Concerts, incorporating newly recorded electro-acoustic, electronic and environmental textures, with elements created for the original live events. Somnium guides the listener through an ever-changing dreamscape, with levels of subtle detail that reward both active attention and background listening. Deep and sonorous, mysterious and diffuse, liquid and hypnogogic.
01. Robert Rich: “Somnium Part 2a” (from “Somnium” DVD, Hypnos, 2001)
Possibly the longest continuous musical composition ever released on any format, Somnium represents an ambient music landmark. Robert Rich has meticulously crafted a fresh studio interpretation of his notorious all-night Sleep Concerts, incorporating newly recorded electro-acoustic, electronic and environmental textures, with elements created for the original live events. Somnium guides the listener through an ever-changing dreamscape, with levels of subtle detail that reward both active attention and background listening. Deep and sonorous, mysterious and diffuse, liquid and hypnogogic.
01. Robert Rich: “Somnium Part 1b” (from “Somnium” DVD, Hypnos, 2001)
Possibly the longest continuous musical composition ever released on any format, Somnium represents an ambient music landmark. Robert Rich has meticulously crafted a fresh studio interpretation of his notorious all-night Sleep Concerts, incorporating newly recorded electro-acoustic, electronic and environmental textures, with elements created for the original live events. Somnium guides the listener through an ever-changing dreamscape, with levels of subtle detail that reward both active attention and background listening. Deep and sonorous, mysterious and diffuse, liquid and hypnogogic.
01. Robert Rich: “Somnium Part 1a” (from “Somnium” DVD, Hypnos, 2001)
“Propagation” is an expression of Rich’s interest in biology and is a tribute to the proliferation of organic life in all its forms. It features a complex range of world music influences, just tunings and guest performers.
“Bestiary” showcases the musical concept that Rich has long referred to as “glurp”. It evokes a frenetic and surreal landscape inhabited by a wide variety of bizarre organisms. Work on this album began while Rich was working to create a library of Acid Loops for the Sonic Foundry company. He had previously created an Acid Loop library in 1999 called Liquid Planet. In this project Rich began creating a library of unusual sounds with his new MOTM modular synthesizer. As the synthesizer grew, Rich became increasingly impressed by its potential and decided to abandon the Acid Loop project in favor of creating a new album. MIDI played an extremely limited role in this album as most of its material was recorded live to hard disc with the audio feature of the Cubase program. It was then assembled into a continuous 53 minute audio file.
“Electric Ladder” returns to a more active and sequenced style that Rich explored in “Geometry” and “Gaudí” (both from 1991).
“Lithosphere” is a collaborative album by electronic musicians Robert Rich and Ian Boddy. Like their previous collaboration “Outpost”, this album was released as a limited edition of 2000 copies.
01. Robert Rich: “Whispers of Eden” (from “Propagation”, Hearts of Space, 1994)
02. Robert Rich: “Luminous Horizon” (from “Propagation”, Hearts of Space, 1994)
03. Robert Rich: “Guilin” (from” Propagation”, Hearts of Space, 1994)
04. Robert Rich: “Aquifer” (from “Electric Ladder”, Soundscape, 2006)
05. Robert Rich: “Never Alone” (from “Electric Ladder”, Soundscape, 2006)
06. Robert Rich: “Folded Space” (from”Bestiary”, Relapse, 2001)
07. Robert Rich: “Premonition of Circular Clouds” (from”Bestiary”, Relapse, 2001)
08. Robert Rich & Ian Boddy: “Glass” (from “Lithosphere”, DiN, 2005)
09. Robert Rich & Ian Boddy: “Subduction” (from “Lithosphere”, DiN, 2005)
10. Robert Rich & Ian Boddy: “Stone” (from “Lithosphere”, DiN, 2005)
11. Robert Rich & Ian Boddy: “Metamorphic” (from “Lithosphere”, DiN, 2005)
12. Robert Rich & Ian Boddy: “Melt” (from “Lithosphere”, DiN, 2005)
Aboriginal didgeridoos, ‘conch shells’ (shells belonging to Hindu musical tradition, often played during religious ceremonies), ‘waterphones’ (water instruments, used in ambient music and derived from Tibetan musical instruments), and (but not only) ‘pod rattles’ (percussion instruments from Zimbabwe). All of this, together with more classic instruments (trombone, oboe) and some unusual ones (clarinet-contrabass), was skillfully organized to articulate the varied frame of this improvisational ensemble, centered around Annea Lockwood’s strong personality. Hypnotic sequences, rarefied and full of mysticism, dream-like atmospheres and breaths. When the contemporary nature of sounds is mixed with ancient energies, the results can be very interesting: it’s enough to shy away from new age excesses and pretentious spiritualities.
“Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet” late minimalist, 74-minute piece for orchestra and tape has had, and continues to have, a near-legendary effect on its audience. It’s the rare work created specifically to tug gently at one’s heartstrings that actually does, and not subtly, either. It starts with a found recording of a homeless man singing a halting, simple melody looped over and over. Then Bryars builds and buttresses this with a full orchestra brought in incrementally, from the first carefully placed short pendulum string sweep to, 10 minutes from the end, the gravelly-voiced singer Tom Waits joins in. It’s an obvious but effective work–appealing to all the basics of our emotional nervous system, but still tragically beautiful.
Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
Never failed me yet
Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
There’s one thing I know
For he loves me so …
01. Annea Lockwood: “Thousand Year Dreaming” (from “Thousand Year Dreaming”, Nonsequitur/What Next Recordings, 1993)
02. Gavin Bryars with Tom Waits: “Tramp And Tom Waits With Full Orchestra” (from “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet”, Point Music, 1993)
“Web” has some of the most abrasive, industrial leaning ambient of either of these composers’ careers. Chains rattle, voices whisper menacingly, and dark, dissonant textures and deep bass drones collide on a trio of extended tracks united by the questionably thematic topic of digital communications technology. Difficult but rewarding.
“Second Nature” is a typical Bill Laswell excursion into the murkiest depths of ambient experimentalism, meaning there’s no danceable beats, no hummable grooves, and virtually no firm melodic ground for listeners to grab hold of. That said, patient listening will be rewarded in due time. This is some seriously crazy, experimental stuff; a bit too subtle for casual listeners, but an interesting ride for those passengers willing to ride it out to the end of the line.
American bassist Bill Laswell (Praxis, Massacre, etc.) is the founder of ‘collision music’ – a collaborative concept that brings together musicians from divergent instrumentations and backgrounds. “City of Light” is about Banaras, a city older than history, tradition, way beyond legends. It is Shiva’s land, founded at the dawn of creation. It is India’s oldest and most fabled city. The Hindus call it Kashi, the luminous…
01. Bill Laswell, Terre Thaemlitz: “Open URL” (from “Web”, Subharmonic, 1995)
02. Bill Laswell, Terre Thaemlitz: “Transfer Complete” (from “Web”, Subharmonic, 1995)
03. Atom Heart, Tetsu Inoue, Bill Laswell: “Green Paste” (from “Second Nature”, Submeta, 1996)
04. Bill Laswell: “Kashi (with Tetsu Inoue)” (from “City Of Light”, Sub Rosa, 1997)
05. Bill Laswell: “Above The Earth (with Lori Carson)” (from “City Of Light”, Sub Rosa, 1997)
06. Bill Laswell: “Nothing” (from “City Of Light”, Sub Rosa, 1997)
Jet Chamber is Pete Namlook & Atom Heart.
Possibly one of NASA’s most avant-garde projects ever, “Symphonies of the Planets” is a five-CD set that is now out of print. Put simply, it consists of recordings made by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 as they passed by the various planets and moons of our solar system. Although sound as we perceive it cannot travel in the vacuum of space, each planet and moon emits its own electromagnetic “signature” that can be picked up by the right instruments, and those emanations can be converted into sound and recorded onto compact discs for your listening enjoyment. Of the five discs in the set, Volume 1 is my personal favorite, but all of them are definitely worth checking out. Each disc is only around 30 minutes long, but those 30 minutes are packed with cosmic ambience that is even more profound when you consider that no human artist composed this. Fans of Dr. Fiorella Terenzi’s similar recordings of space will find this stuff to their liking, although a bit more “dark” and atmospheric than hers.
“Luxa” was Harold Budd’s first solo album since 1991′s “By the Dawn’s Early Light”. The time between solo album was spent recording and collaborating with the likes of Zeitgeist, Andy Partridge, and Hector Zazou. This album also marked a break for Budd from writing for ensembles, as he had throughout the 1990s. One notable difference between this keyboard-focused album and the last one like it (1988′s acclaimed “The White Arcades”) are the brighter tones Budd displays on each instrumental. While tracks such as “Mandan” and “Agnes Martin” are decidedly moodier, many others have a warm, languid feel, possibly due to the influence of the desert around Mesa, Arizona, where this album was recorded. “Luxa” may be not be as inventive as other Budd works, and there are a few familiar fragments floating about, but it still maintains a hypnotic hold on the listener while inspiring cinematic images in the mind’s eye. The veteran composer’s mastery of space and silence still places him far above the legions of New Age imitators who use minimalism as a crutch rather than as a true means of expression.
01. Jet Chamber: “Calm Box” (from “Jet Chamber II”, Fax +49-69/450464, 1996)
02. NASA – Voyager Recordings: “Symphonies of the Planets 01″ (from “Symphonies of the Planets”, LaserLight Digital, 1992)
03. Harold Budd: “Nove Alberi” (from “Luxa”, All Saints, 1996)
04. Harold Budd: “Chet” (from “Luxa”, All Saints, 1996)
“Index02″ is a bargain label sampler from DiN, featuring contributions from Reuter/Boddy, arc, Sunsonic Experience and dbkaos. All tickled into a continuous 78 minute mix by Ian Boddy, many people will already be privy to the DiN sound thanks to the “Index01″ CD dished out with Wire back in 2001. Acting as an aural cousin to that release, “Index02″ inhabits a similar paddock of electronica, serving up hot and creamy solitude in a style reminiscent of The Blue Room. Keeping any mixing shenanigans to a bare minimum, Boddy’s unobtrusive segueing allows the individual tracks to shine independently rather than being trussed up on an over-arching structure which requires your full attention. Beatific throughout and cheap as chips, “Index02″ is the sound that dust caught in sunlight would make were nature a bit more conducive to electronica.
“Lithosphere” is the second collaborative release between DiN label boss Ian Boddy & American ambient pioneer Robert Rich. Following on from their debut album “Outpost” (2002) the duo once again decided to eschew the false economy of a purely virtual collaboration and convened at Rich’s Californian Soundscape studio to physically work together over an intense period of 10 days. Following Boddy ‘s departure Rich then honed and fine-tuned the arrangements before finalising the mastering of the project. Whereas “Outpost” was sonically ‘out there’ and was perceived by many to have its heart in the realms of space music, “Lithosphere” has a more earthy, organic quality. Once again the album is centered around Rich ‘s signature lap steel guitar voicings and the deep bass rumblings of his analogue MOTM modular system. However Boddy ‘s input is unexpected in its direction with astonishing sound design elements intermingling with delicate keyboard textures using high quality sampled glass & stone percussion instruments together with haunting string & woodwind loops. One of the binding forces for this album was the duo’s decision to utilise an alternate just intonation tuning. This at times gives the harmonies a piquant flavour whereas at others a glistening quality that just adds to the sonic exotica that Boddy & Rich have concocted on “Lithosphere”. Boddy has always pushed the aspect of collaborations within his DiN catalogue and “Lithosphere” shows the true advantage such a philosophy brings to bear musically on the labels output. The album is a true reflection of the two artists combined efforts and could only have been produced with their joint work ethic. “Outpost” is one of the most popular DiN albums. There ‘s every chance that “Lithosphere”could surpass the high standard that its illustrious predecessor has set.
I first came in contact with Inoue on hearing the sublime “Active/Freeze” collaboration with Taylor Deupree on 12k. Since then I have managed to backtrack through his vast collection of releases including collaborations with such scene luminaries as Bill Laswell and Atom Heart. This new record for the DiN label is possibly the most completely realised record I can bring to mind from Inoue, and he displays a masterful grasp of marrying live instrumentation and digital noise. Each track has a certain crystalline property to it, but it avoids the usual trapping of ‘ambient’ music and never breaches that boundary into the dreaded world of ‘New Age’. Musical comparisons would range from Harold Budd and Shuttle 358 to the thick noisy clouds of Tim Hecker.
Taking a hefty chunk of influence from Tangerine Dream and then blending it with 1990s IDM isn’t a direction you’d expect an artist to take, but then Ian Boddy’s been doing this stuff for quite some time now and has built up something of a reputation. Although it occasionally skates rather close to the new age genre, much of “Elemental” has more in common with Manual, Ulrich Schnauss or at times even US retro-synth dudes Zombi. It’s not that I can’t take synth-prog music (I not-so-secretly love it…) but there’s something about the way Boddy seems to rely on playing it safe that makes “Elemental” a little less than breathtaking.
“Conundrum” marks the musical meeting point of Klaus Hoffman-Hoock and Bernhard Wostheinreich, which integrates the experimental noodlings of the former with the electronic processing techniques of the latter. “Conundrum” is a trance-inducing blend of digital ambience and ethereal, often droning instrumentation. The album’s title track makes an outright foray into Eastern sounds, giving the piece a distinctly new age sensibility which runs through much of the rest of the album, albeit in a less pronounced fashion.
01. dbkaos: “Hydrosphere” (from “Index02″, DIN, 2005)
02. ARC: “Silent White Light” (from “Index02″, DIN, 2005)
03. Robert Rich & Ian Boddy: “Glass” (from “Lithosphere”, DIN, 2005)
04. Robert Rich & Ian Boddy: “Subduction” (from “Lithosphere”, DIN, 2005)
05. Robert Rich & Ian Boddy: “Stone” (from “Lithosphere”, DIN, 2005)
06. Tetsu Inoue: “Remote” (from “Yolo”, DIN, 2005)
07. Tetsu Inoue: “Particular Moments” (from “Yolo”, DIN, 2005)
08. Tetsu Inoue: “Flow” (from “Yolo”, DIN, 2005)
09. Ian Boddy: “Never Forever” (from “Boddy Elemental”, DIN, 2006)
10. Ian Boddy: “If All The World Was Blue” (from “Boddy Elemental”, DIN, 2006)
11. Ian Boddy: “Flux” (from “Boddy Elemental”, DIN, 2006)
12. Hoffmann-Hoock & Wöstheinrich: “Conundrum” (from “Conundrum”, DIN, 2007)
13. Hoffmann-Hoock & Wöstheinrich: “Swarmandel” (from “Conundrum”, DIN, 2007)
14. Hoffmann-Hoock & Wöstheinrich: “Moonlit” (from “Conundrum”, DIN, 2007)
Current is of a piece, a 20-minute steady emergence from chirping quietude into a slightly louder and progressively richer sound world. It’s not very different from any number of recordings that listeners in these parts will have heard before, but…well, it is. Structurally, its additive nature will be familiar as the initial crickety nightscape is layered with a discreet organ-like tone, a persistent (though not insistent) three beats of wood and, later, what seem to be embellishments of clarinet origin. The music splays out gently toward its conclusion in a kind of soft, silty delta. Then it’s over before you realize it. I’m not sure there’s much more to say except that, if you appreciate the choices Chartier makes here, as I do, you’ll find “Current” to be a thoughtful, even ingratiating bubble of ideas.
The Australian composer and electronic artist Lawrence English delivers a record for varying degrees of winter. Sounds twinkle and scintillate like snow under the sun, they shine like icicles, they hiss like a polar wind and seep into you through your insufficiently isolated ear holes. Each one of the six pieces is a monochrome composition ranging from the blinding whites of the snow to the blue-grays of cloudy days. Although English’s music can be quite abstract at times, here it turns out to be suprisingly evocative an inhabited by an understated sense of musicality. Recorded in 2005-2006 in Japan, Hong Kong, Europe and at home in Australia, For Varying Degrees Of Winter features contributions by Mike Cooper, Janek Schaefer and Aki Onda.
01. Richard Chartier: “Current” (from “Current”, Room40, 2006)
02. Lawrence English: “End Game” (from “For Varying Degrees Of Winter”, Baskaru, 2006)
03. Lawrence English: “Fleck” (from “For Varying Degrees Of Winter”, Baskaru, 2006)
04. Lawrence English: “Desert Road” (from “For Varying Degrees Of Winter”, Baskaru, 2006)
05. Lawrence English: “Swan” (from “For Varying Degrees Of Winter”, Baskaru, 2006)
06. Lawrence English: “Soft Touch” (from “For Varying Degrees Of Winter”, Baskaru, 2006)
07. Lawrence English: “Unsettled Sleep” (from “For Varying Degrees Of Winter”, Baskaru, 2006)
I listened to a fair sampling of Laswell-related projects during the mid-1990s (he had waaaay too much product) and this disc was one of the ones I really liked. What we have here is a various artist collection that remains remarkably cohesive on the whole and also offers some stand-out tracks, depending on your cup of tea (a darker one here, to be sure). I was heavily into isolationist sounscapes at the time this was released and most of the artists here contributed something to that ambient sub-genre. Anyway, I lost sight of this CD for some time and stumbled on it again recently and have been enjoying a resurgence of interest in it! It’s a great late-night or early-morning piece to sip your coffee and/or read to.
With Paul Schutze’s Green Evil, we have an 11-minute plus excerpt from his album with the same name (and I believe only one of two tracks here that was featured on other albums). Schutze has a very recognizable sound, and yet – to his credit -plays it ‘very’ minimal here. Pete Namlook’s “Subharmonic Invocation of the Dark Spirits,” nearly 13 minutes of cavernous rumblings through a yawning abyss. A straight-ahead dark ambient piece. Thomas Koner is a well-respected master of cold and sparse ambient. He’s one of those guys who you might initially compare to someENOone else but who has really taken things to a new level and gone his own way with it. His work is typically out-of-print and therefore goes for a premium when you do find it, but here you’ll get a good sample of what he does best on this disk. This track actually has some percussive elements, which are rare for him. Laswell himself provides the longest piece on the set, the 30-minute long “Black Dangers” (despite the title’s name being overly stated, it’s a wonderfully sparse and barren track that remains delightfully consistant for its duration) and plays well with the rest of the CD set. This is a rather solid double CD, “well worth” any ambient fan’s money. If you love the darker domains of ambient, then make room for this disk!
01. Bill Laswell: “Black Dangers” (from “Divination: Distill”, Sub Meta, 1995)
02. Paul Schutze: “Green Evil” (from “Divination: Distill”, Sub Meta, 1995)
03. Pete Namlook: “Subharmonic Invocation Of The Dark Spirits” (from “Divination: Distill”, Sub Meta, 1995)
04. Thomas Köner: “Zone” (from “Divination: Distill”, Sub Meta, 1995)
Finally, the much-discussed and highly sought-after ‘Shortwavemusic’ has made it to cd, almost ten years after its initial release . The album originally appeared back in 1998 on Carsten Nicolai’s Noton label (which as we all know would eventually turn into experimental powerhouse Raster Noton) and was issued as vinyl LP only, so this is in fact the first time the album has appeared on compact disc, not only this but Basinski has kindly bumped the package up with an extra 15 minute track. It’s not like you should need much coaxing to invest in a Basinski record, but seriously this one is worth taking notice of – we are all big fans of his other shortwavemusic exploration ‘The River’ (on Raster Noton) and this epic series of compositions is easily comparable. Using fragments of muzak recorded from the radio, Basinski chopped, re-pitched and looped these familiar elements to procure the haunting waves of sound on the record and then draped them in a gown of shortwave static, humming and hissing in accompaniment. It is almost impossible to comprehend that Basinski was recording this stuff back in 1982, it still sounds so futuristic and prophetic, the delicate and sentimental ghost-like melodies and the sheets of echoing fizzing and buzzing. Basinski manages to make music which is at the same time distinctly referential of the past, or should I say respectful of the past, and uniquely forward-facing, and in such he manages to create music that is defiantly his own. He has hollowed out his own special place in the music scene, garnering fans from the oddest of places (Madonna??) and that’s in some part down to the fact that his music is just so beautiful, sidestepping academic concerns with ease. Anyone who dares suggest that instrumental music, that ‘experimental’ music can’t affect you emotionally just needs to take a listen to this disc; it is a collection of music that seems to suggest the end is near, the end of what exactly is up to you to decide? absolutely breathtaking in every way…
Space is directly involved in Peter Pannke’s alchemical compositions. His Music for Unborn Children uses four tanpuras arranged at opposite angles within a square. In each case, a man faces a woman, with the men playing female (high) instruments and the women playing male (low) instruments. A maximum balance, not only of instruments facing each other, but of performers who do the same things and also take from each other. Sitting at the centre of this mass of sound, the listener gets the impression of being inside the belly of a tanpura, like in a womb, and whilst feeling pleasantly secure in a state of equilibrium and harmony, all he or she wishes is that this state should continue for as long as possible.
01. William Basinski: “Cobalt Pools” (from “Shortwavemusic”, 2062, 2007)
02. William Basinski: “Fringe Area” (from “Shortwavemusic”, 2062, 2007)
03. Peter Pannke: “Teil I” (from “Music For Unborn Children”, Wergo, 1988)
04. Peter Pannke: “Teil II” (from “Music For Unborn Children”, Wergo, 1988)
An aural journey from the source of the river, in the high peak area of the Adirondacks, downstream to the Lower Bay and the Atlantic Ocean; Lockwood traces the course of the Hudson through on-site recordings of its flow at 15 separate locations. Annea Lockwood has recorded rivers in many countries to explore the special state of mind and body which the sounds of moving water create when one listens intently to the complex mesh of rhythms and pitches. The listener will find that each stretch of the Hudson has its own sonic texture, formed by the terrain, varying according to the weather, the season and downstream, the human environment whose sounds are intimately woven into the river’s sounds.
01. Annea Lockwood: “A Sound Map of the Hudson River” (from “A Sound Map of the Hudson River”, Lovely Music, 1989)
William Basinski is a classically trained musician and composer who has been working in experimental media for over 25 years in NYC. His haunting and melancholy soundscapes explore the temporal nature of life resounding with the reverberations of memory and the mystery of time.
01. William Basinski: “6″ (from “The Disintegration Loops IV”, 2062, 2004)
02. William Basinski: “Melancholia 1″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
03. William Basinski: “Melancholia 2″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
04. William Basinski: “Melancholia 3″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
05. William Basinski: “Melancholia 4″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
06. William Basinski: “Melancholia 5″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
07. William Basinski: “Melancholia 6″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
08. William Basinski: “Melancholia 7″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
09. William Basinski: “Melancholia 8″ (from ” Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
10. William Basinski: “Melancholia 9″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
11. William Basinski: “Melancholia 12″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
12. William Basinski: “Melancholia 13″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
13. William Basinski: “Melancholia 14″ (from “Melancholia”, Durtro, 2003)
Ars Musica, March 16, 1991, 11:00 pm: in almost total darkness, Le Bureau des Pianistes begins the complete works for several pianists of Morton Feldman (1926-1987). We are off for nearly three hours of music, the most lavish work for combined keyboards since Milhaud: a dozen pieces for every formation from three hands to five pianos. In an atmosphere of semi-darkness and restraint – how many ploys we need to rediscover the ways of true contemplation! – that night was for us, the pianists of Le Bureau, a privileged moment of total liberation from classical constraint: no virtuosity here, no pianistic effects; sparse, almost non-existant dynamics, here and there, a few effect of synchronization. The Feldmanian universe works as a pacifier, and at last oblivious of time’s flight, all our sensibilities bend to listen to a soaring within us – a precarious state, close to sleep, demanding an absolute attention, an infinite restraint at the limit of objectivity.
01. Morton Feldman: “Piece For Four Pianos” (from “Pieces For More Than Two Hands by Le Bureau Des Pianists”, Unclassical Sub Rosa, 1991)
02. Morton Feldman: “Intermission IV” (from “Pieces For More Than Two Hands by Le Bureau Des Pianists”, Unclassical Sub Rosa, 1991)
03. Morton Feldman: “Piano – Four Hands” (from “Pieces For More Than Two Hands by Le Bureau Des Pianists”, Unclassical Sub Rosa, 1991)
04. Morton Feldman: “Two Pianos” (from “Pieces For More Than Two Hands by Le Bureau Des Pianists”, Unclassical Sub Rosa, 1991)
05. Morton Feldman: “Five Pianos” (from “Pieces For More Than Two Hands by Le Bureau Des Pianists”, Unclassical Sub Rosa, 1991)
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