In stock
LP
Robert NASVELD
“Robert Nasveld”
Robert Nasveld (born 1955) studied piano at the Utrecht Conservatory and specialized in the twentieth-century repertoire, with a particular focus on Dutch, Russian, and American music. He thoroughly immersed himself in the piano works of the American composer George Crumb with concerts in Europe, Russia, and the United States. As a composer he also studied electronic music with Ton Bruynèl and recorded a handful of tape pieces which are collected on this LP. They were created at Ton Bruynèl’s studio at the Utrecht Conservatory and the Institute for Sonology in Utrecht. Rather than using electronics for mere futuristic sound effects, he utilizes tape to create expansive acoustic environments. He expertly controls large, sweeping arches of sound, maintaining a continuous musical line while layering highly unpredictable and contrasting sonic elements. Nasveld also worked as a program producer for the Dutch National Radio and presented a series dedicated to electronic music pioneers.
26,00€
In stock
LP
WIRED (Michael RANTA & Karl-Heinz BÖTTNER)
“Kyoto 1970”
Wired was an ephemeral improvisational music project formed by Michael Ranta, Karl-Heinz Böttner, and Mike Lewis. On 28 April 1970, the trio recorded an extended studio session of approximately 140 minutes, in collaboration with Conny Plank, who engineered and mixed the recording in real time, incorporating elements of live electronics. This session was subsequently edited to album length and released in 1974 as part of the Free Improvisation 3LP box set issued by Deutsche Grammophon, alongside recordings by Iskra and New Phonic Art.
Owing to its exploratory electric sound world and Plank’s distinctive spatial production techniques, the Wired recording acquired a degree of underground cult status, particularly among listeners associated with krautrock and psychedelic improvisation.
Shortly after the studio session, Ranta and Böttner travelled to Japan, where they spent approximately six months performing with Karlheinz Stockhausen at Expo ’70 in Osaka. In addition to these activities, they engaged in various independent musical projects and performances.
The present release, sourced from the personal archive of Michael Ranta, documents a live duo performance by Ranta and Böttner, recorded on 27 July 1970 in an outdoor setting in Kyoto (the exact location remains unknown), before an audience of approximately 200 music teachers. The recording exhibits sonic and aesthetic characteristics closely aligned with the previously recorded studio material, retaining the distinctive “Wired” sound while situating it within a live, site-specific context.
Michael Ranta: percussion, voice, home-made instruments, tapes, tape delay, effects
Karl-Heinz Böttner: guitar, organ, ocarina, voice, effects
26,00€
In stock
3 LP box
Liliane DONSKOY
“Intégrale Acousmatique” (box)
Hardboard linen box set edition with 8 page booklet and download code - 200 copies
Metaphon is pleased to present this première edition, which brings together a near-complete collection of the acousmatic works of Liliane Donskoy, recorded in the 1970s and 1980s.
Liliane Donskoy (*1933) is a French, classically trained pianist, music teacher, and composer of both instrumental and acousmatic music. She began her musical training at an early age, undertaking private piano studies with Yves Nat at the age of thirteen, shortly after the Second World War. During the 1960s and 1970s, she pursued advanced studies with prominent figures of twentieth-century music, including Darius Milhaud, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Schaeffer, and Guy Reibel, and participated in courses led by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, and Iannis Xenakis.
Despite this extensive and diverse training, Donskoy encountered limited institutional and professional opportunities to fully realize her artistic vision. A decisive turning point occurred in 1977, when she gained access to the facilities of the Institute of Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music (IPEM) in Ghent. There, she realized and completed the majority of her acousmatic compositions.
Donskoy’s oeuvre is characterized by a high degree of structural complexity, precision, and expressive intensity. Her work reflects a pronounced and distinctive artistic temperament, manifested through a rigorous exploration of sound material and form. Notwithstanding its artistic significance, her music has remained largely unknown, as her compositions were neither widely circulated nor formally released, leading to their relative obscurity until the present publication.
Anthology produced by Timo van Luijk
Mastering by EARLabs
Booklet edited by Vincent de Roguin
Design by Meeuw
110,00€
In stock
3 LP
Liliane DONSKOY
“Intégrale Acousmatique”
Slipcase edition with 8 page booklet - 250 copies
Metaphon is pleased to present this première edition, which brings together a near-complete collection of the acousmatic works of Liliane Donskoy, recorded in the 1970s and 1980s.
Liliane Donskoy (*1933) is a French, classically trained pianist, music teacher, and composer of both instrumental and acousmatic music. She began her musical training at an early age, undertaking private piano studies with Yves Nat at the age of thirteen, shortly after the Second World War. During the 1960s and 1970s, she pursued advanced studies with prominent figures of twentieth-century music, including Darius Milhaud, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Schaeffer, and Guy Reibel, and participated in courses led by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, and Iannis Xenakis.
Despite this extensive and diverse training, Donskoy encountered limited institutional and professional opportunities to fully realize her artistic vision. A decisive turning point occurred in 1977, when she gained access to the facilities of the Institute of Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music (IPEM) in Ghent. There, she realized and completed the majority of her acousmatic compositions.
Donskoy’s oeuvre is characterized by a high degree of structural complexity, precision, and expressive intensity. Her work reflects a pronounced and distinctive artistic temperament, manifested through a rigorous exploration of sound material and form. Notwithstanding its artistic significance, her music has remained largely unknown, as her compositions were neither widely circulated nor formally released, leading to their relative obscurity until the present publication.
Anthology produced by Timo van Luijk
Mastering by EARLabs
Booklet edited by Vincent de Roguin
Design by Meeuw
62,00€
In stock
LP
Nicolae BRÎNDUȘ
“Match / Soliloque 1&4 / Antifonia”
This album originally released on Electrecord’s RCM (Romanian Contemporary Music) series in 1986 provides a selection of works which belong to his cycle PHTORA (1968-1972). The cycle comprises five pieces which are five degrees of structuring collective improvisation, leaning towards the spectralist tradition.
It’s probably the most eccentric record in the whole RCM series, offering a mesmerizing collage of organized cacophony, as a massive but subtly layered whirlwind of abstract orchestral improvisations, Romanian picturesque folklore and free jazz with extensive use of tape manipulation and reverberation.
This reissue comes with the beautiful original sleeve artwork by Ana Golici who designed many sleeves for Electrecord.
26,50€
In stock
CD
Nicolae BRÎNDUȘ
“Match / Soliloque 1&4 / Antifonia”
This album originally released on Electrecord’s RCM (Romanian Contemporary Music) series in 1986 provides a selection of works which belong to his cycle PHTORA (1968-1972). The cycle comprises five pieces which are five degrees of structuring collective improvisation, leaning towards the spectralist tradition.
It’s probably the most eccentric record in the whole RCM series, offering a mesmerizing collage of organized cacophony, as a massive but subtly layered whirlwind of abstract orchestral improvisations, Romanian picturesque folklore and free jazz with extensive use of tape manipulation and reverberation.
This reissue comes with the beautiful original sleeve artwork by Ana Golici who designed many sleeves for Electrecord.
16,00€
In stock
LP
Peter BEYLS
“Peter Beyls”
Peter Beyls (1950) works on the intersection of computer science and the arts. He develops generative systems in music, the visual arts and hybrid formats. Beyls studied music and computer science at EMS, Stockholm, the Royal Music Conservatory, Brussels and the Slade School of Art, UC London. Initially he was active in electronic music, as a composer of tape music. Later on, he developed various analog live electronic music systems. In close partnership with Michel Waisvisz, he designed and built the early prototypes of the crackle box synthesizer at STEIM, Amsterdam (1973-1975). Around the same time, Belgian composers Karel Goeyvaerts and Lucien Goethals were his mentors at the IPEM Studio. Over the years, Beyls’ work has primarily centered on generative systems, including extensive series of machine drawings, human-machine interactive music systems using machine-learning and interactive audiovisual installations on which he has also given worldwide lectures. His work has been widely performed and exhibited at various universities and art institutions.
The four previously unreleased tracks on this LP are amongst his first electronic music compositions using the Crackle Box, the Synthi 100 and the VCS3, a combination of live improvised electronics with precise tape editing and effects.
26,50€
In stock
3 LP box
Octavian NEMESCU
“Passages … à travers le Temps”
3LP + 8 page booklet in silkscreen printed linen box.
*One of Romania's most important composers in the last half-century, Octavian Nemescu (1940-2020) is among the few that were not "part of the system", managing to survive and compose in a world that felt more and more "empty", fragile, confused and scarce in prophecies. The mystical approach to his art defines Octavian Nemescu as an essentialist who believed in the power of archetypes in which he found inspiration. His pieces always start from an idea that has spiritual, cosmogonic implications and involves synthesizers, samples from nature and the "ison" (drone) inherent in the spectral current. When defining "meta music" or "imaginary music", Nemescu was an advocate of looking from above, from the top of the mountain. Silence is very important in his work in order to keep the sound flowing and to reflect on the sound from before, as a space, as a pause for thinking. Nemescu put forward another kind of music: a song that has not yet surfaced through human voice, any musical instrument, orchestra or other electro-acoustic means: an intimate, interior, introverted inner sound that focuses on the individual and the imagination. Imaginary music is a reaction, it comes in contrast to the spectacular, it is anti-show. For him, music had a ritualistic function, it served no cultural purpose. This 3LP set collects eight pieces for variable ensemble, tape and electronics, composed between 1968 and 2015, selected together with Erica Nemescu, who also mastered the tracks. Most tracks have been previously released on different CD's but never before on vinyl.
110,00€
In stock
3 LP
Octavian NEMESCU
“Passages … à travers le Temps”
3LP + 8 page booklet in offset printed slipcase sleeve.
*One of Romania's most important composers in the last half-century, Octavian Nemescu (1940-2020) is among the few that were not "part of the system", managing to survive and compose in a world that felt more and more "empty", fragile, confused and scarce in prophecies. The mystical approach to his art defines Octavian Nemescu as an essentialist who believed in the power of archetypes in which he found inspiration. His pieces always start from an idea that has spiritual, cosmogonic implications and involves synthesizers, samples from nature and the "ison" (drone) inherent in the spectral current. When defining "meta music" or "imaginary music", Nemescu was an advocate of looking from above, from the top of the mountain. Silence is very important in his work in order to keep the sound flowing and to reflect on the sound from before, as a space, as a pause for thinking. Nemescu put forward another kind of music: a song that has not yet surfaced through human voice, any musical instrument, orchestra or other electro-acoustic means: an intimate, interior, introverted inner sound that focuses on the individual and the imagination. Imaginary music is a reaction, it comes in contrast to the spectacular, it is anti-show. For him, music had a ritualistic function, it served no cultural purpose. This 3LP set collects eight pieces for variable ensemble, tape and electronics, composed between 1968 and 2015, selected together with Erica Nemescu, who also mastered the tracks. Most tracks have been previously released on different CD's but never before on vinyl.
58,00€
In stock
LP
Corneliu CEZAR
“Ziua Fara Sfarsit”
Composer Corneliu Cezar (1937-1997) was a distinctive personality within the Romanian post 1960 avantgarde: a visionary of music, a thinker and a prophet, a richly gifted artist also active with writing, poetry, painting and astrology. Cezar was an activist rediscovering the natural resonance of sound within a different historical context, and he embraced the recovery of authenticity as a reaction against the artificialized culture of serial doctrines. When, after 1975, the spectral music trend became official in Paris, with much fuss and remarkable support from musicologists, nobody knew that this trend had already been practiced by a small group of Romanian composers led by Corneliu Cezar for ten years. The four electro-acoustic pieces on this album (privately released on CD in Romania in 2000), recorded with little means between 1967 and 1975, display the incredibly strong ideas of a truly visionary artist. Everything Corneliu Cezar has done during his short earthly life bares the shade of authenticity.
26,00€
Out of stock
6 CD box
Costin MIEREANU
“Poly-Art Recordings 1976-1982”
Auryfa and Metaphon present Poly-Art Recordings 1976-1982, a lavish six-CD box set collecting Costin Miereanu's legendary series of self-published cassettes and LPs from 1982 and 1984. Culminating four years of meticulous work, this project breathes new life into these recordings, remastered from the original tapes by Stephan Mathieu and accompanied by restored artwork and a comprehensive essay by Vincent de Roguin. Born in Bucharest in 1943 and naturalized as a French citizen in 1977, Miereanu occupied a singular position within the French new music landscape -- one foot in the establishment, the other in a world of deeply personal, boundary-pushing creativity. Alongside his intricate orchestral works and demanding academic career, he also produced the semi-improvised solo performances and electroacoustic compositions featured in this collection. Drawing inspiration from Erik Satie, film soundtracks, semiology, Romanian folk and art music, Gilles Deleuze, avant-garde literature, Terry Riley, and atmospheric phenomena, these twelve pieces were crafted using an array of synthesizers -- Minimoog, Polymoog, PPG Wave, Prophet-10 -- supplemented by piano, organ, and a handful of other instrumental sources. Their textural palette and occasional whimsy bear affinities with 1970s meditative synth music, yet they eschew psychedelic excess or cosmic grandeur. Instead, they reveal a vibrant, nuanced complexity that becomes more apparent with each listen, rooted in Miereanu's extensive musical studies and commitment to the ideals of 1960s experimentalism. Within that period's context, this music ultimately sails in the same sonic currents as Harold Budd and Brian Eno's collaboration, and the output of David Behrman, Alvin Curran, or Laurie Spiegel. Originally released on Miereanu's own Poly-Art International/Records and initially met with limited attention, these recordings have since gained underground acclaim among new generations of listeners. They offer a rare synthesis of accessibility and formal ambition, reflecting Miereanu's unwavering pursuit of artistic freedom, a world away from the high culture dogmatisms inherent to the European modernist tradition. His wide-ran-ging associations -- from the spectralists (Horațiu Rădulescu, Tristan Murail, and Gérard Grisey) to mavericks such as Giacinto Scelsi, Luc Ferrari, and Walter Marchetti, as well as the French underground electronic music scene (including Philippe Besombes and Jean-Louis Rizet, who engineered much of this music, and Richard Pinhas) -- help illuminate his unique artistic position.
While not anomalies in a career that could hardly be described as normal, these recordings hold a special place within Miereanu’s body of work. Few composers of his generation, particularly in France, have covered such a broad spectrum, with works for instrumental ensembles, opera, ballet, and radical tape music (Luna Cinese in 1975 on Cramps Records) but also performances, videos, and sound installations. Yet these wondrous modal keyboard fantasies remain among his greatest accomplishments. Consistently original and captivating, they possess an undeniable magic, standing as some of the most essential yet overlooked documents of French minimalism, early ambient, and nonconformist contemporary music from that era.
All music composed by Costin Miereanu and originally released on Poly-Art International ⁄ Records in 1982 and 1984
58,00€
In stock
LP
Raoul De SMET
“Raoul De SMET”
First LP in the ‘Signature Series’, a small new series in the Metaphon catalog, documenting previously unreleased archive works of less known composers. Metaphon presents their ‘signature’ in the most personal and elementary way.
Raoul De Smet (1936), mainly known for his numerous instrumental and chamber music works, started composing in the early 1960’s. Between 1974 and 1989 he also recorded several electro-acoustic compositions at the IPEM in Ghent, one of the more approachable crossroads for experimental music creation at the time.
His work carries different moods and contrasts, a sort of expressive eclecticism where straight forward evolution often prevails over far-fetched intemperance.
However, his work is far from obvious. The four distinctive tracks on this album portray a fresh and unpretentious enthusiasm of a composer discovering new electronic tools.
24,50€
In stock
4 LP
Fernand VANDENBOGAERDE
“Les Années 1967-1984” (2nd edition)
>>> 4 LP set in 1cm slipcase sleeve + 16 page booklet
Edition of 250 copies, with download code.
Metaphon is thrilled to present this collection of 14 phenomenal electronic and electro-acoustic works by French composer Fernand Vandenbogaerde, realized between 1967 and 1984.
After his science studies Fernand Vandenbogaerde (1946) studied at the Conservatoire de Roubaix and did various classes and courses with a.o. Jean-Etienne Marie, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Schaeffer, György Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bruno Maderna.
He wrote analytical essays on mathematic music, in particular the work of Iannis Xenakis.
Vandenbogaerde taught electro-acoustic music at various institutions and was director at the National School of Music and Dance in Blanc-Mesnil, near Paris.
As a composer he wrote works for orchestra, instrumental and chamber ensembles, sometimes in hybrid form including tape and electro-acoustic configurations. He also recorded numerous tape compositions in Bourges, Paris, Ghent and at his home studio. His works have been presented worldwide on various leading festivals and events.
The compositions included in this edition are primarily tape works, meticulously recorded and produced, radical and most of all timbre oriented which makes his compositions focus mainly on sound while other parameters hardly change. In Vandenbogaerde’s own words: “What determines my pieces, at least all the ones in this collection, is that it’s the material that dictates me, that will predetermine the form”. This particular approach distinguishes him quite a bit from many of his contemporaries within the field of electro-acoustic music.
Another interesting aspect in Vandenbogaerde’s work is the integration of micro tonal scales (conceived by Mexican composer Julian Carrillo), on the compositions 'Modifications III' and the intriguing trilogy 'Drei Nachdenken über Hymnen an die Nacht'.
All tracks are previously unreleased except the proto power electronics piece 'Anschlag' which was self-released in 1971 on his own Point Radiant label, as a compilation LP which also included a track by Tristan Murail.
60,00€
Out of stock
4 LP
Robert FESLER
“μP RPF78” (2nd edition)
>>> 4 LP set in 1cm slipcase sleeve + 12 page booklet with photos and text by Robert Fesler and Baudouin Oosterlynck.
An anthology of the intensely arresting work of Robert Fesler (1936-2023), revealing many of his compositions (1975 -1987) created with his self-built synthesizers, with as pinnacle the μP RPF78.
Except one, all tracks are previously unreleased.
With profound simplicity and devotion, Fesler paints a hermetic inner world with strong emotions of confronting solitude, sensual alienation and traumatic angst. His music was as much a therapeutic treatment as an artistic expression. Fesler quotes, "Building my synthesizers and working with them enabled me to sublimate my anxieties".
Most tracks were played and recorded real time, often with two synthesizers (the Synthese 756 and the μP RPF78), capturing the heat of the moment in one take, without multitracking. The austere and reductionist approach reinforces the overall spirit of his work, resulting in an engaging, mysterious solitary journey.
It’s quite incredible how one person can put so much technical cerebral content in the development of a machine and use it in such an emotional way.
The music of Robert Fesler might be considered as very Belgian.
To situate it within a close entourage, one can say it has:
the endurance of Baudouin Oosterlynck
the purity of Dominique Lawalree
the mysticism of Arsène Souffriau
60,00€
Out of stock
4 LP box
Fernand VANDENBOGAERDE
“Les Années 1967-1984”
4LP box
Hardboard linen box with silk screened lettering + 16 page booklet with biography, interview, track info and photos.
Edition of 200 copies, with download code.
Metaphon is thrilled to present this collection of 14 phenomenal electronic and electro-acoustic works by French composer Fernand Vandenbogaerde, realized between 1967 and 1984.
After his science studies Fernand Vandenbogaerde (1946) studied at the Conservatoire de Roubaix and did various classes and courses with a.o. Jean-Etienne Marie, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Schaeffer, György Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bruno Maderna.
He wrote analytical essays on mathematic music, in particular the work of Iannis Xenakis.
Vandenbogaerde taught electro-acoustic music at various institutions and was director at the National School of Music and Dance in Blanc-Mesnil, near Paris.
As a composer he wrote works for orchestra, instrumental and chamber ensembles, sometimes in hybrid form including tape and electro-acoustic configurations. He also recorded numerous tape compositions in Bourges, Paris, Ghent and at his home studio. His works have been presented worldwide on various leading festivals and events.
The compositions included in this edition are primarily tape works, meticulously recorded and produced, radical and most of all timbre oriented which makes his compositions focus mainly on sound while other parameters hardly change. In Vandenbogaerde’s own words: “What determines my pieces, at least all the ones in this collection, is that it’s the material that dictates me, that will predetermine the form”. This particular approach distinguishes him quite a bit from many of his contemporaries within the field of electro-acoustic music.
Another interesting aspect in Vandenbogaerde’s work is the integration of micro tonal scales (conceived by Mexican composer Julian Carrillo), on the compositions 'Modifications III' and the intriguing trilogy 'Drei Nachdenken über Hymnen an die Nacht'.
All tracks are previously unreleased except the proto power electronics piece 'Anschlag' which was self-released in 1971 on his own Point Radiant label, as a compilation LP which also included a track by Tristan Murail.
125,00€
In stock
LP
Michael RANTA & Takehisa KOSUGI
“Multiple Musics”
Previously unreleased live recording from the Ranta archives. The creative duo of Michael Ranta and Takehisa Kosugi performed many times in the 1970’s and 1980’s. On this outstanding performance, recorded at the Japanese Culture Institute in Cologne in 1987, the application of an advanced multi delay system, independently utilized by both players, plays a central role. The smartly treated cyclic tapestry of the delay system (modulated, transformed, harmonized) injects additional dimensions to the highly coordinated improvisation with voice, percussion, violin and electronics, creating interactive ‘composition-like’ textures being ‘Multiple Musics’.
24,50€
In stock
LP
Rolf GEHLHAAR
“Wege / Ways”
Rolf Gehlhaar (1943-2019) was an instrumental and electronic music composer, and a pioneer in computer controlled interactive music. He grew up in the US where he studied philosophy and composition at Yale University. In 1967 he moved back to Germany to become Stockhausen’s personal assistant and member of his performing ensemble. In 1969 Gehlhaar co-founded, along with Johannes Fritsch (Metaphon 012) and David Johnson, the Feedback Studios in Cologne, a new-music performance center and publishing house. He later moved to England, where he became in 1979 a founding member of the Electro-Acoustic Music Association and later on senior lecturer in design and digital media. Gehlhaar’s compositions include symphonies, instrumental works, experimental and electronic music, interactive computer controlled music and everything in between.
The three previously unreleased tracks on this LP only show a glimpse of the versatility of his adventurous and innovative musical ideas.
The LP comes with a foldout insert including photos and extensive program notes.
24,50€
In stock
4 LP box
Robert FESLER
“μP RPF78”
An anthology of the intensely arresting work of Robert Fesler (1936-2023), revealing many of his compositions (1975 -1987) created with his self-built synthesizers, with as pinnacle the μP RPF78.
Except one, all tracks are previously unreleased.
With profound simplicity and devotion, Fesler paints a hermetic inner world with strong emotions of confronting solitude, sensual alienation and traumatic angst. His music was as much a therapeutic treatment as an artistic expression. Fesler quotes, "Building my synthesizers and working with them enabled me to sublimate my anxieties".
Most tracks were played and recorded real time, often with two synthesizers (the Synthese 756 and the μP RPF78), capturing the heat of the moment in one take, without multitracking. The austere and reductionist approach reinforces the overall spirit of his work, resulting in an engaging, mysterious solitary journey.
It’s quite incredible how one person can put so much technical cerebral content in the development of a machine and use it in such an emotional way.
The music of Robert Fesler might be considered as very Belgian.
To situate it within a close entourage, one can say it has:
the endurance of Baudouin Oosterlynck
the purity of Dominique Lawalree
the mysticism of Arsène Souffriau
Hardboard linen LP box with silkscreened titles, 12 page booklet with notes by Robert Fesler and Baudouin Oosterlynck + A5 card with reproduction of oil on wood self-portrait by Robert Fesler.
Edition of 300 copies with download code.
120,00€
Out of stock
3 LP
Nicole LACHARTRE
“Mundus”
***Second edition of 300 copies. 3LP set in 7,5mm sealed slipcase sleeve (not a boxset as the first issue) + 12 page booklet. ***
“Let’s try to find sound as a primordial act, both a place of convergence of beings and a vector of self-discovery”
First ever release of female French composer, musicologist and writer Nicole Lachartre (1934-1991). This 3LP set comprises most of her electronic and concrete music compositions recorded in the 60’s and 70’s, all previously unreleased. Lachartre had a classical formation, studied with a.o. Darius Milhaud, Iannis Xenakis and Michel Philippot. Her broad formation and interest as well as her profound commitment and singular vision created a solitary voice even within the field of electronic and concrete music, strangely enough unheard till this day. Her first tape composition from 1968 was recorded in Pierre Henry’s Apsome studio and most of her other electronic and electro-acoustic compositions included in this box set were recorded at the IPEM in Ghent.
It took more than two years to realize this project with some complications along the way but it was all worth it and glad the music is finally available.
50,00€
In stock
LP
Arthur PETRONIO
“Arthur Petronio”
Arthur Petronio:
Born Switzerland 1897.
French-Italian musician, poet and painter.
Lived in Belgium and The Netherlands between 1910 and 1924 and since then in France.
Young violin virtuoso studying with Belgian master violinist Eugène Ysaÿe.
Played solo violin for Belgian King Leopold II, at the age of 9.
Attracted to the avant-garde and visionary ideas of Gesamtkunstwerk.
Develops and presents his “Verbophonie” in 1919, integrating sound poetry into regular music scores.
Friend with Kandinsky, Mondrian, Cocteau and Picasso.
Published several avant-garde journals and poetry books with participation of like minded artists.
Wrote many scores for solo instruments, small ensembles, orchestral works, opera,…
Met Henri Chopin in 1950 and extended his musical ideas with new possibilities of tape composition.
His one and only LP, now reissued by Metaphon, was originally published by the Belgian Igloo label in 1979.
An extravagant DIY montage of musique concrète and sound poetry.
In addition to Petronio’s voice several female readers/performers contribute to this theatre of voices as guest vocalists.
An album as unusual as his lifecycle.
25,00€
In stock
CD
Michael RANTA
“Azabu”
Even though only being fully terminated 50 years after its conception, ‘Azabu’ can be regarded as the starting point of Michael Ranta’s creative self-discovery. The recordings that form the base of ‘Azabu’ were mostly made in the Tokyo district with the same name (Azabu-Juban). Next to abstracted field recordings ‘Azabu’ is also pervaded by a rich variety of percussion, string and wind instruments, all played by Ranta himself. Subsequently Ranta edited, layered and processed the recordings at the NHK electronic music studio in Tokyo. Both pieces display a vast array of acoustic, electronic and concrete sound events meticulously sequenced to a complex fusion symbolizing the entire spectrum of earthly and heavenly sounds. Dynamic extremes evoke a restless flight through space, or through the depths of human subconsciousness, between dream and reality. Ultimately the music disappears, like a dot in the sky gradually fading into nothingness – an “ascension” that closes the loop in a ritual of life that can begin anew again at any time.
Michael Ranta: composition, performance, mixing (1971)
14,50€
In stock
LP
Jacques BEKAERT
“Jacques Bekaert”
…Gentle threads of instrumental and electronic sounds are mixed with outdoor rural field recordings and occasional voices of his friends speaking, whistling or singing. Bekaert creates a warm environment within which we can hear subtle individual voices of good musicians who are relating to his loosely-notated scores and verbal instructions… (David Behrman)
‘A Late Lunch’ is the soundtrack to Akiko Iimura’s eponymous movie realized in 1978. It is based on acoustic instruments and field recordings, brilliantly reconfigured and mixed by Bekaert to create a surreal, immersive soundscape. The technique used includes superposition and speed change of recordings, radical sound effects and juxtapositions of sounds. The players were prominent musicians of the 1970’s, including Maggi Payne, George Lewis, David Rosenboom and Blue Gene Tyranny.
‘A Summer Day at Stony Point’ was composed in 1969, with participation of David Behrman, Shigeko Kubota and Charlotte Warren. The piece was commissioned by English composer Hugh Davies who presented it at the Harrogate festival the same year. Stony Point is a small village in New York State where John Cage co-owned a small pseudo-commune art resort where like-minded artists gathered. ‘A Summer Day at Stony Point’ is nothing more than a page of a journal, a fragment of a notebook that utilizes a series of sound sources recorded at Stony Point on one beautiful day in the summer of 1968. Other electronic sound sources were recorded at the Brandeis University where Alvin Lucier was professor. The final realization of the piece was done at Henri Pousseur’s APELAC Studio in Brussels, 1969.
The soundtrack for Akiko Iimura’s ‘Mon Petit Album’ was composed on the basis of a simple description of the technique of the film and its time span. It includes David Behrman on alto, from an outdoor recording at Stony Point, plus excerpts from a Transition concert in London, the band Bekaert formed in 1971 with Michel Herr, Takehisa Kosugi and Ryo Koike, both members of the Taj Mahal Travelers. The atmosphere is quiet and pastoral throughout with a very dreamlike flavour.
Jacques Bekaert (1940-2020) was a man of many gifts: author, journalist, composer, photographer, visual artist, wine connoisseur, radio talk show host, diplomat and expert in Southeast Asian affairs. His whole life Bekaert has been actively involved in music but not much of his work got recorded or published. In the early 60’s Bekaert studied with Pousseur and through his frequent visits to the US he became friends with artists like John Cage, David Tudor, Charlotte Moorman and most of all David Behrman with whom he had a close friendship ever since. Bekaert helped organize the first European tour of The Sonic Arts Union (David Behrman, Robert Ashley, Gordon Mumma, Alvin Lucier) and in the early 70’s he formed the group Transition (with Belgian jazz pianist Michel Herr, Takehisa Kosugi and Ryo Koike, both members of the Taj Mahal Travelers). His meeting with Japanese experimental film-maker Akiko Iimura resulted in two film soundtracks featured on this one of a kind discreet avant garde album.
When asked in a 1979 interview about his double life as a musician and a journalist, Bekaert replied, “I suppose they’re both unsafe, unstable, questioning jobs—composing and reporting. Journalism takes me to places, shows me the world as it is. My music is my wish for the kind of world I’d want to live in. The little peaceful state I dream for everyone, where you can be yourself, and happy, and as collective as possible without giving up total privacy.”
Originally released in 1981 on the Belgian Igloo label this reissue comes with the same sleeve as originally designed by Alain Géronnez.
26,00€
In stock
LP
Toshi ICHIYANAGI – Michael RANTA – Takehisa KOSUGI
“Improvisation Sep. 1975”
Toshi Ichiyanagi, Michael Ranta and Takehisa Kosugi originally got together in the summer of 1975 for an open-air concert in Sapporo. The concert felt like a great success but was unfortunately not recorded. As the desire arose to record together, they managed to arrange a studio session in the NHK Studio in Tokyo, with presence of sound engineers.
What was supposed to be a soundcheck for this session became the session itself: a haunting 50-minute séance of intense avantgarde improvisation using a large instrumentation and live processing (tape echo, ring modulation, phasing). A trident travelogue of the momentum masterfully controlled by the ensemble spirit, transcending the boundaries of psychedelic underground.
Official reissue of this underground classic from 1975, originally released in a tiny edition on the small Japanese Iskra label.
As the original master tapes of these recordings seem to be lost, the master had to be taken from an unplayed original LP copy. It was carefully restored and mastered by Jos Smolders with amazing result.
23,00€
In stock
LP
Johannes FRITSCH
“Kyo Mu / Hochtöner”
First LP release of Johannes Fritsch, long-time member of the Stockhausen Ensemble.
Kyo Mu (1982) – 30:20
For Shakuhachi and Tape
Johannes Fritsch: electronic and concrete sounds
Hitomi Endo: Shakuhachi
Weltmusik-Kongress, Vlotho 11.10.1982 – première recording
Hochtöner (1974) – 18:19
For Flute, Viola, Percussion, Synthesizer and Tape
Johannes Fritsch: Viola
Rolf Gehlhaar: Percussion
David Johnson: Flute, Synthesizer
Composed 1974, recorded 1975 at Feedback Studio Cologne
Johannes Fritsch (1941–2010) was an award-winning composer, musician, publisher, studio owner, author and music teacher.
Following his studies at Cologne University and the Cologne Musikhochschule (musicology, sociology, philosophy; viola, composition with Bernd Alois Zimmermann), Fritsch received his viola performance degree. From 1965–70 he taught music theory at the Cologne Conservatory. From 1964 to 1970 he was a member of the Stockhausen Ensemble, participating in numerous musical premieres, concert tours (e.g. the world exposition in Osaka in 1970), radio broadcasts and recordings. From 1971 to 1984 he was head of the composition course and the seminar for New Music at the Akademie für Tonkunst in Darmstadt. From 1984 to 2006 he was Professor of Composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.
After returning from Osaka in 1970, Fritsch and two fellow former members of the Stockhausen Ensemble, Rolf Gehlhaar and David Johnson, established the Feedback Studio Köln. This was followed in 1971 by the founding of the Feedback Studio Verlag – the first publishing house owned by composers in Germany, which Fritsch mainly managed on his own from 1975 to 2010.
Fritsch’s complex musical estate consists of approximately 130 works: it covers electronic music, chamber music, ballet, theatre and film music, organ compositions, an opera and pieces for large orchestras. Although Fritsch’s compositions are varied, all of them convey a strong interest in new sound combinations and sound colours.
KYO MU (Japanese for ‘emptiness and nothingness’) is a composition for the Japanese bamboo flute shakuhachi und audiotape, premiered in 1982 by Hitomi Endō at the Second Weltmusik-Kongress in Vlotho, Germany. The recording on this LP is from the premiere and was made by the Feedback Studio. The version for shakuhachi was performed on numerous occasions in Europe as well as Japan. According to Johannes Fritsch, however, the piece can also be performed by tenor recorders or alto recorders.
The scores of Kyo Mu are accompanied by a passage from the spiritual treatise Hitori Mondo (‘A Solitary Dialogue’) from 1823, in which the mendicant monk and shakuhachi player Hisamatsu Fūyō discusses shakuhachi blowing as a religious discipline to help liberate oneself from the rational mind: 39 pieces are 36 pieces, 36 pieces are 18 pieces, 18 pieces are three pieces, three pieces are one piece, one pieces is no piece, no piece is the breath of the mind [kisoku], the breath of the mind is nothing besides emptiness and nothingness.
HOCHTÖNER, written in 1974 and premiered in the same year at the PRO MUSICA NOVA festival in Bremen, Germany, is a harmonic composition referencing Pythagorean tradition. It was written for and performed by the three Feedback Studio founders: Johannes Fritsch, viola; David Johnson, flute and synthesizer; Rolf Gehlhaar, percussion. The trio and the live electronics make this piece typical of the 1970s work of the Feedback Studio. HOCHTÖNER was performed several times in the 1970s during concert tours; the recording on this LP was made in 1974 at a Feedback Studio Hinterhausmusik concert.
Fritsch described the piece in a text for a CD published by cybele records in 2006:
“Various levels of the composition interpenetrate each other. On the one hand, there is the harmonics theory of the tone systems: there are sounds that are overtonal in nature (natural harmonics, whistle-tones on the flute) and ‘undertones’: a frequency divider built by David Johnson is used to make audible the undertones of a high-pitched fundamental tone, together with naturally tempered spectra. As well as major (arithmetic division of the intervals according to the formula a+b:2), minor (2ab:a+b) and different temperaments (vab), the ring modulation between flute and viola plays an important role. The ring modulator provides the sums and the differences of the frequencies from the two inputs (and the products of the amplitudes) at the start. The summation tones are an octave higher than the arithmetical division of the intervals; the differential tones give the spectra clearly recognisable roots depending on their degree of consonance. Besides this constructive principle underlying the harmonic form, the piece contains self-quotes, quotes, and associations from music history and non-European music. All instrumental sounds are amplified by microphone and blend with the sounds produced by the tape and synthesizer, making it often impossible to tell which sounds have been produced ‘live’ and which are taped. The figures and formations appear as in a dream, fragments in a broad, ever-changing expanse of sound, limited only by the high frequencies.”
Special thanks to Ingrid and Lena Fritsch
26,00€
In stock
LP
Jan BRUYNDONCKX
“Rails and Other Tracks”
First ever release of concrete and electronic collage works by Belgian underground sound explorer Jan Bruyndonckx. This album contains autonomous compositions, music for film and documentary; all independently recorded in his private studio between 1958 and 1965.
A small collection of adventurous and mysterious sound evocations with text/poetry (Paul De Vree) recited by Julien Schoenaerts.
21,00€
In stock
CD
Michael RANTA
“Taiwan Years”
Three previously unreleased works from the 1970’s recorded and mixed in Japan and Taiwan.
1-Kagaku Henka (1971) 18’40”
2-China Filch (1975) 27’06”
3-At Night (1978) 23’06”
More than any other of Ranta’s releases this album shows his multiple roots and ideas as a composer, percussionist and concrete/electronic musician, building a seamless bridge between Eastern and Western tradition and avantgarde. Ranta is one of those rare composers able to organically melt his wide artistic span into a singular but yet diverse universe, morphing his rich vocabulary as a percussionist with the Oriental esoteric tradition, the psychedelic underground and the realm of electronic minimalism.
14,00€
In stock
CD
Michael RANTA
“Die Mauer”
11 track album of previously unreleased music for a ballet choreographed by Philippe Talard.
Composed, performed and recorded by Michael Ranta in 1988/1989.
CD in 6 panel fold out sleeve. Edition of 500 copies
14,00€
In stock
CD
Michael RANTA
“Yuen Shan”
16 track composition for pre recorded sounds and live percussion performed by Michael Ranta (entirely different work from the Yuen Shan CD released in 2005).
All material previously unreleased.
Yuen Shan (Round Mountain in Chinese) was conceived in 1972 and finalized in 2014. It’s a musical cosmogony in four cycles based on different levels of ancient Asian spiritual principles and mechanisms. A major work in Ranta’s oeuvre (his first solo release in almost 25 years), highly personal and spiritual.
12,50€
Out of stock
3 LP
Joris DE LAET
“Sem etc.”
Joris de Laet (Belgium, 1947) is a fully autodidact composer of electroacoustic music. Between 1972 and 1975 he worked at the IPEM along with Lucien Goethals and Karel Goeyvaerts and in 1973 he founded the SEM (Studio for Experimental Music) where he organised plenty of group sessions, live performances, lectures... De Laet’s work is adventurous, complex and difficult to classify, due to many interesting contrasts in his style and approach academic vs intuitive, modern composition vs free improvisation, acoustic vs electronic, sound vs noise... This selection (10 tracks) of his early recordings (1972 1979) represents an overview of his intriguingly radical and highly personal work which includes solo tape experiments, live electronics with Karel Goeyvaerts and group performances with experimental instrumentalists from the SEM ensemble : Pieter Kuyl (chapmanstick), Leo Verheyen (trombone), Paul Adriaenssens (flute and amplified objects), Maurice Verstuyft (flute). All material has been mastered from the original tapes and is previously unreleased. Edition of 300 copies.
55,00€
Out of stock
2 LP
Michael RANTA
“Yuen Shan”
16 track composition for pre recorded sounds and live percussion performed by
Michael Ranta (entirely different work from the Yuen Shan CD released in 2005).
All material previously unreleased.
LP version : 2 LP’s in gatefold sleeve with insert. Edition of 300 copies.
Yuen Shan (Round Mountain in Chinese) was conceived in 1972 and finalized in
2014. It’s a musical cosmogony in four cycles based on different levels of ancient
Asian spiritual principles and mechanisms. A major work in Ranta’s oeuvre (his
first solo release in almost 25 years), highly personal and spiritual.
34,00€
In stock
3 CD
Joris DE LAET
“Sem etc.”
Joris de Laet (Belgium, 1947) is a fully autodidact composer of electroacoustic music. Between 1972 and 1975 he worked at the IPEM along with Lucien Goethals and Karel Goeyvaerts and in 1973 he founded the SEM (Studio for Experimental Music) where he organised plenty of group sessions, live performances, lectures... De Laet’s work is adventurous, complex and difficult to
classify, due to many interesting contrasts in his style and approach academic vs intuitive, modern composition vs free improvisation, acoustic vs electronic, sound vs noise... This selection (10 tracks) of his early recordings (1972 1979) represents an overview of his intriguingly radical and highly personal work which includes solo tape experiments, live electronics with Karel Goeyvaerts and group performances with experimental instrumentalists from the SEM ensemble : Pieter Kuyl (chapmanstick), Leo Verheyen (trombone), Paul Adriaenssens (flute and amplified objects), Maurice Verstuyft (flute). All material has been mastered from the original tapes and is previously unreleased. Edition of 300 copies.
40,00€