Out of stock
2 CD
Daphne ORAM
“Oramics”
“Daphne Oram is best known for her design of her Oramics system, and also for co-founding the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1957, but until now the only easily available piece of music by her on CD has been the 8 minute long ‘Four Aspects’. There was also a 7” EP from 1962 on HMV, released as part of the ‘Listen, Move and Dance’ series that was specifically designed to help children dance. Although the short pieces on this record are very basic it could be argued that this is the first ever electronic dance record !
Now for the first time is a survey of nearly all the major pieces that she produced since her departure from the BBC in January 1959 until her final tape piece in 1977. During this time she worked independently in her home studio, and thanks to a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation in 1962 she was able to persue her interests. In Britain there were no state funded studios other than the Radiophonic Workshop which mainly existed at the behest of the drama studio and was not generally seen as a place to develop personal artistic ideas. There were also no university studios at this time, so it was necessary for British electronic composers to be self funded. Throughout this period she devoted her attention to developing her Oramics ‘drawn sound’ system, which consisted of a large machine that enabled drawn patterns to be converted into sound. This system was eventually fully realised in the late 60’s and several pieces here incorporate its use.
The 2 and a half hours of music on this 2CD set covers the whole range of Oram’s post BBC output. All of the music is electronic with some occassional use of real instruments, especially small percussion and piano frame. There is also some use of musique concrète techniques. The works fall roughly into the following catagories: works for TV and cinema advertising, film soundtracks, music for theatre productions, installations and exhibitions as well as concert pieces and several studio experiments. There are also a few short pieces that resulted from an experimental music course given by Oram at a high school in Yorkshire in 1967.”
Now for the first time is a survey of nearly all the major pieces that she produced since her departure from the BBC in January 1959 until her final tape piece in 1977. During this time she worked independently in her home studio, and thanks to a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation in 1962 she was able to persue her interests. In Britain there were no state funded studios other than the Radiophonic Workshop which mainly existed at the behest of the drama studio and was not generally seen as a place to develop personal artistic ideas. There were also no university studios at this time, so it was necessary for British electronic composers to be self funded. Throughout this period she devoted her attention to developing her Oramics ‘drawn sound’ system, which consisted of a large machine that enabled drawn patterns to be converted into sound. This system was eventually fully realised in the late 60’s and several pieces here incorporate its use.
The 2 and a half hours of music on this 2CD set covers the whole range of Oram’s post BBC output. All of the music is electronic with some occassional use of real instruments, especially small percussion and piano frame. There is also some use of musique concrète techniques. The works fall roughly into the following catagories: works for TV and cinema advertising, film soundtracks, music for theatre productions, installations and exhibitions as well as concert pieces and several studio experiments. There are also a few short pieces that resulted from an experimental music course given by Oram at a high school in Yorkshire in 1967.”
17,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Eliane RADIGUE
“PSI 847”
Long awaited first ever release of one of Éliane Radigue’s masterpiece. She mentioned once that with PSI 847, she reached at that time exactly what she intended to do with the ARP synthetizer. Deluxe version with 2 CDs + 24 pages booklet, in French and English. Composition : Éliane Radigue. 1972. Interpretation : Lionel Marchetti. 2012. Textes : Lionel Marchetti, Thibaut de Ruyter. A short history of 847. 11.1972 - ARP 2500 Synthesizer on magnetic tapes. Produced at the composer’s studio. Final mixdown at GMEB, Bourges. 02.1973 - First creation while in residence at the Electronic Music Studios of the University of Iowa. 31.01.2012 - Concert : Club Transmediale, Berlin. Interpretation Lionel Marchetti’s interpretation with original magnetic tapes Direction : Éliane Radigue. 11.2012 - ORAL 57 : CD 1: Version concert. Live recording of the spatial interpretation by Lionel Marchetti. Stereophonic recording directed by Marcus Gammel (Deutschlandradio), mastered and remixed by Lionel Marchetti. CD 2: Version studio. Original magnetic tape, size 6/25, 19 cm/s, mastered by Lionel Marchetti, autumn 2012. “The performance of PSI 847 is about to begin. Once again, Radigue has employed one of her favoured sound dissemination tricks: directing the banks of loudspeakers not toward the audience, but toward the building…The soundboard is at the rear of the house, and Marchetti will be playing the tapes from there. Radigue is in a seat, like any other audience member. There will be nothing to see, no one on stage, no visual distractions. But what happens when you listen to this music? What sensations, feelings or thoughts emerge? Obviously, any drone-based music generates, first of all, a physical experience… You must give in, abandon yourself, forget about trying to figure out whether three minutes or an hour have elapsed. This is… truly an experience of slowness. A rare moment for which you must prepare, and be in the right condition (no need to meditate, or try to achieve a trance state, either: a little concentration will suffice!)… Once you’ve accepted the loss of physical bearings, you can then attempt to grasp Radigue’s compositional talent: locating motifs that modulate and transform at varying intervals; appreciating the evolution, the appearance of a new movement, or, as in the case of PSI 847, the insensible dissolution of the music.” Thibaut de Ruyter, Berlin 2012.
24,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Lionel MARCHETTI
“Adèle et Hadrien. Le livre des vacances”
Digipack. Limited to 300 copies. “Adèle et Hadrien (le livre des vacances)”. A new piece of musique concrete in two books and ten notebooks (1999-2006) from French composer Lionel Marchetti. A piece of musique concrete around the universe of children. Lionel Marchetti has compositions on differents labels like Metamkine, Selektion, Crouton, Absurd, Auscultare, Ground Fault, Musica Genera… He is also an improvisor playing with Jérôme Noetinger among others. And he’s part of the Quintet Avant.
20,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Toshi ICHIYANAGI + Kenji KOBAYASHI
“Duo Recital – The Night before JOHN CAGE SHOCK”
600 copies as regular edition. Text in Japanese and English (track explanation).
In 1961, soon after Toshi Ichiyanagi returned from the USA, two concerts were performed at the Sogetsu Art Center ; “Toshi Ichiyanagi Concert”, at which some member of ‘Group Ongaku’ joined, as well as “Toshi Ichiyanagi and Kenji Kobayashi Duo Recital”, which recording is used for this album. It was a major opportunity for its audience to experience the works of Toshi Ichiyanagi and the
avant-garde philosophy directly in front of their eyes. Six months later, John Cage made his first visit to Japan for a concert tour. Of course, then the Japanese music scene would be struck by a huge“shock”. So we can consider the recital by Ichiyanagi as a “quiet shock” before the “storm”.
Sylvano Bussotti (1931-), “Music for violin”. Morton Feldman (1926-87), “Duet for violin and piano”. Toshi Ichiyanagi (1933-), “The Pile / For String
2”. Anton Webern (1883-1945), “4 Pieces for violin and piano, Op.7”. La Monte Young (1935-), “561 to Henry Flynt”. John Cage (1912-92), 34’46.776”
Sylvano Bussotti (1931-), “Music for violin”.
Italy-born Bussotti is a composer, a director and a designer but also well known as a multitalented person. At an early age, he began work on a graphic score. The music he wrote had quality but it was also visually interesting. For this performance, Kobayashi took a unique style. They used overdubbed violin sounds from a tape, which perhaps Kobayashi helped to record, and added a live performance of piano and percussion as well as some [sounds of] object.
Morton Feldman (1926-87), “Duet for violin and piano”.
Along with John Cage, Feldman is one of the leading figures from the New York experimental music scene. He is also well known as a soft sound composer as well as for an interesting episode when he invented graphic notation. Feldman was a productive composer but he often gave less creative simple titles to his music, for example, by referring a composition to the musical instruments.
Toshi Ichiyanagi (1933-), “The Pile / For String
2” (simultaneous performance).
‘The Pile’ is a piece composed for arbitrary musical instruments. At the concert, the composer himself performed with a method of playing the internal parts of a piano along with Yoko Ono’s voice while Juunosuke Okuyama assisted him as an engineer, which made it the first and only real piece with live electronics [3]. Like John Cage often taking this method for his work, they made a simultaneou
s performance for this piece, ‘For stringed instruments, the second movement’ by Kenji Kobayashi.
The only instruction in the score was; “Through the whole performance one should only play one note” [4]. The piece was not only performed throughout the sixties but also is played today.
Anton Webern (1883-1945), “4 Pieces for violin and piano, Op.7”.
Along with Schoenberg and Berg, Webern belonged to the New Wienna School of music. Preceding Feldman, he was a soft sound composer and had a particular taste about extremely conscious tones. Unlike other pieces on this album, this piece was composed in the very early period in 1910.
La Monte Young (1935-), “561 to Henry Flynt”.
La Monte was one of the composers who created pieces that were later categorized as Minimal Music. But most notably, he was a member of Fluxus, which we shouldn’t forget. This piece is very conceptual. The same note should be played for arbitrary number of times that was pre-determined. It was perf
ormed at this concert for the first time and Ichiyanagi played clusters with both arms. By the way, Henry Flynt (1940-) was a musician belonging to Fluxus.
John Cage (1912-92), 34’46.776”
A piece composed in 1954 and performed in the same year on October 17th for the first time at Donaueschinger Musiktage, a music festival, (simultaneous performance with ‘31'57.9864" for a pianist’).
Later that year, a score was published under the title ‘31'57.9864" for one pianist’. In this recording, apart from Toshi Ichiyanagi’s piano and Kenji Kobayashi’s violin, one can hear female narration in English and Japanese, about which there was no mention in any document at the time (assuming it as Yoko Ono’s voice however it is not confirmed). Perhaps, Ichiyanagi reproduced it by referring to an early performance method of the piece [6] In a promotional document of the concert, Yuji Takahashi’s name is written as another pianist. However, according to the musician, he canceled it after he got an offer of a simultaneous performance due to a technical reason.
In 1961, soon after Toshi Ichiyanagi returned from the USA, two concerts were performed at the Sogetsu Art Center ; “Toshi Ichiyanagi Concert”, at which some member of ‘Group Ongaku’ joined, as well as “Toshi Ichiyanagi and Kenji Kobayashi Duo Recital”, which recording is used for this album. It was a major opportunity for its audience to experience the works of Toshi Ichiyanagi and the
avant-garde philosophy directly in front of their eyes. Six months later, John Cage made his first visit to Japan for a concert tour. Of course, then the Japanese music scene would be struck by a huge“shock”. So we can consider the recital by Ichiyanagi as a “quiet shock” before the “storm”.
Sylvano Bussotti (1931-), “Music for violin”. Morton Feldman (1926-87), “Duet for violin and piano”. Toshi Ichiyanagi (1933-), “The Pile / For String
2”. Anton Webern (1883-1945), “4 Pieces for violin and piano, Op.7”. La Monte Young (1935-), “561 to Henry Flynt”. John Cage (1912-92), 34’46.776”
Sylvano Bussotti (1931-), “Music for violin”.
Italy-born Bussotti is a composer, a director and a designer but also well known as a multitalented person. At an early age, he began work on a graphic score. The music he wrote had quality but it was also visually interesting. For this performance, Kobayashi took a unique style. They used overdubbed violin sounds from a tape, which perhaps Kobayashi helped to record, and added a live performance of piano and percussion as well as some [sounds of] object.
Morton Feldman (1926-87), “Duet for violin and piano”.
Along with John Cage, Feldman is one of the leading figures from the New York experimental music scene. He is also well known as a soft sound composer as well as for an interesting episode when he invented graphic notation. Feldman was a productive composer but he often gave less creative simple titles to his music, for example, by referring a composition to the musical instruments.
Toshi Ichiyanagi (1933-), “The Pile / For String
2” (simultaneous performance).
‘The Pile’ is a piece composed for arbitrary musical instruments. At the concert, the composer himself performed with a method of playing the internal parts of a piano along with Yoko Ono’s voice while Juunosuke Okuyama assisted him as an engineer, which made it the first and only real piece with live electronics [3]. Like John Cage often taking this method for his work, they made a simultaneou
s performance for this piece, ‘For stringed instruments, the second movement’ by Kenji Kobayashi.
The only instruction in the score was; “Through the whole performance one should only play one note” [4]. The piece was not only performed throughout the sixties but also is played today.
Anton Webern (1883-1945), “4 Pieces for violin and piano, Op.7”.
Along with Schoenberg and Berg, Webern belonged to the New Wienna School of music. Preceding Feldman, he was a soft sound composer and had a particular taste about extremely conscious tones. Unlike other pieces on this album, this piece was composed in the very early period in 1910.
La Monte Young (1935-), “561 to Henry Flynt”.
La Monte was one of the composers who created pieces that were later categorized as Minimal Music. But most notably, he was a member of Fluxus, which we shouldn’t forget. This piece is very conceptual. The same note should be played for arbitrary number of times that was pre-determined. It was perf
ormed at this concert for the first time and Ichiyanagi played clusters with both arms. By the way, Henry Flynt (1940-) was a musician belonging to Fluxus.
John Cage (1912-92), 34’46.776”
A piece composed in 1954 and performed in the same year on October 17th for the first time at Donaueschinger Musiktage, a music festival, (simultaneous performance with ‘31'57.9864" for a pianist’).
Later that year, a score was published under the title ‘31'57.9864" for one pianist’. In this recording, apart from Toshi Ichiyanagi’s piano and Kenji Kobayashi’s violin, one can hear female narration in English and Japanese, about which there was no mention in any document at the time (assuming it as Yoko Ono’s voice however it is not confirmed). Perhaps, Ichiyanagi reproduced it by referring to an early performance method of the piece [6] In a promotional document of the concert, Yuji Takahashi’s name is written as another pianist. However, according to the musician, he canceled it after he got an offer of a simultaneous performance due to a technical reason.
28,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Michel CHION
“La Tentation de saint Antoine”
Another master piece from Michel Chion reissued by Nuun in this serie directed by Lionel Marchetti. “Concrète series by Lionel Marchetti. A concrete melodrama consisting of a prologue and nine tableaux adapted from Flaubert. With Pierre Schaeffer (as St Anthony), Michèle Bokanowski Ennoïa, the Narrator), Art Leroi-Bibbs (the Preacher), Korinna Rahls-Frisius (the Queen of Sheba), Michel Chion (the Announcer). Jointly commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture, the INA.GRM and radio France-Culture. Produced at the INA.GRM studios between 1981 and 1984.”
20,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
James TENNEY
“Postal pieces”
James Tenney (b. 1934) is one of the most important American composers and theorists of the past fifty years. For a very long time, his work was known mainly to other musicians and its tremendous influence was belied by its obscurity. In the past twenty years, however, as his music and writings have been more and more published, recorded, performed, and studied, his place in the context of American contemporary music has become far better understood. He has pioneered musical fields as diverse as computer music, tuning theory, and integrating ideas from acoustics and music cognition into his work. Tenney has also been important as a teacher, performer, and scholar of other radical American composers.
This CD contains recordings of the complete set of his Postal Pieces, written primarily during a very brief tenure at California Institute of the Arts in the early 1970s. These works, although frequently performed over the years, have not been recorded (with a few exceptions). This recording is a natural and important companion to the recent New World reissue of Tenney’s computer and electronic music from the 1960s. Both collections represent complete, highly individualistic and essential bodies of work by a major American artist.
The postal pieces, which Tenney called “Scorecards,” are a remarkable series of eleven short works printed on postcards. Each card contains a complete if minimally stated work to be performed by instrumentalists. These pieces elucidate to a large degree some of Tenney’s bedrock compositional ideas. Each is a kind of meditation on acoustics, form, or hyper-attention to a single performance gesture. This set is essential listening for anyone interested in the evolution of American experimental music.
Maximusic (1965), Swell Piece (1967), A Rose Is a Rose Is a Round (1970), Beast (1971), Swell Piece
2 (1971), Having Never Written a Note for Percussion (1971), Koan (1971), For Percussion Perhaps, Or . . . (night) (1971), Swell Piece
3 (1971), Cellogram (1971), August Harp (1971).
The Barton Workshop (Jos Zwaanenburg, flutes; Alex Geller, cello; Nina Hitz, cello; Marieke Keser, violin; Jacob Plooij, violin; Judith van Swaaij, cello; Elisabeth Smalt, viola; John Anderson, clarinets; Gertjan Loot, trumpet; Krijn van Arnhem, bassoon, contrabassoon; Frank Denyer, melodica; Charles van Tassel, baritone; Theo van Arnhem, contrabass; Jos Tieman, contrabass; James Fulkerson, conductor).
This CD contains recordings of the complete set of his Postal Pieces, written primarily during a very brief tenure at California Institute of the Arts in the early 1970s. These works, although frequently performed over the years, have not been recorded (with a few exceptions). This recording is a natural and important companion to the recent New World reissue of Tenney’s computer and electronic music from the 1960s. Both collections represent complete, highly individualistic and essential bodies of work by a major American artist.
The postal pieces, which Tenney called “Scorecards,” are a remarkable series of eleven short works printed on postcards. Each card contains a complete if minimally stated work to be performed by instrumentalists. These pieces elucidate to a large degree some of Tenney’s bedrock compositional ideas. Each is a kind of meditation on acoustics, form, or hyper-attention to a single performance gesture. This set is essential listening for anyone interested in the evolution of American experimental music.
Maximusic (1965), Swell Piece (1967), A Rose Is a Rose Is a Round (1970), Beast (1971), Swell Piece
2 (1971), Having Never Written a Note for Percussion (1971), Koan (1971), For Percussion Perhaps, Or . . . (night) (1971), Swell Piece
3 (1971), Cellogram (1971), August Harp (1971).
The Barton Workshop (Jos Zwaanenburg, flutes; Alex Geller, cello; Nina Hitz, cello; Marieke Keser, violin; Jacob Plooij, violin; Judith van Swaaij, cello; Elisabeth Smalt, viola; John Anderson, clarinets; Gertjan Loot, trumpet; Krijn van Arnhem, bassoon, contrabassoon; Frank Denyer, melodica; Charles van Tassel, baritone; Theo van Arnhem, contrabass; Jos Tieman, contrabass; James Fulkerson, conductor).
27,00€
In stock
2 CD
David TUDOR – John CAGE
“Rainforest II” – “Mureau”
David Tudor, live electronics. John Cage, voice, pre-recorded tape. “This historic release of a simultaneous performance by David Tudor and John Cage of Rainforest II and Mureau, recorded live by Radio Bremen on May 5, 1972, preserves the only surviving performance of the second of Tudor’s Rainforest series. In addition, it documents one of the precious few recorded collaborations between these two visionaries. In 1970 Cage composed the piece called Mureau, in which phrases from Thoreau’s journals (in particular, passages which touch on the subject of music) are used as the springboard for an elaborate collage. The resultant fabric combines elements of sense and nonsense, as it veers between contextual meaning and a sort of abstract, linguistic vocalise. In Cage’s public readings of Mureau, he explored a number of performance variables-differences in tempo, vocal timbre, pitch, register, and dynamics. A similar range will be apparent, in fact, when listening to this recorded performance. This simultaneous performance of Mureau and Rainforest II took place in a large concert hall before an audience, rather than privately in a recording studio. Whereas in other performance realizations (such as their legendary Indeterminacy collaboration) the two men had been placed in separate isolation booths, here the two shared the same performance space, so that each could hear and see the other person’s activity. In fact, Cage and Tudor sat quite close to one another at the center of the stage, Cage performing Mureau as a four-channel realization-one live channel against three pre-recorded tracks, all of them his own voice-and Tudor actively engaged in real-time processing of Cage’s vocal material, using it to generate electronic loudspeaker-filter events. Essential listening for anyone interested in the work of either composer.”
24,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Alvin CURRAN
“Maritime rites”
“In the middle 1970s I began to formulate ideas and projects leading to the making of music outside the concert halls-often in large open and naturally beautiful sites. Ports, rivers, lakes, caves, quarries, fields, and woods, always ready sources of my musical inspiration, now became my new music theaters.” - Alvin Curran
Maritime Rites is a series of ten environmental concerts for radio composed by Alvin Curran (b. 1938) in 1985. This series features the Eastern Seaboard of the United States as a musical source in collaboration with improvised musical performances by ten distinguished artists in the American new-music scene: John Cage, Joseph Celli, Clark Coolidge, Jon Gibson, Malcolm Goldstein, Steve Lacy, George Lewis, Pauline Oliveros, Leo Smith and Alvin Curran. The programs use specifically recorded natural sounds as musical counterpoint to the soloists whose improvisations are freely restructured and mixed by Curran. Featured here are the foghorns of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and New Brunswick, Canada. Also included are maritime bells, gongs, whistles and regional bird and animal life. Comments from lighthouse keepers, Coast Guard personnel and other local people are woven impressionistically throughout.
Rich in ambient detail, Maritime Rites presents the foghorn as indigenous American “found” music par excellence and the source of one of the most enduring minimal musics around us. The series is also a comprehensive aural documentary of our regional and national maritime heritage including such historical sounds as the Nantucket II Lightship, now out of service and doing service as a museum docked in Boston Harbor. The Lightship’s horn is the only one of its kind (and the loudest!) on the East coast and was recorded extensively during an exclusive session ten miles off shore with the special cooperation of the ship’s crew. As the foghorn gives way to other electronic navigational aids, this work may serve as a historical document of some of the most beautiful and mysterious sounds of the sea.
As an expression of sonic geography, Maritime Rites brings together different areas of the Seaboard in a single musical moment. The series was expressly conceived for radio, the only medium that can safely accommodate over sixty foghorns at once and bring an entire coastline, seemingly live, into anyone’s home! An essential document for anyone interested in sound art.
24,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Ivo MALEC
“Œuvres pour orchestre et formations de chambre”
“Sigma” (1963) for orchestra. “Lied” (1969) for 39 strings and 18 voices. “Oral” (1967) for performer and big orchestra. “Miniatures pour Lewis Carroll” (1964) for recorder, violin, harp and percussions. “Vox, vocis, F.” (1979) for 3 woman voices and 9 instruments. “Arco-I” (1987) for cello. “Dodecameron” (1970) for 12 voices.
24,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
WE WILL FAIL
“Hand that heals – Hand that bites”
Arriving like the mysterious fully formed monoliths in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is the new album from Warsaw, Poland based artist Aleksandra Grünholz aka We Will Fail. Despite the fact this isn’t her debut (that was 2014’s “Verstorung” also for Monotype Rec.), this new double barreled shotgun of an album entitled “Hand That Heals / Hand That Bites” rings with the boldest sense of arrival you could possibly imagine. With a unique sound that is neither electronic, noise nor experimental but a unique off-cut of the three assembled into a style all her own, Grünholz’s sound runs parallel to artists like Scott Walker, Autechre, Pharmakon, Daphne Oram, Pansonic, Grouper, Laurel Halo, Demdike Stare, Vessel and beyond.
Both dark and anxious, the seven “Hand That Bites” tracks follow the blood reds of its cover art, deeply rhythmic, pulsing, energetic and brimming with the intensity of an artist who has clearly arrived at an important place. Aleksandra notes “This part is ruder, more brutal, stronger, but at the same time more basic. The pulse, the harshness and the anxiety were really important to me. I know that some sounds are even dull. I left some parts dirty, raw. I wanted to show the strength that can seduce and mesmerize at the same time.” The rhythms here have some associations with Techno and club music, but for the artist this is music for listening rather than dancing. Like Emptyset and other sonic explorers Techno elements embedded are merely part of the construction – a sound reaching beyond any kind of norm.
The companion eight tracks, an alternative version of the same story according to Aleksandra, make up the “Hand That Heals” segment of the album. Again like its artwork, these tracks are lighter in touch, focused on atmosphere and experiments yet equally compelling and unique. Grünholz notes „I wanted one part to be more subtle with rich sound that was intricately constructed. I was concerned to make compositions that are really refined, full of details, so that each listening would allow listeners to find something new. There was some room for field recordings. I intentionally have chosen recordings of common situations – overheard conversation, some sounds recorded during travels – that in the same time are notations of specific memories.” Being a visual artist as well as a sound artist Grünholz works in ways that can sometimes be conceptual: “The titles were created before work on the album started – Hand that Heals / Hand that Bites – it was an irrational string of thoughts in my head for a long time – two inseparable elements that somehow make a complete configuration.” Yet the end result has proven here to be quite immediate.
The title of Aleksandra’s project We Will Fail comes from an observation – “I often think about perceiving reality. Everyone sees it a little bit differently. Our thinking affects how we interpret things that we see. Watching is not equal with seeing things how they really are. In conflict someone’s victory is always someone else’s failure. The fact that something could be black and white at the same time was the starting point to work on this new album.” We Will Fail has performed live on many European stages including at festivals such as CTM, Unsound Krakow and Unsound Toronto. The album will be accompanied by stunning visuals developed by the artist who also works as a graphic artist.
Both dark and anxious, the seven “Hand That Bites” tracks follow the blood reds of its cover art, deeply rhythmic, pulsing, energetic and brimming with the intensity of an artist who has clearly arrived at an important place. Aleksandra notes “This part is ruder, more brutal, stronger, but at the same time more basic. The pulse, the harshness and the anxiety were really important to me. I know that some sounds are even dull. I left some parts dirty, raw. I wanted to show the strength that can seduce and mesmerize at the same time.” The rhythms here have some associations with Techno and club music, but for the artist this is music for listening rather than dancing. Like Emptyset and other sonic explorers Techno elements embedded are merely part of the construction – a sound reaching beyond any kind of norm.
The companion eight tracks, an alternative version of the same story according to Aleksandra, make up the “Hand That Heals” segment of the album. Again like its artwork, these tracks are lighter in touch, focused on atmosphere and experiments yet equally compelling and unique. Grünholz notes „I wanted one part to be more subtle with rich sound that was intricately constructed. I was concerned to make compositions that are really refined, full of details, so that each listening would allow listeners to find something new. There was some room for field recordings. I intentionally have chosen recordings of common situations – overheard conversation, some sounds recorded during travels – that in the same time are notations of specific memories.” Being a visual artist as well as a sound artist Grünholz works in ways that can sometimes be conceptual: “The titles were created before work on the album started – Hand that Heals / Hand that Bites – it was an irrational string of thoughts in my head for a long time – two inseparable elements that somehow make a complete configuration.” Yet the end result has proven here to be quite immediate.
The title of Aleksandra’s project We Will Fail comes from an observation – “I often think about perceiving reality. Everyone sees it a little bit differently. Our thinking affects how we interpret things that we see. Watching is not equal with seeing things how they really are. In conflict someone’s victory is always someone else’s failure. The fact that something could be black and white at the same time was the starting point to work on this new album.” We Will Fail has performed live on many European stages including at festivals such as CTM, Unsound Krakow and Unsound Toronto. The album will be accompanied by stunning visuals developed by the artist who also works as a graphic artist.
16,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Lionel MARCHETTI – Jean-Baptiste FAVORY
“100 000 années”
“Musique concrète composed in 1990-93. "Kitnabudja Town" was previously released by Metamkine (MKCD XXX, France, 1997). This is new version assembled in 2007 by Lionel Marchetti. Jean-Baptiste Favory: “Des sphères”. Electronic music recorded in 2005.”
17,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Günter MÜLLER
“Buenos aires tapes”
Günter Müller (ipod, electronics) with Disc 1: Alan Courtis (unstringed guitar & tapes), Pablo Reche (sampler, md’s, electronics). Disc 2: Sergio Merce (4-track portastudio without tape, WX7), Gabriel Paiuk (piano, tapes). Disc 1 was recorded live February 9th and disc 2 February 10th, 2006 at Fundación Cultural Surdespierto, Buenos Aires by Gabriel Paiuk. Mixed and mastered by Günter Müller at Remisch Lupsingen. Cover art by Günter Müller.
17,00€
In stock
2 CD
Manuel ZURRIA
“Loops4ever”
“CD, 3 panels carton packaging with 12pp booklet. music by Alvin Lucier, William Basinski, John Duncan, Terry Riley, Pauline Oliveiros, Giancinto Scelsi among others...
[...] Foremost in my mind was the idea of being able to manipulate some compositions for flute, that were not original or were “extremely free ” in their conception, personalizing them to the extreme with the use of multitrace or electronics. Only a work conceived in this way has led me to reflect on this music from its inside, introjecting the point of observation in order to discover a new projection of the sound. In a certain sense the two discs represent the two ends of the repetitive element, Loops4ever is as valid as its homologous and antithetic Drones4ever.[...]“M. Z. (from CD’s notes).
With music from Giacinto Scelsi, Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, Alvin Curran, John Duncan, Jacob, Eve Beglarian, Jacob, Clarence Barlow, William Basinski, Frederic Rzewski, Terry Riley.”
21,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
AMM & MEV
“Apogee”
The first CD features a joint recording of the six musicians of Musica Eletttronica Viva and AMM together: Alvin Curran, Eddie Prévost, Keith Rowe, Frederic Rzewski, Richard Teitelbaum and John Tilbury. It was recorded April 30th 2004. The 2nd CD contains separate performances that MEV and AMM gave at the ’Freedom of the City’ festival, London on May 1st 2004. "After the generally low dynamic levels and relatively slow pace of the AMM trio set on 1 May, the MEV trio opened with the blast of Alvin Curran playing the sho far, a trumpet made from a ram’s horn, a ’defiantly primitive’, prototypical music, fit to leave the walls of the Conway Hall, like some new Jericho, pitched down fiat. If I spoke earlier of the way in which AMM might deal, in Reeve and Kerridge’s phrase, with the internal, microscopically-enlarged body surface which becomes a landscape - and the same is true of some of Teitelbaum and Curran’s quieter use of radically pitch-shifted and extended samples - particularly that ululating operatic-theatrical voice, coming to sound almost like something from AMM’s label-mates FURl - then this is the extrovert mode, which refuses any easy accommodations. Which division is inherent; as Bourdieu explains, the culture which unifies via the medium of communication is also the culture which separates via the culture of distinction, and which legitimates distinctions. It may be, as Adorno remarks, that a work of art is great insofar as it registers a failed attempt to reconcile such objective antinomies; failure then being in the highest sense the measure of success."
21,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
PARKER & PRÉVOST
“Most materiali”
Evan Parker: saxophones & Eddie Prévost: percussion. Recorded in 1997.
27,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
AMM
“The crypt – 12th June 1968”
“This 2 CD version of The Crypt - 12th June 1968 is the third edition of this recording and contains all the material that was recorded at the session in question. The fades are at places where the tapes ran out. So there was some music that escaped into the ether. The earlier vinyl pressings limited the amount of material that could be published. And to be honest, after such a long time, we had forgotten about the material excluded hitherto. Despite being (arguably) the most ‘difficult’ material on Matchless, The Crypt has been a mainstay for the label. It obviously pays not to underestimate the audience. Its continued success has enabled us to release other works. So we felt committed, obliged almost, to keep it available. But as stocks ran low it became obvious that we would have to rethink its presentation. One CD would have meant omitting material contained in the double album boxed set. Two CDs enabled us to release the complete session. We took the plunge even though it was (is) a considerable strain on our cash-flow. But this music has proved itself not to be ephemeral.” Eddie Prévost - February 1992.
21,00€
In stock
2 CD
Christian WOLFF and Eddie PRÉVOST
“Uncertain Outcomes”
Christian Wolff, piano and Eddie Prévost, percussion.
There are two concerts featured on this 2 CD album.
CD1 at Iklectik on 26th September 2015, London.
CD2 at the Faulkner Auditorium, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire,
July 13, 2016.
There are two concerts featured on this 2 CD album.
CD1 at Iklectik on 26th September 2015, London.
CD2 at the Faulkner Auditorium, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire,
July 13, 2016.
20,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Robert ASHLEY
“Atalanta (Acts of God) Volume II”
Robert Ashley, Jacqueline Humbert, voices; Tom Hamilton, mixing and electronics. Three of the satellite songs from Ashley’s opera Atalanta (Acts of God) - each inspired or revolving around one of the main characteris of the opera, Max, Willard and Bud. Atalanta (Acts of God) was written in the 1980s, begin while Ashley was still in production for the television opera, Perfect Lives. The many hours of material were performed throughout the world in many different configurations, but this is the first time these songs have been available on CD.
26,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Robert ASHLEY
“Atalanta (Acts of God)”
Robert Ashley, solo voice; with Thomas Buckner, Carla Tato, Jacqueline Humbert, voices; “Blue” Gene Tyranny, keyboards; Paul Shorr, mixing and electronics. Recorded live at the Teatro Olimpico in Rome. Sung in English and Italian. “Ashley makes use of the story of “Atalanta” - a royal princess, discarded by her family, who was raised by the animals to become the fastest-running human, and who was later reclaimed by her father to marry her off for dynastic purposes-to present the character aspects of the "successful suitor." These three aspects of character are presented in the opera as anecdotes about three extraordinary men of our times: Max Ernst (surrealist painter), Willard Reynolds (shaman storyteller) and Bud Powell (composer pianist). The genius of these three men can be taken to represent three aspects of the opera itself: image, narrative and music. In the imaginary setting of Atalanta (Acts of God), one companion (singer) reminds her of her excellence (the “Odalisque” arias); another recommends to her the characteristics of excellence in men (the “Character Reference” arias); and a third amuses her with anecdotes, as if told to her by each of the three men (the “Anecdotes”).”
26,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Robert ASHLEY
“Now Eleanor’s idea”
Music and libretto by Robert Ashley. With Joan La Barbara, Amy X Neuberg, Marghreta Cordero, Robert Ashley, Sam Ashley, Thomas Buckner and Jacqueline Humbert. Performance Orchestra mixed and processed by Tom Hamilton. 2CD + 132 pages booklet. 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. As “versions” of a single series of events, the four libretti involve a common group of characters. But the continuation of the characters’ roles in the different versions is not dramatized and so the four operas can be heard (and described) as separate projects. They may be produced separately, or together, as a single performance work. The operas share principal characters and vocal techniques (including the relationship of the voice to instrumental settings.) The operas differ, principally, in the language style of the librettos and in the relationship of the music to the presentation of the visual imagery.Robert Ashley tells us that the inspiration for these works came specifically from four sources: the work of the historian, Frances A. Yates (1900-1983), whose specialty of interests included the influence of Kabalistic mysticism on the birth of modernism and scientific philosophy in Italy in the 16th century (as a result of the expulsion of Jews from Spain during the Inquisition); the writings of Carlos Castaneda (and the arguments about him as a writer and about the intentions of his work); “Low Rider Magazine,” the fan-cult magazine of the “Low Rider” movement in the Southwestern United States; and finally, “corporate vocabulary”-what it sounds like and how it is used in popular publications, like “The New York Times,” “The Wall Street Journal” or “Fortune Magazine.”
30,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Robert ASHLEY
“Celestial excursions”
“Celestial Excursions delves into the wild intermingling of reminiscence, regret, love, nightmare, old sayings, and songs on the radio-all seemingly to no purpose, except for the operatic end of relentless speed and precision in ensemble singing and the possible stage magic inherent in illusion, hallucination, and a physically changed state of the senses. The opera’s originality lies in a use of a new vocal technique Ashley has built over the last 20 years, which enables several stories to be heard at the same time. In an intricate vocal system, a principal voice is “chased” by other voices whose parts rotate in sequence in a given order. The result of this technique creates a complex jungle of voices, delivered with an extraordinary rhythmic intensity rarely heard in ensemble singing.
As for all of Ashley’s latest works, the orchestra music of Celestial Excursions was composed in the computer-synthesizer studio. All the voices and the orchestra (on multi-track tape or on disc) are processed again during the concert in order to match the sound of the opera to the performance space. And for this CD release, Ashley went back to the studio with live recordings to rework the piece, extending the orchestra in the final act.
“With the exception of a few condescending and silly movies, “old” people are one of the few “minority” groups basically unrecognized in the arts. Not that they care, but among the “marginalized,” old people are the most marginalized, because, obviously, unlike racial or ethnic groups or the poor, they have no future. Or rather, in the most important sense, their future will never change for the better.” Robert Ashley
As for all of Ashley’s latest works, the orchestra music of Celestial Excursions was composed in the computer-synthesizer studio. All the voices and the orchestra (on multi-track tape or on disc) are processed again during the concert in order to match the sound of the opera to the performance space. And for this CD release, Ashley went back to the studio with live recordings to rework the piece, extending the orchestra in the final act.
“With the exception of a few condescending and silly movies, “old” people are one of the few “minority” groups basically unrecognized in the arts. Not that they care, but among the “marginalized,” old people are the most marginalized, because, obviously, unlike racial or ethnic groups or the poor, they have no future. Or rather, in the most important sense, their future will never change for the better.” Robert Ashley
30,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Robert ASHLEY
“Dust”
DUST, an opera by Robert Ashley and Yukihiro Yoshihara (video direction) whose imaginary setting is a street corner anywhere in the world, where those who live on the fringes of society gather to talk, to each other and to themselves, about life-changing Spotlight , missed opportunities, memory, loss and regret.
Five "street people" recount the memories and experiences of one of their group, a man who has lost his legs in some unnamed war. As part of the experience of losing his legs, he began a conversation with God, under the influence of the morphine he was given to ease his pain. Now he wishes that the conversation, which was interrupted when the morphine wore off, could be continued so that he could get the "secret word" that would stop all wars and suffering. (90 minutes)
Voices: Robert Ashley, Sam Ashley, Thomas Buckner, Jacqueline Humbert, Joan La Barbara; Musicians: "Blue" Gene Tyranny, synthesizer, Tom Hamilton, live mixing and sound processing; electronic orchestration by Robert Ashley, Tom Hamilton and "Blue" Gene Tyranny; sound effects for "Friends" composed by Tom Hamilton.
Five "street people" recount the memories and experiences of one of their group, a man who has lost his legs in some unnamed war. As part of the experience of losing his legs, he began a conversation with God, under the influence of the morphine he was given to ease his pain. Now he wishes that the conversation, which was interrupted when the morphine wore off, could be continued so that he could get the "secret word" that would stop all wars and suffering. (90 minutes)
Voices: Robert Ashley, Sam Ashley, Thomas Buckner, Jacqueline Humbert, Joan La Barbara; Musicians: "Blue" Gene Tyranny, synthesizer, Tom Hamilton, live mixing and sound processing; electronic orchestration by Robert Ashley, Tom Hamilton and "Blue" Gene Tyranny; sound effects for "Friends" composed by Tom Hamilton.
30,00€
In stock
2 CD
Joan LA BARBARA
“Voice is the original instrument”
Collection of early works and her first vocal compositions, originally released on LPs in the 1970s and early 1980s on her own Wizard Records. “One of my earliest pieces, ‘Hear What I Feel’, was a self-exploratory, sensory-deprivation experimental work, designed to help me discover new sounds, delve into psychological aspects, as well as communicate with the audience on a pre-verbal level of awareness. After spending an hour in isolation with my eyes taped shut and not touching anything with my hands, I was led our into the performance space where my assistant had placed a variety of substances in six small glass dishes. As I touched the material, I tried to give an immediate vocal response to what I felt both emotionally and physically, without the benefit of visual information. I expected the shock of bringing a solitary state of mind into the heightened awareness of a performance situation to intensify my experience, and the poignancy of my ‘prepared’ state to affect the audience. The sounds are presented here in their raw state; it is truly an experimental work with no intentional musical implications or designs. ‘Voice Piece: One-Note Internal Resonance Investigation’ explores the color spectrum of a single pitch. Circular Song was inspired by the circular breathing technique of horn players. ‘Des Accords pour Teeny’, an exploration of multi-phonic technique or choral singing, was dedicated to Teeny Duchamp. In much of my early work I dealt with sound as a physical presence, sculpting it, building up layers in complex constructions, letting the flow of thought and the visualization of sonic gestures direct my studio art. Voice Is the Original Instrument was both a statement of purpose and a manifesto as, through various experiments and explorations, I tried to rediscover the basic function of the voice as the first means of expression as well as to release untapped sonic material. As I gave my classically trained voice its freedom, letting it direct me toward new places and ideas, I developed what was a unique vocabulary and used those sounds to score an orchestra of layered voices.”
23,50€
Out of stock
2 CD
Eliane RADIGUE
“Jetsun Mila”
Performed (Arp synthesizer) and recorded digitally by Eliane Radigue. “Jetsun Mila (1986) is inspired by the life of Milarepa, a great yogi and poet of Tibet who lived in the 11th Century. The story of his life as told to his closest disciple, Rechungpa, represents one of the most famous works within Tibetan culture. The Mila Kabum, or Namthar, has been translated into several Western languages, including English and French. Eliane Radigue’s 84-minute musical evocation of Milarepa’s life is in nine sections, with prelude, which correspond to major periods of the life of this famous yogi. The sections flow from one to the other without breaks, one giving birth naturally to the next.”
24,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Eliane RADIGUE
“Songs of Milarepa”
Performed (Arp synthesizer) and recorded by Eliane Radigue; Robert Ashley, English voice; Lama Kunga Rinpoche, Tibetan voice. “2 CD of all 5 of Radigue’s songs in tribute to the Tibetan saint and poet from the eleventh century. Two of the tracks date from an 1983 LP (Radigue’s first release), two are previously unreleased and the final 62-minute track was previously issued as a sole CD in 1987. The material is performed by Radigue (synthesizer and recording), Robert Ashley (English voice) and Lama Kunga Rinpoche (Tibetan voice). Radigue was born in France and has studied under Pierre Shaeffer and Pierre Henry; her musical has an extremely organic and mystical electronics vibe, and has been previously documented on Phill Niblock’s XI label, as well as Metamkine and Lovely. Milarepa is a great saint and poet of Tibet who lived in the 11th Century. Through years dedicated to meditation and related practices in the solitude of the mountains, Milarepa achieved the highest attainable illumination and the mental power that enabled him to guide innumerable disciples. His ability to present complex teachings in a simple, lucid style is astonishing. He had a fine voice and loved to sing. When his patrons and disciples made a request or asked him a question, he answered in spontaneously composed free-flowing poems or lyric songs. It is said that he composed 100,000 songs to communicate his ideas in his teachings and conversations.”
24,00€
In stock
2 CD
David TUDOR
“Neural synthesis N° 6-9”
Performed by David Tudor; produced and recorded by David Tudor and John D.S. Adams. Binaural and stereo mixes on 2 CDs. This recording combines the art of music, the engineering of electronics, and the inspiration of biology. In it, David Tudor orchestrates electronic sound in ways analogous to our biological bodies’ orchestration of consciousness. The performance originates from a neural-network synthesizer conceived and built especially for Tudor. He surrounds this synthesizer with his own unique collection of electronic devices, and in the recording on this CD made for headphone playback, he uses a new binaural technique for translating sound into out-of-head localizations in which sound seems to originate from specific, changing points within a space around the listener.
23,50€
Out of stock
2 CD
Alvin LUCIER
“Still and moving lines of silence in families of hyperbolas”
2 CD release of of a four-part work, initiated in 1972 and recorded as presented here in 1983-4 and 2001. This reissues two long-out-of-print LPs on Lovely, with four added parts (the strings) released for the first time. A series of mostly solo instrument works for the likes of: clarinet, marimba, viola, voice, xylophone, violin, flute, glockenspiel, cello, horn, vibraphone. Performed by: Thomas Ridenour, William Winant, Dan Panner, Rebecca Armstrong, Conrad Harris, Susan Palma, Gregory Hesslink, James de Corsey. An absolute masterpiece of “interference sound”.
23,50€
Out of stock
2 CD
Yannick DAUBY
“Sounds of horse”
Publication by Atelier Hui-Kan and Horse Dance Company. “Since 2008, French sound artist Yannick Dauby is collaborating with Horse, a taiwanese male-only contemporary dance company. During these years, he created the soundtracks for the following performances : Bones (2008, National Experimental Theater, Taipei). Growing Up (2009, Theater of Taiwan University of the Arts, Taipei). I (2010, National Experimental Theater, Taipei and Theater in Tainan). Faceless by Chou Shu-Y (2011, National Experimental Theater, Taipei). The sound material used for these projects is quite unusual for dancers and it became one of the specificity of the shows of HORSE : recordings of animal voices, urban soundscapes, industrial textures, electroacoustic abstractions… sounds of HORSE is a glamorous publication documenting this collaboration. Its two CD contains more than two hours of sound works, organized and remastered for a domestic listening, and a double-folded booklet with high-quality photography of the dancers with texts by choreographers and dancers Chen Wu-Kang and Chou Shu-Yi, and Yannick Dauby. This double-CD has been published in collaboration with HORSE and Atelier Hui-Kan”.
14,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Marc & Olivier NAMBLARD
“Cévennes”
Marc & Olivier Namblard, audio-naturalists and listening wanderers, examining from childhood this contrasted and elusive landscape, situated in the southeast of the Massif Central, called “Cévennes”.
Patience, exploration and familiarity with the natural environment have enabled them to create a body of work of field recordings that are of the highest depth and quality. The best from amongst them have been assembled on these two disks, as an homage to the landscape of Cévennes and to the sounds of its fauna. Amongst the subjects presented here: singing insects of the Causses, vultures feeding, passerine songs, underground streams, barking stags, rumbling storms, amphibian choruses and sheep bells.
Two CDs and 28 page booklet with colour illustrations included.
Published by Kalerne Editions and Atelier Hui-Kan, in Taiwan, Autumn 2013.
Recording, montage, mixing : Marc and Olivier Namblard
Production, mastering : Yannick Dauby
Photographies : Marc et Olivier Namblard, Martine Schnoering
Design : Atelier Hui-Kan
English translation : Patrick McGinley
21,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
NURSE WITH WOUND
“An awkward pause”
“Originally released in 1999, “An Awkward Pause” adds David Tibet, Christoph Heemann, Colin Potter and Petr Vastl (Aranos) to the mix, resulting in an extremely unique sounding and dare we say, rocking release. This two CD set is released in a deluxe 6 panel digifile and adds a second disc of all previously unreleased tracks.”
15,00€
Out of stock
2 CD
Bernard PARMEGIANI
“Matières premières”
Bernard Parmegiani (1927 - 2013).
CD1 with three previously unreleased pieces, “L’écho du miroir” (1980-2008), “Adagio” (1980), “Un arbre… c’était le mien!” (1987).
CD2 with a large number of tapes of preparatory work for future musical compositions.
CD1 with three previously unreleased pieces, “L’écho du miroir” (1980-2008), “Adagio” (1980), “Un arbre… c’était le mien!” (1987).
CD2 with a large number of tapes of preparatory work for future musical compositions.
23,50€
Out of stock
2 CD
Bernard PARMEGIANI
“Violostries”
“Violostries” (1964), “Pour en finir avec le pouvoir d’Orphée” (1972), “Dedans-Dehors” (1977), “Rouge-Mort” (1987), “Exercisme 3” (1986), “Le Présent Composé” (1991).
15,00€