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AGON ENSEMBLE GRAPHIC SCORES AND CONCEPTS CD AND BOOK - BY NAME - £ 32 The great Agon Ensemble - if you don't have Czech New Music of the 60's, snap it up now - with a fine CD of concept and graphic score pieces by Czech composers 20's (!)-90's and John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Daniel Goode and even a good piece by Michael Nyman, performed with inspired instrumentations which are happy to include electric Guitar, Bass and Synthesiser, amplified and prepared Cellos, Contrabasses, Mandolin, Banjos and Sand, Stones, Water, Branches (track 10) as well as the usual chamber instruments. The book is an 88p, slightly larger than A4 hardback with parallel text in Czech and English, containing photographs, colour panels and scores of the pieces on the CD with biographies, historical and artistic contextualisation and an account of how Agon approached and interpreted the scores or instructions. A Simply GREAT project, brilliantly realised. It took 2 years to get a handful of copies and it cost a fortune. We are passing them on at cost. VERY LIMITED PLEASE CHECK FIRST
AMANINDA PERC ENSEMBLE Varese's IONISATION - 3 pieces of Cage's (including the notorious 4.33 - though I think they cheat a little here myself, still) and 'Toccata' by Chavez. (plus we still have a couple of the earlier LP by this ensemble, inc. Cage's 'Construction No.3)
AMEG COLLECTIV ET CIE 7 pieces from different hands (Swiss and French composers). Good quality Electroacoustic / Acousmatic / Concrete works. Nicely presented. Illustrated booklet.
AMIRKIHANIAN, CHARLES This is a good one. Intriguing and engaging combination of environmental, narrative sound and pitched 'musical' sounds. Very precise focus of material in 5 very different pieces. The last and longest 'walking tune' is an homage to and uses material from Australian maverick composer Percy Grainger to fine effect - featuring also much documentary sound en route. A beautifully conceived and balanced piece of work. (Interesting to hear alongside Jon Rose's 'Perks' by the by). Highly Recommended.
AMY, GILBERT The deleted LP now reissued on CD. See main catalogue for review.
APPLETON, JON
ARCURI, SERGE
ARTYOMOV, V Great compositions for percussion ensemble. Impressively sustained with spacious and meditative sections as well as the kind of rhythmic developments you'd expect. An unusual achievement. Melodya CD and only a handful of copies for mailorder only. First come first served I'm afraid.
ASCIONE, PATRICK
BACH/SCHNEBAL
BALAYANA, JOSEP MARIA A live recording of a concert at the Miro Foundation, Barcelona, for piano, prepared piano, public and a lot of plastic tubing. There are always more things to do with a piano - and here are a few of them.
BANG ON A CAN Very interesting recording from a festival of new music in New York. Various pieces, all worth listening to, especially _Failing: a very difficult piece for String Bass_ by critic/ composer Tom JOHNSON, which, in my opinion, is worth the whole CD. A good introduction to the latest New York contemporary music generation.
BANG ON A CAN Excellent collection from the second NY festival of new music, featuring Shelley Hirsch & David Weinstein, Louis V. Vierk (for small ensemble and increasing ecstatics), Jeffery Brooks (2 pianos), Elizabeth Brown (String trio with Shakahachi), David Lang (percussion piece), Jeffrey Mumford (a brilliantly calm work for alto flute, harp and cello) & Phil Kline (harmonica and Boomboxes - a coup de theatre, as well as a fascinating soundwork). Good collection, a good introduction to new names.
BARRET, RICHARD Three dense movements (25.36 total) for Orchestra (BBC Symphony). Remarkable in that the orchestra is organised like a small ensemble, with a complexity and clarity of organisation and timbre that is surprising, even extraordinary. In fact the orchestra becomes, effectively an invented instrument. A great achievement, and a readable sign in the murk of orchestral composition. Prodigious.
BARROSO, SERGIO Good collection from Cuban composer of pieces for solo instruments and tape.
BARTLEY, WENDE
BARTOK, BELA
BAYLE, FRANCIS Vol 8 in the works.
BAYLE, FRANCOIS Hallucinatory but never easy; billiard balls lietmotif and long, extraordinarily lyrical development in second half.
BAYLE, FRANCOIS See above
BAYLE, FRANCOIS See above
BAYLE, FRANCOIS. see above
BEHRENS, M SERIES: TOC. Bernhard Gunther's label dedicated to sound on CD that is not music in any sense I've ever encountered, not Electronic or Concrete or Industrial, as these terms are normally understood, though they are always highly abstract and concerned with extremes of various sorts - and not 'wall of sound'; this is more like Webern than Throbbing Gristle - but there is a predominance of low frequency drones. It's a form radically emergent out of recording technology - easier to say what it is not than what it is. These are listed together for the experimenters and researchers amongst you; I think there is something going on here, but I can't always say that I like it... Uniform series packaging.
BERIO, LUCIANO
BIMSTEIN, PHILIP KENT I could file this in electroacoustic too but this is a true no-ground item. 4 pieces for tape plus 'The Louie Louie variations' for Mandolin Quartet. 'Cows' and the excellent 'Dark Winds Rising' use text in a highly sensitive way, 'Dark Winds' being especially well pitched between voices, content and instrumental setting. 'Louie' is what it says. 'The Door' updates Pierre Henry with a great piece made of doors and creaks, sampled and arranged like rock music. Vox=Dominium is a complex piece for sounds as voices and voices as sounds and carries enormous emotional power. Samples here shift into the realm of expression, humour, sorrow and political anger, a rare and impressive achievement, seemingly lightly realised.. Fine work. Buy it.
BOHMAN, ADAM Electronic and Concrete drones; strangely organic.
BOKANOWSKI, MICHELE
BOKANOWSKI, MICHELE
BREGENT/BOUDREAU/DUGUAY 2 BIG works, both about 'forgotten civilisations'. Audio mythologies for big resources: electronics, orchestras, choirs. These are massive constructions, highly dramatic, and never delicate, though the sounds are exquisitely formed and arranged. No respect for genre boundaries, which are here repeatedly crossed and undermined. Exquisitely packaged.
BRUCE, NELLY
BRUME VS APHASIA This is midway between Electroacoustic and Industrial I suppose, but the BRUME material is extremely convincing and excellently done. APHASIA is certainly radical. Round 1 to Brume.
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN CD and Book in a box with excellent notes. Here are (I) the GREAT radio piece 'The City Wears a Slouch Hat' by Kenneth Patchen with music by John Cage (for mostly percussion and noise) made originally for the Columbia radio workshop in 1942, here the music is much more audible and better sounding than the radio bootleg, though the text is not so well rendered. Nevertheless, this ranks in my book as a major work, and unmissable (Cage even being programmatic!). Great text by KP. To fill up the CD are some fascinating juvenilia: 1840 Cage, before he found his metier with a peculiar mixture of genres and styles. Interesting only. But 'The City' is a must
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CAGE, JOHN
CALON, CHRISTIAN (Lifeline: Electric Tales) 3 pieces from 1985, 88, 89. Classic acousmatics; electronic, environmental and concrete sources, organised with great power and sensitivity. Big works that hold together well.
CARDEW, CORNELIUS One of the rare composers who can bring popular and high art cultures together without compromise. What Rszevski might have done. The first nine pieces played by Cardew himself (8 short gems and the great 20 minute 'Thalmann Variations'). 'Boolavogue', for four hands, is played by John Tilbury and Andrew Ball and finally Andrew Bottrill plays 'Sing For The Future Variations'. Inspired sound of the great yearning.
CARDEW, CORNELIUS Played by the great JOHN TILBURY, fine performances and full, informative book. A valuable document.
CASTELLANI, HERVE
CAZABAN, COSTIN Second CD from Dumitrescu-Avram label Editions Modern. Pieces For Tape and flutes - which works ! For 2 double basses - played by the phenomenal Fernando GRILLO, Clarinet and String trio, Piano and tape and string Quartet
CAZBAN/NEMESCU From IANCU DUMITRESCU's label, 2 new composers with half a CD each. Both are interesting (and fit the EDMN aesthetic), NEMESCU is outstanding.
CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
CHION, MICHAEL
CHION, MICHEL
CHION. MICHAEL Featuring Pierre Shaeffer as St.A, after a text by G.Flaubert. Also contains 'La Ronde' - Electronic Circus Music ! - for me the more interesting of the two pieces.
CHION. MICHAEL As the title implies, a working through of an electronic 'Credo' with Mambo music/atmospheres. Unusual and successful. See also INA.GRM above
CHION. MICHAEL
CLOT, JEAN LOUIS Excellent collection of highly varied and listenable works, mostly for tape, though with clarinet on one piece and contrabass on another. An interesting collection.
CONTEMPORARY FLUTE For C, contrabass and octobass flutes. Very good collection. The Mefano piece is excellent, the Cage is one of his more interesting, and you get Varese's classic.
CONTEMPORARY PIANO
CONTEMPORARY SAXOPHONE
COWELL, HENRY A very welcome collection of 21 Cowell's mostly experimental piano pieces, where many of techniques - clusters, work inside the piano &c - were pioneered, ably played by CHRIS BURNS. An important part of music history well presented. Spot those Irish folk and classical Chinese influences.
CRUMB, GEORGE/EARL BROWN 3 Pieces for: 3 pianos, four hands, 2 Amplified Pianos. All are excellent and the Brown is much spoken of but rarely heard piece of history. Fine work.
CUSTER, BETH An excellent collection of 15 pieces for divers instrumentations, well performed and recorded. In the no genre zone (cellos, electric guitars, clarinets, gamelan, percussion - tuned, classical, ethnic, drums - keyboard, strings, plus).
DAOUST, YVES The declared theme is 'solitude'; curiously and dialectically pursued through moments of musical high culture, fragmented, recollected, interrupted, overtaken by traffic, radio, mundane sound, conversation. Formally, this is music for soloists and tape, with soloists as actors and tape as film soundtrack; indeed, Daoust's history is in film.
DASHOW/SAYLOR/SIMS
DEEP LISTENING BAND
DEVENS, PAUL At 22 minutes or so, this is short for a full CD price..on the other hand it's an intriguing piece of work - and that's how Paul made it. He is an artist and installer, and this is an 'Art' piece (music to my ears). An unusual blend of sounds/ Instruments/ Spaces. Concentrated and focused and sonically excellent. Highly limited number.
DHOMONT, FRANCIS
DHOMONT, FRANCIS
DHOMONT, FRANCIS
DHOMONT, FRANCIS
DHOMONT, FRANCIS A massive work. 2 CD's and a book thicker than a jewel case full of information and biographies and tributes (In French and English). Issued to celebrate the composer's 65th birthday. The music is exquisite, surprising, lyrical and uncompromising. Classic Acousmatic music. Perfectly realised and beautifully presented.
DILLON, JAMES Includes the magnificent 'East 11th St NY 10003' for 6 percussionists, buy it if only for this. Plus 'Windows and Canopies' for chamber orchestra and 'La femme Invisible' for woodwind ensemble, piano and 3 percussionists.
DIMUZIO, THOMAS
DIMUZIO, TOM Tom is back with a CD of rich atmospheres and drones. Recorded at art festivals around North America. More with Less. Uncompromising and Convincing. See also ReR
DISCONTACT Very interesting and recommended collection of pieces, issued by 'contact' - the house organisation of Canadian electroacoustic composers. Not generally available and very superior selection.
DOCKSTADER, TOD These 2 CD reissues are great news for all 'organised sound' enthusiasts. TD was one of the distinctive pioneers, and yet remains little known. His work was always hard to find. These are fascinating concrete works - using old technology: tape, razor blades, layerings - of classic quality and depth. Well documented and packaged. CLASSICS. MAILORDER ONLY -
DOCKSTADER, TOD See below - BOTH CD's for 22.50, save 2.00
DOLDEN, PAUL
DRESHER, PAUL
DRESHER, PAUL
DUBEDOUT Small and sudden sounds compiled in a kind of anti-aesthetic that is quite compelling. Unusual.
DUCHENNE, JEAN-MARK
DUFOUR, DENIS Fascinating journey, 'cinema for the ears' in Dufour's words, setting a text by Stig Dagerman ('a declaration of absolute despair') for natural, electronic and manipulated sound, and stretched or treated voice. Wonderfully realised.
DUFOUR, DENIS
DUMOND/FABER Works for guitar ('classical') and electronic treatments. First of all, these are composed pieces and the effects orchestrate and extend the played instrument, which is always responsive as well as productive. Different treatments are investigated in different pieces. Sounding sometimes like Conlon Nancarrow, sometimes like great orchestras and blocks of sound, sometimes frail and delicate like attenuated wires. Interesting project, excellently realised.
ELECTRO CLIPS 25 Electro-acoustic pieces commissioned around the New Music America festival, from a gallery of North American composers in the field. The constraint was three minutes - to make, as it were, miniatures. The result is a worthwhile and interesting catalogue of techniques, with some pieces that stand out. But it is a sampler, not a 'work'. Comes with a loose leaf 54 page folder and a series of 25 comissioned photographs.
ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC 1 Excellent collection including a CLASSIC from PAUL LANSKY, and a number of other very good works.
ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC CLASSICS Includes the historic and indispensible Varese: Poeme Electronique (1957/8), re- originated with state of the Art technology, but without musical compromise. As we never heard it so far. The two Babbitt works date from 1963 and 69, and the Xenakis, the second outstanding piece here, from 1978.
ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC II An exemplary collection of diverse but superlative pieces for both pure and mixed sources. Highly recommended.
ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC III Another good collection. The Karpen (powerful organic drone), Nelson (for guitar and tape) and Risset for Piano and virtual piano stand out.
ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC V
ELEKTROAKOUSTISCHE MUSIK An excellent collection of works produced in the former East Germany between 1984-88 by some of the best composers in the form. A fine and rare collection. Short supply.
FELDMAN, MORTON Another careful and beautifully presented CD from RZ. Collects (mostly piano, one double piano, one piano and violin and two ensemble) pieces from 1952-1974, recorded for radio between 1959-79. Pianos played by Morton himself, John Tilbury, Cornelius Cardew and David Tudor. See if you can spot the pin drop. See also: SUBROSA
FELDMAN, MORTON
FERRARI, LUC Includes the CLASSIC 'Music Promenade'. A huge narrative of environmental recordings with hardly any additional electronics. Plus versions of 'Presque Rien' continuing Ferarri's experiments with composing with environmental recordings. An important document.
FERRARI, LUC
FORT, BERNARD
FROM A to Z (Steenland Sampler) Collection from Starkland includes Tod DOCKSTADER, Paul DRESHER, Philip BIMSTEIN, Charles AMIRKHANIAN, Joseph KASINSKAS, Joseph LUKASIK and Pamela Z. More toward the meditative than the industrial, but some excellent pieces here. A good sampler.
GASUL, FELIU At last a new CD by the great Feliu Gasull, including many more compositions for the trio with Joan Albert Amargos (piano) and Jaume Cortadellas (flute) who made the 'Filiu y Joan Albert' LP and who appeared on the ReR Sampler. There is as well a frighteningly good duo with and by Javier Mas (Arxillaut) and a two guitar piece with Paco de Lucia - plus three recent solo guitar pieces.
GOBEIL, GILLES Fine collection, including work for tape and Ondes Martinot, Tape and Electric Guitar (Rene Lussier), a sound drama, Unretouched urban environment sound and electronics, and tape and tape.
GOLDSTEIN Solo Violin pieces.
GREAT AMERICAN GUITAR SOLO
GROULT, CHRISTINE To my ears one of the best of the series so far. Takes its time with a single development full of internal movement and exquisitely formed sounds. A cool breath.
GRUPPO DI IMPROVAZIONE NUOVA Historic collections from one of the key Improvising/Composer groups (with AMM, MUSICA ELECTRONICA VIVA &c) of the '60's. Members were: Mario BERONCINI, Waller BRANCHI, Franco EVANGELISTI, John HEINEMAN, Roland KAYN, Egisto MACCI and Ennio MORRICONE, joined on some pieces by Frederick RZEWSKI. All were both composers and instrumental virtuosi; they eschewed all they considered musical cliches (tonality, periodic rythmn, repetition &c) and explored new playing techniques, and 'non-wasteful' economy of compositional means; 'work in small areas'- with broad and often deep aesthetic results. In short, this is history. From Edition RZ, beautifully packaged.
GUNTHER, BERNARD I feel obliged to include this because it is probably a kind of watershed. There are 5 pieces, consisting of crackling, tones, extra high frequencies pops and scratches - all very pianissimo and without obvious form. As journalists say 'a think piece'. Remarkable in concept and execution. For the historian, experimenter and those concerned with the very unusual.
GUNTHER, BERNARD
GWIAZDA, HENRY
HALLWAYS HMSL is a computer music language design for interactive applications. Used here by 11 composers (15 pieces). An interesting and varied collection with a lot of live performing and acoustic/electric instruments as well as electronic sound.
HARRISON, JONTY
HARRISON, LOU Good collection of another maverick American composer - pieces for tack pianos, gamelan, kronos quartet and percussion ensemble. Good introduction and summary.
HARRY PARTCH Another unmissable classic toward a complete works. Includes: the unusually scored 'Ulysses Departs from the Edge of the World' and Revelation in the Courthouse Park, King Oedipus, The Bewitched, Menuet, Come Away Death, By the Rivers of Babylon, as well as spoken introductions by Partch himself. With an excellent 40 page booklet. Indispensible. Over 3 and three quarter hours of music...some of it still seriously surprising..
HONNEGER
IOACHIMESCU, CALIN Another interesting Romanian composer with pieces for Orchestra, Orchestra and Saxophone, Wind, Percussion, Tape, Contrabass Saxophone and Tape and an ensemble mixing acoustic and electronic instruments. Following the Romanian investigations into 'the inner sound' of instruments, spectral profiles and psycho acoustics
JEP NUIX Excellent collection of pieces by Spanish Composer Nuix. Tape pieces and works for Guitar, Orchestra and small ensemble.
JOVANOVIC, ARSENIJE 4 Radio pieces. Hard to describe. Diffuse, mysterious; acoustic rather than electronic sources, though hard to distinguish, except for many voices. Parts recorded underground but not NOT echoic. Organic and shape-shifting. For those who tend to the abstract fringes.
KAZUE SAWAI KOTO ENSEMBLE SAWAI, TAKAHASHI, CAGE. New music and techniques for massed KOTO's. Excellent and ear- opening work.
KELLER,HERMAN Music for prepared Piano. Mostly improvised and therefore with a special relationship between preparation, performance and spontaneous interaction.
KLINK, VANDERWALLE Music for Piano and Violin by ANTHEIL, CAGE, COPPENS, NUYTS, GUIMARAOS, ROSEEUW, DESMET. A good collection, beautifully played and very listenable. The ANTHEIL in particular is worth the whole CD (1923!). The CAGE pieces are also convincing (when so much is being released that is not). The DESMET is less to my taste.
KORDE, SHIRISH
KUBISCH, CHRISTINA Releases from Editions RZ are rare, but always perfectly realised. This is an exquisite package documenting a sound installation in the Ludwigskirche in Saarbrucken. Expect glassy, transparent drone-chords, constantly and slowly shifting in it's harmonic constitution. Meditative unmoving movement.
KUPPER, LEO 6 excellent pieces for Santures (Iranian 72 string, moveable fret zither/dulcimer..) microprocessors and electronics, and for Guitar/Prepared Guitar. The other two works are more conventional electroacoustic pieces.
LANDER
LE BARON, ANNE 5 pieces by harpist and composer Le Baron. 4 Chamber pieces and one for Harp and Tape. Guests David Shea, Jim Staley and George Cartwright also appear. Interesting and unusual works.
LE BARON, ANNE Pieces for prepared Harp (excellent); extracts from a wild blues opera version of Eurydice in the Underground; two Chamber pieces and a great long piece for electric harp, live electronics and tape. Highly Recommended
LE GOFF, PHILLIPPE
LEJEUNE Voice based electronic work.
LIEUTENANT CARAMEL
LINDBLAD, RUNE Interesting early (1953-60) concrete-electronic work by the radically ignored Lindblad. Now for the first time available on record. Important piece of the history jigsaw.
LUCIER, ALVIN next in the occasional 7cm series for solo triangle comprising about 20 minutes of continuously pulsed triangle with tiny variations in dynamic, tempo and timbre. Remarkable, in it's way.
LUNDBERG, TOMMIE
MALEC, IVO Founding acousmaticist with an historic, but to my ears, mixed bag of a collection. Some fine pieces.
MARCHETTI Extremely interesting structure of spaces, discreet sounds and distances; excellent and unusual use of the voice. Also of echoes and reverbs to distinguish and bind discontinuous short sounds. Excellent.
MEY, THIERRY DE Very engaging contemporary works. Six pieces: ICE, for Violin and Cello; FRISKING, for 11 percussionists and unusual objects - this one is worth the CD -; UNDO, for Harpsichord, POSES for mixed ensemble, CHAINE, for 2 pianos and AIR for percussion. All are highly listenable and substantial.
MINJARD/ FAURE, LAURAS/FORT ETC. 6 acousmatic works by leading lights of the Groupe de Musiques Vivantes de Lyon (GMVL). These are 'narrative' pieces, after a fashion, highly individual and beautifully made. Especially interesting MINJARD and GARCIA. Fine work.
MION, PHILIPPE
MORPHOGENESIS Electronic/AMM/Contemporary. Serious proposition.
MUSICIANS ACCORD
MUZYKA CENTRUM A rare collection of contemporary music from Poland for Traditional Instruments, Voices, Tape, Electronics, Computers, Samples. Astonishingly varied and lively. Sometimes like the best improvised music, sometimes near Techno or stretched electric Jazz, then clearly c.20 serious music, and two minutes later a rich and unusual programme, and an eye opener. For instance the piece for Charango, Computer and Tape. Highly recommended. VERY LIMITED SUPPLY
NEW MUSIC VOL 1
NEW MUSIC VOL 2
NEWBAND includes the rarely recorded early Studies on Ancient Greek Scales.
NEWBAND Contains a fine recording of Daphne of the Dunes, played on original Partch instruments. Other pieces are all interesting and well realised.
NICHOLAS, ALWYN Circa 1966-89, fascinating rhythmic contemporary electronic music that sounds more like a slightly straighter version of The Residents than anything else. Highly engaging skate across a lot of musical borders and a document of another maverick composer.One of a kind. LIMITED SUPPLY
NOETINGER, JEROME Inc. The Work sampled.
NORDHEIM, ANN 5 pieces made between 1968-70: Solitaire, Pace, Warsaw, Colorazione, PolyPoly - with good notes (in English and Norwegian). A valuable document from one of the significant names, mixing concrete documentary, concrete manipulated and some instrumental sounds. Reissued from now rare as-gold-dust deleted vinyl originals. Small independent label.
NORIOT-LEONCE PETITOT PRIZEWINNER BOUHALASSA, SMITH, CAMILLERI LA FUENTE, TREMBLAY, BEJARANO, MOORE.
NORIOT-LEONCE PETITOT PRIZEWINNERS MACDONALD, FICARRA, ROY, PANTALEAO, NORMANDEAU, DOLDEN.
NORMANDIEU, ROBERT. New work. Fewer environments and more extrapolations and assemblages from small samples. And plundered Mozart. Two versions (2 CD's) a multitrack 'live' stereo version for home listening and a studio mix for 'concert diffusion'.
NORMANDIEU, ROBERT. Acousmatic Music of a very high standard. Concrete and environmental sounds, treated and developed around conceptual narrative schemes. Some truly remarkable coups de son. A rare triumph and a pleasure to listen to.
NOW AND PRESENT FLUTE, THE
NUIX, JEP Excellent collection of pieces by Spanish Composer Nuix. Tape pieces and works for Guitar, Orchestra and small ensemble.
O'ROURKE, JIM Jim as known. Another interesting assembly
OLIVEIRA, JOAO PEDRO Sound pieces in the older post-concrete tradition, but well done and very listenable.
OLIVEIRA, JOCY DE
OLIVEROS, PAULINE
OLIVIEROS, PAULINE
PAPE, GERARD
PAPE, GERHARD
PARKINS, ZEENA At last a solo album from Zeena where she plays only harps, acoustic and electric. These are studio recordings. Meditation, violence, noise, lyricism, radical electronic treatment - and a good chance listen to what the instrument can do. See also ReR
PARMEGIANI, BERNARD Dbl - Vol 1, as BP says in his note is from the age of sewing (SCISSORS) - tape editing concrete techniques. An excellent selection confronting played, electronic, concrete and environmental sound. DEDANS DEHORS is a classic..Vol 2 is from the age of mouse (COMPUTER) construction. Electronic and computerworks.
PARMEGIANI, BERNARD
PARMIGIANI /BAYLE The 2 giants set up their Heaven and Hell.
PARTCH, HARRY Rotate the Body in All It's Planes (Music for Acrobats by HP),Music Studio - Harry Partch (Partch introduces and demonstrates his instruments and performs, alone, using overdubs (!) WINDSONG. This is worth the whole video, U.S. Highball - A performance/film of the celebrated Hobo piece; excellent - MTV Phooie !, DAPHNE OF THE DUNES (Windsong in full as soundtrack to a curious narrative-artmovie). A MUST for any HP fan. Invaluable archive material. From the US original converted by the British Harry Partch Society to UK PAL standard.
PARTCH, HARRY Madelaine Tourtelot's film of all playing, all singing, all dancing 1969 UCLA stage production (75mins.), with extra interpolated film material. It makes all the difference to see how HP imagined his music to look as well as sound. A crucial document + the San Diego KEBS-TV documentary featuring 'Daphne of the Dunes', two duets from 'On the 7th day...' (Harry P. and Danlee Mitchell) and an interview with HP (28 minutes). PAL version.l
PARTCH, HARRY BIG NEWS!! Nearly 5 hours of priceless archive material from one of the great musical originals of the century; all recordings not in print, and nearly all works so far unreleased, plus Harry lecturing, reading, introducing the pieces and being interviewed; plus a sound-collage memoriam featuring informal (& illicitly recorded) conversation amongst HP's friends and tapes of HP at the piano talking with friends and playing. A mix of old precious low fi recordings and some new digital recordings too. Excellently compiled. Think of this as 2 evenings well spent with HP: he introduces the selections, gives you a clear exposition, with musical examples, of his tuning system. Here too is a substantial part (a sidesworth) of the extraordinary and prodigious 'Bitter Music' (HP thought he'd destroyed all copies). In other words, it's a gem - and for any fan of HP, indispensible. What's more, it is very cheap. While it is around. Plus informative and well designed book.
PARTCH, HARRY Eleven Intrusions, Plectra and Percussion Dances, Castor and Pollux, Ring around the Moon, Even Wild Horses, Ulysses at the Edge.
PARTCH, HARRY Vol. 2. The Wayward: U.S Highball, San Francisco, The Letter, Barstow, And on the 7th day Petals fell on Petaluma
PARTCH, HARRY Vol. 3. The Dreamer that Remains, Rotate the Body in all it's Planes, Windsong, Water, Water!
PARTCH, HARRY Vol. 4. The Bewitched.
PARTCH, HARRY was formerly a double LP, played by the original GATE V ensemble. One of the few Partch pieces currently in print. Partch was a great American maverick composer, who designed and built his own instruments (tuned to an octave divided into 43 parts) out f wood, glass (light- bulbs / Mazdaphone, Cloud Chamber Bowls) and extended existing instruments (Koto, Harmonium/ Chromelodion, Viola, Zither, Balophone &c). Apart from the unusual harmonic content, Partch's music is profoundly rythmical, otherworldly, direct and often edifyingly humorous. Comes with an excellent and very informative 16pp booklet.
PARTCH, HARRY Both the old CRI LP of this name and On the Seventh Day Petals fell on Petaluma. 76.20 minutes from the master.
PERCUSSION ART QUARTET Good collection: RICHARD TRYTHALL's rare and excellent 'Bolero', ARMIN WEIGERT's in your face 'stick attack' , a fine 'organised' piece by the ensemble for very left field objects and experimental sound production, plus a rare percussion work by ALFRED SCHNITTKE and PETER SCULTHORPE's 'Sun Song I/II.
PETITGAND, DOMINIQUE
PIMENTA
PIONEERS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC The American legends: USSACHEVSKY, LUENING, AREL, DAVIDOVSKY, plus I each from SMILEY and SHIELDS. Includes some of the very earliest US concrete experiments (1952-6), Ussachevsky's famous 'Piece for Taperecorder' and some excellent later computer music. Historical interest as well as some world class pieces. Good, informative booklet.
POVALL, RICHARD An extremely interesting and listenable suite of 4 early Rags stretched and twisted, rearticulated and embellished through the medium of disklavier programming. Reminiscent sometimes of Conlan Nancarrow, but essentially different in approach, though equally 'unplayable'. A well conceived, well realised project which updates the player piano. Also includes Enclosure, for electronics.
PRIME, MICHAEL Solid and considered work for electronics, concrete and environmental sound - similar ground to that recently occupied by Jim 'O Rourke. Beautifully recorded and nicely wrapped.
PUGILESE, MICHAEL
RADIGUE, ELAINE
REDOLFI Desert sounds, assembled from concrete recordings in the Mojave. Draws you in - a kind of ultra-radical wallpaper music; sometimes extreme and always somehow on the point, never redundant. Like much of this music a dark room opens a new ear. Also includes Pacific Tubular Waves..the LP has this and another piece but not Deserts. And it comes with a 3-D cover and red-green glasses. On 'Appel' MR turns from water to the sounds of air - transformed.
REIBEL, GUY
RELACHE
REYNOLDS, ROGER Excellent collection including a CLASSIC from PAUL LANSKY, and a number of other very good works.
RISSET, JEAN-CLAUDE SUD - a little in the realm of Redolfi's 'Desert Tracks', based on sounds recorded in the Massif des Calanques, processed and transformed. DIALOGUES - for flute, percussion, piano and tape - a music of confusion and transformations. INHARMONIQUE - for electronics and voice, MUTATIONS - tapework, again echoes of Redolfi. A fine collection.
RODRIGUE, MARIO 5 excellent pieces. Complex, exquisitely clear and dynamically formed. Curious deconstructed 'musical elements' emerge occasionally and environmental snatches. The structural sensibility is very contemporary and not at all academic. A nice piece of work altogether.
ROLL, KRISTOFF K A sound documentary (with map) of a trip in Central America. Sounds, speech, electronic ground.
ROLL, KRISTOFF K Interesting mix of documentary political events and musical developments.
ROY, STEPHAN
RUSSELL, WILLIAM 8 unusual and idiosyncratic PERCUSSION pieces by unsung but influential composer and collaborator with Henry Cowell and John Cage, whose first percussion piece was premiered by Slonimsky at the same concert as was Varese's Ionisation. The 1937 piece that finishes the CD is scored for brake drums, pipes, suitcase, tin cans and found objects. American through and through and an important historic compilation. Revised by Russell and newly played by Essential Music.
RUTTMANN, WALTER The legendary CLASSIC prophetic early Concrete (pre Schaeffer) Radio work. This is history. Congratulations to Metamkine for this.
SCHAEFFER, PIERRE Generous presentation. The book in French, Illustrated (tall paperback size). These are the complete works of Pierre Schaeffer alone and in collaboration with Pierre Henry. From the early (1948-9 !) classics and then followed through. Not the greatest works in the field necessarily (though the earliest are fascinating and essential) but a tranche of history, and for anyone immersed in the medium, an essential document. Fourth CD is talks and interviews and so on with and by PS.
SCHEIDT, DANIEL
5 pieces for performer and interactive computer system, where the performer's imput is crucial. All these pieces were developed with the performers (Percussionist, clarinettist, singer, bassclarinet and trombone
SCHVARTZ, HAYDEE
SCHWARZ, JEAN
Very Contemporary - sliced noise, channel hopping, genre twisting, Big-Fi (eg SHIT FM). Highly Recommended.
SCHWARZ, JEAN
Also pretty radical, but slightly more conventional, get _Quatre Vingts_ first and if you like that....
SCHWARZ, JEAN
5 movements derived solely from the voice of Elise Caron, transformed at IRCAM in realtime and then compiled and edited. Surprisingly listenable and varied, but you have to like voices.
SCHWARZ, JEAN
SHEPHERD, MEG/ALCIDES LANZA
SIMS, EZRA
5 pieces - for clarinet and string quartet; small ensemble and computer; cello; flute and electronics; small orchestra. The compositional premiss is a division of 72 parts to the octave. This is a music with a deep logic, which you can hear. Even if there seems to be nothing going on, after a while you've heard a whole lot. Subtle and satisfying. Highly unorthodox.
SMALLEY, DENNIS
New Zealand electroacoustic Composer. A music of spatial perspectives, concentration on the 'interior' of sounds, 'spectromorphology' (the shaping of sound spectra through time) and timbral extremes. Demands concentration and makes few concessions, but cleans the ears.
SMITH, RANDALL
Very convincing compositions, unusually rythmically sophisticated (not as a beat but as organic deployment of timed accent) Some very successful and uniquely soundprinted pieces. Turn-out-the-light acousmatics.
SPEACH, BERNADETTE
STEINER, ETKIN, LANZA, VALCARCEL
7 works. 3 by Gitta STEINER - for percussion trio, Marimba, Vibraphone; the other 4 by South American composers - making this already a valuable resource - ETKIN and LANZA are from Buenos Aires and VALCARCEL from Peru. This last particularly interesting. Some Tapework too.
SUSSE, ULRICH
Subtitled 'Compositions with Compositions', these are 4 longish pieces for tapework, live instruments and real-time processing, including some impressive coups de son, especially the luminous 'Zwischen Fruhlung und Herbst' for String orchestra, Organ and Tape which winds Vivaldi around itself and interpolates and extrapolates extra materials in a form that is never less than radical and gripping; a classic, textbook piece. The other pieces pursue similar musical interleaving of electronic, manipulated and baroque elements, 'critical reflections on the music of the past today', as Susse explains it. Useful and full notes included
TENNEY, JAMES
First proper collection from one of the Pioneers. Includes the legendary Plunderphonic 'Blue Suede'. See also Musicworks Below.FP 001/ART 1007
TERRUGI, DANIEL
Syrcus is especially interesting for its highly unusual percussion sounds (Boobama, Ududrum &c).
THIBAULT, ALAIN
Zappa, RockJazz, Speedmetal, Orchestral Modernity all wrapped in breathless synthesised complexities. Varied but with a throughgoing sameness. Interesting techniques (prodigious) but for me the least successful of these collections.
THIBAULT/DUBOIS
TOC. DUNCAN, JOHN/BERNARD GUNTHER
See above
TOC.DUNCAN, JOHN/MAX SPRINGER
See above
TOC.LOPEZ, FRANCISCO
See above
TOC.LOPEZ, FRANCISCO
See above
TOC.MEELKP, ROEL
See above
TOC.MENCHE, DANIEL
See above
TOC.RIW
See above
TOC.TAYLOR, B
See above
TURCOTTE, ROXANNE
Impressionistic sound narratives. Other peoples lives and Romance. Non literal and then concrete - for instance in the well managed telephone section. Bugging with static. Commerce crashes in on intimacy. Unusual employment of rythmn and media samples for the genre.
University of Minnesota Symphonic Wind Ensemble
A remarkably diverse and interesting collection of pieces by Gunther Shuller, Elliot Schwartz, Jeffrey Brooks, Michael Colgrass, Jeffrey Brooks, Steven Stucky, Anthony Plog and John Zdecklik. It says File under Classical, 20th Century, but there is almost Rock, Almost Jazz, almost Free Jazz here as well
URBAN CABARET
VANDEGORNE
VANDFORNE/LAMBERSY
VARIOUS ARTISTS
BOUHALASSA, SMITH, CAMILLERI LA FUENTE, TREMBLAY, BEJARANO, MOORE.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
5 pieces by DUCHENNE, TREMBLAY, ASCION, DONATO, RYER - the prizewinners of the Acousmatic Competition Noriot- Leonce Petitot 1989.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
NORMADIEU, TODOROFF, PAMERUD, MORAND, LE GOFF, WATERS.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
MACDONALD, FICARRA, ROY, PANTALEAO, NORMANDEAU, DOLDEN.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
VENI ENSEMBLE, THE
6 pieces by the historic ensemble (see 'Daniel Matej/Martin Burlas' in Main catalogue). Music from the early 60's and from today: composers who use 'forbidden' devices, like melody, transparent diatonic structure, rock riffs mixed in with 'harsh' sounds, noise &c. A good taste of Czech Post/Avantgarde.
VINAO, ALEJANDRO
WEHOWSKY, RALF
WESTERCAMP, HILDERGARD
An interesting electroacoustic collection by soundscape specialist HW, using an excellent of field recordings, realtime performance, and electronic manipulations. Especially successful are 'A walk through the city', Fantasie for Horns (exquisite) and 'Beneath the Forest Floor'. Unusual and tightly focused works.
WISHART, TREVOR & FRIENDS
Classic recordings by one of the electronic and improvising pioneers. Beach singularity documents an environmental music event, bizarre in itself and rendered stranger by subsequent processing. Menagerie is a collection of excellent tape pieces made to accompany an exhibition of 'assemblages'. Extra to the original LP is Vocalise - a good example of Wishart's highly developed vocal performances. With well made booklet. These are important documents of interesting and in many ways seminal work, missed on it's first appearance. I hope this helps get TW the recognition he so well deserves. Recommended.
WOLFF, CHRISTIAN
WOOD, JAMES
Two excellent percussion pieces for ensembles of existing and invented instruments - exploring microtonality and sustain as well as great ensemble rythmn construction. Unlike nearly all 'classical' percussion works in both aesthetic and resources - falls rather somewhere between Partch, Afro-America, Asian traditional and an imagined complex tribal society in a parallel universe. Highly recommended.
XENAKIS
XENAKIS
XENAKIS/VARESE
ZANESI, CHRISTIAN
Quietly revolutionary, long, transforming, organic 'movements' of exquisite clarity and quality but of an austerity and alien-ness that only settles after some listening. Its length is part of its power;it stands for itself and refuses the commonplaces of modern genres.
ZANESI, CHRISTIAN
ZBAR, MICHAEL
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