Since its launch in 2017, the Milan based imprint, Soave, has become a widely celebrated vehicle for visionary, historical gestures of music that pursue radical new paths of creativity. Over its years of activity, the label has largely focused on the work of Italian artists like Giusto Pio, Riccardo Sinigaglia, Arturo Stalteri, Roberto Musci, Giovanni Venosta, and numerous others, but every once and a while they cast their gaze on those who worked further afield, notable in cases of their releases by Wolf Vostell, After Dinner, and their latest, the first ever vinyl reissue of Steve Birchall’s obscure electronic classic “Reality Gates”. Long neglected in annals of the 1970’s American avant-garde, before becoming rediscovered and championed by Keith Fullerton Whitman and Creel Pone a number of years back, it’s a wild an wonderful journey into the outer reaches. Issued in two beautiful, very limited vinyl editions - 100 copies on clear wax and 300 copies on black - if you’re into brain-frazzling electronics, this is the one to get!

Almost nothing is known about Steve Birchall other than he emerged during the early '70s in the American Midwest - specifically Bloomington, Indiana - armed with a EMS VCS 3 synthesizer (The Putney), and lots of recording gear and outboard effects: Ampex MM-1000 16 trk, dbx noise reduction, SpectrasSonics Console, Studer A80 Recorder, Eventide Clockworks, Instant Phaser, Cooper Time Cube, and EMT Reverb. His recording debut, “Phenomena / Reciprocals II / Pento-Tholoi”, was a split with Scott Huston, issued in 1970 by the legendary imprint, Opus One, run by the composer Max Schubel, alongside numerous noteworthy recordings by artists like Frederic Rzewski, Garrett List, Joel Chadabe, Randall McClellan, and Barre Phillips. Three years later, he would resurface with a single sided flexi, “Music of the Spheres”, and his lone full-length, “Reality Gates”, before disappearing from view.

“Reality Gates” was originally privately issued by Poseidon Electronic Music Studio in 1973 and then re-released with broader distribution by Ovation Records (arguably best know via their sub-imprint Black Jazz Records). Soave’s edition perfectly reproduces the later, following its being almost entirely unobtainable for nearly 40 years. First thing’s first, don’t let the cover or the title fool you. While it might seem like it belies New Age and mystical fare, the album is anything but that.

Birchall’s lone full-length is nothing short of a radical, avant-garde affair, harkening back to the wild early years of electronic studios in the United States and Europe when experimentation was in full force and anything went, rather than embracing more sedate approaches to synthesis that tended to define the 1970s. Blasting forward in its opening minutes with the piercing high tones of “Music of the Spheres”, as the album’s five compositions progress the author embarks on a cosmic journey of clattering tonality and texture that fully embraces its electronic character, darting toward complete unpredictability, while never leaving behind a sense of carefully considered artistry that defines its totality.

A time-bending marvel and a neglected outsider-electronics classic that remains fresh and almost entirely singular nearly half a century down the road. An absolute killer gem, Soave has once again done a great service by bringing much needed attention to a rarely heard wonder. Issued in two beautiful, very limited vinyl editions - 100 copies on clear wax and 300 copies on black - preferences aside, this is one that’s not to be missed.