The wolfman
For the performance of "the wolfman" recorded here, produced at the university of california at davis, Robert Ashley used an earlier (1960) tape composition entitled "the 4th of july". that composition changes gradually from a parabolic-microphone documentation of a backyard party into a layering of tape loops and tape-head feedback.Long deleted original lp edition of 290 copies only with detail photo from the performance and full score.
Atalanta (Acts of God)
Originally released on Lovely Music in 1985. Robert 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 paint…
Celestial Excursions
2005 release. Following the ground-breaking work, Dust (LCD 1006CD), godfather of experimental opera Robert Ashley returns with Celestial Excursions. Ashley's endeavor explores remarkably uncharted territory -- the kind of language that is common among "old" people who talk all the time or not at all, to anyone passing by or to themselves. The opera premiered at the Hebbel Theater in Berlin, before coming to The Kitchen for its U.S. premiere in April 2003. Celestial Excursions delves into the wi…
Music of Richard Lerman 1964 - 1987
RESTOCKED: As a sound artist, performer and composer, Richard Lerman traverses worlds of sound and music. For over forty years, he has been gathering, scanning, seeking sounds and creating works that weave through nature and draw upon living communities and memories in notable landscapes. (Some of his work references regrettable historical events such as the disappearance of Chilean citizens under General Pinochet' regime and the internment of Japanese-Americans during the World War II.) His rec…
Tracing
Richard sent me this piece last year for another possible collaboration. After listening to this gorgeous work, I told him there was not anything I could add that would not take away from the beauty that was already there.” William Basinski limited to 300 copies, hand numbered
One plus one
The turntable has enjoyed a varied history in the realm of performance and experimental music. From the early phonographic works of John Cage to the spliced cut-ups of Christian Marclay in the 1980s, the device has proven to be a versatile tool for the creation and transformation of sound. Following a joint billing at Brisbane’s Metro Arts Space in 2002, Melbourne based composer Philip Samartzis and sound artist Lawrence English shared a 30-minute performance that was to become the beginning of …
40 years and one
This man and his work represent the real "speculum musicae" of the past 40 years. The example of his music embodies a lifelong commitment to an integral radicalism. . . . this is a venerable tradition that Philip has written so eloquently about, and continued in his music. A tradition that stems from "Charlie" Ives through John Cage and Lou Harrison. All of these composers would ultimately admonish us to do one thing: to open our ears--and LISTEN! —Peter GarlandPerhaps the single most striking …
Kick that habit
Made in 1988/89 (16mm), a film around Voice Crack (Andy Guhl, Norbert Möslang + Knut Remond) in trheir daily work. A great film now on DVD!
Signers Koffer
A film from Peter Liechti around the work from Roman Signer. Artistic performances, installations and objects used by Roman Signer. 'I show as much of the surroundings as i needed for people to imagine the centre. I don't want to prove or verify anything, I want to touch something.' Peter Liechti. Colour 85 min / PAL / Switzer original version / Subtitles : German, English, French, Spanish and Portugese.
Apparatur zu den Grundlagen der Physik I
an awesome sound installaton work composed and performed by Peter Brandlmayr. Experiment N1725/33. Experiment E1916/802. Experiment H1944/56. Elektromagnetischer Konflikt. Experiment E1916/774. First experiments with the instruments of the "Apparatur zu den Grundlagen der Physik I" [apparatus to the fundamentals of physics], based on the manuscripts of Professor V. Krylov. "Each instrument consists of a basic frame, super 8 projectors, and projection areas. Every instrument is accompanied by a s…
Interaktionen
Sectioned and muffled reverberation opens the latest work Interaktionen by Peter Brandlmayr, a work of austere mystery, fractured space and premeditated anxiety. Ostensibly, a work that crookedly hangs between your ears, operating on oxides and ancient gases that perfume the air with the spirit of inopportune, fearsome outcome. The wiry hiss of studio experimentation of 'Relikt R89' with its dusting metals, rubbery prepared stringed instruments recall recent work by Joseph Suchy, a…
Thermos Explorer
2000 release, cheap and lovely "No really, she's laughing with you... With all the sneaky charm of a car commercial that leaves you inexplicably in tears, this latest romp from People Like Us serves up the emotional complexity of, say, the complete works of Proust, crammed into bite-sized snacks for the easily distracted. In some sense Vicki Bennett's work could be seen as companion volumes to Neil Postman's incisive mid-eighties critique "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age …
And The Mexican Jumping Beans
Back from a journey to Mexico Paul Panhuysen brought mexican jumping beans which are sold there as toys on the local markets. When in Eindhoven he began to experiment with these beans in different settings. As a result a cd with different recordings was published which used piezo discs as contact microfones, while beans are activated by lamps. The beans were jumping in eight containers made of various materials like plastic, aluminium or wood among others.
The Edison Effect: A Listener's Companion
A sound recording never preserves quite what it claims to preserve. Aspects are missing and alien elements introduced. On this CD there are many voices (from old records & wax cylinders), but always the surrounding noises draw the attention. Paul DeMarinis is a sound engineer who collaborated with several avantgarde composers, and then became an avantgarde composer himself. His compositions for speech, processed and synthesized by computers, such as Beneath the Numbered Sky, are collected on Mu…
3 phases
Michael Snow - 3 phases is thus a three cds set, presenting piano works from this extraordinary artist, accompanied by a 48-page booklet including a text by Raymond Gervais commissionned specially for this publication. A milestone."Vancouver-based painter, piano player and conceptualist Michael Snow is celebrated in this eclectic three CD box set of solo piano divided into three separate phases: piano antique; piano biologique; and piano mécaniq…
Room pieces
Much music has been written to guide listeners through the course of a preconceived form. Although Michael J. Schumacher's music is distinctly his own it has been inspired by David Tudor and Morton Feldman as well as La Monte Young. Like their music it is about hearing sounds in themselves, about allowing the ear to register sonorities and then the hearing imagination may go to work, navigating amongst temporal realities and imaginary spaces, negotiating between a sense of control and perceived …
Zyklus - Four Realizations By Max Neuhaus
2004 release. Four previously unreleased realizations of Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Zylus" (different recordings than the one featured on the Columbia LP Electronics and Percussion -- Five Realizations. Recorded 1959-68. The term "New York School" refers to a circle of composers. "Zyklus" was written in 1959 and is one of the first solo pieces to utilize such a large number of percussion instruments (twenty-one). When Max Neuhaus first started to play this piece there were only three percussi…
The New York school. Nine realizations of Cage, Feldman, Brown
2004 release. Previously-unreleased recordings, made 1964-1968. Different realizations than those featured on the Columbia LP Electronics and Percussion -- Five Realizations from '68. The term "New York School" refers to a circle of composers in the 1950s who orbited around John Cage: Morton Feldman, Earle Brown, Christian Wolff and David Tudor, above all. Their music paralleled the music and events of the Fluxus group, and drew its name from the New York School of mostly Abstract Expressioni…
Fontana mix-feed
Rare and now long out of print LP, originally released on Mass Art, performed and realized by Max Neuhaus. Technically, this LP consists of four realizations of John Cage’s 1958 Fontana Mix, an indeterminate graphic score originally intended to be used for a tape piece, with or without additional instruments. To say that, though, is not really to capture the unique nature of this music, or the unique nature of percussionist and electronic music pioneer Max Neuhaus’ take on Cage’s material.…