FNTC

The experimental landmark Opera by FNTC returns in a remastered CD edition, nearly forty years after its original cassette release on Staalplaat in 1987. A striking document of Europe's late 80s cassette underground, Opera captures the collective at their most adventurous - merging spontaneous composition, sound collage and performance art into a single immersive experience. As a member of the Fluxus movement, Willem de Ridder brought his conceptual sensibility to the project, pushing the boundaries between art and sound. Cora Emens, known for her provocative erotic performances, contributed a distinctive and powerful vocal presence that cuts through the sonic fabric. Nick Nicole expanded the palette using everyday instrumental objects - transforming the mundane into the musical - while Hessel Veldman shaped and structured the work's unique soundscape with precision and vision. Also featuring Jon Rose on violin, the recording remains a testament to the fearless creativity that defined the experimental music scene of its time.

Recorded during the summer of 1986, Opera showcases FNTC's distinctive approach to instant composing and live sound construction. The piece was conceived as a three-dimensional 'hearplay', with the original performance unfolding across a multi-speaker setup. The audience, blindfolded and reclining on couches, experienced sound as architecture - enveloped in layers of voice, violin, found objects and tape manipulation. It was as much a sensory installation as a concert, blurring the line between listening and inhabiting sound. Following its cassette release, Opera was featured in the All Chemix Radio Series, issued by Staalplaat and the Radio Art Foundation on tape and broadcasted internationally across experimental radio networks. It also became a central part of FNTC's European Instant Composing Tour throughout the late 1980s, bringing the work to underground venues, squats and art spaces from Amsterdam to Berlin.

Now available on CD for the first time, this edition restores the full depth and atmosphere of the original performance, revealing sonic details buried in the original cassette format. The accompanying artwork, discovered in Willem de Ridder's archive, features a striking collage created by De Ridder and Peter Pontiac - a visual counterpart to the auditory chaos and beauty within.

Faithful to the spirit of the avant-garde and the legacy of Dutch cassette culture, Opera stands as a vivid reminder of a time when pushing boundaries wasn't a choice - it was the underground ethos. This split release with Tribe Tapes honors that tradition, bringing a forgotten masterpiece back into circulation for a new generation of listeners ready to be blindfolded and immersed.