Alvin Curran
Solo Works : The '70s (3CD Box)
Format3CD BoxLabelNew World RecordsGenreExperimental
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This historic collection gathers together the four seminal solo albums recorded by Alvin Curran (b. 1938) in the 1970s. Two, Fiori Chiari Fiori Oscuri and The Works, are making their first appearance on CD. Author-critic Tim Page, an early advocate of these works, writes, 'Curran weaves electronic technology, an occasional acoustic instrument, voices and musique concrète ('found' music) into a multi-hued tapestry of sound. He holds these dissimilar elements together with a compelling subliminal musical consciousness; the listener never feels that Curran is deliberately being clever, or that he is out to impress, shock or self-consciously 'expand the musical language'. Curran's eclecticism is not willful; his sounds are there because they fit, and they convey a subtle and ingratiating sense of mysticism. These challenging, multi-faceted compositions manage, through their very catholicity, to synthesize and perfect a striking new musical syntax uniquely Curran's own. 'Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden' (1973), 'Fiori Chiari Fiori Oscuri' (1974), 'Canti Illuminati' (1977), 'The Works' (1976).
'I am happy to stand again in front of all these free-wheeling tone paintings and look back - embracing both their concrete and their purely ephemeral, abstract qualities -while reflecting on how much these four seminal works determined the music I made afterward, similarly inspired by the rhythms, colors, and eternal durations of nature and the immediacy and knowledge of making music with anything at hand.' Alvin Curran
"this music is thoughtful, amusing, erotic, whimsical, angry, honest, sometimes honestly uncertain. A proper slice of life." Gramophone
Format
Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden (Canti e Vedute del Giardino Magnetico) (1973) performed, recorded and mixed in Alvin Curran's studio loft, via dell'Orso 28, Rome.
Light Flowers Dark Flowers (Fiori Chiari Fiori Oscuri) (1974) performed and mixed in 1975 in the studios of RCA Italiana in Rome.
Canti Illuminati (1977) Part 1 recorded February-March 1982 on via dell'Orso; Part 2 recorded at the composer's studio on via dell'Orso, Rome and at Mammuth Studios, Rome, February-March 1982. Note that the composer chose to reverse these two parts on the present CD set from their order on the original LP.
The Works (1976) performed and mixed on February 24, 1980, at Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis.
Digital premastering and editing for this edition supervised by the composer.
Digital mastering: SoundByte Productions, Inc. NYC
Cover photo: Curran performing "Il Giardino Magnetico" at the Beat 72 in Rome, 1973.
LP covers for "Il Giardino Magnetico" and "Fiori Chiari Fiori Oscuri" are original artwork.
LP cover for "The Works: Al's Lunch", an assemblage by Edith Schloss courtesy of Ingher Gallery, New York.
LP cover for "Canti Illuminati: Untamed", oil, 1981-82 (from "The Peaceable Kingdom").
This recording was made possible by a grant from the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trust.
Thanks to Simone Carella and Ulisse Benedetti of Beat 72 for launching this entire project; Edith Schloss for her inspired artwork; and Susan Levinstein for curating the historical and visual elements surrounding the current edition.
Special thanks to Tim Page for his continued encouragement of these early works.
Ⓟ&© 2010 Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
Release notes
Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden (Canti e Vedute del Giardino Magnetico) (1973) performed, recorded and mixed in Alvin Curran's studio loft, via dell'Orso 28, Rome. Light Flowers Dark Flowers (Fiori Chiari Fiori Oscuri) (1974) performed and mixed in 1975 in the studios of RCA Italiana in Rome. Canti Illuminati (1977) Part 1 recorded February-March 1982 on via dell'Orso; Part 2 recorded at the composer's studio on via dell'Orso, Rome and at Mammuth Studios, Rome, February-March 1982. …
| Songs And Views From The Magnetic Garden (Canti E Vedute Del Giardino Magnetico) | |||
| 1-1 | I | 26:42 | |
| 1-2 | II | 23:14 | |
| Light Flowers Dark Flowers (Fiori Chiari Fiori Oscuri) | |||
| 2-1 | I | 24:48 | |
| 2-2 | II | 26:50 | |
| - | |||
| 2-3 | Canti Illuminati I | 26:19 | |
| 3-1 | Canti Illuminati II | 19:00 | |
| The Works | |||
| 3-2 | I | 25:34 | |
| 3-3 | II | 19:42 | |
- Edith Schloss
- Cover [Lp Covers]
- Bob Defrin
- Design
- Alvin Curran
- Liner Notes, Producer
- Joan La Barbara
- Liner Notes
- Paul Zinman
- Mastered By [Digital Mastering]
- Luca Spagnoletti
- Mastered By [Digital Premastering], Edited By
- Helena Ackerman
- Photography By
- Giorgio Piredda
- Photography By [Cover Photo]
- Rudy Burckhardt
- Photography By [The Works Lp Cover]
