Musiques De L’O.N.F. - Music of the N.F.B.
Posted on March 18, 2006 by aschrock
What makes this double-LP from 1977 special is it perhaps the earliest appearance of backing tracks to many of the avant-garde films in Canada. They were composed and sequenced (if you can call it that)using the earliest synthesizers and/or tape manipulation techniques. The compositions date from 1951 (!) – 1972, early in the game indeed.
The music here is slow, cerebral, and extremely raw. Songs such as the backing to McLaren’s “Rythmetic” sound crude and rudimentary, composed entirely of primitive fart-esque oscillations. Other tracks add a slurry of spoken word and manipulated orchestral instrument samples to the mix. The techniques and styles are so dated many may find listening to this album the aural equivalent of watching a game of pong. However, that’s the reason I personally find it so fresh sounding. Musicians were still pushing the envelope and trying to squeeze every last ounce of performance and possibility from their equipment. It’s a far cry from today. Once you purchase a computer, you get the entire world of synthesis delivered to you with software packages such as Reason, MAX/MSP, etc.
The last track evolves from barberpole filtered oscillations into a deep bit of psych rock with jazz touches and moans, curiosity of an unknown band. Check it out below.
None of the tracks are listed in the traditional gold standard of early electronic/electro-acoustic recordings: Davies’ “Répertoire International des Musiques Electroacoustiques”.
Yet, Canada remains devoted to its art in spite of the obscurity. The National Film Board of Canada has clips available from about 75% of the films this music accompanies, free to anybody with an interest.
Filed under: Avant / Experimental, Electronic, Jazz, World Jazz
2 Comments to “Musiques De L’O.N.F. - Music of the N.F.B.”
i just found a copy of this double album at my local “friends of the library” bookstore in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. i friggin love it. Canada has an amazing history of avante-garde and electronic music. just up the road in Thunder Bay, Ontario, a man named Hugh LeCaine invented one of the first “synthesizers” called the electronic “sackbut” in 1948.
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Nice one. I’ve seen a McLaren film where the music was directly “drawn” on the optical tape with amazing effect. It was the story on the two wild neighbors. Maybe that music is on this record too?