This 1979 record was the fourth release of six on the Italian Ananda label, co-founded in 1976 by Alvin Curran, Roberto Laneri and Giacinto Sclesi. The record contains two environmental sound pieces that reminded me of a more natural or free-improv take on the types of ideas and atmospheres also heard on Brian Eno’s ‘On [...]
A very personal musique concrete tour-de-force subtitled “Creative Nihilism – Studies in musique concrete 1979-1983″ (Iridescence 1984), Gary Kail’s magnum opus brings to mind the recordings of the LAFMS and other bedroom tape-splicers of the pre-digital era. The first record consists of Gary’s solo explorations, while the second one contains collaborations of his with other [...]
This 1973 LP on the Los Angeles Nocturne label has something a lot of recordings of group improvisations tend to lack – ambience and atmospherics. The liner notes sum up the group’s approach: “The GAEB had its beginnings in the late 60′s. It emerged as a music ensemble simultaneously with the experimental sculptural instrumental creations [...]
Dear Mr. Schnipper, Please consider this review for future re-publication in your zine (the pay here at Waxidermy is awful and I could use the extra $): Back when I was a kid in the UK, there was a commercial for the instant mashed potatoes brand “Smash”. It showed small kitchen appliance robot dudes who [...]
Subtitled ‘The Hypnotic music of the sculptures that sound.’ and released on the touchstone ‘Music Of Our Time’ series on Columbia, this LP is interesting not so much for Jacques Lasry’s compositions, but for the fact that the music was composed for and played on the Baschet Brothers’ Structures Sonores. As the Baschet brother not [...]
Released on Ilhan Mimaroglu’s pet record label Finnadar in 1973, this is renowned visual artist Jean Dubuffet’s chance to clank, saw and blow his way around a huge variety of acoustic instruments. He also uses tape manipulation extensively – well either that or he’s worked out how to play sax honks, prepared piano and assorted [...]
One thing is for sure: at no point during the making of this record was Jo Kondo told that he needed ‘more cowbell’. His 20 minute trance suite ‘Under The Umbrella’ is performed by an ensemble of 25 musicians, all but one of them armed with nothing but that most erotic of instruments – the [...]
An obscure concept LP of analog synthesizer pieces, apparently recorded in 1972 and released in 1974 by the mysterious Lorq Damon of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In 1980, Mott The Hoople Keyboardist and Londoner Morgan Fisher solicited musical contributions from 50 musicians that he admired…
Nino Nardini (great name isn’t it?) recorded “Musique Pour Le Futur” for the Crea Sound library imprint in 1970. This record is not at all like this composer’s better known funky exotica outings. Instead of sleazing it up, Nino is bleeping away in the Forbidden Planet / egghead labcoat electronics idiom here. When he gets [...]
Rod Poole was an excellent and unique musician who died a tragic and pointless death in mid-2007. Todd S. Jenkins wrote “On May 13, 2007, Poole and his wife, Lisa, were walking through the parking lot of Mel’s Drive-In in Hollywood when a car driven by Angela Sheridan, 24, of Los Angeles, nearly backed into [...]
From the liner notes: “Live concert improvisations. Some of the pieces are played on new sound sources designed and constructed by members of the group. Others user traditional sources in a new context. Occasional use of electronic sound modification techniques” So basically, a buncha Canadians running around and making like Taj Mahal Travellers, AMM, et [...]
This LP was produced for an ‘exhibition of sound sculpture, instrument building, and acoustically tuned spaces’ that took place at the Los Angeles Institute Of Contemporary Art July 14-August 31, 1979. It contains twenty six pieces of music and environmental sound from Yoshi Wada, Bill Fontana, Joan La Barbara, Terry Fox, Christina Kubisch, Tom Recchion [...]
File this one under ‘Japanese Easy Listening Steel Guitar Exotica’. All the text on this record is in Japanese except for ‘Made In Japan’ on the back cover and ‘Stereo Steal Guitar Mood’ (with the typo) on the record label. Maybe a Japanese reader can tell me the name of the artist or what the [...]
A 1977 record channeling ‘A trip through the planes from the throne of god’, this is not your typical blissed-out private press new age trip. Instead it’s a far more interesting mix of acoustic 1970′s new age music with improvisational group playing that reminds me of AMM or Harry Partch at times, with the end [...]