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Episode 135 An Electronic Music Mixed-Bag Playlist Time Track Time Start Introduction –Thom Holmes 06:28 00:00 John Bischoff, “The League Of Automatic Music Composers: Recording, December 17, 1978” from Lovely Little Records (1980 Lovely Music Ltd.). Tracks from this six-EP collection of new music from a variety of Lovely Music artists. Computer, David Behrman, Jim Horton, John Bischoff, Rich Gold; Mixing, "Blue" Gene Tyranny. “The League Of Automatic Music Composers makes music collaboratively by forming microcomputer networks. … For this performance, “each composer independently created a music program for his own microcomputer; we then mutually designed ways to internconnect our computers, and modified our programs to enable them to send data back and forth.” 08:40 06:58 Frankie Mann, “I Was a Hero” from “The Mayan Debutante Revue” (1979) from Lovely Little Records (1980 Lovely Music Ltd.). Tracks from this six-EP collection of new music from a variety of Lovely Music artists. Organ, bass guitar, voice, composed by Frankie Mann. “The Mayan Debutante Revue” is a reinterpretation of religious history. The work is a performance piece involving tape, slides, and one female performer.” 09:22 15:38 Frankie Mann, “How to be Very Very Popular” (1978) (excerpt) from Lovely Little Records (1980 Lovely Music Ltd.). Tracks from this six-EP collection of new music from a variety of Lovely Music artists. Tape editing, organ, synthesizer, voice, composed by Frankie Mann; voices, Julie Lifton, Ellen Welser, and unknown others. “How to be Very Very Popular” began as a letter-tape to my best friend. … Later I began composing electronic music, initially using homemade circuits and later using expensive synthesizers in college electronic music studios. My friend and I continued to send each other letters cross-country in tape form.” 08:49 24:58 Maggi Payne, “Lunar Dusk” from Lovely Little Records (1980 Lovely Music Ltd.). Recorded at the Center for Contemporary Music, Mills College, February 4, 1979. Composed, electronic music by Maggi Payne. This piece was “composed using the Moog and Aries synthesizers and the twelve-track recording studio at” Mills College. “Major concerns … are spatial location of sounds and complex timbral changes.” 07:59 33:46 The Commodores, “Machine Gun” from Machine Gun/There's a Song in My Heart (1974 Motown). Single release featuring the early Commodores on this instrumental with Lionel Richie wailing along on the ARP Odyssey. 02:42 41:42 Billy Preston, “Space Race” from Space Race/We're Gonna Make It (1973 A&M). Single release. Preston was best known for his piano, Hammond, and Fender Rhodes work on Beatles' records and his early solo work. By this time, he had picked-up on the unique sounds that synthesizers could conjure. He was inspired to create this song while experimenting with the ARP Pro-Soloist synthesizer. 03:26 44:24 George Duke, “Part 1 - The Alien Challenges The Stick / Part 2 - The Alien Succumbs To The Macho Intergalactic Funkativity Of The Funkblasters” from Master Of The Game (1979 Epic). Written by Byron Miller, David Myles, Ricky Lawson; Producer, Acoustic Guitar, Arranged By, Bells, Clavinet, Composed By, Fender Rhodes, Keyboards, Organ, ARP Odyssey, ARP String Ensemble, Minimoog, Oberheim, Prophet-5 and Crumar synthesizers, written by and vocals, George Duke; Bass, Byron Miller; Drums, Ricky Lawson; Guitar, David Myles. 09:21 47:46 Steve Roach, Side 2, “T.B.C.” (5:06); Canyon Sound (2:58); Time For Time (3:33); Reflector (6:50) from Traveler (1983 Domino). All music composed and performed on synthesizers by Steve Roach. American Roach has such a great legacy of electronic music that is clearly distinguishable from the German wave of the 1970s. This is from his first, official album released in 1983. 17:56 57:02 Reynold Weidenaar, “Twilight Flight” (6:56) (1977), “Close Harmony” (4:44) (1977), and “Imprint: Footfalls to Return” (5:04) (1981) from Reynold Weidenaar / Richard Brooks Music Visions (1986 Capstone Records). Weidenaar was formerly the editor of Bob Moog's Electronic Music Review journal (1968-70) and an early user of the Moog Modular synthesizer. He was director of the electronic music studio at the Cleveland Institute of Music and at the time of this recording was on the faculty of the NYU films and television department. Twilight Flight” for electronic sounds was composed in 1977. “Close Harmony” for electronic sounds was composed in 1977. “Imprint: Footfalls to Return” for soprano voice and electronically modified sounds of the bare feet of Bharata-natyam Indian dancer was composed in 1981. 16:50 01:14:58 Eric Siday, three short works, “Night Tide” (2:56), “Communications No. 2” (0:24); and “Threat Attack” (2:05) from Musique Electronique (1960 Impress). Hard to find original disc by Siday, before he ventured into commercial recording using the Moog Modular synthesizer. His intereste in electronic music was deep, and he was one of the first customers of Robert Moog when his synth became available. 05:28 01:31:58 Hans Wurman, “Etude In C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12” (1:54) and “Waltz In D-Flat OP, 64, No. 1 (1:24) from Hans Wurman – Etude In C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12 (1970 RCA). Arranged and performed on the Moog Modular synthesizer by Hans Wurman. Brilliant interpretations of two classical pieces. 03:22 01:37:14 Opening background music: Einstürzende Neubauten [ein-sturt-zen-deh noy-bau-ten], “Der Tod Ist Ein Dandy” from Halber Mensch (1985 Some Bizarre). Noise metal from this dependable source of industrial music. (06:39) Introduction to the podcast voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. My Books/eBooks: Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, Routledge 2020. Also, Sound Art: Concepts and Practices, first edition, Routledge 2022. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation. For a transcript, please see my blog, Noise and Notations. Original music by Thom Holmes can be found on iTunes and Bandcamp.
In our final hour, we wrap up the show, check in on the Chronic Care of Richmond Textline, and pay tribute to late composer Basil Poledouris (1945-2006). (You won't hear his copyrighted music on this podcast, but you can listen to what we played for the radio airwaves here.)
Andreas Fisher and Guillermo Anzorena of Neue Vocal Solisten on working with Karlheinz Stockhausen on the composer's epic of vocal improvisation, Stimmung, which they'll perform at the Lovely Music festival in Dundalk this weekend.
The MOJO Record Club podcast welcomes the brilliant Australian multi-tasker Oren Ambarchi to our ranks, for a wide-ranging chat about David Behrman, Paul McCartney and AMM, Jim O'Rourke,10cc, and the karaoke secrets of the global avant-garde elite! Plus Andrew Male and John Mulvey dig into new releases by Oisin Leech and Cassie Kinoshi.Tracklisting:1. Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin ‘Tre' from the album, Ghosted II, released on Drag City Records2. David Behrman ‘Leapday Night Scene I' from the album, Leapday Night, originally released on the Lovely Music label, 19873. David Behrman ‘Interspecies Smalltalk Part II' from the album, Leapday Night, originally released on the Lovely Music label, 19874. Oisin Leech, ‘Colour of The Rain', written by Oisin Leech and released on Outside Music5. Cassie Kinoshi's seed. ‘Gratitude' written by Cassie Kenosha and released on International Anthem
Los algoritmos han sido usados para componer música durante siglos: están presentes desde los primeros autómatas musicales del siglo XVIII y XIX hasta el ámbito del live coding o codificación en vivo en la actualidad._____Has escuchadoManitutshu (A New Algorithm)... LatelyBass and NewElectro, Attack Pulse Hat / Mark Fell. Editions Mego (2011)Neural Synthesis No. 9 (1994) / David Tudor. Lovely Music (1995)Sesión y presentación de Jesús Jara sobre Live Coding (2023). Audio en directo de la actividad celebrada durante la presentación de “La Biblioteca invita. Nuevas músicas. Live Coding” en la Fundación Juan March de Madrid, el 8 de marzo de 2023Turenas (1972) / John Chowning. [Creada en Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics de Stanford]. WERGO (1988) _____Selección bibliográficaAMES, Charles, “Automated Composition in Retrospect: 1956-1986”. Leonardo, vol. 20, n.º 2 (1987), pp. 169-185*COLLINS, Nick, “Live Coding of Consequence”. Leonardo, vol. 44, n.º 3 (2011), pp. 207-230*HARLEY, James, “Generative Processes in Algorithmic Composition: Chaos and Music”. Leonardo, vol. 28, n.º 3 (1995), pp. 221-224*HOLMES, Thom, Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture. Routledge, 2008*LEDESMA, Eduardo, “The Poetics and Politics of Computer Code in Latin America: Codework, Code Art, and Live Coding”. Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, vol. 49, n.º 1 (2015), pp. 91-120LEWIS, George E., “Too Many Notes: Computers, Complexity, and Culture in Voyager”. Leonardo Music Journal, vol. 10 (2000), pp. 33-39*MAGNUSSON, Thor, “Algorithms as Scores: Coding Live Music”. Leonardo Music Journal, vol. 21 (2011), pp. 19-23*MCLEAN, Alex y Roger T. Dean (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Algorithmic Music. Oxford University Press, 2018*MONTILLA, César, El uso de algoritmos y computadoras para crear música. Página oficial del compositor, consultada el 20 de junio de 2023: [PDF] *Documento disponible para su consulta en la Sala de Nuevas Músicas de la Biblioteca y Centro de Apoyo a la Investigación de la Fundación Juan March
Episode 111 Before and After Ambient, Part 2 Playlist Midori Takada, “Mr. Henri Rousseau's Dream” from Through The Looking Glass (1983 RCA Red Seal). 高田みどり (Midori Takada) is a Japanese composer and percussionist. She was a key figure in the Japanese ambient movement of the 1980s. Composed, performed, produced, Marimba, Gong, Cowbell, Recorder, Wood Bell, Ocarina, Tam-tam, Midori Takada. She performed all of the instruments on this album. The album was not immediately popular but seeded the nascent ambient movement that was growing in Japan at the time. Midori Takada, “Trompe-l'œil” from Through The Looking Glass (1983 RCA Red Seal). 高田みどり (Midori Takada) is a Japanese composer and percussionist. She was a key figure in the Japanese ambient movement of the 1980s. Composed, performed, produced, Marimba, Gong, Cowbell, Recorder, Wood and clay Bells, Ocarina, Tam-tam, Cola Bottle, Reed Organ, Midori Takada. She performed all of the instruments on this album. Brian Eno and Harold Budd, “Their Memories” from The Pearl (1984 Editions EG). Composed by Brian Eno, Harold Budd; produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. David Behrman, “Interspecies Smalltalk Scene 2” (1984) from Leapday Night (1987 Lovely Music). Composed, produced, and computers by David Behrman; violin, Takehisa Kosugi. "Interspecies Smalltalk" (1984) is an interactive piece originally commissioned by the Cunningham Dance Company. Yutaka Hirose, “Light Which Shakes Quietly” from Nova+4 (2019 WRWTFWW Records). Bonus track on this reissued album that dates from 1986. Composed , Arranged and Computer by, Yutaka Hirose; Synthesizer, Jun Tohyama. Takashi Kokubo, “A Dream Sails Out To Sea - Scene 3” (2019 Light In The Attic). Originally released in 1987, this track was part of the new wave of Japanese ambient music. By that time, Kokubo was already reknown for his synthesizer skills on a part with Isao Tomita. He turned to sound design and ambient music and has been instrumental in addition to creating such sounds as the nationally-used mobile phone earthquake alert and credit card payment jingles. Yoichiro Yoshikawa, “Nube” from Cyprus (1988 Eastworld). Original sound track of Japanese TV program. Yoshikawa was already a reliable session musician when he acquired one of the first Phophet-5 synthesizers in Japan. He quickly became a go-to composer for television and other purposes, such as soundscapes for museum exhibitions. Tetsu Inoue, “Low of Vibration” from Ambiant Otaku (1994 Fax +49-69/450464). Before I met Tetsu around the year 2000, I was fascinated by music such as this which had all of the elements of ambient music—slow and forming harmonies, spatial rhythms rather than beats, and a sustained energy throughout—without sounding at all like something out of an Eno production. Produced and performed by Tetsu Inoue. Kenji Kawai, “Ghostdive” from Ghost in the Shell (Original Soundtrack) (1995 RCA). An ambient work from the popular movie soundtrack.Composed, Performed, Produced, Arranged, Keyboards, Instruments, Kenji Kawai; synthesizer, Hironori Houki. Waveform Transmission, “V 1.3” from V 1.0-1.9 (1996 Silent). Analog Tone Engineering and Realization, Recordings Of The Dead, Shortwave, Field Recordings Made During Periods Of Highly-charged Paranormal Activity, Korg MS 10, Korg MS 20, Korg MS 50, Roland System 100 Synthesizers, Home Built Analog Synthesizers, Tape, Loops, Chris Troy; Digital Audio Graphs, Granular Synthesis, Microwave Communications, Psycho-acoustics, Tape, Loops Otari MX 5050 loops, Rod Modell. Experimental Audio Research, “Automatic Music (For Oscillator, Ring Modulator & Filter Clusters)” from Pestrepeller (1999 Ochre Records). UK release, limited to 1000 copies. Engineer, Serge Modular Music System, Sonic Boom (Pete Kember). Some interesting modular synthesizer ambience. John Foxx and Harold Budd, “Raindust” from Translucence + Drift Music (2003 Edsel Records). Composed, produced, and performed by Harold Budd, John Foxx. John Foxx and Harold Budd, “Some Way Through All the Cities” from Translucence + Drift Music (2003 Edsel Records). Composed, produced, and performed by Harold Budd, John Foxx. Pete Namlook, Tetsu Inoue, “Ethereal Being” from 2350 Broadway 4 (2007 Fax +49-69/450464). Composed, produced, and performed by Pete Namlook, Tetsu Inoue. Recorded at Bretton Hall, New York and Klanglobor Hödeshof. Tetsu was an endless collaborator. Here he and the wondrous Pete Namlook wove some ambient magic. Tetsu Inoue, “Kaze” from Inland (2007 Fax +49-69/450464). Written, performed and produced by Tetsu Inoue. This was his post-glitch faze, which brought together, strangely enough, element so his earlier ambient work and glitch music for computers. Masuko Shinji, “Woven Music for Blue Steppe” from Woven Music (2011 Jagjaguwar). All music, vocals and guitar, 増子真二 (Shinji Masuko). This is a project by Masuko, who sometimes works with the Boredoms. It has a characteristic high but sustained energy level that flirts with the outer reaches of the ambient music concept. Caroline Park, “Grain 5” from Grain (2011 Private Chronology). This is a cassette release by Park, often known her for generative composition work and electronic improvisations based on parameters that she defines. Recorded, performed, and mixed between May 2010 and January 2011 in Los Angeles and Boston. Sarah Davachi, “First Cadence” from Antiphonals (2021 Late Music). Composed, Recorded, Performed, Mellotron (bass flute, recorder, oboe), Tape Echo, Sarah Davachi. A recent ambient work by this contemporary experimenter. In the background: An example of ambient music from the program Droneo by Henry Lowengard, which produces self-generating ambient music on a smart phone. “Droneo 1.5 vanDelay and Ape,” (5:25). Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation. For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.
Episode 110 Before and After Ambient, Part 1 Playlist Erik Satie, “Vexations” (1893-94), First, we will hear two piano versions (1 and 4) of this short work that was intended to be played repeatedly in one sitting 840 times in succession. The piano version was performed by Jeroen van Veen on the album Satie, Complete Piano Music (2016 Brilliant Classics). Then, we will hear an electronic version by Bhutan from Vexations (2016 Venado). Argentinean group Bhutan realized this electronic version of the Erik Satie piece in 2016. I thought it would be fitting to open the program with this because Satie's was one of the first works to be recognized in recent times as a kind of proto ambient composition. Satie preferred the term “furniture music” and thought that it would be suitable for background sound during a dinner party. The Bhutan version, realized in electronic instrumentation, is a fitting bridge of the old and the new when it comes to ambient compositions. John Cage, “In A Landscape” (1948) from In A Landscape played by Victoria Jordanova (2007 Arpaviva Recordings). This early Cage work was originally arranged either for piano or harp. It is very much the interpretation that makes this akin to ambient music. I selected this version for electric harp because it maintains the original's sense of suspended time and energy. I also like William Orbit's version but he took the orchestration to greater lengths and transforming it into something not so ambient. There is also a really quiet piano version by Stephen Drury which remains true to Cage's original intent of being “soft and meditative” with “resonances” being sustained by depressing both pedals throughout the performance. But I included this version for electric harp by Jordanova because it is more in tune with the electronic nature of the music we feature in this program. Morton Feldman, “Projection 1” (1950) from Arne Deforce, Yutaka Oya, Patterns In A Chromatic Field (2009 Aeon). Cello, Arne Deforce; Piano, Yutaka Oya; composed by, Morton Feldman. This is an acoustic work by Feldman (I couldn't find any electronic renditions) but I include it to draw similarities to the work of Harold Budd, also a pianist. In fact, Feldman was a long-standing favorite of Budd. Raymond Scott, “Sleepy Time” from Soothing Sounds for Baby, Volume 1 (1964 Epic). This legendary work is from a set of electronic and ambient records that Scott produced in the early 1960s as background music to help babies go to sleep. The electronic music was produced with his own creation, the Electronium, a from-scratch built custom synthesizer that combines electronic sequencing with tone generation and various filters. Eliane Radigue, “Vice - Versa, Etc. (Mix 1)” (1970) from (2013 Vice - Versa, Etc.). Processed tape reorder feedback. Realized at the composer's studio in Paris. Premiered in 1970 at Galerie Lara Vincy in Paris, on the occasion of a group exhibition. The stereo synthesis presented here was made in Lyon at Studio Fluorescent between 2010 and 2011 by Emmanuel Holterbach. Produced, composed, recorded using feedback by Eliane Radigue. Originally conceived as a sound installation, using several reel-to-reel tape players controlled through a mixing desk. The tapes could be played at different speeds, either forward or backward, right channel only, left channel only or simultaneously. The audience could create their own mix. Teresa Rampazzi (N.P.S.), “Environ” (1970) from Musica Endoscopica (2008 Die Schachtel). Created in 1970, this work represents a kind of reproduction in electronic sound of an ambient environment, peppered with noise and even voice. Rampazzi was a pioneering female composer of electronic music who founded the N.P.S. (Nuove Proposte Sonore) group and studio, where this was realized. Harmonia, “Hausmusik” from Harmonia (1974 Brain). Recorded and produced June - November '73 in the Harmonia home studio. Guitar, Piano, Organ, electronic percussion, Michael Rother; Organ, Keyboards, Guitar, electronic percussion, J. Roedelius; Synthesizer, Guitar, electronic percussion, D. Moebius. Brian Eno, “Discreet Music” (excerpt) from Discreet Music (1976 Obscure). Synthesizer with Digital Recall System, Graphic Equalizer, Echo Unit, Delay, Tape, Brian Eno. Brian Eno (b. 1948) worked with tape delay much in the manner defined by Oliveros for I of However, he expressed a somewhat indifferent attitude toward the outcome. He described the realization of Discreet Music (1975): “Since I have always preferred making plans to executing them, I have gravitated toward situations and systems that, once set into operation, could create music with little or no intervention on my part. That is to say, I tend toward the roles of planner and programmer, and then become an audience to the results.” Eno's composition consisted of a diagram of the devices used to generate the music. His approach was identical to that of Oliveros except that the sound material was specifically melodic and he did not modify or interact with the sound once the process was set in motion. The result in Discreet Music is the gradual transformation of a recognizable musical phrase. These 10 minutes are excerpted from the beginning of the extended work lasting 31 minutes. Brian Eno, “Through Hollow Lands (For Harold Budd)” from Before and After Science (1977 Island). Bass, Paul Rudolph; Vocals, Bell, Mini-Moog, CS80, AKS synthesizers, piano, guitar, Brian Eno. This is one of the only tracks that I would consider to be ambient from this album. Robert Ashley, “Automatic Writing” (excerpt) (1974–79) from Automatic Writing (1979 Lovely Music). This work was much talked about when it was released on record by Lovely Music Ltd. in 1979. Ashley wrote it over a five-year period after having just come back from his self-imposed exile from composing in the early 1970s. He performed it many times in various formative stages with the Sonic Arts Union before finally committing it to disc. It does indeed have a vocal, but it is also imbued with quiet, ASMR kinds of sounds that mesmerize. The basic musical material of Automatic Writing was the spoken voice, closely miked, uttering what Ashley characterized as “involuntary speech”: random, seemingly rational comments that might not make sense at all, depending on the context in which they were heard. These 10 minutes are excerpted from the beginning of the extended work lasting 46 minutes. Sri Dinesh, “Le Chant Des Étoiles” from Para Symphonie (1978 Alain Grima). French album of music to accompany meditation. It consists largely of short, repeated organ patterns and falls within the frame of mind for which ambient music was intended. Brian Eno, “2/2” from Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978). Engineer, Conny Plank (yes, the producer of Kraftwerk). Composed, conceptualized, produced and engineered by Brian Eno. Theresa Rampazzi, “Atmen Noch” (1980) from from Musica Endoscopica (2008 Die Schachtel). Conrad Schnitzler, “Control B” from Control (1981 Dys). Edition of 1000 copies. An electronic work by Schnitzler, who played the devices, produced, and recorded the music. Opening background music: Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers, Bloom 3.2 (10) (2014 Opal Ltd.). Bloom is a generative music application that composes ambient music. This recording was made using Bloom running in “Classic” mode on a Macbook Pro running Ventura 13.5.2. Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation. For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.
Episode 99 Crosscurrents in Electronic Tape Music in the United States Playlist Louis and Bebe Barron, “Bells of Atlantis” (1952), soundtrack for a film by Ian Hugo based on the writings of his wife Anaïs Nin, who also appeared in the film. The Barrons were credited with “Electronic Music.” The Barrons scored three of Ian Hugo's short experimental films and this is the earliest, marking an early start for tape music in the United States. Bebe told me some years ago about a work called “Heavenly Menagerie” that they produced in 1950. I have written before that I think this work was most likely the first electronic music made for magnetic tape in the United States, although I have never been able to find a recording of the work. Bells of Atlantis will stand as an example of what they could produce in their Greenwich Village studio at the time. They were also engaged helping John Cage produce “Williams Mix” at the time, being recordists of outdoor sounds around New York that Cage would use during the process of editing the composition, which is described below. The Forbidden Planet soundtrack, their most famous work, was created in 1956. 8:59 John Cage, “Williams Mix” (1952) from The 25-Year Retrospective Concert Of The Music Of John Cage (1959 Avakian). Composed in 1952, the tape was played at this Town Hall concert a few years later. Premiered in Urbana, Ill., March 22, 1953. From the Cage database of compositions: “This is a work for eight tracks of 1/4” magnetic tape. The score is a pattern for the cutting and splicing of sounds recorded on tape. Its rhythmic structure is 5-6-16-3-11-5. Sounds fall into 6 categories: A (city sounds), B (country sounds), C (electronic sounds), D (manually produced sounds), E (wind produced sounds), and F ("small" sounds, requiring amplification). Pitch, timbre, and loudness are notated as well. Approximately 600 recordings are necessary to make a version of this piece. The compositional means were I Ching chance operations. Cage made a realization of the work in 1952/53 (starting in May 1952) with the assistance of Earle Brown, Louis and Bebe Barron, David Tudor, Ben Johnston, and others, but it also possible to create other versions.” This was a kind of landmark work for John as he explored the possibilities of working with the tape medium. It is the only work from this period, created in the United States, for which there is an original recording of a Cage realization. He also composed “Imaginary Landscape No. 5” in 1952 for 42-disc recordings as a collage of fragments from long-playing records recorded on tape (he preferred to use jazz records as the source), put together with the assistance of David Tudor. Though some modern interpretations exist, there is no recording from the 1950s of a Cage/Tudor realization so I am unable to represent what it would have been like at that time. 5:42 Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky, “Moonflight” (1952) from Tape Music An Historic Concert (1968 Desto). This record documents tape pieces played at perhaps the earliest concert of American tape music at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 28, 1952. Realized at the composer's Tape Music Center at Columbia University, the precursor of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. 2:54 Otto Luening, “Fantasy in Space” (1952) from Tape Music An Historic Concert (1968 Desto). Realized at the composer's Tape Music Center at Columbia University, the precursor of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. 2:51 Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky, “Incantation” (1953) from Tape Music An Historic Concert (1968 Desto). This record documents tape pieces played at perhaps the earliest concert of American tape music at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 28, 1952. Realized at the composer's Tape Music Center at Columbia University, the precursor of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. 2:34 Henry Jacobs, “Sonata for Loudspeakers” (1953-54) from Sounds of New Music (1958 Folkways). “Experiments with synthetic rhythm” produced by Henry Jacobs who worked at radio station KPFA-FM in Berkeley. Jacobs narrates the track to explain his use of tape loops and recorded sound. 9:29 Jim Fassett, track “B2” (Untitled) from Strange To Your Ears - The Fabulous World of Sound With Jim Fassett (1955 Columbia Masterworks). “The fabulous world of sound,” narrated with tape effects, by Jim Fassett. Fassett, a CBS Radio musical director, was fascinated with the possibilities of tape composition. With this recording, done during the formative years of tape music in the middle 1950s, he took a somewhat less daring approach than his experimental counterparts, but a bold step nonetheless for a national radio audience. He hosted a weekend program called Strange to Your Ears to showcase these experiments and this album collected some of his best bits. 8:15 Harry F. Olsen, “The Well-Tempered Clavier: Fugue No. 2” (Bach) and “Nola” (Arndt) and “Home, Sweet Home” from The Sounds and Music of the RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer (1955 RCA). These “experimental” tracks were intended to demonstrate the range of sound that could be created with RCA Music Synthesizer. This was the Mark I model, equipped with a disc lathe instead of a tape recorder. When it was upgraded and called the Mark II in the late 1950s, it became the showpiece of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Here we listen to three tunes created by Harry F. Olsen, one of the inventors, in the style of a harpsichord, a piano, and “an engineer's conception of the music.” 5:26 Milton Babbitt, “Composition For Synthesizer” (1960-61) (1968 Columbia). Babbitt was one of the only composers at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center who composed and produced works based solely on using the RCA Music Synthesizer. Most others took advantage of other tape processing techniques found in the studio and not controlled by the RCA Mark II. It took him quite a long time to work out all of the details using the synthesizer and his meticulous rules for composing serially. On the other hand, the programmability of the instrument made it much more possible to control all the parameters of the sound being created electronically rather than by human musicians. This work is a prime example of this kind of work. 10:41 Tod Dockstader, “Drone” (1962) from Drone; Two Fragments From Apocalypse; Water Music (1966 Owl Records). Self-produced album by independent American composer Dockstader. This came along at an interesting period for American elecgtronic music, sandwiched between the institutional studio work being done at various universities and the era of the independent musician working with a synthesizer. Dockstader used his own studio and his own devices to make this imaginative music. This was one of a series of four albums featuring Dockstader's music that were released on Owl in the 1966-67 timeframe. They have all been reissued in one form or another. Here is what Dockstader himself wrote about this piece: “Drone, like many of my other works, began life as a single sound; in this case, the sound of racing cars. But, unlike the others, the germinal sound is no longer in the piece. It's been replaced by another a guitar. I found in composing the work that the cars didn't go anywhere, except, seemingly, in circles. The sound of them that had interested me originally was a high to low glissando the Doppler effect. In making equivalents of this sound, I found guitar glissandos could be bent into figures the cars couldn't. . . . After the guitar had established itself as the base line of the piece, I began matching its sound with a muted sawtooth oscillator (again, concrete and electronic music: the guitar being a mechanical source of sound, the oscillator an electronic source). This instrument had a timbre similar to the guitar, with the addition of soft attack, sustained tones, and frequencies beyond the range of the guitar. . . . The effect of the guitar and the oscillator, working together, was to produce a kind of drone, with variations something like the procedure of classical Japanese music, but with more violence. Alternating violence with loneliness, hectic motion with static stillness, was the aim of the original piece; and this is still in Drone, but in the process, the means changed so much that, of all my pieces, it is the only one I can't remember all the sounds of, so it continues to surprise me when I play it.” (From the original liner notes by Dockstader). 13:24 Wendy Carlos, “Dialogs for Piano and Two Loudspeakers” (1963) from Electronic Music (1965 Turnabout). This is an early recording of Wendy, pre-Switched-on Bach, from her days as a composer and technician. In this work, Carlos tackles the task of combining synthesized sounds with those of acoustic instruments, in this case the piano. It's funny that after you listen to this you could swear that there were instruments other than the piano used, so deft was her blending of electronic sounds with even just a single instrument. 4:00 Gordon Mumma, “Music from the Venezia Space Theater” (1963-64) (1966 Advance). Mono recording from the original release on Advance. Composed at the Cooperative Studio for Electronic Music in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This was the studio created by Mumma and fellow composer Robert Ashley to produce their electronic tape works for Milton Cohen's Space Theater on Ann Arbor, which this piece tries to reproduce. The original was a quad magnetic tape. It was premiered at the 27th Venezia Bianale, Venice, Italy on September 11, 1964 and comprised the ONCE group with dancers. 11:58 Jean Eichelberger Ivey, “Pinball” (1965) from Electronic Music (1967 Folkways). Realized at the Electronic Music Studio of Brandeis University. This work was produced in the Brandeis University Electronic Music Studio and was her first work of electroacoustic music. In 1964 she began a Doctor of Musical Arts program in composition, including studies in electronic music, at the University of Toronto and completed the degree in 1972. Ivey founded the Peabody Electronic Music Studio in 1967 and taught composition and electronic music at the Peabody Conservatory of Music until her retirement in 1997. Ivey was a respected composer who also sought more recognition for women in the field. In 1968, she was the only woman composer represented at the Eastman-Rochester American Music Festival. Her work in electronic music and other music was characteristic of her general attitude about modern composing, “I consider all the musical resources of the past and present as being at the composer's disposal, but always in the service of the effective communication of humanistic ideas and intuitive emotion.” 6:12 Pauline Oliveros, “Bye Bye Butterfly” (1965) from New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media (1977 1750 Arch Records). This was composed at the San Francisco Tape Music Center where so many west coast composers first found their footing: Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Jon Gibson, Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Morton Subotnick, Ramon Sender all did work there around this time. Oliveros was experimenting with the use of tape delay in a number of works, of which “Bye Bye Butterfly” is a great example. 8:05 Gordon Mumma, “The Dresden Interleaf 13 February 1945” (1965) from Dresden / Venezia / Megaton (1979 Lovely Music). Composed at the Cooperative Studio for Electronic Music (Ann Arbor, Michigan). Remixed at The Center for Contemporary Music, Mills College (Oakland, California). This tape piece was premiered at the sixth annual ONCE Festival in Ann Arbor where Mumma configured an array of sixteen “mini speakers” to surround the audience and project the 4-channel mix. The middle section of the piece contains the “harrowing roar of live, alcohol-burning model airplane engines.” (Mumma) This anti-war piece was presented in the 20th anniversary of the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden near the end of World War II. 12:14 Kenneth Gaburo, “Lemon Drops (Tape Alone)” (1965) from Electronic Music from the University of Illinois (1967 Heliodor). From Gaburo: “Lemon Drops” is one of a group of five tape compositions made during 1964-5 referencing the work of Harry Partch. All are concerned with aspects of timbre (e.g., mixing concrete and electronically generated sound); with nuance (e.g., extending the expressive range of concrete sound through machine manipulation, and reducing machine rigidity through flexible compositional techniques); and with counterpoint (e.g., stereo as a contrapuntal system).”(see). 2:52 Steve Reich, “Melodica” (1966) from Music From Mills (1986 Mills College). This is one of Reich's lesser-known phased loop compositions from the 1960s. It is “composed of one tape loop gradually going out of phase with itself, first in two voices and then in four.” This was Reich's last work for tape before he transitioned to writing instrumental music. 10:43 Pril Smiley, “Eclipse” (1967) from Electronic Music, Vol. IV (1969 Turnabout). The selections are works by the winners of the First International Electronic Music Competition - Dartmouth College, April 5, 1968. The competition was judged by composers Milton Babbitt, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and George Balch Wilson. The winner was awarded a $500 prize. Pril Smiley was 1st finalist and realized “Eclipse” at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Smiley had this to say about the work: “Eclipse” was originally composed for four separate tracks, the composer having worked with a specifically-structured antiphonal distribution of compositional material to be heard from four corners of a room or other appropriate space. Some sections of “Eclipse” are semi-improvisatory; by and large, the piece was worked out via many sketches and preliminary experiments on tape: all elements such as rhythm, timbre, loudness, and duration of each note were very precisely determined and controlled. In many ways, the structure of “Eclipse” is related to the composer's use of timbre. There are basically two kinds of sounds in the piece: the low, sustained gong-like sounds (always either increasing or decreasing in loudness) and the short more percussive sounds, which can be thought of as metallic, glassy, or wooden in character. These different kinds of timbres are usually used in contrast to one another, sometimes being set end to end so that one kind of sound interrupts another, and sometimes being dovetailed so that one timbre appears to emerge out of or from beneath another. Eighty-five percent of the sounds are electronic in origin; the non-electronic sounds are mainly pre-recorded percussion sounds–but subsequently electronically modified so that they are not always recognizable.” (From the original liner notes by Smiley.) 7:56 Olly W. Wilson, “Cetus” (1967) from Electronic Music, Vol. IV (1969 Turnabout). The selections are works by the winners of the First International Electronic Music Competition - Dartmouth College, April 5, 1968. The competition was judged by composers Milton Babbitt, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and George Balch Wilson. The winner was awarded a $500 prize. Olly W. Wilson was the competition Winner with “Cetus.” It was realized in the studio for Experimental Music of the University of Illinois. Olly Wilson wrote about the work: “the compositional process characteristic of the “classical tape studio” (the mutation of a few basic electronic signals by means of filters, signal modifiers, and recording processes) was employed in the realization of this work and was enhanced by means of certain instruments which permit improvisation by synthesized sound. Cetus contains passages which were improvised by the composer as well as sections realized by classical tape studio procedures. The master of this work was prepared on a two channel tape. Under the ideal circumstances it should be performed with multiple speakers surrounding the auditor.” (Olly Wilson. The Avant Garde Project at UBUWEB, AGP129 – US Electronic Music VIII | Dartmouth College Competition (1968-70). 9:18 Alice Shields, “The Transformation of Ani” (1970) from Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center Tenth Anniversary Celebration (1971 CRI). Composed at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Alice Shields explained, “The text of “The Transformation of Ani” is taken from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, as translated into English by E. A. Budge. Most sounds in the piece were made from my own voice, speaking and singing the words of the text. Each letter of the English translation was assigned a pitch, and each hieroglyph of the Egyptian was given a particular sound or short phrase, of mostly indefinite pitch. Each series, the one derived from the English translation, and the one derived from the original hieroglyphs, was then improvised upon to create material I thought appropriate to the way in which I wanted to develop the meaning of the text, which I divided into three sections.” (see). 8:59 Opening background music: John Cage, Fontana Mix (1958) (1966 Turnabout). This tape work was composed in 1958 and I believe this is the only recorded version by Cage himself as well as the only Cage version presented as a work not in accompaniment of another work. An earlier recording, from the Time label in 1962, feature the tape piece combined with another Cage work, “Aria.” This version for 2 tapes was prepared b Cage in February 1959 at the Studio di Fonologia in Milan, with technical assistance from Mario Zuccheri. From the Cage Database website. “This is a composition indeterminate of its performance, and was derived from notation CC from Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra. The score consists of 10 sheets of paper and 12 transparencies. The sheets of paper contain drawings of 6 differentiated (as to thickness and texture) curved lines. 10 of these transparencies have randomly distributed points (the number of points on the transparencies being 7, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, 26, 29, and 30). Another transparency has a grid, measuring 2 x 10 inches, and the last one contains a straight line (10 3/4 inch). By superimposing these transparencies, the player creates a structure from which a performance score can be made: one of the transparencies with dots is placed over one of the sheets with curved lines. Over this one places the grid. A point enclosed in the grid is connected with a point outside, using the straight line transparency. Horizontal and vertical measurements of intersections of the straight line with the grid and the curved line create a time-bracket along with actions to be made.” Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation. For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.
Episode 89 The Theremin Part 2: Recordings After 1970 Playlist Ultimate Spinach, “(Ballad of The) Hip Death Goddess” from Ultimate Spinach (1968 MGM Records). This American psychedelic rock band was from Boston, Massachusetts, although they had a sound that had more an affinity with the free spirit of San Francisco. The Theremin has a prominent part in this song, following the vocalist and filling in some interesting instrumental parts. Bass and Feedback, Richard Nese; Vocals, Drums, Tabla, Bass Drum, Bells, Chimes, Keith Lahteinen; Vocals, Electric Guitar, Guitar, Kazoo, Barbara Hudson; Vocals, Electric Piano, Electric Harpsichord, Organ, Harpsichord, Twelve-String Guitar, Sitar, Harmonica, Wood Flute, Theremin, Celesta, Ian Bruce-Douglas; Vocals, Lead Guitar, Guitar Feedback, Sitar Drone, Electric Sitar, Geoffrey Winthrop. 8:11 Hawkwind, “Paranoia Part 2” from Hawkwind (1970 Liberty). Hawkwind was a pioneering space-rock and psychedelic group from the UK. They were known to use a theremin during their early years—1969 to 1973 and revived its use on stage in later performances using a Moog Etherwave model in the 2000s. This first album features a theremin added to much of the sonic textures, sometimes overtly but often run through effects to provide a looming background, as in this song. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish, but I think there is a theremin providing some of the droning background and then sporadic bursts of tones beginning around 4:25. 14:54 McKendree Spring, “God Bless the Conspiracy” from 3 (1972 Decca). Electric Violin, Viola, Theremin, Michael Dreyfuss; Electronics (Ring Modulator), Tom Oberheim; Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Dulcimer, Fran McKendree; Electric Bass, Larry Tucker; Electric Guitar, Martin Slutsky. This progressive band with experimental leanings was a quartet without a drummer. Dreyfus later said, “In God Bless the Conspiracy and No Regrets I was able to play viola and Theremin at the same time by bringing my body closer to the Theremin (to change pitch) while playing a harmony part on the viola,”(2006). He played a Theremin beginning 1969. He may have used a Moog theremin, such as the Troubadour. 6:53 Linda Cohen, “Horizon Jane” from Lake Of Light (1973 Poppy). Folky album from Philadelphia featuring several electronic musicians. Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Piano, Polytonic Modulator, Jefferson Cain; Classical Guitar, Composer, Linda Cohen; Flute, Stan Slotter; Producer, Electric Guitar, Matrix Electronic Drums, Modulator, Sitar, Synthesizer, Craig Anderton; Minimoog, Theremin, Charles Cohen. 3:36 Ronnie Montrose, “Space Station #5” from Montrose (1973 Warner Brothers). Ronnie Montrose added a custom-built Theremin to his equipment with the pitch antenna mounted on his aluminum (silver) Velano guitar so that he could play both at the same time. Volume for the theremin was controlled by a black box mounted on a mike stand, to which he stood nearby. He was recording with it throughout the 1970s. Here is a great live clip you where you can see how he played it. Note the end of the clip where he put the theremin guitar up against the speaker and wails on the volume control of the theremin control box. Bass, Bill Church; Drums, Denny Carmassi; Guitar, Theremin-Guitar, Ronnie Montrose; Vocals, Sam Hagar. 5:36 Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, “Time Captives” from Journey (1974 Passport). Fender Bass, Percussion, Vocals, Phil Shutt; Bentley Rhythm Ace, Vocals, Arthur Brown; Electric Guitar, Vocals, Andy Dalby; Mellotron, ARP 2600, EMS VCS 3, Piano, Theremin, Percussion, Vocals, Victor Peraino. 8:37 Michael Quatro, “Get Away” from In Collaboration with The Gods (1975 United Artists Records). Brother of Detroit rockers Suzi and Patti Quatro, he had a flare for progressive rock and electronic keyboards in the 1970s. The Theremin makes frequent appearances on this album, this track in particular. Arranger, Piano Baldwin, Electric Piano Gretsch Electro, Piano Tack Piano, Sonic Six Synthesizer, Effects Univox Phaser, Univox Stringman, EC-80 Echo, Elka Electric Piano, Hammond Organ, Minimoog Synthesizer, Univox Mini-Korg, Electroharmonix Boxes, Mellotron Violin, Cello, Flute, Effects Wah-Wah Pedals, Effects Syntha-Pedal, Bass Nova Bass, Horns, Organ Pipe Organ, Sounds Ring Modulation, Maestro Theremin, Electronic Effects, Percussion , Michael Quatro;Bass, Lead Vocals, Arranged By Arranging Assistance, Dave Kiswiney; Drums, Kirk (Arthur) Trachsel; Guitar, Teddy Hale. 4:04 Melodic Energy Commission, “Revise The Scene” from Stranger In Mystery (1979 Energy Discs). This is the first album from this Canadian space-rock, psychedelic and folk troupe from British Columbia. The Theremin was a key instrument in their ensemble and was custom-built by group member George McDonald. His Theremin would eventually be known as the Galactic Stream Theremin and would take some 25 years to build and evolve into a six antennae instrument for “tuning into the performers body motions.” During this recording, a simpler, more traditional version was used. Gas & Steam Bass, Bells, Tambourine, Mark Franklin; Dulcimer, Bowed Dulcimer, Khaen, Gongs, Flute, Randy Raine-Reusch; Hydro-electric Guitar, Custom-made Theremin, Aura, Wall Of Oscillation, George McDonald; Percussion, Tablas, Brass Tank, Glockenspiel, Roland SH5 Synthesizer, Organ, Paul Franklin; EMS Synthi AKS, Delatronics, Electric Guitar, Del Dettmar; Wordy Voice, Guitar, Piano, Organ, Roland SH 1000 Synthesizer, Gongs, Vibraphone, Kalimba, Stone Drum, Egyptian Shepherd's Pipe, Xaliman. 6:13 The Nihilist Spasm Band, “Elsinore” from Vol. 2 (1979 Music gallery Editions). Canadian group that used all hand-made instruments, including the kit-made Theremin by Bill Exley. Bass, Hugh McIntyre; Drums, Greg Curnoe; Guitar, John Clement, Murray Favro; Kazoo, John Boyle; Pratt-a-various, Art Pratten; Vocals, Theremin, Bill Exley. Recorded live at the Toronto Music Gallery, February 4th 1978. 5:14 Yuseff Yancy, Garret List, “Sweetness” Garrett List / A-1 Band, “Sweetness” from Fire & Ice (1982 Lovely Music). Alto Saxophone, Byard Lancaster; Maestro Theremin, Electronics, Youseff Yancy; Vocals, Genie Sherman. 4:11. Todd Clark, “Into the Vision” from Into The Vision (1984 T.M.I. Productions). Guitar, Cheetah Chrome; Theremin, Bat-wing Guitar with ARP Avatar, Todd Clark; Found Vocals, William Burroughs. 8:38 Danielle Dax, “Yummer Yummer Man” from Yummer Yummer Man (1985 Awesome). UK artist Danielle Dax. Wah Guitar, Steve Reeves; Guitar, Slide Guitar, Organ, David Knight; Producer, arranger, lyrics, Vocals, Theremin, Tapes, Danielle Dax; Drums, Martyn Watts; Music by Danielle Dax, David Knight. Dax is an experimental English musician, artist, and producer, born as Danielle Gardner. 3:16 Mars Everywhere, “Attack of the Giant Squid” from Visitor Parking (1989 Audiofile Tapes). Cassette release from this space-rock band from the 1980s. Electric Guitar, Electronics, Tape, Ernie Falcone; Synthesizer, Theremin, Keyboards, Tom Fenwick. 5:03 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, “Vacuum of Loneliness” from The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (1992 Caroline). This NY band uses an original Moog Vanguard (circa 1960). This rock and blues band was active from 1991 until 2016. Baritone Saxophone, John Linnell; Drums, Russell Simins; Guitar, Vocals, Judah Bauer; Tenor Saxophone, Kurt Hoffman; Trumpet, Frank London; Vocals, Guitar, Moog Vanguard Theremin, Jon Spencer. Here is a video of a live performance of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with a Moog Vanguard Theremin (just after the 39-minute mark). 3:02 Calvin Owens and His Blues Orchestra, “Vincent Van Gogh” from That's Your Booty (1996 Sawdust Alley). Trumpet solo and vocals, Calvin Owens; Maestro Theremin, Youseff Yancy; Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Eddy De Vos, Kurt van Herck, Peter Vandendriessche; Backing Vocals, B. J. Scott, Frank Deruytter, Mieke Belange, Yan De Bryun; Baritone Saxophone, Bo Vander Werf, Johan Vandendriessche; Bass, Ban Buls, Roman Korohek; Cello, B. Piatkowski, X. Gao; Drums, Cesar Janssens, Laurent Mercier; Guitar, Marty Townsend, Yan De Bryun; Keyboards, Rafael Van Goubergen; Organ, Peter Van Bogart; Saxophone, Jimmy Heath; Tenor Saxophone, David "Fathead" Newman, Shelly Caroll Paul; Trombone, Marc Godfroid, Yan De Breker; Trumpet, Andy Haderer, Rüdiger Baldauf; Violin, D. Ivanov, E. Kouyoumdjian; Vocals, Archie Bell, Otis Clay, Ruby Wilson. 6:23. David Simons, “Music For Theremin And Gamelan (1998-1999), parts I and II” from Fung Sha Noon (2009 Tzadik). Theremin, Rob Schwimmer; Gamelan, Theremin, Sampler, MIDI Controller, Percussion, Marimba, Zoomoozophone, 43 Pitch Zither, Harmonic Canon, Slide Guitar, Chromelodeon harmonium, David Simons; Gamelan, Barbara Benary, Denman Maroney, John Morton, Laura Liben. 6:09 (part I) and 6:29 (part II) Lydia Kavina, “Voice of the Theremin,” composed by Vladimir Komarov from Music from The Ether, Original Works For Theremin (1999 Mode). TVox Tour model theremin, Lydia Kavina. Arranged, mixed, performed by Lydia Kavina. 8:11 Lydia Kavina, “Free Music #1,” composed by Percy Grainger from Music from The Ether, Original Works For Theremin (1999 Mode). TVox Tour model theremin, Lydia Kavina; mixed and spatialized, Steve Puntolillo. This work was originally written for theremin although Grainger had many ideas around how this type of “free music” should be played. This native Australian was fascinated by the sounds of the real world and invented a mechanical machine for making such sounds. In 1938, Grainger said, "...Out in nature we hear all kinds of lovely and touching 'free' (non-harmonic) combinations of tones, yet we are unable to take up these beauties and expressiveness into the art of music because of our archaic notions of harmony.” His adaptation of free music for theremin was an attempt to create sounds that were new to music. This version was multitracked by Kavina and an old acquaintance of mine, sound engineer Steve Puntolillo, to recreate the parts for four theremins. 1:19 The Kurstins, “Sunshine” from Gymnopedie (2000 Rouge Records). Composed by Roy Ayers; Minimoog, ARP String Ensemble, Organ, Guitar, Sampler, Drums, Rhodes Electric Piano, Greg Kurstin; Moog Theremin, Theremin Vocoder, Moogerfoogers, Pamelia Kurstin. 3:47 The Kurstins, “Outside” from Gymnopedie (2000 Rouge Records). Composed by Greg Kurstin; Minimoog, ARP String Ensemble, Organ, Guitar, Sampler, Drums, Rhodes Electric Piano, Greg Kurstin; Moog Theremin, Theremin Vocoder, Moogerfoogers, Pamelia Kurstin. 3:55 Hecate's Angels, “Shrink-Wrapped Soul” from Saints And Scoundrels (2004 redFLY Records). Los Angeles-based Pietra Wexstun is a composer, singer, keyboard and theremin player. Vocals, Farfisa organ, piano, theremin, sound effects, Pietra Wexstun; bass, Bill Blatt; guitar, Stan Ridgway; drums, Elmo Smith. 3:52 Pamelia Kurstin, “Barrow In Furness” from Thinking Out Loud (2007 Tzadik). From Kurstin first solo record. Composed, Produced, Theremin With L6 Looping Pedals and Microsynth Pedal, Guitar, Piano, Pamelia Kurstin. She played the Etherwave Pro Theremin by Moog fo this recording. Pamelia Kurstin, video with she and Bob Moogdiscussing the Etherwave Pro when it was introduced. Kurstin uses the Etherwave Pro Theremin by Moog Music. 5:12 Barbara Bucholtz, “SixEight” from Moonstruck (2008 Intuition Records). Bucholtz was a German theremin player and composer. She played a TVox Tour model theremin. Drums, Sebastian Merk; Music By, Contrabass Flute, Sampler, programmed, engineered, produced, and recorded by Tilmann Dehnhard; Trumpet, Arve Henriksen. 4:01 Herb Deutsch, “Longing” from Theremin One Hundred Years (2020 Electronic Sound). Composer, Herb Deutsch; Piano, Nancy Deutsch; Moog Melodia Theremin, Daryl Kubian. Recording from 2012. The beloved Herb Deutsch, who died recently at age 90, was an early collaborator with Bob Moog on the creation of the synthesizer. Herb became acquainted with Bob by purchasing a Theremin kit—a Moog Melodia model, in the early 1960s. He was primarily responsible for convincing Moog to add a keyboard to his modular unit. Also, this is taken from a terrific compilation of modern Theremin artists to benefit the New York Theremin Society. Check it out. 3:38 M83, “Sitting” from M83 (2016 Lowlands Festival). This is a live recording from Holland. “Sitting” was a song on M83's first album in 2001. But it didn't have a theremin part until they decided to spice-up the live interpretation of the song in 2016. Jordan Lawlor uses a Moog Theremini when M83 performs this in concert. He puts down his guitar, grabs some drum sticks, beats a rhythm on some electronic drums while dancing in place and moving his hands around a theremin. You can hear the theremin in this track but don't mistake it for the keyboard tones that Gonzalez is playing on his modular system. A longer sequence of theremin begins at 1:38 in the audio. You can view the video here, beginning at 26:54 into the show. M83 is a French electronica band founded in 1999 by Anthony Gonzalez, who remains the only sole member from the original outfit. Performing members on this live tour included: Anthony Gonzalez, lead vocals, modular synthesizers, keyboards, guitars, piano, bass, drums, percussion, programming, arrangement, mixer, production; Loïc Maurin, drums, percussion, guitar, bass, keyboards; Jordan Lawlor, guitars, vocals, multi-instrumentalist; Kaela Sinclair, Dave Smith and M-Audio keyboards, vocals; Joe Berry, piano, synthesizers, electronic wind instrument, saxophone. 4:03 Radio Science Orchestra, “Theme from Doctor Who” (2019). This UK-based band unites theremin, ondes martenot, Moog and modular electronics, for its performances. They've played such events as the TEDSummit, the British Library, and Glastonbury Festival. They made a concert recording with Lydia Kavina in 2009 of the Theme from Doctor Who. This version was made more recently and appears to also include Kavina. She plays the TVox Tour model theremin made by her husband G. Pavlov. 2:18 Thorwald Jørgensen, Kamilla Bystrova, “Moderato” from Air électrique: Original Music For Theremin And Piano (2020 Zefir). Jørgensen is an accomplished Dutch classical theremin player. Piano, Kamilla Bystrova; Liner Notes, Design, Moog Etherwave Pro Theremin, Thorwald Jørgensen. 2:10 Dorit Chrysler, “A Happy Place” from Theremin One Hundred Years (2020 Electronic Sound). Issued with the magazine's 7” vinyl and magazine bundle Electronic Sound Magazine, issue 70. Written, produced, and performed by Dorit Chrysler. 2:06 Dorit Chrysler, “Calder Plays Theremin Side A” from Calder Plays Theremin (2023 NY Theremin Society/Fridman Gallery) Written for Theremin Orchestra in 5 Movements, Chrysler's work is based on a commissioned sound piece by The Museum of Modern Art in conjunction with the exhibition Alexander Calder: Modern from the Start. Chrysler identified two of Alexander Calder's sculptures, Snow Flurry, I (1948) and Man-Eater with Pennants (1945), to interact and “play” multiple Theremins on site. I believe the Theremin are various Moog models. Calder Plays Theremin is a co-release of the NY Theremin Society and Fridman Gallery. 8:48 Opening background tracks: Ronnie Montrose, “Open Fire” (excerpt) from Open Fire (1978 Warner Brothers). Bass, Alan Fitzgerald; Drums, Rick Shlosser; Guitar, Custom-built Theremin mpounted to his electric guitar, Ronnie Montrose; composed by Edgar Winter, Ronnie Montrose. 2:09 Hooverphonic, “L'Odeur Animale” from The Magnificent Tree (2000 Columbia). Guitar, Raymond Geerts; Keyboards, Bass, Programmed by Alex Callier; Vocals, Geike Arnaert; Maestro Theremin, trumpet, Youseff Yancy; Fairlight, Effects, Dan Lacksman. 3:46. Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation: For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.
Credenda is our musical guest today, they are a family band. I've only had a few of them on the show but I really enjoy this probably more than any other type of interview because of the family dynamics and interaction. I just love getting involved with that, and I'm sure you're going to love being part of this great conversation too. So strap up your seatbelts and let's take a ride to Nashville, Tennessee to visit the family vocal harmony trio, Credenda! Before we get into the show, I just want to remind you that my coaching program is open for you folks out there in need of coaching in these categories: Relationship coaching, Spiritual coaching, Life coaching, and of course, Podcast coaching. So for all my dHarmic Evolution fans and supporters who are looking for life-changing results in any of these areas, please email me at james@dharmicevolution.com I'll set up a 30-minute NO COST, NO OBLIGATION Zoom call for you and I to vet this out and see if we are a good fit together, because this is one-on-one coaching. It's not group coaching. Therefore, I can only handle a limited number of people and I hope it's you! Again, there will be limited spaces available as this is “one-on-one”, so reach out ASAP to reserve a spot! Back to Credenda! Music for the soul, that's what they are! They are a family vocal harmony trio consisting of mom, (Barbara), brother (Daniel), and sister (Anna). Their signature sound, which can be best described as Americana with the heart of Gospel, and it is marked by blood harmony, unique songwriting, and soaring melodies. With a retro yet modern sound, they pay tribute to the bands of the past and present while at the same time bringing a wholly unique and original sound that will bring peace to the listener. They also bring an approach to classic songs that is all their own! You will feel like part of the family as you join them for a time of stories and music! Barbara, Daniel, and Anna shared great stories and experiences, and you will love their sense of humor and most especially the music that we featured here today. It will absolutely be an enjoyable hour, so let us all give Credenda a warm dHarmic Evolution welcome! More about Credenda dHarmic Evolution has been a place for indie music and a lot of up and coming artists are here all the time, so let's show our support for Credenda and their music through different platforms. You can go check out their website, social media pages and music platforms and follow them through these. All the links are provided below! Quotes: 05:51 “I was just a mom. I actually was into classical music. I'm one of these prodigy kids that my parents had in lessons from a very young age, and I gave it up in my late teens, and went into a nursing program instead of following through on my music. And so when we had tons of kids, and they all started showing that they were very musical. I just heard of them all together. We did music together, I would write a bit and they'd sing it and, and it just evolved, but the sound just produces itself, I think.” - Barbara 12:30 “And we go on this sort of little family, with sweet, angelic harmonies. And it was kind of interesting, it didn't matter how drunk people were, everybody just stopped doing anything, and they didn't turn around from the bar. And watch, and listen. So we knew that what we were delivering was having an impact in some way. And somebody told us later that the harmonies bring peace to them. I think there's something about harmony when musicians put harmony together.” - Barbara 22:41 “I wasn't this kid, this millennial that would be glued to my phone growing up. I loved books and literature and the influence of parents that they brought into the house, but the music and just family culture was important to me.” - Anna 26:47 “I'll kind of build everything around that melody, and the lyrics just kind of incidentally, fall into it. And mom was the original lyricist, but she kind of gave me the self belief that I could start contributing to that department. So I've been doing a lot more recently.” - Daniel 42:16 “If I had to go with a word for our recording process, it's casual. We're not like, “I want to do that again, do it again.” People are really doing vocal bits over and over until it's just perfect. A lot of our best work is done like “One Take Jake” style, if we can.” - Credenda 50:42 “When people ask us, “What do you like to do besides music?” And then I always had this saying that musicians don't have a social life in general. We sort of make time to do things in periods throughout the day.” - Daniel 53:40 “My inspiration to any up and coming songwriter that's just hit Nashville or is just trying to make it in music in general, is keep at it. Be patient with yourself, your growth. Always have a circle of friends around you, even if it's just one or two people that kind of anchor you, and have conviction. Don't go for a deal just when it's offered to you, because sometimes it's not the right decision to make. So be patient. Be patient. Just keep at it. It will happen.” - Credenda Timestamps: 01:00 Introducing Credenda 02:30 Introducing the three members of Credenda and how the band was formulated. 04:38 Barbara shares who she was listening to growing up and her influences in music. 07:45How did the name Credenda come about? 09:32 The importance of the dictionary in songwriting. 11:21 How was their experience on Puckett's and if they played there often. 15:04 Listen to “A Bridge in Dickson County” by Credenda 19:14 How did “A Bridge in Dickson County” come to have a life of its own? 22:22 The heroes in music that Anna had as she was growing up. 23:33 Anna shares her journey on bringing out her voice. 25:55 How is Daniel's process in creating and coming up with sounds? 27:02 How do Credenda come up with things and contribute as individuals? 28:43 The story of how Credenda went to Nashville and where they were before that. 34:25 How was Credenda's transition as they stayed in Nashville? 35:36 Listen to “Far Side Of The River” by Credenda 38:52 Who is behind “Far Side Of The River” and what is it about? 40:14 Credenda shares their recording process and how they get their songs completed. 44:55 What do Ann, Daniel and Barbara like to do during their chill time besides music? 52:45 Credenda's sign off message to the audience and inspirational wisdom to the upcoming artists. 54:58 Listen to “Ride On” by James Kevin O'Connor Spotify Playlist: Make sure you're not missing out on all our “Rising dHarmic Stars Spotify Playlists”. We already have four (4) playlists where you can find over a hundred songs from our very own dHarmic Evolution alumni .Don't forget to share them with your family and friends as well and let the world support these amazing indie artists! Check out the links here: dHarmic Rising Stars: Aquila https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4loDaYF0OuWRjZeMXvEjK4 dHarmic Rising Stars: Orion https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5CnL9tl0xbU4oDh6jtJBZx dHarmic Rising Stars: Lyra https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ov0OqNMJmPhHrxZjsXthS dHarmic Rising Stars: Scorpius https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5oQ4Sc4LAJSexsDgDcixt8 dHarmic Evolution links: Stay up-to-date with our new releases! You just simply need to go to dharmicevolution.com and subscribe to your favorite podcast platform – there are a lot to choose from! Let me know what you think as well by leaving comments or reviews! And if you're digging this show, please share it with somebody either on social media or just forward it to a friend and let them join the growing community of dHarmic Evolution! Hey, do you know someone who is suffering from anxiety and depression? Please help them out by suggesting the book “7 Steps to Mental Freedom.” It will be a great read for them. You can easily find it as well on the main page of the website or you can just send them to https://tinyurl.com/25a994tw Keep yourself updated with what's going on with dHarmic evolution, check out our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dharmicevolution and, if you are an artist, an author, or a keynote speaker, who is trying to find a safe place to post your content to, you can check out our own Facebook community page and let the world support you! Check out the link here: dHarmic Evolution Community. Special Links and Mentions: Bob Dylan Led Zeppelin The Rolling Stones Michael Jackson Mick Jagger Paul McCartney The Beatles The Carpenters The Righteous Brothers Connect with Credenda Website: www.credendamusic.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/credendamusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/credendamusic/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRi4IstEQHzoTfiwdukrDmA Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Fo0zqUjFKwO15J4J8F9TN Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/credenda/1451015233 ReverbNation: https://www.reverbnation.com/credendamusic SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-168337760
Episode 66 Those We Have Lost—Electronic Musicians Who Passed in 2021 Playlist In this episode, we pay tribute to electronic composers and musicians who passed in 2021. I've put together what I hope will be a satisfying playlist of these diverse artists and their works. Alvin Lucier, “Vespers” from Electric Sound (1972 Mainstream). This work was performed by Lucier and other members of the Sonic Arts union, David Behrman, Robert Ashley, and Gordon Mumma. The musical instrument was a device not intended for making electronic music. It was the Sondol, a hand-held pulse oscillator designed for “boat owners, acoustic engineers, and the blind.” Lucier bought a few of these devices and worked out a piece for echolocation. Each performer was equipped with a Sondol and asked to move blindfolded inside a defined performing space. This resulted in a work comprised of four independent streams of percussive pulses that sound as if they have their own relationship to one another as each musician moves about in the space. VESPERS is written as a prose score in which Lucier invites the performer to explore the world beyond human limits: “Dive with whales, fly with certain nocturnal birds or bats (particularly the common bat of Europe and North America of the family Vespertilionidae), or seek the help of other experts in the art of echolocation.” Richard H. Kirk, with Cabaret Voltaire, “Let it Come Down” from International Language (1993 Plastex). This album was released during a period of transformation for CV. Founding member Chris Watson had left to pursue other sound interests, while Mallinder and Kirk remained and headed into the instrumental direction embodied by dance music. The liner notes for this album state, “Abandon thinking. Everything you will hear in the next seventy-four minutes is true. This music is dedicated to the Merry Pranksters past present & future.” Not sure what that means, but hey. This group was fantastic. Richard H. Kirk, solo, "Information Therapy" from Disposable Half-Truths (1980 Industrial Records). This was from Kirk's first solo cassette release while he maintained his parallel work with Cabaret Voltaire. Joel Chadabe, “Rendevous” from Rhythms for Computer and Percussion (1981 Lovely Music). Joel had such a long list of accomplishments in electronic music, a pioneer of analog systems as well as computer music. On this album, his collaboration with percussionist Jan Williams was startlingly fresh. Electronics, computer synthesizer system (Synclavier), Joel Chadabe; percussion, wood block, vibraphone, marimba, slit drum, log drum, temple block, cowbell, singing bowls, Jan Williams. "The equipment used in RHYTHMS is a portable minicomputer/digital synthesizer system designed and manufactured by New England Digital Corporation in Norwich, Vermont, expressly for making music." Jon Hassell, “Abu Gil” Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street (2009 ECM). Trumpet, keyboard, composed by Jon Hassell; bass, Peter Freeman; Live sampling, Jan Bang; guitar, Rick Cox; drums, Helge Norbakken; violin, Kheir-Eddine M'Kachinche. Jon Hassell, “Wing Melodies” from Power Spot (1981 ECM). Trumpet, composed by Jon Hassell; guitar, electronic treatments, Michael Brook; electric bass, Brian Eno; electronic keyboards (bass, percussion, string sounds), Jean-Phillippe Rykiel; percussion, acoustic and electronic, alto flute, J. A. Deane; produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Sophie, Eeehhh” from Nothing More to Say (2012 Huntleys & Palmers). Electronics, vocals, composed and performed by Sophie Xeon. I chose a couple of earlier tracks that were largely instrumental experiments. Sophie, “Elle” from Bipp/Elle (2013 Numbers). Electronics, vocals, composed and performed by Sophie Xeon. Sophie was primarily known for electronica dance music. Malcolm Cecil, “Gamerlonia Dawn” from Radiance (1981 Unity Records). Composed By, Performer, Producer, Engineer, Malcolm Cecil. English bassist and inventor of the unique TONTO synthesizer ("The Original New Timbral Orchestra"), a massive integrated synthesizer system that was used on many analog electronic albums in the early 1970s. Episode 36 was devoted to Cecil's work so you might want to catch-up with that to get more detail about this amazing musician and producer. This track uses TONTO and also features the “golden flute” of Paul Horn. Peter Zinovieff, “M Piriform” from Electronic Calendar—The EMS Tapes (2015 Space Age Recordings). Computer music from 1981 by the founder of EMS, Peter Zinovieff, with composer/conductor Justin Connolly. Collaborating with classical composer Connolly, Zinovieff created the electronic music in his Putney studio, using computer-controlled audio generators, and combined it with instrumental parts written by Connolly for soprano, flute, and violin. This performance of the work was staged in 1969 and featured Jane Manning (soprano), Judith Pearce (flute) and Pauline Scott (violin), who all played along with a tape recording of the electronic part. Murray Schafer, “Threnody” from Threnody (Youth Music by R. Murray Schafer) (1970 Melbourne). This Canadian release features an instrumental work with electronic sound by Schafer, who is perhaps more familiar to us as a creator of soundscapes and ambient audio experiments. But he also worked in traditional instrumental music and featured electronics in some of these. There are not many recordings such as this example from 52 years ago. Background music: Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.
After a lively The Shining, Kubrick, Stephen King, Great Expectations whirlwind we go off on a great tangent about music and crypto currency. The post Ep 39: The Shining, One of Us has Questions the Other has no Answers and a Lovely Music Tangent! appeared first on Skyline Indie Film Fest.
2021/04/28 Atilla Şen - Santa Monica (Lovely Music)
Episode 37 Youseff Yancy--Pioneer of Electronic Jazz, Part 2 Playlist Youseff Yancy and Genie Walker, "That Look" (circa 1979 from a privately recorded cassette tape). This recording is from a cassette and was digitally restored by Genie Walker. Composer, vocals, Genie (Sherman) Walker; flugelhorn, electronics, Youseff Yancy. Recorded circa 1979. 3:41. Byard Lancaster, “Sweetness” from Documentation The End of a Decade (1980 Bellows). Theremin, Youseff Yancy; flute, Bayard Lancaster; vocal, Joan Hanson. This recording for solo voice and Theremin was later sampled in entirety for a rendition called “Heavenly Sweetness” by Better Daze, complete with electronic accompaniment (1995 Ubiquity). 4:25. Garrett List / A-1 Band, “Sweetness” from Fire & Ice (1982 Lovely Music). Alto Saxophone, Byard Lancaster; Theremin, Electronics, Youseff Yancy; Vocals, Genie Sherman. 4:11. Garrett List / A-1 Band, “Fly Hollywood” from Fire & Ice (1982 Lovely Music). Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Piccolo Flute, Byard Lancaster; Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Theremin, Electronics, Youseff Yancy; Drums, Percussion, Ronald Shannon Jackson; Trombone, Piano, Vocals, Garrett List; Vocals, Genie Sherman. 4:12. Calvin Owens and His Blues Orchestra, “Vincent Van Gogh” from That's Your Booty (1996 Sawdust Alley). Trumpet solo and vocals, Calvin Owens; Theremin, Youseff Yancy; Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Eddy De Vos, Kurt van Herck, Peter Vandendriessche; Backing Vocals, B. J. Scott, Frank Deruytter, Mieke Belange, Yan De Bryun; Baritone Saxophone, Bo Vander Werf, Johan Vandendriessche; Bass, Ban Buls, Roman Korohek; Cello, B. Piatkowski, X. Gao; Drums, Cesar Janssens, Laurent Mercier; Guitar, Marty Townsend, Yan De Bryun; Keyboards, Rafael Van Goubergen; Organ, Peter Van Bogart; Saxophone, Jimmy Heath; Tenor Saxophone, David "Fathead" Newman, Shelly Caroll Paul; Trombone, Marc Godfroid, Yan De Breker; Trumpet, Andy Haderer, Rüdiger Baldauf; Violin, D. Ivanov, E. Kouyoumdjian; Vocals, Archie Bell, Otis Clay, Ruby Wilson. 6:23. Hooverphonic, “L'Odeur Animale” from The Magnificent Tree (2000 Columbia). Guitar, Raymond Geerts; Keyboards, Bass, Programmed by Alex Callier; Vocals, Geike Arnaert; Theremin, trumpet, Youseff Yancy; Fairlight, Effects, Dan Lacksman. 3:48. Hooverphonic, “Jackie Cane” from The Magnificent Tree (2000 Columbia). Guitar, Raymond Geerts; Keyboards, Bass, Programmed by Alex Callier; Vocals, Geike Arnaert; Theremin, Youseff Yancy; Fairlight, Effects, Dan Lacksman. 4:21. James Baldwin, David Linx, Pierre Van Dormael , “A Lover's Questions Part II” from A Lover's Question (1999 Label Bleu). Poetry written and read by James Baldwin; produced by David Linx, Pierre Van Dormael; Trumpet, Theremin, Youseff Yancy; Harmonica, Toots Thielmans; backing vocals, Téjan Karefa-Smart; Percussion, Chris Joris; Saxophone, Flute, Percussion, Voice, Byard Lancaster; Vocals, Deborah Brown; Vocals, Drums, Percussion, David Linx. Poetry of James Baldwin set to jazz, features Yancy on two tracks. 6:47. Opening background music: Garrett List / A-1 Band, “Passions of Miles” from Fire & Ice (1982 Lovely Music). Composed by, Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Theremin, Electronics, Youseff Yancy; Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Piccolo Flute, Byard Lancaster; Drums, Percussion, Ronald Shannon Jackson; Trombone, Piano, Vocals, Garrett List; Vocals, Genie Sherman. 5:54. Second background track: Byard Lancaster, “Blue Nature” from, Documentation The End of a Decade (1980 Bellows). Theremin and trumpet, Youseff Yancy. Recorded in New York in 1979, this is a multi-tracked, solo performance by Yancy on his own composition. One track of straight trumpet, at least one track of electronically modified trumpet, and another track of Theremin. On the liner notes, “B. Lancaster acknowledges the spiritual and education guidance from Youseff Yancy and family.” 2:43. Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz.
Episode 33 Youseff Yancy--Pioneer of Electronic Jazz Part 1 Playlist Yuseff Lateef, “Sound Wave” from A Flat, G Flat And C (1966 Impulse!). Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Flute, Oboe, Theremin, Yusef Lateef; Bass, Reggie Workman; Drums, Roy Brooks; Piano, Hugh Lawson. 4:00. Dorothy Ashby, “Soul Vibrations” from Afro-Harping (1968 Cadet). Harp, Dorothy Ashby. No other credits are given. Unknown Theremin player. 3:19. Sunny Murray's Untouchable Factor, “New York Maze” from Apple Cores (1978 Philly Jazz). Composed by Sunny Murray; Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Theremin and Various Electro-acoustical Sound Manipulating Devices, Youseff Yancy; Alto Saxophone, Arthur Blythe; Baritone Saxophone, Hamiet Bluiett; Bass, Fred Hopkins; Guitar, Monnette Sudler. 18:34. Sunny Murray's Untouchable Factor, “Applebluff” from Apple Cores (1978 Philly Jazz). Composed by Sunny Murray; Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Theremin and Various Electro-acoustical Sound Manipulating Devices, Youseff Yancy; Drums, Sonny Brown; Flutes], Whistles, Percussion, Abdul Zahir Batin. 9:10. Muhal Richard Abrams, “Spihumonesty” (1980 Black Saint). Composer, Piano, Synthesizer, Muhal Richard Abrams; Theremin – Yousef Yancey; Trombone, Sousaphone, Synthesizer, George Lewis; Voice, Jay Clayton; Alto Saxophone, Flute, Roscoe Mitchell; Bass, Leonard Jones; Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Amina Myers. 6:50. Muhal Richard Abrams, “Inneroutersight” from Spihumonesty” (1980 Black Saint). Composer, Piano, Synthesizer, Muhal Richard Abrams; Theremin – Yousef Yancey; Trombone, Sousaphone, Synthesizer, George Lewis; Voice, Jay Clayton; Alto Saxophone, Flute, Roscoe Mitchell; Bass, Leonard Jones; Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Amina Myers. 7:54. Byard Lancaster, “Blue Nature” from, Documentation The End of a Decade (1980 Bellows). Theremin and trumpet, Youseff Yancy. Recorded in New York in 1979, this is a multi-tracked, solo performance by Yancy on his own composition. One track of straight trumpet, at least one track of electronically modified trumpet, and another track of Theremin. On the liner notes, “B. Lancaster acknowledges the spiritual and education guidance from Youseff Yancy and family.” 2:43. Garrett List and the A-1 Art Band, “Where We Are” from Various – From The Kitchen Archives - New Music New York 1979 (2004 Orange Mountain Music). Piano, Trombone, Garrett List; Theremin, Trumpet, Youseff Yancy; Soprano Saxophone, Byard Lancaster; Voice, Genie Sherman. Recorded live at The Kitchen, New York City. 8:38. Opening background music: Garrett List / A-1 Band, “Passions of Miles” from Fire & Ice (1982 Lovely Music). Composed by, Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Theremin, Electronics, Youseff Yancy; Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Piccolo Flute, Byard Lancaster; Drums, Percussion, Ronald Shannon Jackson; Trombone, Piano, Vocals, Garrett List; Vocals, Genie Sherman. Second background track: Better Daze, “Heavenly Sweetness” from First Flight E.P. (1995 Ubiquity). Acid jazz remix of “Sweetness,” a song that originated on the 1980 album by Byard Lancaster featuring Youseff Yancy and vocalist Joan Hansom. Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz.
Episode 30 Music of the Body Playlist The Heart Orphx, “Biorhythm” from The Living Tissue (2001 Hands Productions). Rich Oddie and Christina Sealey, modular and analog synthesizers, software, location recordings and feedback circuits. Includes the modified sounds of the heartbeat, breath and synthesizer. The Brain Alvin Lucier, “Music for Solo Performer” from Music for Solo Performer (1982 Lovely Music). Performance by Pauline Oliveros. Percussion Arrangement, Ron Kuivila; Engineers, Jack Stang, Nicolas Collins; Producer, Alvin Lucier. Recorded January 21-24, 1982 at Nickel Recording, Hartford, CT. Reportedly, the first musical work in history to use brain waves to generate sound (whereas the sonification of brain waves has been around since the 1930s). Composed by Lucier during the winter of 1964-65 and first performed with the help of physicist Edmond Dewan on May 5, 1965. Lucier had the brilliant idea to let the amplified brain wave signals create music through sympathetically vibrating various percussion surfaces and objects through loudspeakers. For this recording, Nic Collins also created a number of voltage-driven solonoids to act as “electric drumsticks” to play various metal instruments and small drums, all controlled by the Alpha waves generated by the brain of the performer. Pierre Henry, “Levitation” from Mise En Musique Du Corticalart De Roger Lafosse (1971 Philips). Live improvisations recorded Feb. 15-21, 1971 by Pierre Henry from Roger Lafosse's Corticalart device, allowing to transcribe the electric cortex waves in electronic signals for further raw manipulations. The Human Voice Orphx, “Mother Tongue” from The Living Tissue (2001 Hands Productions). Rich Oddie and Christina Sealey, modular and analog synthesizers, software, location recordings and feedback circuits. Includes the modified sounds of the human body and voice. Ben Patterson, “A Fluxus Elegy” (excerpt) from A Fluxus Elegy (2006 Alga Marghen). Limited edition of 345 copies. Patterson, a double bass player, was an original member of the Fluxus movement of the 1960s. This elegy to Fluxus artists consists of the initials of the names of key Fluxus artists, encoded into basic Morse code and then performed using a Yamaha DJX keyboard (voice pattern setting) connected to a Digitech JamMan Looper (over-dub setting) connected to a Eurorack MX 602 mixer. The Breath, Lungs Johan Timman, “The Windpipe” and “The Lungs” from Trip Into the Body (1981 Fleet). Composed, performed, recorded, and mixed by Johan Timman. Timman had a massive private studio consisting of Moog synthesizers, some privately made, plus other electronic music instruments. Brands represented include Moog, Oberheim, Roland, EMS, and Synton (vocoder). His was an elaborate analog studio on the eve of the digital revolution. Roger Waters and Ron Geesin, “Body Transport” from Music From the Body (1970 Harvest). Roger Waters and Ron Geesin, guitars, body sounds, field recordings, tape composition. Geesin was a composer and tape music technician who worked with Pink Floyd on 1970's Atom Heart Mother. He collaborated with Waters on this set of songs inspired by the human body, the most tuneful of which were used in a 30-minute television production. The rest of the material not used for the TV production included this piece for clapping, vocal and other sounds. Endoscopy Teresa Rampazzi, “Musica Endoscopica” (1972/2008 Die Schachtel) in entirety. Teresa Rampazzi was an Italian pianist and composer of electronic music. After meeting John Cage in 1958 she devoted herself to developing electronic music. In 1965 she founded the Gruppo NPS (Nuove Proposte Sonore) in Padua which also experimented with computer music. This is a soundtrack made in 1972 for a documentary film called Gastroscopia. Rampazzi wove the actual sound of “gloomy sound blocks and textures of convulsive rhythms” into electronic works for each stage of the digestive system. The sequence is named after sections of the digestive tract: Fibre Ottiche, Laringe, Stomaco, Esofago, Stomaco, Esofago, Stomaco, Stomaco Più Esofago, Stomaco Operato, Duodeno Normale, Duodeno Patologico, and Papille Di F. E Altro (optical fibres). The Archive Mix—where two tracks are played at the same time to see what happens. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Nasal Retentive Caliope Music (1968 Verve). Johan Timman, “Heart” from Trip Into the Body (1981 Fleet). Composed, performed, recorded, and mixed by Johan Timman. Other Notes Opening track: Roger Waters and Ron Geesin, “Our Song” (excerpt) from Music From the Body (1970 Harvest). Roger Waters and Ron Geesin, guitars, body sounds, field recordings, tape composition. Also heard from time to time, excerpts from Auscultation Of The Heart (1966 London) by J. B. Barlow* & W. A. Pocock, narration by Stephen O'Reilly. A medical reference recording with discussion and examples of various heartbeats and pathologies. “Provided as a service to medical students as a part of the Medical School Program of Warner-Chilcott Laboratories.” I encourage you to pick up a copy of Alvin Lucier's Music 109: Notes on Experimental Music. This is the most digestible and thoughtful book about the avant garde since Cage's Silence and it is grounded by Lucier's real-world experience teaching and mentoring musicians for his many years at Wesleyan. Opening and closing sequences were voiced by Anne Benkovitz.
This week's Pride-focused podcast we talk with Staff Writer Benjamin Schneider, who wrote this week's cover story on the history of San Francisco's brightly colored Victorian homes. In his reporting he discovered that the architectural trend has roots in hippiedom and the LGBTQ community. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, though. "Like any San Francisco story, it's a complicated one, clouded by racism, homophobia, and big money," he writes. Also on the podcast: Ivan Mairesse — a.k.a. Sagittaire — talks about his new album, "Lovely Music," and Nuala Bishari gives us the rundown on the "Pride is a Riot" demonstration.
Tracklist1. Hanne Darboven, Abschliessend (op. 22, book 61) (« Requiem », 2005, Hanne Darboven Stiftung) 2.Emmanuel Holterbach with Blutwurst, Ricercar nell’ombra (excerpt) (« Ricercar nell’ombra », 2020, Another Timbre) 3.Gavin Bryars, White’s SS (« From Brussels with Love », 1980, Les Disques du Crépuscule) 4.Steven Brown, Waltz (« Music for Solo Piano », 1984, Another Side) 5.Jill Kroesen, I’m Just a Human Being (« Stop Vicious Cycles », 1982, Lovely Music) 6.John Cale,The Jeweller (« Slow Dazzle », 1975, Island) 7.Anthony Moore, Johnny’s Dead (« Out », 1976, Virgin) 8.Virginia Astley, We Will Meet Them Again (« A Bao A Qu » 10’, 1982, Why Fi) 9.Blaine L. Reininger & Mikel Rouse,Windy Outside (« Colorado Suite », 1984, Crammed Discs) 10. Anna Domino, Land of My Dreams (« East and West », 1984, Les Disques du Crépuscule) 11.Mark Isham / Marianne Faithfull, The Hawk (El Gavilan) (« Trouble in Mind » OST, 1986, Island) 11.Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno, Weightless (« Apollo. Atmospheres and Soundtracks », 1983, EG)
12e émission de la 46e session... Cette semaine, post-bop, jazz moderne et world jazz! En musique: Dave Bailey Quintet / Sextet sur l'album The Complete 1 & 2 Feet In The Gutter Sessions (Lone Hill Jazz, 2005, enr. 1690-1961); Félix Stüssi sur l'album SuperNova 4 (Effendi, 2020); Erik Jekabson Sextet III sur l'album One Note at a Time (Wide Hive, 2020); Wolfgang Muthspiel sur l'album Angular Blues (ECM, 2020); Chicago Underground Quartet sur l'album Good Days (Astral Spirits, 2020); Don Cherry sur l'album Brown Rice (EMI, 1975); Jon Hassell sur l'album Vernal Equinox (Lovely Music, 1978, rééd. Ndeya, 2020)...
12e émission de la 46e session... Cette semaine, post-bop, jazz moderne et world jazz! En musique: Dave Bailey Quintet / Sextet sur l'album The Complete 1 & 2 Feet In The Gutter Sessions (Lone Hill Jazz, 2005, enr. 1690-1961); Félix Stüssi sur l'album SuperNova 4 (Effendi, 2020); Erik Jekabson Sextet III sur l'album One Note at a Time (Wide Hive, 2020); Wolfgang Muthspiel sur l'album Angular Blues (ECM, 2020); Chicago Underground Quartet sur l'album Good Days (Astral Spirits, 2020); Don Cherry sur l'album Brown Rice (EMI, 1975); Jon Hassell sur l'album Vernal Equinox (Lovely Music, 1978, rééd. Ndeya, 2020)...
ARTISAN MUSIC PODCAST 017 (Funky house / Tech house) Сегодняшний выпуск для нас подготовил гость из Франкфурта (Германия). Музыка, пропитанная солнечным настроением funky / disco ритмов, от классики с винила до сегодняшних релизов сцены. Приятного прослушивания! Герой выпуска – Marco Fehr Музыкальная форма – Funky house / Tech house MARCO FEHR In the green heart of Germany is home to the passion for music was sparked early family. About the Main metropolis Frankfurt and the club scene, it went back to the contemplative Thuringia. The fascination to inspire the crowd and animate sprayed Marco in His musical existence, and so the transition was followed at the turntables! In the house DEEP FORREST home, whose motto is clearly in the foreground -! Lovely Music! Creativity, passion and attention to detail are reflected in his sets. Whether black gold or CD, the sound is not easy to describe and is multifaceted: It is to house-heavy beats that are harmoniously with electronic and minimalistic sounds. Whether for warmup or Primetime DJ, Marco has skillfully the right touch. But make yourself an image, we look forward to HIM and YOU! soundcloud.com/djmarcofehr facebook.com/MarcoFehrOfficial marcofehr.booking@yahoo.com ARTISAN MUSIC artisanmusic.ru info@artisanmusic.ru vk.com/artisan_music soundcloud.com/artisan_music instagram.com/artisanmusic_podcast mixcloud.com/artisan_music podcasts.apple.com/ru/podcast/artisan-music-podcast/id1482519149 TRACKLIST 1. Lil´Louis & The World - Club Lonely [Epic] 2. Abi, Tommy Vercetti - I Want You (Original Mix) [NO ART] 3. Luca Donzelli - Momento (Original Mix) [Moan] 4. Zappe - Larry´s Exotic Blend (Joeski´s Ruff Disco Mix) [Bargrooves] 5. Chris Stussy - Try Again [PIV] 6. David Jach - Bantou (Original Mix) [Kittball] 7. Tommy Vercetti - Don´t Fear Change (Rossi Remix) [NO ART] 8. OGE - Locked Spork [OGE] 9. Toman - Wave (Original Mix) [PIV] 10. The Mekanism - Galactic [Worx] 11. Marco C. - Get Down [Paul's Boutique] 12. Simone Liberali - Les Hommes [Material] 13. Mathias Kaden - Square (Original Mix) [Pets Recordings] 14. DJ T. - Ready To Shine (Original Mix) [Get Physical Music]
Episode 412: April 14, 2019 playlist: Sequoyah Murray, "Penalties of Love" (Penalties of Love) 2019 Thrill Jockey Mort Garson, "Plantasia" (Mother Earth's Plantasia) 1976 Homewood / 2019 Sacred Bones Russell E.L. Butler, "I Know I Am Petty" (Petty) 2019 Ghostly Teho Teardo, "Unfinished Beautiful Everything" (Grief is the Thing with Feathers) 2019 Specula Dustin Laurenzi, "Fiesta Piano Solo" (Snaketime: The Music of Moondog) 2019 Astral Spirits / Feeding Tube The Durutti Column, "Fridays" (Obey the Time) 1990 Factory / 2019 Factory Benelux Forest Management, "Blue Leaves" (Passageways) 2019 Whited Sepulchre Astrid, "Grateloupe" (A Porthole (I)) 2019 Gizeh "Blue" Gene Tyranny, "Next Time Might Be Your Time" (Out of the Blue) 1977 Lovely Music / 2019 Unseen Worlds Umber, "From This Earth To Another" (This Earth To Another) 2018 Sound In Silence Email podcast at brainwashed dot com to say who you are; what you like; what you want to hear; share pictures for the podcast of where you're from, your computer or MP3 player with or without the Brainwashed Podcast Playing; and win free music! We have no tracking information, no idea who's listening to these things so the more feedback that comes in, the more frequent podcasts will come. You will not be put on any spam list and your information will remain completely private and not farmed out to a third party. Thanks for your attention and thanks for listening.
This episode is a focus on Table Of The Elements, an obscure american record label. It was founded by music producer and graphic designer Jeff Hunt in 1993 and has released the work of experimental and avant-garde musicians such as John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Derek Bailey, Rhys Chatham and Mats Gustafsson. Each catalogue number is composed by a symbol taken from the periodic Table of the elements associated with its atomic number. "Table of the Elements are to the 21st century what CRI was to the 1960s and Lovely Music to the 1980s — fearless purveyors of the wildest stuff around." The episode features: John Cale, Faust, Lee Renaldo, Henry Kaiser, Paul Panhuysen, Loren Mazzacane, Jim O’Rourke, Bruce Gilbert and Rhys Chatham.
This episode is uniquely dedicated to an odd box, a set of six 7”, published in 1980 by Lovely Music to introduce new artists of the Lovely stable, in addition to early associate “Blue” Gene Tyranny, who already had 3 LPs out. Most composers came from the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music, directed by Robert Ashley in the 1970s, hence the presence of the Golden Gate Bridge on the cover of the box set. The episode features: John Bischoff, Paul DeMarinis, “Blue” Gene Tyranny, Maggi Payne, Frankie Mann, Paul DeMarinis and Phil Harmonic.
Lovely Music is the seminal experimental record label founded by Mimi Johnson, wife of composer Robert Ashley. The label is “dedicated to releasing the best in avant-garde and experimental music, from electronics and computer music to new opera and extended vocal techniques” and, over a lap of approximately 20 years, has been the official voice through which the artist of the Sonic Arts Union and of the Mills College have been distributing their music. The episode features: Blue Gene Tyranny, Jon Hassell, Eliane Radigue, David Behrman, Meredith Monk, Alvin Lucier, Paul De Marinis and Robert Ashley.
The letter A leads us to talk about AND, Robert Ashley, John Abrams and Allison Cameron in this first episode of our experimental music alphabet! Array to Zed is a monthly podcast exploring experimental music by way of the alphabet. Hosts Martin Arnold, Artistic Director of ArrayMusic, and Georgia Carley chat about the ideas, procedures, composers and music that make up that nebulous beautiful thing we call “Experimental Music.” Music Credits: Robert Ashley, The Bar from Perfect Lives (1991); John Abrams, Old Good Buchla (2014) and Aenied Music (1988); Allison Cameron, In Memoriam Robert Ashley (2015) and Strumgators (2010); Martin Arnold, Tam Lin (2010). John Abram’s electronic music is available from bandcamp at johnabram.bandcamp.com/releases Much of Robert Ashley’s music, including everything played on the episode, is available from Lovely Music at www.lovely.com Allison Cameron’s music is available at allisoncameron.com Martin Arnold’s Tam Lin is released by Autumn Records, available at www.autumnrecords.net To know more about ArrayMusic’s other activities or to join our mailing list, see ArrayMusic.com.
Hit the [↻ Repost] button if you like it! #52 of our podcast row by @djmarcofehr! ➟ https://www.facebook.com/MarcoFehrOfficial ➟ https://www.facebook.com/DeepForrest ➟ http://dj.beatport.com/profile/324177 Im grünen Herzen Deutschlands beheimatet, war die Leidenschaft zur Musik familiär schon früh geweckt. Über die Mainmetropole und der Clubszene Frankfurt ging es wieder zurück ins beschauliche Thüringen. Die Faszination die Meute zu begeistern und zu animieren versprüht Marco in Seinem musikalischen Dasein und so folgte der Gang an die Plattenspieler! Im Hause DEEP FORREST beheimatet, steht dessen Motto klar im Vordergrund - !!!Lovely Music!!! Ob schwarzes Gold oder CD, der Sound lässt sich leicht beschreiben und ist facettenreich: Es handelt sich hierbei um zeitgemäßen Deephouse und Techhouse, Techno und melodischen House. Egal ob fürs Warmup oder als Primetime DJ, Marco beweist gekonnt das richtige Händchen. Seit bereit für Kreativität, Herzblut und viel Liebe zum Detail. Download for free on The Artist Union
That Morning Thing (1967) A remounting of Robert Ashley's legendary opera That Morning Thing was performed only three times (Ann Arbor, MI, Oakland, CA and Tokyo, Japan) in the late 1960s, but the opera acquired its reputation through rumor and the famous recordings of two sections, Purposeful Lady Slow Afternoon and She Was A Visitor (on Lovely Music). In three distinct acts plus epilogue, the opera presents the socio-political climate of the times. This new staging by the writer/composer himself promises to be the definitive version of the opera. Directed by Fast Forward. Lighting by David Moodey. Sound by Tom Hamilton. With a cast of 17 performers, including John Hagan, "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Imani Uzuri, Fast Forward, Dave Ruder, Aliza Simons, Gelsey Bell, Paul Pinto, Megan Schubert, Amirtha Kidambi, Brian McCorkle, Aaron Siegel, Kimberly Young, Samantha McHale, Kimberly Bartosik, Madeline Wilcox, and Samita Sinha.