From Jeff Waye Sent Fri, Sep 3rd 1999, 22:38
From Jeff Waye Sent Fri, Sep 3rd 1999, 22:38
I've got about fifteen 7"'s from this series, and yeah they're pretty awesome. Some of the more 'musique concrete' ones sound their age, but alot of the stuff is pure Panasonic, Oval, style stuff. I actually called and enquired about getting the rights for reissue, but hit a wall of government run office mess. Maybe I'll give another try... Jeff >if you ever stumble upon a double 12" called 'music of the nfb / musique >de l'onf' (black & white cover with a wacky hand drawing), do not >hesitate & BUY BUY BUY. it's been out of print forever (the edition i >got lent, probably the only pressing, is from 1976) but as the price tag >asserts ($1), it probably won't do much harm to your budget -- if you >manage to find it, that is. > >what is it? essentially, soundtracks for experimental films from the >mid-50s to the beginning of the 70s. the nfb (national film board of >canada -- who also produced nature documentaries, & i have a hunch >there's a well-known idm duet that took their name from there...) at >that time was at the forefront of experimental animation & >electroacoustic music worldwide, driven mostly by the astonishing norman >mclaren who produced quite a lot of films which still look fresh even >today -- a short but inadequate description would be kandinsky or >mondrian ported to cartoon form. > >incidentally, norman mclaren is probably the most interesting on this >set. as you may know, some of his experimental work was done straight >on the film -- both the visuals & the music. for the music, he'd >painstakingly cut little holes, or gaps on the film itself, to compose a >rhythmic score of clicks & pops which sound surprisingly close to what >everybody does nowadays... knowing this was made as early as 1954 or >so, that this music still sounds ahead of _this_ time is nothing short >of astonishing, & very relevant with today's idm. > >the rest of the album is sometimes a bit dated, but rarely >uninteresting. nfb's animated films, even the most experimental, were >usually meant for a young audience, which meant that both the visuals & >the soundtrack had to be entertaining enough to keep their attention. >yet, this never sounds like bland kid music. instead, it's very >imaginative, touching on a large palette of music, & usually compelling >enough to involve more than just the calculator part of your brain. > >i think i'm going to pester the nfb until they release a cd version, but >until then, you owe it to yourself to buy this double vinyl on sight. >it has plenty of amazing musics & short but good liner notes in both >french & english (the nfb being a government-funded organization). now >let's hope that they someday return to more experimentals leanings >(perhaps if they were funded properly...)