From Lance C McGannon Sent Sun, Mar 1st 1998, 06:17
From Lance C McGannon Sent Sun, Mar 1st 1998, 06:17
At 12:07 PM 2/28/98 -0500, someone wrote: > >Mesmer Variations =20 >year of publication: 1995 =20 >available format(s): CD-2 =20 >label: Ash International =20 > >Sampler with non-austrian music creators: =20 >Bruce Gilbert, Koji Marutani, Drome, Steve Williams, =20 >Ryoji Ikeda, Robert Hampson, Quest, Gescom,... =20 > =20 >guess I've been under a rock for the last 3 years...=20 we could only be so lucky... : ) >what is this?=20 > The contributors to Mesmer Variations were asked to record a=20 piece influenced by the work of Mesmer. As a starting point they=20 were given a copy of the LP Mesmer (Ash 1.8), released in early=20 1995. Side one of the vinyl recording consisted of 999 identical=20 bars, lasting 22 minutes 12 seconds. Side two was made up of an=20 identical piece recorded at a lower octave, and a separate=20 original mix by Resolution. Some have directly built on the=20 pieces on the record; others have started afresh. These works=20 are not remixes: they are original works inspired by the dynamic=20 effect the claims of Mesmer had on the thinking world around=20 him - effects which are still reverberating today. Franz (Freidrich) Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), 'The Wizard of=20 Vienna', was an Austrian Physicist who claimed he could cure=20 diseases by correcting the flow of animal magnetism in the bodies=20 of his patients during s=E9ance-like group sessions. Mesmer was=20 offered a large fortune at the Parisian court in 1778, but refused to=20 divulge his secret. Contemporaries established a commission to investigate his=20 claims, deducing that any cures were due to the power of suggestion - his audience at the time were largely from among=20 the rich Parisian bourgeoisie, and apparently highly prone to suggestibility. His claims, however, did initiate serious=20 studies into what came to be called 'hypnosis'. His pupil James=20 Braid (1795?-1860) coined this term after the Greek God of=20 Sleep, Hypnos. The Marquis de Puyseacutegur (1751-1825), also a pupil and great admirer, developed theories of the unconscious=20 mind after sending a patient into a trance and discovering=20 multiple personalities. Even now there is very little serious study of hypnosis, or its=20 bastard offspring, hypnotherapy. It has been sidelined as a form of mass entertainment or a miracle cure for psychic=20 damage. Research is desparately needed to study the influence and effects of 'the flicker effect'(a form of mesmerism induced=20 by the flickering images of cinema and television screens), the new range of 'video drugs', or the effects of listening to=20 repetitive sounds emitted at certain frequencies. Music was an important factor in Mesmer's work, and he was a close friend=20 of Mozart, later affectionately teased in his opera Cosi fan tutti. Artists included: Drome - NonPlace Urban Field, Some More Crime Gescom - Warp Music Bruce Gilbert - Wire, WIR, Dome, The Beekeeper Robert Hampson - Main, Loop, INDICATE (with Jim O'Rourke) cf Touch TO:25 Ren=E9 Hassinger - Resident of Dortmund, this is his first release Micki von Hausswolff - Phauss, The Hafler Trio/The Sons of God cf Touch TO:24/TO:22 Ryoji Ikeda - Resident of Tokyo; cf '1000 Fragments' cci recordings= (CCD23001) Edvard Graham Lewis - Wire, WIR, Dome, He Said, H.A.L.O. Koji Marutani - Resident of Osaka, Japan cf Touch T_ZERO_1 Daniel Menche - Artist in residence at Soleilmoon, Portland, Oregon, USA Peter Rehberg (Mego) from Vienna Put Put - Andy Diagram, Andrew Jacques, Howard Jacques, Steve Thrower, John Wall Quest - Frans de Waard from Beequeen Resolution - Swim Records S.E.T.I. - Lagowski, Legion, cf Ash International Ash 2.3 Steve Williams - Co-writer of Scanner2 (Ash 1.2) and mass observation (Ash 1.7) As you would expect from the above explaination, both cds are filled with long dark hypnotically repetitive=20 tracks. I don't listen to it very often because of it's extreme=20 repetitiveness but it's interesting in small doses. I kept it because it's collectible but probably wouldn't hold on to it otherwise. -->-Lance--- p.o. box 450715 westlake, ohio 44145 united states