From Oeivind Idsoe Sent Mon, Dec 29th 1997, 17:55
From Oeivind Idsoe Sent Mon, Dec 29th 1997, 17:55
Arthur B. Purvis wrote: > In the interest of killing the Wire thread, I'll just respond to the > unrelated parts of people's posts. I agree -- it's probably time to kill it. Besides, I got the January issue of The Wire in the mail today and I'm basically ecstatic about the amount of interesting things to read (amongst other things relevant to this list, there's a three/four-page feature on Drexciya (sp?)). > one Merzbow CD (since he went "power electronics;" there are more > interesting ones before) is enough for almost anyone I think I agree (sorry for the boring and non-provocative comment). > >BTW, do you hate musiq.concr. and elec.acoust.? Because I could point you > >to some fantastic releases that I'm sure you would love (Pierre Henry, > >Bernard Parmeggiani, Xenakis, Jonty Harrison, Dennis Smalley...and the > >list goes on). > > Not at all; I quite like some of it. I'm unfamiliar with all the people > you listed, with the exception of Henry's awful thing that had Psyche Rock > in it, and a few random Xenakis records, so go ahead, make some > recommendations. Cool. Regarding Pierre Henry's "Psyche Rock": I haven't heard it and probably never will, but that's just because the general consenus seems to be that it's one of the worst things he's ever done (althought it *is* a collaborative 'effort', so it isn't just Henry's fault). Here's a list of my current (and not so current) favourites: * Pierre Henry - "The Man With The Camera" (Mantra; music to accompany Dziga Vertov's classic silent (?) movie. A fantastic record containing all sorts of rhythmic and repetetive squeaks and screams and machinic noises. Also, it's fairly new -- I think it was composed in 1993 or 94, so it's one of Henry's latest works) * Pierre Henry - "Fragments pour Artaud" (Mantra; more excellence from the guy I consider to be more interesting than Stockhausen) * Iannis Xenakis - "Electronic Music" (EMF; a very recent release containing various electronic works from the period early 1950's up until the 90's. Essential.) * Iannis Xenakis - "The Legend of Eer" (Montaigne; an epic 70+ minute masterpiece made up of sampled and manipulated fragments of sounds from various 'exotic' percussive instruments) * Iannis Xenakis - "Kraanerg" (recently re-recorded and released on Asphodel; another gigantic orchestral machine, electronically manipulated for your listening pleasure) * Bernard Parmeggiani - "De Natura Sonorum" (INA-GRM; classic stuff from the 70's. I noticed Autechre ended their very short summary of 1997 for The Wire with the following telling statement: "P.S. Bernard Parmeggiani - fucking hell!" Enough said.) * Tod Dockstader - "Quatermass" (Starkland; experiments from the very beginning of musique concrete (50's and 60's), including a fantastic piece made by using water as the sound source (for the record: Dockstader is apparently another Autechre favourite)) * Jonty Harrison - "Articles indéfinis" (empreintes DIGITALes; one piece is made up of noises made by striking a glass, and it proves that timestretching and smearing can used to create beautiful and intimate spaces) * Francois Bayle - "La Main Vide" (INA-GRM) * Dennis Smalley - "Impacts Intérieurs" (empreintes DIGITALes) * Patrick Ascione - "Polyphonie - Polychrome" (empreintes DIGITALes; a fine mix of acousmatic treatments and varispeed rhythmics) * Evan Parker & Lawrence Casserley - "Solar Wind" (Touch; Evan Parker's sax and Casserley's treatments produce shimmering electronics that are metaphorically similar to the chrome surface of your kitchen sink) * Alain De Filippis - "Ton Dieu Ne S´ Appelle-t-il Pas Ego?" (Metamkine) * Philippe Mion - "Confidence" (Metamkine; one of my all-time favourites from the Metamkine series. Tiny, timestretched particles appear and disappear and are interrupted by sudden outbursts of bombastically digital mega-zaps) * Eliane Radigue - "Biogenesis" (Metamkine; meditative rumblings from the master of the Arp 2600 (although I'm not sure it was used here)). * John Wall - "Fractuur" (UtterPsalm; I just got this one, and it's one helluva work. John Wall samples everyone from David Toop and The Hafler Trio to Stockhausen and Xenakis, but you wouldn't know it. His pieces often sound very 'acoustic', breaking away from the traditional anthem "if it's been manipulated it has to sound electronic"). That's it for now. Let me know if you have any questions (or perhaps other recommendations)./Oeivind/