RILEY, TERRY In C (CBS) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RILEY, TERRY In C (Atma) cd 15.98
Recent recording of Terry Riley's seminal work "In C." Because of its ambiguous instrumentation and relative ease of performance, "In C" has been performed and recorded in a multitude of varying arrangements in its 37 years of existence. In this version, "In C" is attacked with sitar, tabla, percusssion, voices (mostly extended technique, ie: growls) and orchestra. The performance was recorded live as part of a concert given by the Societe de Musique Contemporaine du Quebec (SMCQ) in 1997. Also included on this disc are two pieces by Quebecois composers Donald Steven (for flutes, clarinets, saxophones, viola, percussion, synthersizer and tape) and Michel-Georges Bregent (for voice, various ensembles, electroacoustic and environmental sounds.) Why these pieces are bundled together I know not, but suspect that the Canadian composers felt they wouldn't sell enough of their pieces unless they piggy-backed them onto a cd with a recording by a popular U.S. composer. Oh, and the liner notes are affixed on the back side of a zany fold out poster.

RILEY, TERRY In C (Wergo) cd 18.98
What with the near critical mass of "In C" renditions currently available at this point, every new addition to the pile must contain a better gimmick in their arrangement in order to stand out from the pack. This brand new version on Germany's Wergo label teams up a respected performance ensemble (European Music Project) with an electronic duo (Zignorii++) with the hopes of bridging the gap between the minimalism of academia with its bastard child, electronic dance music. 29 pages of well written liner notes (neatly interspersed with the 53 cells that make up Riley's score for In C) convincingly argue the importance of this work in the canon of European art music and minimalism's connection to the populist form of the modern club music. If only the execution was as seductive as the liner notes' rhetoric. The first few minutes are tolerable enough, competently performed by EMP, but as the "electronic" component begins to creep in, our stomachs begin to turn. Though the notes claim that the computer brain behind Zignorii++ has written his own sequencing software, he might as well be using an 808 to create his acid house synth noodlings. And yet, in the end, the performace fails not by the inclusion of an electronic (dance) music element, but in its tepid pussyfooting with the genre by merely tossing in some synth elements. Now if they had chosen to replace the obbligato piano pulse with a fat 4/4 beat tuned to a low C they would at least give us a reason to drop some X. But I guess that would have been a violation of the composer's specific, and already liberal, instructions.
RealAudio clip: "In C [excerpt 1]"
RealAudio clip: "In C [excerpt 2]"

RILEY, TERRY Les Yeux Fermes & Lifespan (Elision Fields) cd 14.98
The Terry Riley reissue campaign is in full effect and this week we were delighted to see his little heard seventies soundtracks, Les Yeux Fermes (Eyes Closed) from 1972 and Lifespan from 1974 arrive in our store (well, maybe Scott wasn't so delighted after shelling out $30 dollars for Lifespan on vinyl, just a couple of weeks ago). Le Yeux Fermes is comprised of two nearly twenty-minute pieces that are reminiscent of his early work on Reed Streams. The first is "Journey From A Death of a Friend" involving multiple organ and piano lines in counterpoint and the second is a more involved piece with delayed saxophone and organ counterpoints called "Happy Endings". The selections for Lifespan are six shorter pieces, which are a bit more diverse and melody oriented in their structures. "G Song" begins with an organ fugue repetition before the sax melody gives the piece more of a soundtrack theme, while "M.I.C.E.", short for Music In Curved Entrances, begins with a sustained organ and tabla drone before the melodic organ progressions kick into gear leading into the raga drones of "Slow Melody in Bhairavi" and the chanting Tangerine Dream-ish, "In The Summer". "The Oldtimer "is the most playful with an almost carnivalesque organ vamp, while "Delay" is just that, a slow burning organ drone with building and repeating organ lines that coalesce in a sea of pensive harmonics. We're surprised Riley hasn't done more soundtrack work. Listening to this makes us want to see the movies, especially Lifespan, which stars Klaus Kinski as a biochemist on a frantic search for the fountain of youth!
MPEG Stream: "Journey From The Death Of A Friend"
MPEG Stream: "M.I.C.E."
MPEG Stream: "The Oldtimer"

RILEY, TERRY Music For The Gift (Elysium Fields) cd 14.98
Elysium Fields has reissued this fine collection of Terry Riley pieces that was the kick off release of a fantastic string of reissues put out by the Cortical Foundation years ago. Here's what we said, way back when...
This release compiles four early tape-works from Terry Riley that are linked by their common usage of jazz passages, even as they deteriorate over the course of the disc. Beginning with "Music For The Gift" (1963), Riley works with Chet Baker who provides his signature downer jazz warbly horn and a painterly stand-up bass, which Riley in turn tosses into his tape-loop mechanisms for some pretty tremendous, hallucinatory drones and phasing patterns. Think of the manipulations of "You're No Good" but with jazz instead of R&B. "Birds Of Paradise" (1965) is a tape-manipulation piece which loops seemingly random tape segments of jazz horns (probably from those Baker sessions) with a phasing delay predating the work of Zoviet France. "The Mescalin Mix" is a murky Robert Ashley-esque collection of neurotic whispers. The finale of the disc is "Concert for Two Pianos and Five Tape Recorders" which could easily be a No-Neck Blues Band pipe fight with an odd play-by-play narration of the concert. Certainly the current crop of drone artists can learn a thing or twelve from this collection of seminal recordings by the West Coast master of minimalism.
MPEG Stream: "Music For The Gift (part 3)"
MPEG Stream: "Birds Of Paradise (part 2)"
MPEG Stream: "The Mescalin Mix"

RILEY, TERRY Music For The Gift / Birds Of Paradise / Mescalin Mix (Cortical) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This compiles four works from Terry Riley that are linked by their common usage of jazz passages, even as they deteriorate over the course of the disc. Beginning with "Music For The Gift" (1963), Riley works with Chet Baker for a pretty straight meditative jazz composition for Baker's warbly horn and a painterly stand-up bass. "Birds Of Paradise" (1965) is a tape-manipulation piece which loops seemingly random tape segments of jazz horns (perhaps from the Baker sessions???) with a phasing delay predating the work of Zoviet France. "The Mescalin Mix" is a murky Robert Ashley-esque collection of neurotic whispers. The finale of the disc is "Concert for Two Pianos and Five Tape Recorders" which could easily be a No-Neck Blues Band 'pipe fight' ('pipe fight' being a utilitarian term we've come up with for field recordings that sound..well..like a pipe fight) with an odd play-by-play narration of the concert. An awesome collection of seminal recordings.

RILEY, TERRY Olson III (Cortical Foundation) cd 15.98
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Never before available. In 1967, students of the Nacka High School of Music in Stockholm performed this phase-shifting composition with Terry Riley accompanying on soprano saxophone. As much a pedgogical experiment as a performance, this recording is great moment in early minimalism--repetitive and hypnotic and slightly overwhelming orchestations that pulsate for a seeming eternity. Artwork by Riley and Bruce Conner. Liner notes by Folke Rabe.

RILEY, TERRY Poppy Nogood All Night Flight Vol. 1 (Cortical Foundation) cd 17.98
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RILEY, TERRY Poppy Nogood And The Phantom Band - All Night Flight, SUNY Buffalo, New York, 22 March 1968 (Elision Fields) cd 14.98
At last reissued (again), this live performance of minimal pioneer Terry Riley's signature piece, "Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band" from 1968. Using organ, saxaphone, and a "Time-Lag Accumulator" to create an echo effect (hence The Phantom Band), Riley's original performance was six hours long and lasted all night. Versions of this piece have appeared before on the B-side of A Rainbow in Curved Air and on the second disc of the Cortical Foundation's release of You're No Good (which we're hoping Elision Fields will also reissue!). This is a 40 minute edit of the original performance first released on Cortical Foundation in 1999. and we would gladly hear five hours more of this organic, lilting, and mesmerizing loveliness. Highly Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Modal"
MPEG Stream: "Fire"

RILEY, TERRY Reed Streams (Elision Fields) cd 14.98
An absolutely stellar reissue of Terry Riley's debut album from 1966, Reed Streams.
Containing two long pieces, "Untitled Organ" and "Dorian Reeds", we see the initial foundations of Riley's spiritualized minimalism that would culminate in the wide releases of A Rainbow in Curved Air and In C a few years later. "Untitled Organ" is a series of four- and eight-note patterns exchanged and interchanged in idiosyncratic modulations inevitably creating a third complex pattern. The effect is rigorous, repetitious and astounding for its lack of delay effects. "Dorian Reeds" makes use of more undulating and circular pulsations but this time is aided with tape echo to create a more time-altering effect. But the real treat of this reissue is the bonus track from 1970 of "In C (mantra)" performed by L'Infonie, a ragtag group of French-Canadian free players directed by Walter Boudreau. What L'Infonie adds to this piece is the use of propulsive percussion jettisoning this classic piece of conceptual music into a grooving krautrock tribal spree. Highly Recommended!!!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Dorian Reeds"
MPEG Stream: "In C (Mantra)"

RILEY, TERRY Reed Streams / In C (Mantra) (Cortical Foundation) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RILEY, TERRY Shri Camel (CBS) cd 12.98

RILEY, TERRY The Last Camel In Paris (Elision Fields) cd 14.98
Live, recorded for French radio in 1978, this archival album from minimalist composer Terry Riley is a gorgeous solo meditation for specially modified organ and plenty of delay, running about 54 minutes in length. It's not unlike Riley's classic Shri Camel record from around the same time - he says, "the musical materials of The Last Camel In Paris are second generational belonging to the family of Shri Camel while manifesting their own distinct shape and flavor". On Last Camel, Riley's gently piping organ tones and tinklings ceaselessly unfurl, slowly modulating, truly a lovely late night listen for anyone with an ear for Riley's special brand of New Agey, neo-classical, psychedelic minimalism. It's one long, continuous performance but has been conveniently broken into ten seamless tracks on this cd release "as a guide to compositional changes" in the piece, which does move into more and more intense, ever-repetitive realms as the disc progresses.
A most essential archival release for all Riley fans, despite the uninspiring album cover artwork (is that a solarized picture of a dream-catcher?). Inside the digipack, things look better, the foldout cd booklet having a black and white photo of the bald, bearded Riley in concert on one side, and liner notes (mostly in French, drat, though there is some text in English from Riley himself) on the other. Now, there's another Terry Riley reissue on this list, our Record Of The Week in fact, but don't fret, getting this along with Church Of Anthrax won't be too much of a good thing, just plenty of it!
MPEG Stream: "track 4"
MPEG Stream: "track 6"
MPEG Stream: "track 9"

RILEY, TERRY You're No Good (Cortical Foundation) 2cd 31.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The unanimous AQ staff favorite of the week. Disc one is totally stuck in our cd player...it's only about 20 minutes long, but it may as well be infinite, 'cause we just keep playing it over and over. Appropriate, because, as with much of the late '60s work of American minimalist composer Terry Riley's work, repetition (with subtle changes) is the modus operandi here. The original source song "You're No Good", a pop-latin-boogaloo number released by Harvey Averne in 1968 (he's not credited in the liner notes to this, strangely) is a great tune in its own right. But soon after the original song's release. Terry Riley got his hands on it and created what oughta become one of his all time classic tracks. Riley used pedal-driven tape-loops and the Moog to take the infectious "You're No Good" chorus to extreme, abstract, mesmerizing lengths. It's looped over and under itself, at first sounding completely normal and then imperceptibly gets weirder and weirder until it's so odd that the customers in the store start looking concerned and asking if the cd player is skipping. It stutters wonderfully! Sometimes the left and right channels are playing different parts of the song simultaneously, to eerily beautiful effect.
That the original song is so insanely catchy and hook-filled (it's a "Dancing in the Streets"-style pop number) definitely contributes to the accessibility and fun of the piece. Disco minimalism? Hell yeah. Apparently it was commissioned as theme song for what must have been a very avant-garde Philly dance club, the operator of which was a Terry Riley fan present at the concert documented on disc one... Brilliant.
By the way, the original Averne song can be found on the compilation Dusty Fingers Vol. 2, and we've added a clip of the original below for you to compare.
Disc 2 of this archival set is live material from one of Terry's Poppy Nogood All Night Concerts held in Philadelphia in the fall of 1967. The lovely drones produced by his soprano sax and "time-lag accumulator" must have kept the attendees happy and hypnotized in their sleeping bags 'til dawn, and now we can experience a cd's worth of it now at whatever time of day or night we choose. Nice.
RealAudio clip: TERRY RILEY "You're Nogood"
RealAudio clip: HARVEY AVERNE "You're No Good (note: this does NOT appear on the Riley record!)"

RILEY, TERRY & STEFANO SCODANIBBIO Diamond Fiddle Language (Wergo) cd 24.00

RILEY, TERRY (AS PERFORMED BY BANG ON A CAN) In C (Cantaloupe) cd 18.98
It's beginning to look as though the most popularly recorded composition of the new millennium is going to be Terry Riley's "In C". Why is this? At first I thought that maybe it was because just about anyone can play it. But then I asked myself, "why wouldn't more of La Monte Young's pieces be performed?" Okay, let's not go there or someone's feelings are gonna get hurt. Whatever it is, everyone from suburban 3rd graders to the Japanese psych-rock freak out band Acid Mothers Temple wants a piece of "In C". So, with as many diverse and fucked up versions of "In C" already out there why would you want to waste your hard earned cash on yet another -- overpriced -- version? I don't know, maybe you've got to have every version of "In C" that's been recorded so that you can do a super-heavy ultra-mix, pasting together all the hitherto available versions. C'mon, I know someone out there is crafty enough to come up with a crazy assed version that'll rip our pants out at the crotch. And who knows, if it's good enough maybe Tigerbeat6 will put it out. For what it's worth, the Bang On A Can version features such risque instrumentation as: cello, glockenspiel, vibraphone, bass, mandolin, saxophone, pipa, piano, violin, guitar, marimba and clarinet.

RILEY, TERRY / PIERRE MARIETAN Keyboard Study 2 / Initiative (Get Back) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two sidelong pieces recorded in 1969 and performed by Groupe d'Etude et Rèalisation Musicale of France, or simply the GERM Ensemble. Riley's "Keyboard Study 2" is a twenty-four minute minimalist exercise for two pianists (executed here by Gèrard Frèmy and Martine Joste). Due to substandard recording quality, this is not considered an "essential" Riley recording, but it is a beautiful and worthwhile document, nonetheless. Pierre Marietan, Swiss-born French avant composer, disciple of Boulez and Stockhausen and founder of GERM, offers an early composition for the emsemble. Repressed on hefty 180 gram vinyl with original artwork fully intact in a heavy gatefold sleeve. A rare non-jazz release in the mighty BYG / Actuel back catalogue!

ROBB, J.D. Rhythmania (Locust) cd 14.98
It says "Electronic Music From Razor Blades To Moog" on the disc and that pretty much sums it up. You'll glean a bit more of an idea of what this is all about from the in-the-studio photos of Robb, a nice looking old man with a big white mustache, though some liner notes would have been nice (c'mon, Locust!). What we do know is that lawyer-turned-maverick-composer, John Donald Robb, was on the cutting edge of electronic music starting way back in the 1940s! His work was perhaps especially beepy-bleepy beat-oriented (hence the title of this cd) and is certainly full of vintage electronica atmosphere. Rhythmania is compiled from the best of Robb's two Folkways LPs, and is a swell collection of his pioneering electronic experimentation, total mad-scientist laboratory stuff for fans of the likes of Tod Dockstader, the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Definitely a great personal soundtrack to the next '60s era sci-fi novel you sit down to read!
MPEG Stream: "Spatial Serenade"
MPEG Stream: "Rhythmania"

RUSSELL, ARTHUR First Thought Best Thought (Audika) 2cd 22.00
Fourteen years after his death, the music of Arthur Russell is more alive than ever. Mostly known as a left-field disco producer and classically trained cellist, Russell was also an accomplished avant-garde composer, as evidenced here. Audika records, who re-issued Russell's World of Echo and Calling Out Of Context releases, focus their attention here on two little known early pieces: Instrumentals Vols. 1 & 2, and Tower of Meaning. It's no wonder they are so little known. While Instrumentals Vol. 2 was released on Belgian label Les Disques Du Crepescule in 1984, and Tower of Meaning was previously released on Phillip Glass's label, Chatham Square in 1983, Vol. 1 was made only into a test pressing and for some reason shelved (this is its first official release).
The Instrumentals disc is the most interesting because for music so rooted in the New York avant-garde of the '70s and '80s, it's surprisingly accessible. Instrumentals 1 feels like Rhys Chatham playing with the Penguin Cafe Orchestra as harmonic variations of horns and strings play across bass and drum rhythms, while Instrumentals 2 leaves the rhythms behind. Towers of Meaning, a suite of 7 pieces, has a more classical Gavin Bryars vibe as the horns play out long melody lines with unusual intonations and harmonics with each piece stopping abruptly. Rounding out each disc are two other unreleased compositions, Reach One and Sketch for the Face of Helen. Known to obsessively tweak mixes of his songs (Supposedly, Let's Go Swimming, a left-field disco classic, was mixed *ninety-six* times) and then never release them, it's been rumored that Russell left one thousand tapes of unreleased music at the time of his death, making the title of this release a small inside joke. Hopefully Audika, unlike Russell himself, will be able to tell when enough is enough.
MPEG Stream: "Instrumentals 1"
MPEG Stream: "Instrumentals 2"
MPEG Stream: "Tower of Meaning"

SATIE, ERIK Francis Poulenc Plays The Piano Music Of Satie And Poulenc (El / Cherry Red) cd 16.98
How many reviews have you read where the influence of folks like Brian Eno, John Cage and Frank Zappa are mentioned? Lots! But it's not as often that we get to talk about someone else who had a deep influence on those very same icons. But one need look no further then the tender and melancholic piano playing of Erik Satie to find the roots and foundation for some of the most important music of the last century. This is one of the better Satie cd's to come out in recent years as the playing of Francis Poulenc is impeccable. The second half of the disc finds him playing his own compositions, and while Poulenc's pieces are beautiful in their own right, considering that it's pretty tough to follow up all of those amazing Satie pieces. Some of the prettiest, most delicate and touching pieces of music ever written. This is the sound of piano taken to higher level of majestic beauty.
MPEG Stream: "Idylle"
MPEG Stream: "Espana"
MPEG Stream: "Meditation"

SATOH, SOMEI From the Depth of Silence, the Orchestral Music of Somei Satoh (Mode) cd 16.98

SCELSI, GIACINTO Music For High Winds (Mode) cd 16.98
These recordings date from the 50's and are unlike a lot of Scelsi's other compositions, which tend to be dark and bombastic (we at AQ are huge fans). These are all solos or duets composed for woodwinds and come from a period during which Scelsi abandoned all of his classical training in search of some mystical 'interior of sound.' The playing is very free, melodic and playful. When it's good, it's really good, atonal and frenzied, gorgeously rich and dynamic. When it's not so good (which thankfully isn't all that often) it can be a little too Peter And The Wolf.
RealAudio clip: "Ixor"
RealAudio clip: "Suite"
RealAudio clip: "Suite 2"

SCELSI, GIACINTO Piano Works 1 (Mode) cd 16.98

SCELSI, GIACINTO The Piano Works 2 (Mode) cd 16.98

SCELSI, GIACINTO Yamaon (Kairos) cd 16.98
"Giacinto Scelsi is unique among composers in this (or any) century. Trained in the New Vienna School, he grew into a totally personal style in which he focused completely on tone and sound. Scelsi was highly influenced by Oriental philosophies and the deep meditative aspects underlie his stark, expressive music. This disc presents five works that document this growth. 'Yamaon' has the voice (a booming operatic baritone) using no words -- only syllables and sounds, with instruments gradually taking over. 'I Presagi' is about the visionary precognition of the downfall of a Mayan city. In three movements, each focused on a single pitch, it is scored for 2 trombones, 2 tubas, saxophone, percussion and wind machines. 'Anahit' is a work for 18 instruments with violin solo. It is a very difficult work, creating a brilliant sound-world which defies any conventional description. 'Tre Pezzi' for solo saxophone contemplates a unique approach to sound, and 'Okanagon' is, according to the composer, 'to be understood as a rite, or if you choose, as the heartbeat of the earth'."

SCHMICKLER, MARCUS Param (A-Musik) cd 15.98
Better known for his post-krautrock electronica as Pluramon, Marcus Schmickler has also been tinkering with the ideas of academic composition. He claims that his interest is a "confrontation with modern classical composers," and that "innovations are only possible by including the old." His words appear with a pretense of punk antagonism, but the music that he has composed in Param for a good-sized chamber ensemble (with of course electronics) is remarkably beautiful yet at times eerily ominous, but holds nothing remotely antagonistic towards the aesthetics of 20th Century composition. Instead, "Param" should be seen as a successful homage to Varese, Nono, Ligeti, and Xenakis with massive shimmering swells of strings and horns that ascend alongside perfectly matched electronic timbres and reverberations. If Schmickler's antagonism is based against the elitism of academic compostion, then he has made a very good argument that the academic circle do not have the stranglehold on orchestral compostion that they think they do. A worthy complement to the aforementioned composers.
RealAudio clip: "Param 5"
RealAudio clip: "Param 9"

SCHWIMMER/CAINE/FELDMAN Theremin Noir (November) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Kinda like the title indicates, this is some (film) noir-ish, atmospheric music for theremin, played by Rob Schwimmer, who is joined by pianist Uri Caine and violinist Mark Feldman (not a bad line-up!). At turns pretty, dramatic, jazzy, noisy, and soundtrack-sappy: it's like Clara Rockmore (famed early 20th century theremin virtuoso) meeting up with some downtown NYC avant-garde muso schenanigans. C'mon, how many theremin recordings do you own anyway? Plus, for weird instrument lovers, Schwimmer also makes use of the daxophone! (And the accordion, waterphone, and various toys to boot.) In an interesting hard-back digibook packaging, not quite like anything we've seen before, by the way.

SCHWITTERS, KURT / JAAP BLONK Ursonate (Basta) cd 21.00
Blonk does Schwitters! So perfect. The Dada vocal babble classic as interpreted by the amazing Dutch sound poet/performer.

SCOTT, RAYMOND Manhattan Research Inc (Basta) 2cd 30.00
The academic eggheads that congregate around the musical institutions of the globe have from time to time tried to bring elements of whimsical pop to the sonic weirdness of musique concrete and the electronic oscillators that have continued to gyrate since the 60s. For the most part, the experiments meshing pop & academic New Music have been pretty lame, but not those of Raymond Scott. "The Manhattan Research Inc" is a double cd which collects the "new plastic sounds and electronic abstractions" from Scott's idiosyncratic work from the 50's & 60's, which included space-age ditties for commercials and oddball electronic noodling. As weird as the 60's space electronics from Dick Hyman / Command Records, yet just as complex as Tod Dockstader or Vladimir Ussachevsky, but with Scott's previous work with Carl Stalling scoring cartoons, these recordings retain a solid grasp on the intrinsically catchy pop jingle. Top it all off with commercial voice-overs for detergent and chewing gum for a wonderful collection of electronic esoterica. It should also be noted that, if you didn't know any better, on first listen, there's a good chance you would mistake this for a Tape Beatles or Negativland record!

SCOTT, RAYMOND Soothing Sounds for Baby Vol. 3 (Basta) cd 14.98
"Arguably the first ambient techno records, 1963's Soothing Sounds For Baby LPs were the culmination of Raymond Scott's decade and a half as an electronic music pioneer. Scott is better known for his circular, giddy jazz compositions from the '30s and '40s, many of which endeared themselves to youngsters through their eventual use in Warner Bros. cartoons. Soothing Sounds, though, is _meant_ for young children--he called it an "audio toy"--and, reissued on three short CDs, it can have the same stimulating, pacifying or hypnotic effects on adults (we don't recommend driving to "Sleepy Time," for instance). These gracefully layered loops of early electronics have the unmistakable stamp of their era -- Scott most likely used existing instruments of the time, like the Ondioline and possibly a derivative of the theremin -- probably combined with sequencers and modifications of his own design, the details of which are now lost. Still, his endlessly pinwheeling, trance-inducing grooves were far ahead of their time: we suspect that more than a few techno artists heard these records in their cradles, and though they're playful, pretty and simple, they have a depth and peculiarity that prefigures minimalism as well." [--Robin Edgerton & Douglas Wolk in CMJ New Music report, 6-29-97]
Wow. Available at a very reasonable price, these sought-after recordings have been packaged with very extensive liner notes and photos. If you're only wanting one volume, we recommend #2 or #3. They're all equally good (honestly) and volume 2 features "The Toy Typewriter" which Irwin Chusid has likened to Metal Machine Music For Babies. We think a young Tom Jenkinson heard these in the cradle and thus preordaining that he grow up to become the Squarepusher.

SECRET CHIEFS 3 / JOHN ZORN Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9 (Secret Chiefs 3 Plays Masada Book Two) (Tzadik) cd 15.98
Let's state right from the outset that Trey Spruance's musical entity known as Secret Chiefs 3 is simply impossible to nail down and describe. Words really do not do SC3 justice, especially in the case of their latest work -- sprawling in scope, intricate in detail and majestically presented -- but we will make a valiant attempt here. Indeed, adjectives such as magical, mysterious and mind-blowing do apply, however they barely scratch the surface. We'd say 'spectacular' but the folks at Tzadik already beat us to the punch by using it on the cd's obi blurb. On Xaphan they've joined forces with their comrade John Zorn, performing eleven passages from his epic work, Masada Book Two. The eleven players embrace, attack, caress and devour the compositions with an otherworldly zeal. They come together as a single inimitable force, at once seeming absolutely unhinged and utterly in control. The threads of the SC3 aural tapestries are always densely knotted and woven with ace musicianship and from a myriad of disparate styles and inspirations delving into spy thriller soundtracks, exotica, metal, surf, esoteric knowledge and so much more. So it is on Xaphan, and the formidable outcomes may seem impervious to some and electrifyingly listenable to others. Breathtaking.
MPEG Stream: "Sheburiel"
MPEG Stream: "Barakiel"

SMITH, BARTON Reelizations One & Two: The Sound Of Barton Smith (EM Records) 2cd 29.00
There is a very fine line between schizophrenia and a totally eclectic diverse creativity and we seem to enjoy music most when that line remains really blurry. This 2-cd set, recorded between 1980-82 by electronic alchemist Barton Smith definitely straddles that weird blurry line. One moment basking in tender beauty while the next moment flourishing into a noisy wall-of-sound. Very little was known about Smith. The fact that Smithsonian Folkways originally released these tracks on vinyl back in the early '80s, and still Smith remained a relative unknown, just adds to the mystique. The first disc opens up with what sounds like gamelan influenced percussion on homemade instruments, followed by pastoral pretty meandering guitar and then underwater sounding rumblings drenched in primitive sounding electronics. We have been totally intrigued and in awe of these recordings since we first got this set in a few weeks back. Listening to it nonstop, and trying to think about how this was received in the early '80s when even now it still sounds so ahead of its time. Former AQ-er Windy came in recently and jumped for joy to see this on the new arrivals rack, telling us how she scored an original vinyl copy years back at a flea market and it's always been a record she found so weird and wonderful and special. Outside of Windy, we haven't really come across anyone else who knew anything about Barton Smith. We've come to discover that these were recordings he made for modern dance troupes and we can only struggle to imagine bodies moving to his ever changing sounds. While for most musicians it can be tricky and problematic to change gears and sounds so often within an album, there is something so natural and lucid and smooth about the extremes explored on Reelizations. We can't think of many musicians who have the ability to explore such a wide range with this much success and intrigue. Moondog's versatility and eclectic output is someone who came to mind when trying to figure out how to classify Mr. Smith. From acoustic tranquility to electric outbursts this had us picking up on a totally diverse range of reference points: Sandy Bull, Jim O'Rourke, This Heat, Koji Asano. And for sure you could start seeing how years later groups would start exploring similar sonic atmospheres. Black Dice, Excepter, Loren Connors are some who come to mind. Scott even suspects that Kieren Hebden might have heard this at some point, as there is a really good chance that the Barton Smith track "Lotus" was sampled on the Four Tet album Rounds.
This is a record that we can't stop listening to or thinking about. We hear so much music everyday, when something kicks our ass this hard we know we've discovered something really special.
As with all releases on the fabulous Japanese reissue label EM, this is gorgeously packaged, coming in an oversized double jewel case, with a huge booklet, tons of photos and lots of liner notes -- those unfortunately all in Japanese.
MPEG Stream: "Azirthmyth"
MPEG Stream: "Roland No.119"
MPEG Stream: "The Musical Box"
MPEG Stream: "Lotus"

SPIEGEL, LAURIE Harmonices Mundi (Table Of The Elements) 12" 16.98
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Perhaps the most historically relevant in the series, Laurie Speigel's piece for the Lanthanides 12" series was commissioned in 1975 by Carl Sagan to be included on the golden disc included on the Voyager II spacecraft (which is now beyond the orbit of Pluto moving into deeper space). Harmonices Mundi is Spiegel's relalization of the "harmony of the spheres", a celestial harmony of the planets' relationships envisioned by the ancient Greeks, and updated in 1619 by Johannes Kepler after discovering the true paths of the planets around the sun were in fact elliptical. The technology to convert these relationships into sound, however, would not exist until the computer bcame a viable instrument for making sound and music. Spiegel's instrumental interpretation is grand and sweeping. A repetitive and hypnotic cycle of siren like tones, sweeping majestically across a static sonic palette, overlapping and moving outward, seemingly to the ends of the universe, like ripples in a galaxy-wide pond. Fans of modern high end drone/skree (Sunroof!, Birchville Cat Motel, etc.) will glimpse will recognise this as a definite sonic precursor. On clear gold vinyl (like that legendary golden disc), with Voyager II's galaxial trajectory and Spiegel's Harmonices Mundi score silkscreened in black ink.

SPIEGEL, LAURIE Obsolete Systems (Electronic Music Foundation) cd 14.98
A wonderful collection of works composed between 1970 and 1983 from this obscure, criminally overlooked American composer and electronic music pioneer. Instrumentation involves analog electronics (both manual and computer-controlled), electronic tape, Echoplex, early realtime digital synthesis and Bell Labs' GROOVE Hybrid system (a very early digital-analog hybrid synthesizer). A system designer and software developer responsible for many interactive music applications (most notably Music Mouse for Macintosh), Spiegel's technical background doesn't overshadow her compositional abilities, nor does it reduce her work to simply "technical". Beautiful, textural sonicscapes comparable to Schnitzler or Ligeti.
RealAudio clip: "Drums"
RealAudio clip: "Improvisation On A "Concerto Generator""

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Aus Den Sieben Tagen (Harmonia Mundi) cd 9.98

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Elektroniszchen Musick Mit Tonszenen Vom Freitag Aus Licht (Stockhausen Verlag) 2cd 61.00
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STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Helicopter String Quartet (Stockhausen Verlag) 2cd 75.00
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To reiterate - "And then I had a dream: I heard and saw the four string players in four helicopters flying in the air and playing. At the same time I saw people on the ground seated in an audio-visual hall, others were standing outdoors on a large public plaza. In front of them, four towers of television screens and loudspeakers had been set up: at the left, half-left, half-right, right. At each of the four positions one of the four string players could be heard and seen in close-up. Most of the time, the string players played tremoli which blended so well with the timbres and the rhythms of the rotor blades that the helicopters sounded like musical instruments. When I woke up, I strongly felt that something had been communicated to me which I never would have thought of on my own. I did not tell anyone anything about it. Since I did not, after the dream, have any time to compose, I wrote and drew several sketches and -- from the super formula -- developed the Helicopter String Quartet as the third scene of Wednesday from Light, the cycle of music dramas which I have been composing since 1977. Only in 1992/93 did I find the peace to compose the Helicopter String Quartet, and especially to made the fair copy of the colored score." -Karlheinz Stockhausen.
At the beginning of 2000, we got in the Arditti String Quartet version of this score, which featured the ensemble in a studio overdubbing their performance with canned helicopters. If you're gonna have a great conceptual idea, do it right. Stockhausen knew that and released the world premier performance of the piece with his studio mix-down of the previously mentioned Arditti String Quartet recording.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Helikopter-Quartett (Montaigne) cd 11.98
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Who would be more erudite to explain this composition than the madman himself? "And then I had a dream: I heard and saw the four string players in four helicopters flying in the air and playing. At the same time I saw people on the ground seated in an audio-visual hall, others were standing outdoors on a large public plaza. In front of them, four towers of television screens and loudspeakers had been set up: at the left, half-left, half-right, right. At each of the four positions one of the four string players could be heard and seen in close-up. Most of the time, the string players played tremoli which blended so well with the timbres and the rhythms of the rotor blades that the helicopters sounded like musical instruments. When I woke up, I strongly felt that something had been communicated to me which I never would have thought of on my own. I did not tell anyone anything about it. Since I did not, after the dream, have any time to compose, I wrote and drew several sketches and -- from the super formula -- developed the Helicopter String Quartet as the third scene of Wednesday from Light, the cycle of music dramas which I have been composing since 1977. Only in 1992/93 did I find the peace to compose the Helicopter String Quartet, and especially to made the fair copy of the colored score." -Karlheinz Stockhausen. Stockhausen completists should note that this is actually a studio recording, with the helicopters dubbed in later. The original performance recording with live helicopters is apparently available on a different, much more expensive, release on Stockhausen's own label.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Hymnen 1 & 2 (Stockhausen Verlag) 4cd 95.00
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The first two incarnations of the composition "Hymnen" (1966 - 1967) are found on 4cds. The first being 4-track stereophonic recordings of elektronische musik in which shortwave radio transmissions of international gibberish begin to evolve into a strict directional score from which bursts national anthems from Germany, Switzerland, America, Spain, Russia, and Africa. Stockhausen elaborates on the compositional metaphors both aurally and conceptually in a massive 200 page book both in English and German. The second incarnation is a reworking of the electronic score accompanied by soloists on piano, tam-tam, electric viola, electronium, filters, and potentiometers.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Hymnen 3 (Stockhausen Verlag) cd 40.00
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This is the third version Stockhausen constructed of his legendary composition "Hymnen" in which elektronische musik/musique concrete recordings of 'found objects' (a variety of broken speech from conversations, crowd noise, demonstrations, and other public events) and shortwave radio noise are accompanied by a composition for a full orchestra (originally composed in 1973) playing a pastiche of national anthems. Performed in 1994 in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall by the Gurzenich Orchestra and conducted by Stockhausen himself.
While this may seem to be the more economic means of getting this legendary piece, we have to recommend the more expensive 4cd version. It really is soooo much better. But definitely the the Stockhausen bargain hunter's place to start.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Kontakte (Wergo) cd 22.00

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Kontakte (Ecstatic Peace!) cd 14.98
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Classic piece written in 1959/60 for electronics, piano and percussion. This version, recorded in 1978, finally sees the light of day and features an extremely rare appearance by James Tenney on piano and Aquarius-mascot William Winant on percussion. Lp version back in stock soon.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Kontakte / Gesang Der Junglinge / Etude / Studie I & II (Stockhausen Verlag) cd 50.00
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Along with a photo of a dapper young Stockhausen looking just like John McEntyre of Totroise, this cd also features a massive 188 page book in German and English. Along with "Kontakte" are the compositions "Etude," "Studie I," "Studie II," and "Gesang Der Junglinge." "Etude" is a tape piece inspired by a meeting with Pierre Schaffer in 1952 in which the original recordings of piano strings being struck by an iron beater have been mangled through an incredible amount of splicing and re-recording. "Studie I" (1953) and "Studie II" (1954) are experiments in organizing micro-acoustic sounds and transforming sine waves & white noise into note-mixtures. "Gesang Der Junglinge" (1955 - 56) is a sophisticated electronic composition unifying vocal sounds and electronically produced sounds.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Kontakte / Zyklus / Refrain (Stockhausen Verlag) cd 36.00
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STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Microphony I & II / Telemusik (Stockhausen Verlag) cd 60.00
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While Karlheinz would certainly object to one of his scores lovingly described as a pipe fight (the AQ-coined term for a bunch of guys randoming tossing large pipes in a reverb laden warehouse - see also No Neck Blues Band and Organum), the aural similarities between "Microphony" and a pipe fight are indisputable. Instead of choosing the palette of the industrial wasteland, Stockhausen has scored a piece in which six classically trained percussionists tinker with spaghetti forks, tea china settings, suction cups, and cardboard tubes on a gong. But somehow this manages to be downright stunning.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Mixtur (Stockhausen Verlag) cd 47.00
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After a decade of parallel work in the synthetic sound production of electronische musik and in traditional orchestras, Stockhausen strove for a union of the two possibilities. "Mixtur" (1964) was one of the first far-reaching compositions that achieved his goal, as this piece is for 5 orchestra groups, 4 sine-wave generators, and 4 ring modulators.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Prozession / Ceylon (Stockhausen Verlag) cd 40.00
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"Prozession:" for tam tam, electrochord, electroniyum, piano & filters, potentiometers, and sound projection. "Ceylon:" for electronium, Persian camel bells, triangles, synthesizer, modulated piano, tam tam, and kandy-drum. Two pieces featuring small ensembles and electronics, with the performers processing their parts live. "Ceylon" in particular is quite successful.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Spiral (Stockhausen Verlag) cd 90.00
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"Since the time of 'Mixture' and 'Microphony II' the sound of ring modulation belongs to my musical language." If you needed more proof of Stockhausen's megalomania, that statement should tide you over until you next encounter his monologues. "Spiral" (1968) consists of a "sequence of events in which the imitation, transformation, and transcendence of short wave radio is experienced as an organic network of relationships" with vocalist Michael Vetter whose operatic training seems unneccessary as his 'singing' is closer to Jaap Blonk's dadaist sound poetry. Bursts of tuning shortwave radio with voice.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Tierkreis / Musik Im Bauch (Stockhausen Verlag) cd 40.00
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"Musik Im Bauch" was composed in 1975 for music box and percussion. Originally, "Tierkries" was composed for a solo instrument to be accompanied by a chordal instrument. On this recording, Stockhausen has arranged "Tierkries" for 12 music boxes - each with its own melody representing a character of the Zodiac. The results are quite beautiful.

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Zodiac Music Boxes (Stockhausen Verlag) music box 500.00
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AQ's Byram Abbott has resigned himself to the fate that he must own one of Stockhausen's limited edition music boxes which were prominently featured in the "Tierkreis" performance. This "70th Birthday Edition" is limited to 40 music boxes for each of the star signs. The melodies are encased in a light-colored natural wood box measuring 17.7 x 12.1 cm. The notes of the melody are silkscreened onto the lid of each of the musicbox. Support the Stockhausen drug habit, buy a music box!