STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ Zyklus / Refrain / Kontakte (Stockhausen Verlag) cd 36.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SUBOTNICK, MORTON Silver Apples of the Moon/The Wild Bull (Wergo) cd 22.00
Why look it's a 20th cent. new music/electronica classic. Other Music probably has it in their "Seminal" section...

SUBOTNICK, MORTON Volume 1: Electronic Works (Mode) cd 16.98
Collection of recordings spanning American electronic composer Morton Subotnick's career. It includes a remastered version of Touch, originally released in 1969 (his third commercially released composition) and created on the Buchla synthesizer and a four track. Also included is "A Sky of Cloudless Sulfur" (1978) also created using the Buchla, and a new piece entitled "Gestures" composed on a MacIntosh laptop computer using a graphical interface designed by his son Steven and includes voice from uber contemporary vocalist Joan La Barbara.
RealAudio clip: "Touch Part One"
RealAudio clip: "Gestures"

SUGIMOTO, TAKU Chamber Music (Bottrop-Boy) cd 16.98
Japan's Taku Sugimoto is best known for super minimalist guitar improvisation. But he also writes for other stringed instruments, as this new collection of Chamber Music will attest. The first track, which clocks in at just under a half hour, is entitled "Sonata for Violin and Piano". Yet, there's a third 'instrument' here, one present on all Sugimoto recordings: silence. Part of listening to and enjoying Sugimoto's music is, simply, waiting. Waiting for the next sound. It's not music for the impatient. Brief bleatings from the violin take turns with lonely notes from the piano. When one instrumental voice occupies the sound field for longer than a second, it's an event. Next is the 33 minute "Music for Violin, Cello and Piano" which follows the same minimalist scheme, the cello certainly not elbowing the silence out of the picture. There's almost a monk-like discipline required to enjoy this music. It's meditation as much as it is listening, the pay-off is in the process. A three minute coda for guitar and banjo (and silence) wraps things up, jaunty by comparison to the rest of the disc, but just barely. As always with Sugimoto, spending an hour with this will provide a kind of perverse delight to those attuned to his aesthetic.
MPEG Stream: "Sonata For Violin And Piano"

SWIRNOFF, PRESTON Maariv (Last Visible Dog) cd 11.98
Wow, Preston Swirnoff has been one busy (and versatile) bee over the last several years. From his collaborative vinyl only releases on Eclipse with Ilya Monosov, to their blown out psych-rock band The Shining Path, his avant jazz outfit, The Seesaw Ensemble and his amazing dub project Habitat Sound System, a record we were blasting all last summer. Maariv is a collection of solo works composed and performed by Swirnoff from 2004-05 only now finally seeing its much deserved moment in the sun. Using 20th century minimalism, ritual drones and early tape and electronic sound experiments as his launching pad, he's tapped into a mystical realm that can be both gorgeous and disturbing.
Each of the four pieces use a different set of instrumentation and various tape loops. The opener filled with rolling piano thunder and a delicious fog of electronics had some of our favorite AQ customers drooling as they heard it blasting from our speakers, as it recalls some of the most breathtaking work by Charlemagne Palestine. The next piece is probably the most intense and disturbing of the lot, as a room full of organs create a cacophony of sound which radiate with a scary and relentless passion. Then comes the most delicate and pretty track in the collection where Swirnoff uses a sequence that Ilya Monosov played on electric-guitar and uses a tape machine and speed control to create an otherworldly gamelan-like sound that would be right at home on a Colleen record. The album ends with a really nice nod to the kind of works that came out of the SF tape music center of the '60s as four tape machines go back and forth between speeds and pitches to create a mesmerizing mood that we could listen to forever!
Whether tapping into the power of Gyorgy Ligeti or showing an amazing range that rivals Barton Smith, Preston has created a vivid work of electroacoustic music that will most surely stand the test of time! Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Maariv 1 (For Piano & Electronics)"
MPEG Stream: "Maariv 4 (For Four Tape Machines)"
MPEG Stream: "Maariv 3 (For Electric Guitar)"
MPEG Stream: "Maariv 2 (For A Room Full Of Organs)"

THUUNDERBOY s/t (Table Of The Elements) cd 15.98
We could think up better ways to market this record that what Table Of The Elements came up with. They *could* have shrouded this album in mystery, saying: "Truly hypnotic, vangarde turntablism and cut-up audio collage by unknown sound artist Ted Conrad, circa 1973- '74 -- predating Christian Marclay and Boyd Rice!" Or they could have said what is probably the truth: "Legendary minimalist Tony Conrad smoked a lot of pot in the early '70s while stuck in Ohio. Instead of making films or composing abrasive minimalist music, he made recordings of his young son playing around his toy Fisher-Price record player. Indeed, he probably was playing with the turntable himself."
But Table Of The Elements chose instead to present this album with such hyperbole as: "Is it fair to argue that a precocious Ted [Conrad -- Tony's at the time infant son], the once and future Thuunderboy, anticipated in these excursions of the early '70s everything from the rise of turntablism and hip-hop to the creative strategies of such disparate entertainers and / or conceptualists as Fatboy Slim, Christian Marclay, and that erstwhile Savior of Pop (circa 1997), Beck? Or, rather does it affirm some unerringly democratic quality inherent in the very act of scratching and spinning, that a toddler could create hypnotic loops and decontruct pop banalities into perversely humorous after-the-fact commentaries on the star-making machinery?"
Arghhhh. So lame. Rant aside, the Thuunderboy recordings -- regardless of whether it was Tony Conrad or the toddler Ted Conrad making these sounds -- is a pretty amazing album of locked grooves worn into Donny Osmond 45s, played back at the wrong speed. If anything, it should be appreciated for what it is, a humble peek into the lives of Tony Conrad -- the minimalist trying his hand at fatherhood -- and young Ted Conrad -- the two year old kid who put up with a dad who kept playing with all of his toys.
RealAudio clip: "At Last"
RealAudio clip: "Let My"
RealAudio clip: "No Wait A Second"

TUDOR, DAVID Microphone (Cramps) cd 16.98
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Electronic music from composer pianist David Tudor, realized at the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College in 1973. Two tracks, consisting of two different mixes, each 27 minutes and 30 seconds in length. Unfortunately the liner notes are all in Italian, but judging from the schematics included in the booklet and the sound of the recording the process appears to function as such: two boxes, each containing a speaker and two microphones, are set up in a feed back loop. Integrated into this loop are several devices for processing the envelope of the sound, gain, etc. resulting in swells of reverberant feedback drone which are constantly shifting in timbre and color. Not unlike Arcane Device.

TUDOR, DAVID & JOHN CAGE Rainforest II & Mureau, A simultaneous Performance (Radio Bremen) cd 29.00

USSACHEVSKY, VLADIMIR Music of... (CRI) cd 15.98
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For a man who could have been the Prince of Mongolia (read the liner notes for the whole story...), Ussachevsky has made it into the history books not for political but for musical reasons, as he was the founder of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center and the originator of the school of "tape music", the American experimenation developed independently of the French "musique concrete" and the German "elecktroniche musik".
This collection features six compositions for electronic tape (including the awesome "Wireless Fantasy" in which bursts of electrical noise and morse code tappings are collaged over a fragment of Wagner's "Parsifal", which in turn was treated to sound like a short-wave radio transmission) and six pieces of choral work (which are often accompanied the electronic medium).

V/A 156 Strings (Cuneiform) cd 14.98
Inspired by past compilations of avant-garde guitar explorations assembled by John Fahey and Fred Frith, the Bay Area's own well-known guitar experimentalist Henry Kaiser has put together this collection of acoustic solos by many of today's most amazing guitar innovators, 19 of 'em in fact: Duck Baker, Stefan Basho-Junghans, Raoul Bjorkenheim, Jean-Paul Bourelly, Nels "AQ Loves Me" Cline, Janet Feder, Fred Frith, Michael Gulezian, Richard Leo Johnson, Mike Keneally, Peter Lang, Scott McGill, Shawn Persinger is Prester John, Rod Poole, Gyan Riley, Miroslav Tadic, Richard Thompson, U Tin, and Kaiser himself (hey, why no Eugene Chadbourne?). These guys (yeah, they're all guys except for Ms. Feder, but what can you do?) hail from around the world and have unique, personal approaches to playing.
Moods here range from the pastoral idyll of Brit folkie Thompson to the minimalist soundscaping of Frith, from the faux-raga like slide work of Bjorkenheim to the authentically Robbie Basho-like exotica of U Tin, from the country pickin' of Lang to the percussive melodicism of Bourelly, from the scraping drone-folk of Feder (we want to hear more!) to the repetitive trance-induction of Rod Poole, from the sprightly, jazzish jingle of Persinger to the melancholic classical playing of Gyan Riley. The disc ends with Steffen Basho-Junghan's epic, experimental, fucked up but lovely sounding "Part 1 from the Virgin Orchestra No.1", a piece that Kaiser cites as the cornerstone of this comp. And it's the pretty great finale to this gorgeous, fascinating album.
Kaiser intends "156 Strings" to highlight those carrying on the work of iconoclastic instrumental steel-string guitar pioneers like Fahey, Basho and Kottke, a tradition driven underground by the more commerical, less challenging New Age guitar genre those same folks helped create.
Also, funnily enough, a portion of the proceeds from the sales of this comp go to benefit H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). Don't worry, there's no need for earplugs with this one!
RealAudio clip: GYAN RILEY "Eyes of Orion"
RealAudio clip: MICHAEL GULEZIAN "Plook The Asbestos Lobster"
RealAudio clip: JANET FEDER "Lightning Strikes"
RealAudio clip: STEFFEN BASHO-JUNGHANS "Part 1 from the Virgin Orchestra No.1"

V/A 45'18" (Korm Plastics) cd 15.98
This is a compilation of various interpretations / performances / covers of John Cage's infamous composition 4'33," by Keith Rowe, Artificial Memory Trace, Thurston Moore, Pauline Oliveros, Jio Shimizu, Voice Crack, Clive Graham, Toshiya Tsunoda, Alignment, and Frans De Waard. Right now, you should already know your opinion of this. Our opinion: this is pretentious crap from people who should know better; and if you must know, there are a couple of tracks with sound on it, and a bunch without. What kind of sound, you might ask? Does it really matter?
RealAudio clip: JIO SHIMIZU "4'33""
RealAudio clip: KEITH ROWE "4'33""
RealAudio clip: PAULINE OLIVEROS "4'33""

V/A An Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music: Fourth A-Chronology 1937-2005 Volume #4 (Sub Rosa) 2cd 16.98
The curators of the fourth volume of the seven part series of Anthologies of Noise & Electronic Music are correct when they point to the fact that the history of the avant-garde is a messy one with tangled connections between competing factions, ideologies, methods, and personalities. The Sub Rosa compilations are dotted with a who's who of the electro-acoustic avant-garde from the past century, tossed in with a smorgasborg of previously unknown (and often very interesting) artists as well as contemporary musicians who are well on their way to establishing themselves within the canons of the institutional avant-garde. Sub Rosa has gone out of its way to compile a collection to scramble one's notions of the taxonomic rhetoric that may influence the perception of any of the artists present; hence you'll find Les Rallizes Denudes (already you can tell this series is not very reverential of the academic definition of experimental electronics music, with the inclusion of this incendiary Japanese psych band) next to Vibracathedral Orchestra followed by one-time Blind Idiot God guitarist Andy Hawkins then Alvin Lucier. Sub Rosa boasts that more than 75 percent of the album is unreleased material, which is all the more impressive considering that the compilation features the likes of Gyorgy Ligetti, Oliver Messiaen, William S. Burroughs, Milan Knizak, Steve Reich, Halim el-Dabh, Jean-Claude Risset, Stephen Vitiello, Laurie Spiegel, and many others. To top it all off, it's surprisingly pleasing to listen to. What that says about the state of 'noise' music may be another question.
MPEG Stream: WANG CHANGCUN "Seafood"
MPEG Stream: LES RALLIZES DENUDES "Fucked Up and Naked"
MPEG Stream: HALIM EL-DABH "Wire Recorder"

V/A Ballet Mechanique and Other Works for Player Pianos, Percussion, and Electronics (EMF) cd 14.98
Originally conceived in Paris in 1924, George Antheil's ideal instrumentation for Ballet Mechanique called for 16 synchronized player pianos, in addition to two human-played pianos, percussion, electric bells, a siren and three airplane propellers. Despite his close relationship with a Parisian manufacturer of player pianos who had in fact patented a way to synchorize the "pianolas," the piece has never been possible to fully realize and has been played only in scaled-back versions until last year when the piano parts were sequenced for MIDI. The result is a 30 minute rampage of frantic, beautiful, insane brilliance. Just fucking incredible. Seeing it at SF's Davies Hall a couple months ago, the cute little-old symphony-subscriber-lady next to me alternately had her hands over her ears, jerked back and forth to the rhythm and yelled at me over the cacophony, "Can you believe you're seeing this!?" It's that great! Oh yeah, there are also six other pieces on this disc by John Cage and Lou Harrison, Richard Grayson, Amadeo Roldan and Mendelssohn.

V/A CCMIX: New Electroacoustic Music from Paris (Mode) 2cd 30.00
This collection documents a unique method of computer synthesis called UPIC that was developed by Greek avant-garde composer Iannis Xenakis in the late '70s. This system did not use the traditional method of having a keyboard hooked up to a computer. Instead, an electromagnetic pen which was used to "trace" the music from a digital drawing board into the processing unit. Marked by its sweeping curves and gestural movements through pre-programmed timbres and textures, the UPIC system piqued the curiousity of a number of academic composers like Brigitte Robindore, Takehito Shimazu, Jean-Claude Risset, Julio Estrada, Curtis Roads, Daniel Teruggi, Gerard Pape, and Nicola Cisternino, who furthered the research into this method of composition.
The majority of the composers closely follow Xenakis' approach -- a novel method that was also quicker means for Xenakis to compose electronic music along the lines of his legendary works "Bohor," "pH," and "Persepolis", full of sweeping drones of tense crackling electronic tones. Occasionally, these composers augment their electronic manipulations with traditional instruments with varied success: Jean-Claude Risset's duet for UPIC and saxophone is simply gimmicky, but Julio Estrada's full orchestra with UPIC works is as effective as any Luigi Nono composition.
RealAudio clip: IANNIS XENAKIS "Mycenae Alpha"
RealAudio clip: BRIGITTE ROBINDORE "L'Autel de la Perte et de la Transformation"
RealAudio clip: JULIO ESTRADA "Eua-On-Ome"

V/A Columbia - Princeton Electronic Music Center 1961-1973 (New World) cd 15.98
"The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center was the first electronic music center to be established within the U.S. This selection, drawn from those seminal years from 1959 - 1973, is an excellent overview of the wide variations in musical style and aesthetic that was encouraged by the center's guiding spirit Vladimir Ussachevsky." With breathless electronic experiments by Bulent Arel, Charles Doage, Ilhan Mimaroglu, Ingram Marshall, Daria Semegen, and Alice Shields.

V/A Dada et La Musique (Muza) cd 17.98
Dada is nearly 100 years old; yet the ideals of Dada which adamantly insisted on the negation of its own aesthetics and an espousal of transgressive irrationality still resonate with elements of contemporary culture. Due to the volatility of Dada and its resistance to grounding aesthetics, Dada has proven to be a very difficult movement to document; hence, the collection Dada et la Musique reads as a historical document that only sporadically taps into the agitation and provocation that Dada intended. There's no doubting the historical importance of Erik Satie in the development of 20th century composition; but Satie's playful and impressionistic piano works hardly engender the ideas of Dada. The same should be said for Authur Honegger and Francis Poulenc; yet all of these composers feature prominently on Dada et la Musique. After listening to Nurse With Wound, Luc Ferrari, R.H.Y. Yau, and Merzbow whose work may not be true Dada but comes closer to its lunacy, noise, abjection, and irrationality, we may be comparing apples and oranges. Yet the underlying question remains, are the musical entries on Dada et la Musique actually Dada? Probably not. Even the frenzied cacacophony of the semi-automated "Ballet Mechanique" by Georges Anthiel from 1917 engages a whimsy that could be mistaken for Carl Stalling's cartoon scores. So what makes this collection Dada is not really the music, but the sound poetry from Kurt Schwitters (e.g. the ever-baffling glossalia of Ursonate) certainly does qualify as Dada. There's plenty of sound poems from Raoul Haussmann, Richard Huelsenbeck, Jean Arp, Hugo Ball, and Tristan Tzara, many of which have conetmporary recitations and reinforce the fact that we need to learn French.
MPEG Stream: KURT SCHWITTERS "Ursonate"
MPEG Stream: GEORGE ANTHIEL "Ballet Mechanique"
MPEG Stream: RAOUL HAUSSMAN "Poemes Phonetiques"

V/A Early Modulations : Vintage Volts (Caipirinha) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Compiled in part by Rob Young, editor for the exemplary UK magazine The Wire, "Early Modulations" tracks the historical birthing of electronics within the academic framework of European and American institutions. The scope of the compilation is not so much an analysis of the importance of these pieces but a celebration of contemporary electronica by looking to its past. And if you can handle the K-Tel musk of the project, this makes a pretty cool primer.
Founders of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in the late 1940s, Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky found within the tape machine a means by which to scramble the structuralist codes of musical notation. Their 1953 piece "Incantation" processes multiple tape machines in which flutes, pianos, and gongs flicker in metaphorphic sonic swells. Similar experiments were made in France by Pierre Schaeffer, the inventor of musique concrete. His featured piece "Étude aux Chemins de Fer" (1948) stitches together tiny fragments of tape, collaging repeated signatures of chugging locomotives stopped in mid-stride by a variety of whistles, offering a new experiential sonic landscape of the familiar. The earliest and perhaps most breathtaking piece on the compilation is John Cage's "Imaginary Landscape No. 1" (1939). Pure tones bleep and modulate against an a prepared piano, whose internal organs are exposed and prodded to coax a secondary palette from the piano. While Iannis Xenakis, Morton Subotnik, and Luc Ferrari are also documented, the one glaring omission is Karlheinz Stockhausen (strange, 'cause he's so prominent in the historical parts of the "Modulations" film).

V/A Electroacoustic Music #5 (Electroshock Records) cd 21.00

V/A Fluxus Anthology (Anthology) cd 16.98
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We've stocked this item before, aeons ago, but it seems to have had a difficult time staying in print. Technically it's still not in print, but Forced Exposure was swinging pickaxes around and unearthed a few more. They've dusted them off and we've taken a few off their hands. The disk itself is a document of the music (and "sound events") of a more recent art movement. Contributors include: Nam June Paik, Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys, John Cage, La Monte Young, Philip Corner, and many others. Edited by Maurizio Nannucci. Be forwarned that the vein that was struck was by no means a motherload, so if'n you missed this gem the first, second, or third times around and have a hankerin' for a hunk a fluxus, you best be pickin' one up asap.

V/A Institute of Sonology 1959-69: Early Electronic Music (Sub Rosa) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Collection of recordings made at this Utrecht, Netherlands as a studio for electro-instrumental music and attached to the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Contains your standard academic tape and electronics fare for the period. Features pieces composed between 1959 and 1969 by composers connected with the institute. Features compositions by Dick Raaijmakers, Frits Weiland, Ton Bruynel, Konrad Boehmer, Gottfried Michael Koenig and Rainer Riehn. Includes nine pages of liner notes detailing the history of the institute and brief bios of the composers.
RealAudio clip: RAAIJMAKERS, DICK "Piano-forte"
RealAudio clip: BRUYNEL, TON "Freflexen"

V/A Oasis: Music From Mills 2001 (Mills Music Department) cd 14.98
With its self-explanatory subtitle, "Oasis" compiles some of the recent work from the Mills College faculty, including Chris Brown, Fred Frith, Pauline Oliveros, Maggi Payne, John Bischoff, and Alvin Curran. What, no Willie Winant? As a whole, the Mills faculty promotes a conceptual approach to composition that often applies the spirit of free improvisation to an electronic media.

V/A OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music: 1948-1980 (Ellipsis Arts) 3cd 34.00
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Following hot on the heels of the Early Modulations compilation from a while back, the Ohm box, takes the same general idea; a brief and cursory overview of the whole of experimental electronic music, and attempts to give it a little more depth. And it does, to a certain degree. But such a massive undertaking could fill 10 cds, or 20. So what we have here, is 3 cds, 42 tracks, from a who's who of electronic muisic in the last 32 years: Clara Rockmore, Oliver Messien, John Cage, Edgard Varese, Stockhausen, La Monte Young, Xenakis, Luc Ferrari, Terry Riley, David Tudor, Morton Subotnick, Steve Reich, Raymond Scott, Brian Eno, Robert Ashley, Bernard Parmegiani and a bunch more. A pretty great assortment, for sure, and definitely the best 20th century/avant electronica primer to come along. The only frustration is that a great number of the pieces are edits, often 5 or 6 minutes from a 20 or 30 minute piece, rendering some slow building gradual shifting works a bit limp. But other than that, the Ohm compilation is pretty excellent, packaged impeccably in a triple digipak, housed in a cool silkscreened transparent slipcase, with a fairly well researched book and some spot on musical choices. Definitely a great place to start.

V/A Orbitones: Spoon Harps & Bellowphones: Experimental Musical Instruments (Ellipsis Art) cd+book 18.98
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A follow-up to "Gravikords Whirligigs and Pyrophones", this book (written again by Bart Hopkin with an introduction by Robert Moog) and cd compilation (with Aphex Twin, Tom Waits, John Cage, Stomp, Lou Harrison...) is another celebration of the creative spirit of instrument invention.

V/A Popular Electronics (Basta) 4cd box 59.00
What could be better than a cd of kitschy but cool early "popular and applied" electronic music, from back in the '50s? Four cds? Yep, that's right. This sumptuously-packaged Basta box set brings together four cds worth of music originally recorded in Holland at the Phillips Research Laboratories circa 1956-1963, some of it from collectable LPs with space-age titles like Fantasy in Orbit and Song of the Second Moon, and some of it recently discovered and previously unreleased. Historical as heck and fun to listen to, too! In addition to the four discs, this box contains *seven* colorfully illustrated and info-crammed booklets along with posters/fold-outs of musical scores, schematics, and a timeline. In total, more than 180 pages of liner notes, photos, etc. Wow. Super deluxe indeed. These composers -- Henk Badings, Kid Baltan, and Tom Dissevelt -- are legends to some in the electronic music community today, and on the strength of these recordings ought to be as well-known as Pierre Henry, Tod Dockstader, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Gershon Kingsley, Raymond Scott and other AQ-faves in the 'pioneers of electronica' genre. It's a veritable cornucopia of treats here, too much to digest (or review) in a few listens...but well worth investigating! The superb graphics and mucho reading pleasure are but bonuses to go with the alternately clever, evocative, innovative, intriguing, absurd, etc. music found on the discs.
MPEG Stream: HENK BADINGS "Conflict, Reprise (Arioso)"
MPEG Stream: TOM DISSEVELT "Spearhead"

V/A Reich Remixed (Nonesuch) cd 15.98
Remixes of Steve Reich's compositions from across his career. DJ Takemura (soon to release a full length on Thrill Jockey, and also known as Child's View), Andrea Parker, Coldcut and DJ Spooky absolutely rise to the occasion by preserving a bit of what gave Reich his edge, but adding their own voices to the mix creating tracks that are unique in their own right. Also included (rather straight-up remixes where adding beats is the approach) are Howie B, Mantronik, Tranquility Bass, Ken Ishii and others. LP has an extra track.

V/A Reich Remixed (Nonesuch) lp 14.98
Remixes of Steve Reich's compositions from across his career. DJ Takemura (soon to release a full length on Thrill Jockey, and also known as Child's View), Andrea Parker, Coldcut and DJ Spooky absolutely rise to the occasion by preserving a bit of what gave Reich his edge, but adding their own voices to the mix creating tracks that are unique in their own right. Also included (rather straight-up remixes where adding beats is the approach) are Howie B, Mantronik, Tranquility Bass, Ken Ishii and others. LP has an extra track.

V/A State of the Union 2.001 (Electronic Music Foundation) 3cd 35.00
This is the third installment in an ongoing series of compilations of experimental and avant garde artists, with its profits directed toward the National Coalition Against Censorship. Compiled by Elliot Sharp, the general concept here is to compose a track under one minute in duration. 171 artists are involved this time around, most of which are somehow involved with the Downtown NYC scene. Some of the more interesting artists this time around: Jonathan Bepler, Kato Hideki and Kazuhisa Uchihashi (both of Ground Zero and Altered States), Koji Asano, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Marianne Nowottny, Merzbow, Zbigniew Karkowski, Tape Beatles, Voice Crack, Zoot Horn Rollo (of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band!), Alfred Harth, Alvin Curran, Carl Stone, Foetus, John Duncan, Lloop, WE, White Out, Phill Niblock, Thomas Dimuzio, and so many more... A nice idea and a fine collection of new music. However, keep in mind that these tracks are sixty seconds or less in duration, and may not be indicative of the artists' usual output.

V/A Un Hommage A Moondog (trAce) cd 23.00
With 2006 coming to an end, one of the things we are happiest about this year is that now, seven years after his passing, Moondog is finally starting to get some of the recognition, praise, and attention his amazing music deserves. This tribute album put out by the French label, trAce, is one of those rare compilations, which feature mostly artists we had never heard of (we already liked Jean-Jacque Birge and Ilitch, but Groupe d'Essai 3, Konki Duet, Stefan Laktos, Xenia Narati, Dragibus, et.al. are new to us) all of which ended up blowing us away! A lot of Moondog's uniqueness, comes from his highly individual use of percussion, his strong Native American and African influence as well as his deep appreciation of classical music, and the artists on this homage to Moondog totally get it. A wide range of sounds and perspectives capturing the great scope of sound that Moondog employed. Being both challenging and rewarding, experimental yet so totally listenable and pleasing.
Interspersed with short snippets of Moondog speaking, culled from an interview for Radio Triad in 1971, it's so nice to actually feel his presence on this record. Moondog's music has this way of being able to totally entrance, romance, and sweep one off their feet. Creating a world that is playful yet totally intense. We're so happy to report that this tribute to the genius of Moondog reaches that special space. So rare that a tribute album is able to do that, but in this case, this is not merely some people playing someone else's songs, this is the work of people whose souls and way of looking at music have been totally enriched by the magic of Moondog and this record feels like such a perfect way to celebrate his legacy.
MPEG Stream: STEFAN LAKATOS "Snaketime Rattle"
MPEG Stream: LES PRODUCTIONS DE L'INVISIBLE "Ceux Qui Inventment"
MPEG Stream: MOONDOG "Interview: I Had A Dog"
MPEG Stream: GUILAUME LOIZILLON "Tribal Tribute"

VAGGIONE, HORACIO La Maquina de Cantar (Ampersand) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Reissue of a 1978 album, originally released by the Italian avante garde label Cramps in their Nova Musicha series, of almost maddeningly repetitive electronic music by Argentinian composer Horacio Vaggione. Spacey, cosmic, "multilayered sci-fi epic glop" that reminds us of Conrad Schnitzler or some sort of space-station, videogame version of Terry Riley or Steve Reich.
There's two LP-side-long tracks here. Track one is seventeen minutes of relentless burbling, recorded in 1971 with an IBM computer. Track two is a duet for mini-Moog and Yamaha organ that takes off from the madness of track one to end with a pretty keyboard fanfare of near prog-pop proportions, which in 1978 could have potentially been a hit, with heads anyway.
This disc drove Andee insane (he thinks it sounds like Tangerine Dream on speed), but Allan liked it quite a bit (he also thinks it sounds like Tangerine Dream on speed)!
RealAudio clip: "La Maquina de Cantar"

VALEN, FARTEIN The Eternal (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
Rune Grammofon (whose eccentric catalogue also features Supersilent and Arne Nordheim) presents the cd reissue of orchestral works by mythical Norwegian-born composer Valen Fartein (1887 - 1952). "In technical terms, his music is strongly dissonant and based on polyphony. But the overall sound is more colorful than dissonant, more vibrant than strident, and airy despite its dense textures... Valen's world of sound is soft and supple, without the ironic or robust characteristics that dominate much contemporary music." -- Morten Eide Pedersen.

VANDER, CHRISTIAN Les Cygnes Et Les Corbeaux (Seventh) cd 23.00
Magma fans, heads up. Magma maestro Christian Vander does a bird-themed "orchestral" release (voices, piano, percussion, and keyboards -- no real orchestra, unfortunately, but it sounds loads better than Glenn Danzig's orchestral synth effort, remember that?). The vocals are definitely the thing here most in the Magma vein, totally over the top at parts, Vander and his wife Stella taking the lead but with plenty of choral back-up from their zeuhl cohorts. Musically, it's got its massive and majestic moments, with pretty piano interludes linking big, stirring emotional passages.
So, the big question: without the Magma connection, would I likely be listening to this sort of thing? Well, and this is tough for a guy with a Magma wristwatch to admit, but, probably not... it's a bit too Peter & The Wolf at times. The vocals are awesome, the fake flutes aren't. Still, I bought one, and enjoyed it!
We really have to quote the label's press release on this, just for kicks: "Fifteen years in composition (1982 - 1997) and more than four years in the making, this music is something entirely new, bridging the compositional efforts of the 20th Century post Schoenbergian greats to create a 21st Century music which grasps the essence of the vast interior stillness behind all sound and pierces the intensity of silence behind all noise. Disavowing all mechanical tempos, this free-flowing masterpiece reveals itself through the formless form of vortices and spirals, cascading, recursive, ineffable. 65 minutes of fluttering wings, of song, of cries, of absolutely different sensations, this is a neo-impressionist composition of revolutionary proportions and aspirations." "I have found in the motion of swans and crows a parallel with the inner motion of the Kosmos itself. Or, at least, this is what I perceive in it."--Christian Vander, 6th March 2002
Wow. Dunno about all that, but as a bird-inspired cosmic keyboard symphony from the mastermind behind one of the most astounding '70s prog rock rock bands ever, this will tempt serious Magma fans!
MPEG Stream: "Sahiss Siiaaht"
MPEG Stream: "Les Cygnes Et Les Corbeaux Sont Venus"

WADA, YOSHI Lament For The Rise And Fall Of Elephantine Crocodile (EM Records) cd 21.00
EM Records of Japan is a label from which we *always* are eager to hear more, specializing as they do in the most odd, obscure, awesome reissues EVER. Without them, we wouldn't have such a great selection of musical saw cds here at Aquarius. Or '70s New Age weirdness. Or psychedelic surf music soundtracks. Or (most recently) steel drum jazz funk!
While the steel drum jazz funk might have appealed mostly to the more eccentric crate digging DJ types, we know that THIS release is gonna really take off here. That's 'cause it's all about the DRONE. And y'all love drone we know.
Yoshi Wada is a Japanese artist who relocated to New York City in the late '60s and (just like another Japanese expatriate, Yoko Ono) got heavily involved with the conceptual art movement known as Fluxus. Doing sculpture, performance, and sound installations, he rubbed elbows with the likes of minimalist maverick LaMonte Young, studying with both him and Indian vocal guru Pandit Pran Nath. That's very evident on this album, the intriguingly titled Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile, which was originally released on vinyl in 1982 by the avant garde label India Navigation (responsible for important Dreyblatt and Niblock documents as well). Wada only made two records, of which this one is considered his most significant, not to mention rarest.
There's two long tracks here (over a half-hour each). Both are utter drooooooooooone nirvana. Track one, "Singing" (31:06), is ALL voice, Wada giving long guttural throat-bleatings (waaaaah waaaaaah ooooooooo....) that he builds into a gorgeous, rising and falling soundscape of overtones and drones. He recorded it in an empty swimming pool for extra bass and natural echoing effect... the results are serene yet joyous, somehow liturgical, suggestive of blissful monkish raptures. Wada certainly got into it, actually spending the night before this recording *sleeping* alone in the pool, and (he says) almost experiencing auditory hallucinations due to the resonant acoustics of the space.
The second track, side two of the original LP, is a continuation of the first with even MORE drone. Entitled "Bagpipe" (33:17), it adds to Wada's vocal intonations the sound of experimental homebuilt reed instruments of Wada's own devising, "adapted bagpipes with sympathy" made of plumbing tubes, powered by an air compressor. Improvising with voice and "bagpipe", this piece is much louder, denser, and grindingly trance-like than the far more delicate first track. The two instruments he used are pictured on this cd's back cover. One is called The Elephantine Crocodile, and another The Alligator. Both are Partch-like sound-making sculptural objects in their own right. They're carefully tuned to take advantage of higher octave harmonics and microtonal partials and other things that we'd need more study of music theory to understand exactly, but obviously with which Wada is fully conversant. What we do know for sure is that with his voice and unusual instruments he's conjured a deeply psychedelic and meditative dronescape that we're darn glad EM (in conjunction with another cool Japanese label, Omega Point) have seen fit to unearth and reissue!!
If you like drones, this not only a worthy historical document, but also would be a fantastic listen even if it had just been recorded yesterday. In fact, it compares interestingly to another drone release reviewed this list, Schmickler and Chisholm's Amazing Daze. But Wada achieved these drones without the aid of electronics or computers. About the only complaint we could make about it is the rather abrupt ending! We realize that it can't go on forever (as much as we'd like it to) but its sudden cessation (instead of a gradual fade out) can harsh one's mellow... though if you're like us you'll listen to this going to sleep at night and won't ever make it conscious to the end anyway.
This has been digitally remastered from the original tapes, with the two pieces restored to their original intended lengths (they'd been edited down to fit on the LP release). And as usual, it gets a fabulous EM packaging job, complete with vintage b&w photos and extensive 1982 and 2007 liner notes in both English and Japanese, written by Wada himself. This one is definitely up there in the pantheon of EM essentials, and that's saying a lot.
MPEG Stream: "Singing"
MPEG Stream: "Bagpipe"

WADA, YOSHI Off The Wall (EM Records / Omega Point) cd 21.00
We have to thank Japan's EM Records - actually, we've been doing that a lot lately - but this time we have to thank 'em for turning us on to the celestial soundworlds of dronologist Yoshi Wada. If you've read our reviews of EM's two previous Wada reissues, you know he's a Japanese sculptor/composer who made his way to New York City in the late '60s, delving into the Fluxus conceptual art movement and hanging out with folks like pioneering minimalist LaMonte Young. In 1982, Wada issued an LP entitled Lament For The Rise And Fall Of Elephantine Crocodile, featuring his voice and homebuilt instruments. When it was reissued on EM last year, we were bowled over by its unique deep drone soundings. EM's second Wada reissue, The Appointed Cloud, from 1987, was equally amazing.
Happily, there's more Wada releases in the vaults than we'd thought. Now EM has brought out a cd version this one, Off The Wall, which was originally released on vinyl in 1985 by the German free improv label FMP. Dubbed a "majestic minimalist monsterpiece" by EM, it consists of two long tracks (over twenty minutes each), a part one and part two of the same performance, which features the bagpipe blowing of Yoshi Wada and colleague Wayne Hankin, along with the "adapted organ" (pipe organ put together by Wada) played by Marilyn Bogerd, and the percussion of Andreas Schmidt-Neri.
EM have also added a bonus cut - this third (and even longer than either of the others, at 27:14) track, "Die Konsonanten Pfeifen", was recorded in Berlin in 1983 and originally issued as a cassette. Again, Wada and Hankin play the bagpipes, this time accompanied by percussion (tympani, tam tam, and cymbal) from one Kevin Newhoff, which kicks in, with a hiccup, near about the halfway point, providing steady, ominous pulsations that bring to mind some of the portentous mood of Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra".
Bagpipes, that's right, this is bagpipe music. But it doesn't sound much like Scotland's The Black Watch. Maybe if the Royal Highland Regiment were marching to 20th century avant-classical. Keening endlessly, the twin bagpipes of Wada and Hankin weave exotic-sounding tones and overtones together in slowly shifting, shimmering patterns, that seem to keep one step head of your sensory apparatus, so that you realize there's something new going on in the piece only after you've been hearing it already for a few moments. The effect of these modulations is quite mesmeric, almost meditative, New Age with an edge, like Phill Niblock meets Terry Riley, taken to a Far Eastern extreme. The multiple instrumental voices blend into one total drone, yet upon examination each has its own wending and winding part to play. The usual repetition of "minimalist" music isn't so mechanically evident here, Wada's drones floating high into the expanses of space, combining with the rumbling earth-bound drums to achieve a sort of ceremonial aspect and dramatic impact.
Yes, thank you EM! This is packaged in the usual excellent EM fashion, in a tri-fold sleeve with original liner notes in both English and Japanese translation, also b&w photographs, and a full-color reproduction of the original graphic score for "Off The Wall".
MPEG Stream: "Off The Wall I"
MPEG Stream: "Die Konsonanten Pfeifen"

WADA, YOSHI The Appointed Cloud (EM Records) cd 21.00
In reality, this was recorded live at the Great Hall of New York Hall of Science in New York, November 8th 1987. But listening to it, you could easily imagine it being part of some mysterious & portentous religious ritual, enacted high on the slopes of some vast Himalayan mountain by horn-blowing, drum-beating Tibetan monks... these monks perhaps being part of an aktion under the direction of dramatic drone artist Hermann Nitsch. Seriously. Well it's not Nitsch, it's Yoshi Wada, and there were no monks involved, but we're sure it was an impressive performance to witness in its own right. Certainly to hear, which thanks to EM Records, we all now can.
This is the sequel to EM's previous reissue, some months ago, of Yoshi Wada's first album, Lament For The Rise And Fall Of Elephantine Crocodile. While that 1982 LP may have more rare record collector cachet, and be more historically significant chronologically speaking, we have to say that this one is at least as amazing. As we explained in our review of Lament, Wada is a Japanese visual artist and sound sculptor who relocated to New York in the '60s, where he aligned himself with the Fluxus conceptual art movement and definitely got deep into dronology. (He now lives in San Francisco, and for more information on his career, check out the June '08 issue of The Wire, #292, which features an interview with Wada conducted by AQ's own Jim Haynes.)
The Appointed Cloud, a composition/sound installation "designed specifically for the acoustics of the cobalt blue cathedral of the Great Hall", utilized a massive Wada-designed soundmaking assemblage controlled by a computer interface, this unusual "pipe organ" constructed from compressed-air powered pipes, a suspended 20 foot long sheet of metal, and a steam pipe gong. In addition, Wada and the other musicians involved play timpani, tam tam, sirens, and a trio of keening bagpipes. All this in the majestic, modernistic stained-glass setting of the Great Hall.
As alluded to above, this is somewhat suggestive of Buddhist ritual, and reminds us of Nitsch's large-scale symphonics as well. Rather than give a minute by minute play by play of this piece's hour-long duration, we'd encourage you to experience it for yourself. Experience the thundering drum vibrations, the percussive rattle, the quiet gentle tones and hushed rustle that erupt into dense bagpiping drone squeals and resonating rumble... it's grand and gorgeous.
Physically this cd reish is up to EM's usual high standards, packaged in a gatefold sleeve with color photos, a reduced reproduction of the piece's graphic score, liner notes by Wada as well as the original program notes, in both English and Japanese. Soundwise, it's also up there with that first Wada disc among our favorite stuff that EM has yet released -- in other words, highly recommended!! Even moreso for those especially dronologically and/or 20th century classically inclined.
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"

WAKHEVITCH, IGOR Donc... (Fractal) 6cd 80.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This limited-to-500 copies only 6cd retrospective box set of the 1970's 'electronic' albums by obscure French composer Igor Wakhevitch is loaded with tense awe-inspiring surrealism constructed from neo-chamber music, spatial electronics, massive plodding percussion, and odd ethnic influences. The earliest albums in the box feature contributions from French psych band Triangle, making for an incredible combination of eerie modern classical composition (with choirs, etc.) with krautrockish rhythms and fuzzed guitar. While he was an early associate of Soft Machine and Terry Riley, Wakhevitch's work is far more malevolent than either, taking on qualities that have more in common with the Swans. It should not be a surprise that Michael Gira has recently claimed Wakhevitch as one of his favourite musicians. Very highly recommended -- everyone who works here bought a copy!!!

WEBER, REINHOLD Elektronische Musik (Red Lounge) cd 18.98
Early electronic compositions from Karlruhe native and Stockhausen pupil Reinhold Weber. 2 long pieces inflected with oscilating bloops and bleeps, sirens and a delayed German narration.


MPEG Stream: "Schopfung"
MPEG Stream: "Musica Mundana 1969"

WOLPE, STEFAN Berlin 1929 - 1931 (Subrosa) cd 16.98
Previously unpublished early works by this 20th-century avant-garde composer (who, later in life, was a professor to Morton Feldman). Radical, dadaist, agitprop songs for piano and voice.

WUORINEN, CHARLES Lepton (Tzadik) cd 16.98
I'm predisposed to dismiss all of the text that Tzadik prints on their obi's as hyperbolic bullshit. Most of the records that John Zorn releases on his label rank at the bottom of the avant garde oeuvre, and the accompanying text rarely comes even close to accurately describing what kind of tripe is found within. So am I supposed to believe that Charles Wuorinen's "Lepton" features "Four absolute masterpieces by one of the world's greatest composers. Spanning over three decades, 'Lepton' presents New York born Wuorinen at his radical best, pushing the limits of instrumental and electronic music." Yup, total bullshit, but at least in this instance, Tzadik has released a decent piece of academic electronic music, planted within the tradition of '60s 'new music' alongside Tod Dockstader and Vladimir Ussachevsky. "One of the world's greatest composers?" Whatever.
RealAudio clip: " Time's Encomium"

XENAKIS, IANNIS Chamber Music 1955-1990 (Montaigne) cd 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

XENAKIS, IANNIS Electronic Music (EMF) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

XENAKIS, IANNIS Electronic Music 1: La Legende d'Eer (Mode) cd 16.98

XENAKIS, IANNIS Electronic Music 1: La Legende d'Eer (Mode) dvd 26.00

XENAKIS, IANNIS Kraanerg (Asphodel) cd 12.98
Asphodel, always adventurous, branches out further with two new releases, one "world music" (Min Xiao-Fen, below) and this 20th century classical item, a Xenakis piece performed by Xenakis-experts the ST-X Ensemble, with none other than Aphodel mascot DJ Spooky running the A-DAT machine. The music? Orchestra plus tapes = music that even the Wall St. Journal considers "terrifying masses of sound."

XENAKIS, IANNIS La Legende d'Eer (Montaigne) 2cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Greek avant garde composer's 1977/78 46-minute work for 8-channel electronic tape. Challenging, to say the least. You dig Merzbow? Well try your mettle on this -- piercing tones from a true master.

XENAKIS, IANNIS La Légende D'eer (Montaigne) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Repressed, now at a more attractive price! Greek avant garde composer's 1977/78 46-minutework for 8-channel electronic tape. Challenging, to say the least. You dig Merzbow? Well try your mettle on this -- piercing tones from a true master.

XENAKIS, IANNIS Metastasis / Pithoprakta / Eonta (Le Chant Du Monde) cd 14.98
These three pieces date back to the early orchestral work of Xenakis in the mid '50s and early '60s when the Greek composer / mathematician was shifting away from Serialism towards what he called "Formalised Music." "Metastatis" divided the orchestra into its individual elements, with 61 instrumentalists playing 61 different parts. This strategy of aesthetic decision through mathematics was the basis for his awesome electronic work including those found within Xenakis' "Electronic Music" anthology. "Pithoprakta" was one of Xenakis' early scores that employed a Stochastic model of exploring the theories of probability within music, as a means of creating a dense granular sound from a 50 piece orchestra (46 strings, 2 trombones, 1 xylophone, and 1 woodblock, if you must know). "Eonta" was almost an impossible score to perform, as certain parts for the piano and brass solos were calculated on an early IBM mainframe computer. Either you're impressed by such conceptual overdrive or you're not.
RealAudio clip: "Eonta (deuxieme partie)"
RealAudio clip: "Metastasis"

XENAKIS, IANNIS Musique Electro-Acoustic (Fractal) cd 16.98
This disc premieres two compositions of electro-acoustic work from legendary composer Iannis Xenakis, both utilizing his UPIC system, a method of composition also documented on the recent "CCMIX: New Electroacoustic Music from Paris" double cd compilation. The UPIC system was invented by Xenakis as a means of computer-translating a kinetic motion into music. Thus, scribbles from Xenakis' lightpen become, to the ear, zany modulations of granular synthesis. In the first piece, "Pour La Paix," Xenakis' spiked blurts of electronic noise punctuate an ongoing spoken French narrative written by Xenakis' wife Francoise, denouncing the evils of warfare. The use of vocals are a rarity in Xenakis' electronic works, and so this piece seems closer to the theatrical concrete work of Michel Chion than Xenakis' usual stuff. The second piece, "Voyage Absolu Des Unari Vers Andromede," is a trippy piece of electronics, much more in line with the loose cosmic-tinged Krautrock of Cluster or Tangerine Dream. Not surprisingly, Xenakis intended this to be "a space voyage far in the future, toward the galaxy of Andromeda, with episodes while crossing the spaces between the stars." While these high falutin' sci-fi references were meant with a great deal of earnestness, "Voyage Absolu..." really works much better simply as fodder for being stoned, than for serious 'academic' listening!
RealAudio clip: "Pour La Paix"
RealAudio clip: "Voyage Absolu Des Unari Vers Andromede"

XENAKIS, IANNIS Oresteia (Montaigne) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the liner notes for this orchestral and choral piece: "Xenakis' 'Oresteia' -- written in 1966 and complete in 1987 with the addition of the scene entitled 'Kassandra' -- is neither Aeschylus' tragedy in its entirety, nor a work written independently of the classical text. In Xenakis' version the history of the kings is recounted by the people: the tragic chorus becomes the central character in the 'Oresteia.' It interprets its own role, but also, collectively, that of the legendary heroes and gods, sung to Aeschylus' lines which were a powerful inspiration to the music."

XENAKIS, IANNIS Persepolis (Fractal) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Attention all you avantgarde electronic music fans! Important reissue alert! Iannis Xenakis' "Persepolis" was originally commisioned in 1971 as large-scale sound installation for the Shiraz-Persepolis Festival of the Arts in Iran. "Persepolis" -- Xenakis' longest electro-acoustic composition -- originally involved 8 channels of dense electro-acoustic material broadcast through the vast complex of the ruined Palaces of Persepolis along with a massive display of arclights, fireworks, and bonfires. Even without the visual explosiveness of the original performance (which we are amusingly told is somehow made up for by the presence of 16 page booklet in this release), "Persepolis" is a challenging and evocative piece of electro-acoustic music. Xenakis arranges slow tectonic rumbles and rough granular trebliness with extended passages of what could have been the bowed metal of Organum if Jackman et. al. were tumbling down a flight of stairs. In the liner notes, Xenakis explains that these complex noises correspond to the history of Iran as transcribed through a system of hermetic hieroglyphics. This history, as turbulent micromirror of the world's history, is elliptically described in a series of violent clashes and explosions. For this metaphor, Xenakis the Greek found himself in a bit of predicament as Alexander the Greek was responsible for the obliteration of the Palace of Persepolis where this performance was taking place. Regardless, "Persepolis" engages the visceral and the physical in a way that no other academic / musique concrete / electro-acoustic / minimalist piece has ever done before. It's frightening how powerful this piece of music is, even to one familiar with more recent massive electronic displays by MB, Merzbow, and Organum.

XENAKIS, IANNIS Persepolis + Remixes Edition 1 (Asphodel) 2cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of legendary 20th century new music composer Iannis Xenakis' most heralded works, "Persepolis" is here remixed by some of today's most adventurous musicians. Though the liner notes clumsily attempt some high brow hoo-ha internationalist theory about why the chosen remixers are appropriate for this project -- "Creative modernism is left with choosing between authoritarianism and religion. Hence, the inclusion of a second disc of remixes..." (hence? huh?) -- the obvious reason why these remixers appear is because, like Xenakis, they manipulate noise, musique concrete, and take experimental music to conceptual and sonic extremes. It makes aural sense; don't give me political wish-wash. Anyway, here's what we've written about Persepolis, which is on the first disc here:
Attention all you avantgarde electronic music fans! Important reissue alert! Iannis Xenakis' "Persepolis" was originally commissioned in 1971 as large-scale sound installation for the Shiraz-Persepolis Festival of the Arts in Iran. "Persepolis" -- Xenakis' longest electro-acoustic composition -- originally involved 8 channels of dense electro-acoustic material broadcast through the vast complex of the ruined Palaces of Persepolis along with a massive display of arclights, fireworks, and bonfires. Xenakis arranges slow tectonic rumbles and rough granular trebliness with extended passages of what could have been the bowed metal of Organum if Jackman et. al. were tumbling down a flight of stairs... "Persepolis" engages the visceral and the physical in a way that no other academic / musique concrete / electro-acoustic / minimalist piece has ever done before. It's frightening how powerful this piece of music is, even to one familiar with more recent massive electronic displays by MB, Merzbow, and Organum.
The remixers include: Ryoji Ikeda, Zbigniew Karkowski, Otomo Yoshihide, Francisco Lopez, Antimatter, Merzbow, Laminar, Ulf Lanheinrich, and more. A veritable noise fest. Construction site rumblings. Very difficult listening. If nothing else, this is a perfect introductory sampler of not only Xenakis but also some of AQ's favorite experimentalists. Nice price -- two discs for the price of one.
RealAudio clip: "Persepolis (Ryoji Ikeda remix)"
RealAudio clip: "Persepolis (Merzbow remix)"