POUSSEUR / MAIN / JECK / OVAL 4 Parabolic Mixes (Sub Rosa) 2cd 19.98
Taking an electronic work first realized in 1972 by Belgian avant-garde composer Henri Pousseur, Sub Rosa have arranged for new mixes to be done by three of today's most talented electronic experimentalists: Robert Hampson (of Main fame), AQ-fave turntable specialist Philip Jeck, and Markus Popp of glitchsters Oval. It's not technically a *re*mix project, it seems, as Pousseur's original piece allowed for multiple, equally valid mixes (or studies). He did eight of 'em himself back in the day (released as a four cd set, now unavailable, on Sub Rosa two years ago) and contributes a new one, done digitally this time, as the first track on disc one here. Hampson, Jeck, and Popp follow with their varying takes on the same material/composition, Popp's maybe being the prettiest, all of 'em very blippy and bloopy -- the original piece(s) having a kind of sci-fi spaceship/upset stomach sound. But of course, Jeck's mix is our favorite, as it brings in some of his trademark warm and crackly, antiqued vinyl-y sounds (adding such is apparently in accordance with Pousseur's open-ended concept for this piece).
MPEG Stream: PHILIP JECK "Third Parabolic Mix"

POUSSEUR, HENRI 8 Etudes Paraboliques (Sub Rosa) 4cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Henri Pousseur is one of the lesser known European avant-garde composers, and has been active since the '50s embracing most of the various trends within the 'academic scene' (dodecaphonic, serial, electronic, aleatoric, etc.). "8 Etudes Paraboliques" finds Pousseur within an electronic mode, and he suggests that "the enthusiast needs only two CD players to be able to realise at home original Paraboles-Mix. If he or she has but one set of records, each study can be combined with six others, those on the disc itself naturally being excluded. This already permits a considerable number of combinations. But it requires only two sets of the records to avoid even this slight limitation." It's up to you if you must own multiple copies of this album, but my guess is that it wouldn't really augment the listening situation all that much. Armed with banks of voltage control oscillators, ring modulators, various parameter filters, and 4-channel construction techniques, Pousseur's 8 studies are real-time compositions of splattering electronic vibrations and unpredictible modulations, that comes close to some of the seminal early work of Morton Subotnik.
RealAudio clip: "Les Ailes D'Icare"
RealAudio clip: "Viva Cuba"

POWERPLANT Electric Counterpoint (Kraftwerk / Steve Reich) (Signum) cd 21.00

PRITCHARD, DAVID Nocturnal Earthworm Stew (Pacemaker) cd 15.98
Nocturnal Earthworm Stew? Ew. Well, perhaps the French title of this Canadian record will tempt your appetite: Bouillabaisse Nocturne Aux Vers De Terre. Sounds much tastier, eh? Actually as long as you have an appetite for unusual, analog-synth based, musique concrete fashioned psychedelia, you'll find this to your liking! Yes, that Hans Edler album isn't the only weird and wonderful, long lost '70s electronic music artifact that we've been digging here at AQ lately. Lucky us, we also just got in this reissue of an amazing 1976 album from one David Pritchard, a Canadian underground radio DJ who was so into the experimental electronic sounds coming out of Germany at the time (Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Kluster, Kraftwerk, and the like) that he started collecting the requisite equipment and began writing music that proved well worthy of his overseas influences. Seriously, this could be one of the best Krautrock rarities ever, if Pritchard were German not Canadian. His instrumental compositions feature both an array of analog synths (vintage machines cooler today than ever, the ARP 2600 and EMS AKS) and more conventional instrumentation (violin, guitar, drums, etc.) as well shortwave radio noise / samples and field recordings. All of which you'll hear, for instance, on the fifteen-minute album centerpiece "Thunderpeat", a true tour-de-force of headphone listening, as is the rest of this disc. Quite rhythmically soothing, but with challenging and unusual sonic textures, recalling everything from
Stockhausen to Eno to Dr. Who soundtracks to AQ-fave obscure krautrocker Gunter Schickert. Maybe because of the title, we had expected this to sound like some dark, scary proto-industrial thing, but instead it's remarkably pleasant, full of pretty little melodies -- including a synthesized version of "My Favorite Things". But although Pritchard was the first Canadian artist signed to Island Records, we can't imagine that Nocturnal Earthworm Stew ever hit the pop charts in Canada or anywhere else. It's just too weird and eerie and arcane. Despite how lovely his songwriting can be, this certainly does possess a hefty share of foreboding atmosphere, some of this (tracks like "Evil Orge Interlude / Satan's Seaside Walk" for instance) coming across like an ominous mixture of Tangerine Dream and Italian horror soundtrack masters Goblin. Not a bad thing! This cd reissue includes four bonus tracks and a thick booklet full of photos and informative text, including notes from Pritchard himself. Note to Canadian music nerds: this album also marks the recording debut of none other than Nash the Slash, who guests here on a couple tracks on violin.
MPEG Stream: "The Harry Parchment"
MPEG Stream: "Yellow Stickers"
MPEG Stream: "An Admission Of Guilt"

RAAIJMAKERS, DICK Complete Tape Music Of Dick Raaijmakers (Basta) 3cd 33.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Three cds worth of vintage Dutch tape music from one of the masters, Dick Raaijmakers! Maybe you remember him from the Popular Electronics box set on Basta. This is the second edition of this collection, nicely presented in a colorful cardboard box, with 124 page booklet with text in English. Raaijmakers was active in the Philips Labs in the late '50s, and this contains material from 1959 all the way up to 1996, mainly from the '60s. Those big into early electronic music will want to check this out, as will anyone who gets turned on to Raaijmakers thanks to the the nifty various artists tribute comp also reviewed this list.

RADIGUE, ELIANE CHRY-PTUS (Schoolmap) 2cd 28.00

RADIGUE, ELIANE Elemental II ( Rosa) cd 17.98
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MPEG Stream: "Elemental II"

RADIGUE, ELIANE Geelriandre - Arthesis (Fringes) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Off the top of my head, I can think of the Monks, Glenn Branca, and Eliane Radigue as some of the musicians who've admitted that their unwitting discovering of feedback profoundly altered their ways of thinking about music. Similar to Eddie Shaw's epiphany about feedback in his biography about the Monks, Radigue's revelation about feedback might warrant religious proportions, given that her meditative compositions led her to become a disciple of Buddhism. It was in the mid-60s, when Radigue was a protege of musique concrete legend Pierre Henry, that Radigue first stumbled across electronic feedback in the studios of INA-GRM. Unfortunately, Henry (with his unwavering insistance on the Modernist superiority of musique concrete) did not share Radigue's enthusiasm and Radigue parted ways to build her own studio that centered around the technologies of the Moog and the Arp synthesizers.
Composed in 1972 and 1973 respectively (though these recordings were made several years later), "Geelriandre" and "Arthesis" represent some of the earliest work of Radigue's maturation as a minimalist. While neither of these pieces appear to use feedback, Radigue's subtle shifting drones within these pieces mirrors the fluttering complexity that a feedback loop (when carefully controlled) can achieve. "Geerlriandre" for prepared piano and Arp synthesizer ripples with a melancholia through a beautiful chorus of tightly oscillating electric drones occasionally punctuated by the sustained yet muffled resonance of the piano. "Arthesis," using the Moog, is a more ominous affair, whirling back and forth between low end frequencies amidst a glacial progression of bleak ambience.
This album isn't only good for historical documentation, but also is an exceptional precursor to the dronological pursuits of current artists like Jonathan Coleclough, Thomas Koner, and Andrew Chalk. Highly recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Geelriandre"
RealAudio clip: "Arthesis"

RADIGUE, ELIANE Geelriandre / Arthesis (Senufo Editions) cd 17.98
A much needed reissue of two magnificent pieces of Holy Minimalism from Eliane Radigue! Much of Radigue's classic work from the late '60s and into the '80s had never been presented outside the context of live playback, due to the simple fact that vinyl couldn't handle more than 25 minutes to a side without serious loss of fidelity. So with the advent of cds, the vast archives of her reel-to-reel tapes of very-long form compositions and stasis-oriented dronemuzik began to see the light of day well after the work had been completed and shelved. Radigue had studied composition in the INA-GRM studios in the mid-'60s and was one of many artists who became enamored with the potential of feedback as a tool within composition. The long sinewy drones of a controlled feedback loop became a signature of her earliest works, with synthesizers gradually enveloping those sounds with their greater control and tonal palette.
Composed in 1972 and 1973 respectively (though these recordings were made several years later), "Geelriandre" and "Arthesis" represent some of the earliest work demonstrating Radigue's maturation as a minimalist. "Geerlriandre" - for prepared piano and Arp synthesizer, ripples with a melancholia through a beautiful chorus of tightly oscillating electric drones occasionally punctuated by the sustained yet muffled resonance of the piano, anticipating what Brian Eno would present many years later on Thursday Afternoon albeit with none of the romanticized impressionism. "Arthesis," using the Moog, is a more ominous affair, whirling back and forth between low end frequencies amidst a glacial progression of bleak ambience. This album isn't only good for historical documentation, but also is an exceptional precursor to the drone-tastic pursuits of current artists like Thomas Koner and Andrew Chalk.
Originally released about ten years ago on Giuseppe Ielasi's Fringes, and Ielasi wisely reclaimed these recordings for his new imprint Senufo. If you didn't get it the first time, you should certainly pick this one up now!
MPEG Stream: "Geelriandre"
MPEG Stream: "Arthesis"

RADIGUE, ELIANE Jetsun Mila (Lovely Music) 2cd 28.00

RADIGUE, ELIANE Kyema, Intermediate States (Edition XI) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RADIGUE, ELIANE L'ile Re-sonate (Shiiin) cd 21.00
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RADIGUE, ELIANE Transamorem - Transmortem (Important) cd 14.98
Much of avant composer Eliane Radigue's work dating back to 1967 has yet to be heard, as she would construct her long form minimalism through feedback (for the earliest compositions) and synthesizers (particularly the Arp and occasionally Moog and Buchla) to be played back on a reel of tape with durations often lasting longer than an hour. After an installation or a performance, she would box up the results and work on something new. It wasn't until the advent of cds that technology allowed for her work to made commercially available, as she was unwilling to allow these pieces to be sliced into 20 minute excerpts for vinyl playback.
In 1974, she presented 4 nights of her work in New York - three nights at Phill Niblock's loft (where the man is STILL hosting shows!) and one at the Kitchen. A handwritten invitation to these gigs is included in the liner notes, mentioning various pieces that are now appearing on cd releases some 30 years later. Transamorem - Transmortem was one of these pieces, now part of the reissue series spearheaded by Manu Holterbach and reissued by Important. This 67 minute monolith undulates slowly through a series of "waves in tune" (as she calls them) from her Arp. The strategy is very simple, but the choices Radigue makes are perfect. Her tones are primal and earthen, grounded in plenty of low-end that gives the impression that whatever notion of the eternal she is seeking to describe, it's located physically in the here and now. This is a beautiful piece of minimalism, certainly ranking with her chilling Trilogy Of Death and Adnos.
MPEG Stream: "Transamorem - Transmortem"

RADIGUE, ELIANE Triptych (Important) cd 14.98

RADIGUE, ELIANE Vice Versa, etc.... (Important) cd 16.98
Back in 1970, Eliane Radigue ran off ten copies of her final composition for feedback on magnetic tape, each of which included a small handwritten note. She intended for the piece to be played back at any speed and at any duration and either backwards or forwards. Given the smooth polish to her sustained drones that could easily blur into infinity, such instructions to her audience of ten seems quite reasonable, even if the tiny edition of 10 is far from a reasonable amount. Fortunately, the French sound artist Manu Holterbach (whose minimalist work is awe-inspiring in its own right) has been sifting through Radigue's archives and came across this incredibly rare document which Radigue originally released for the Lara Vincy Gallery in Paris as part of a group sound exhibition. For the cd repackaging of this lone composition, Holterbach curated a double disc of various mixes of the original recordings. The first disc being the straight versions of the composition, played back at the four standard speeds of a reel-to-reel tape deck; and the second disc being backwards versions, also played back at those four speeds. The longest version is a little over 13 minutes long, with the shortest being a bit under 3 minutes; and all four mixes exhibit variations in tonal colors and slight oscillating modulations not heard on previous mixes. The first mix is the longest, slowest, and thus deepest plunge into the Radigue drone, which balances an asymmetrical undulation of low end against a static vibration which sits a couple octaves higher than the super-low rumble and pushes a little farther into the distance. As the track develops, Radigue seems to be gradually increasing the tension of these pieces, as if tension were just a knob she were effortlessly twisting, but in fact she's deftly controlling all of the parameters of her feedback loop to cause such effects. The second piece clocks in under a brisk 9 minutes with that irregular hovering sounds more pronounced. The next two pieces are a bit over four and two minutes respectively, each brightening vibrations to a sharp resolution on the finale. Both discs exhibit essentially the same sounds, which might be accentuated if you were to play both discs at the exact same time. A peculiar excerpt, yes, but a wonderful record for sure from one of the finest authors of 20th Century minimalism.
MPEG Stream: "Backward 19"
MPEG Stream: "Backward 38"
MPEG Stream: "Backward 76"

REED, LOU & METALLICA Lulu (Warner Bros.) 2cd 18.98
We know you've all be waiting for us to weigh in on one of the burning issues of our time: just how terrible IS the Lou Reed / Metallica album? Is it terrible terrible, or maybe so bad it's good (but still terrible)? Or, perhaps, like The Wire, would we be all contrary and proclaim it to actually be brilliant, not terrible? Well... let's just say that actually writing a review of Lulu is difficult 'cause simply sitting through Lulu is difficult! Imagine a random rock band (Metallica) jamming on some generic stoner riffs they wrote in like 5 minutes, while Grandpa Simpson (Lou Reed) speak-sings disturbing/cryptic/asinine lyrics from the POV of an underage girl prostitute and whatnot over the top... and it's TWO freaking discs long!
Well, even opinion here at AQ is divided... just like when Morbid Angel's Illud Divinum Insanus came out. We DO like stuff that's "fucked up" after all, and certainly this is. And there's ways in which the "transgressiveness" of this might appeal to Oxbow fans, for sure (and we're Oxbow fans). But if you're a Metallica fan... well you're a glutton for punishment already anyway at this point, and this IS better than St. Anger (what isn't)? Is it possible that Lulu is Lou Reed's laughing-all-the-way-to-the-bank joke on a clueless, desperate-to-be-artistic Metallica?
Maybe we should just cop out and say that Lulu stands outside of any conventional good/bad judgment. It's just...ludicrous. And not 'cause it's Lou Reed and Metallica, as a concept, per se. Actually, when we first heard about Lou Reed teaming up with Metallica, some of us thought it had potential. On paper. After all, Lou Reed had written songs for KISS before (on 1981's Music From The Elder) and look how that turned out. No, seriously, we dig that KISS album. And if Lou was good enough to write songs for KISS, he should be good enough to write songs for Metallica, heck they should have brought him in sooner. Or, another possibility, was that they would do a full-on noise album together, conducted by Reed: Metallica Machine Music, perhaps?! That could have been cool. Instead, we got this arty absurdity. Which, to be fair, does have its (unintentionally HILARIOUS) moments. For instance, "I Am The Table" (not the name of the song, but it should be, it's actually called "The View", after the TV talk show) is almost worth the price of admission, it's already a classic. Or, check out the very next song, "Pumping Blood", sample lyric from Reed: "Waggle my ass like a dark prostitute coagulating heart pumpin' blood... c'mon, James!"
Yes, he really says/sings that. Wow.
And if Reed's half-assed spoken word style, way-too-high-in-the-mix vox weren't ruinous enough, James Hetfield then sings backup throughout, in his usual heartfelt, gruff, rock dude croon. Singing stuff like the aforementioned, "I am the table!". The juxtaposition is, again, just so ridiculous. As is the entire album. We're not sure what's worse, when they try to do "songs" (like "Iced Honey") or when it's just Lars on the drums providing random backup for Reed's beat poetry.
Ok, it's not all laffs. Ferinstance, in the finale of the set, the whole second half of the epic 20 minute "Junior Dad" is just droning somber strings, and that's quite pretty, although that part doesn't appear to involve either the members of Metallica OR Lou Reed...
So, our "verdict": you should definitely hear this, a least a bit of it, for a laugh. But buy the thing? Well, we've got one copy, and expect to have it for a while. But please go ahead, buy it. We dare you. And when you're listening to it, try not to imagine this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRPzElP_eSI
MPEG Stream: "Brandenberg Gate"
MPEG Stream: "The View"
MPEG Stream: "Cheat On Me"

REICH, STEVE Four Organs & Phase Patterns (New Tone) cd 21.00
It was a happy day at AQ when we saw that two of our favorite Steve Reich pieces of all time were now finally available again. Both recorded in 1970, one at the Guggenheim in NY and the other at the University Museum in Berkeley. This is electric organ overdrive! Four Organs not surprisingly is a piece played on four electric organs (with Reich playing one as well as his good friend Philip Glass... we hope that someday we can get a cd issue of Glass' "Music in 12 Parts" which is maybe his best ever and has a very similar feel to these two great Reich pieces), while beneath the organs is the repetitious shaking of maracas. The short pulsations of the organ gradually stretch out, lasting longer and longer, creating a totally dynamic tension that evokes standing in a massive and grand church that's empty except for the mesmerizing sounds of the organs lulling you into some sort of a trance. Phase Patterns manages to increase the tension with the four players using identical organs and playing to a precise strategy that Reich has calculated. These pieces predate and predict so much of the minimalist electronic and experimental music to come over the next three decades, and are well worth checking out again!
MPEG Stream: "Four Organs"
MPEG Stream: "Phase Patterns"

REICH, STEVE Music For 18 Musicians (ECM) cd 16.98

REICH, STEVE Phase Patterns / Pendulum Music / Piano Phase / 4 Organs (Wergo) cd 24.00

REICH, STEVE You Are (Variations) (Nonesuch) cd 17.98
Without a doubt Steve Reich is one of the most important composers and music makers of the last quarter century. "Music For 18 Musicians" still stands as one of the most hypnotizing and well exectuted pieces of music we've ever heard. After being credited with being at the forfront of Minimilist composition with the likes of Terry Riley and Philip Glass he has spent the last decades continually composing and collaborating with the likes of Kronos Quartet, exploring textures and sub-texts of Jewish music, scoring for theatre, and working with chamber ensembles. There is no mistaking that you are listneing to Reich here as the record begins and his signature sound of building tension with repitition begins. Using four pianos, mallet instruments and exploring the use of voice as a textural and harmonic focal point for the four part suite that makes up You Are (Variations). The vocals push and sometimes take the already chilling climate of Reich's recent work over the top but for the most part you still give into the polyrhythmic pulses that he so carefully constructs. For us the shining moment of the record comes after the four part suite, on the last track, the latest in his ongoing counterpoint series. "Cello Counterpoint" is Reich at his pinpointed best, stripped away of all elements except the solo cello of Maya Beiser, and its 11 minutes are so stunning.
MPEG Stream: "You Are Wherever Your Thoughts Are"
MPEG Stream: "Cello Counterpoint"

RICHTER, MAX 24 Postcards In Full Colour (Fat Cat) cd 14.98
Max Richter first caught our attention with his gorgeous arrangements on Vashti Bunyan's long awaited return to the world of music, 2005's Lookaftering. He's put out several of his own post-classical works, and his latest is just simply stunning. 24 short tracks made for gray days spent looking out the window as rain falls gently and memories drift to the surface. Most of these tracks are under two minutes and were actually intended to be used as ringtones. Somehow Richter is able to pack such strong emotions into these short tracks but also allows the listener to fill in the blanks and wander away. Anyone who uses these as ringtones will for sure be sporting the most elegant and classy cell phone around. Simply beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Cathodes"
MPEG Stream: "Lullaby From The Westcoast Sleepers"
MPEG Stream: "In Louisville At 7"

RICHTER, MAX Infra (Fat Cat) cd 14.98
Not many musicians and composers are able to create music as beautiful and elegant as Max Richter. Whether it be his stunning albums, soundtracks or arrangements for folks like Vashti Bunyan, Richter has proven to be one of the most restrained and versatile composers of the last decade. Infra was a work originally created as a score for a Ballet called The Waste Land. These fragile, subdued miniatures create such a dislocated and gray musical mood. Allowing your mind to wander or stay frozen in a numbing disbelief. Our only complaint regarding some of his previous work was the incorporation of unneeded and heavy handed spoken word/voices which tended to ruin the flow of the music, but luckily on Infra he smartly keeps that out of the mix and allows the haunting, cloudy sounds he's created to speak for themselves. While this may have been made for a ballet we are finding it the perfect soundtrack to those foggy/cold days we've been having in July (oh San Francisco summer) and those early mornings you find yourself awake but bleary headed and needing a musical companion to your clouded vision and foggy mind. So nice!
MPEG Stream: "Infra 1"
MPEG Stream: "Journey 2"
MPEG Stream: "Infra 5"

RILEY, TERRY A Rainbow In Curved Air (Columbia) cd 12.98
We reviewed the vinyl reissue of this dreamy minimal classic last list, so we figured we might as well list the cd as well, so those sadly turntable deficient don't miss out on this classic...
A Rainbow In Curved Air is pretty much the ultimate in hypnotizing cosmic bliss out. Two long tracks in which Riley used electric organ, harpsichord, rockischord, dumbec, saxophone and tambourine, to create a sound in which his minimalist background served as a launching pad for him to really reach the outer limits of sound, a sound that is about as perfect as a soundtrack to sunrise we could ever imagine.
A Rainbow In Curved Sky was originally released in 1969, it was the first album Riley made for Columbia records and it's still so baffling and amazing to think there was a time when major labels would release such brilliant, noncommercial transcendent music like this. After doing some digging around we realized that one of the main reasons that Riley amazingly ended up on Columbia was because fellow electronic pioneer David Behrman had landed a job at the label, so he brought Riley into the land of Columbia and produced this amazing album.
Forty years after it's genesis, these are still sounds that make us stop in our tracks and suck us in, allowing us to get lost in the most amazing sonic daydreams one could imagine. A Rainbow In Curved Air has proven to be a model for several generations of cosmic music makers. It's safe to say that without this record there wouldn't be folks like Arp, Growing, Emeralds, White Rainbow, etc. Beyond recommended and totally essential!
MPEG Stream: "A Rainbow In Curved Air"
MPEG Stream: "Poppy Nogood & The Phantom Band"

RILEY, TERRY A Rainbow In Curved Air (Columbia) lp 17.98
The recent vinyl reissue of this totally essential Terry Riley album has given us the opportunity to finally review a record that holds a special place in many of our hearts. A Rainbow In Curved Air is pretty much the ultimate in hypnotizing cosmic bliss out. Two long tracks in which Riley used electric organ, harpsichord, rockischord, dumbec, saxophone and tambourine, to create a sound in which his minimalist background served as a launching pad for him to really reach the outer limits of sound, a sound that is about as perfect as a soundtrack to sunrise we could ever imagine.
A Rainbow In Curved Sky was originally released in 1969, it was the first album Riley made for Columbia records and it's still so baffling and amazing to think there was a time when major labels would release such brilliant, noncommercial transcendent music like this. After doing some digging around we realized that one of the main reasons that Riley amazingly ended up on Columbia was because fellow electronic pioneer David Behrman had landed a job at the label, so he brought Riley into the land of Columbia and produced this amazing album.
Forty years after it's genesis, these are still sounds that make us stop in our tracks and suck us in, allowing us to get lost in the most amazing sonic daydreams one could imagine. A Rainbow In Curved Air has proven to be a model for several generations of cosmic music makers. It's safe to say that without this record there wouldn't be folks like Arp, Growing, Emeralds, White Rainbow, etc. Beyond recommended and totally essential!
MPEG Stream: "A Rainbow In Curved Air"
MPEG Stream: "Poppy Nogood & The Phantom Band"

RILEY, TERRY Atlantis Nath (Sri Moonshine Music) cd 43.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've only got ONE of these limited edition pressings of Terry Riley's first release on his new label Sri Moonshine Studios. Perhaps you read the (positive) review in The Wire. Well, WE can't say it's all that good, but we can say it's nicely packaged and signed and numbered by the artist! You need to know more? It's a "74-minute seamless journey featuring voices, strings, synthesizer, piano and loops from India" and includes the final scene of Riley's opera "The Crucifixion of My Humble Self". There's got to be one Terry Riley fanatic out there who will want this, right? The less fanatic but still curious might wait for a normal, not-so-fancy, cheaper edition that may surface some day, or not.

RILEY, TERRY In C (CBS) cd 12.98
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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
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RILEY, TERRY Shri Camel (CBS) cd 12.98

RILEY, TERRY The Last Camel In Paris (Elision Fields) cd 14.98
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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
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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
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Two sidelong pieces recorded in 1969 and performed by Groupe d'Etude et R�alisation 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 G�rard Fr�my 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"

ROCKMORE, CLARA Theremin (Mississippi) lp 16.98
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MISSISSIPPI ALERT!!!!MISSISSIPPI ALERT!!!MISSISSIPPI ALERT!!!!!
Ok, that no doubt got your attention. However, unlike Mississippi's forays into blues, international music, and, uh, Dutch punk rock, this record (an alternately titled reissue of Rockmore's The Art Of The Theremin album) takes a surprising turn into the realm of classical music. But not just *any* classical music, no, this here record will no doubt be familiar to many aQ customers, as Lithuanian born Clara Rockmore (1911-1998) is legendary for her mastery of one of the first and strangest electronic musical instruments ever - the theremin. Even if you think you are unaware of what this unique instrument sounds like, you've definitely heard it SOMEWHERE, most likely in some cheesy sci-fi movie from the 1950s. But rather than retread the story of the theremin in general and Clara Rockmore specifically (for that you're advised to check out the amazing documentary Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey), we will just let you know that this record is completely amazing, absolutely beautiful, and probably unlike anything else you've heard before. Covering selected works from composers such as Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky, among others, Rockmore is capable of creating some of the saddest, most mournful sounds ever committed to tape. With literally every song, the theremin sounds like it is weeping out its melodies alongside its piano accompaniment, provided by Rockmore's sister Nadia Reisenberg. Soundwise, many of you will be reminded of a singing saw, or perhaps some heavily sustained bowed string instrument, but the buzzing electronic warmth of the theremin is really beyond classification. The sounds are at once familiar but also totally alien, and anyone who has actually played a theremin should be well aware of how unbelievably difficult they are to control (you don't even touch the thing!). But Rockmore was clearly cut from a different cloth altogether, and to this day she remains the undisputed master of the instrument.
Mississippi really outdid themselves with the packaging on this one, the heavy duty lp comes housed in a beautiful thick gatefold jacket with all kinds of detailed information. And we should hardly have to warn you of this record's limited availability, so don't miss out.
MPEG Stream: "Vocalise (Rachmaninoff)"
MPEG Stream: "Berceuse (Stravinsky)"
MPEG Stream: "Berceuse (Tchaikovsky)"

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"

RUTHERFORD, PAUL / PHILIPP WACHSMANN / BARRY GUY Chapter Two (Emanem) 3cd 40.00

SATIE, ERIC Socrate: Symphonic Drama (Cherry Red) cd 17.98

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"

SATIE, ERIK Vexations (LTM) cd 17.98

SATIE, ERIK (STEPHANE GINSBURGH) 42 Vexations (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98