Marran Gosov – Vocoding Life/Psycho-Akustik

Better known under his artist name of Marran Gosov, Bulgarian Tzvetan Marangosoff was born in 1933 in Sofia to a Bulgarian father and a German mother. He relocated to Munich in 1960 and made all his career in Germany as a film director, actor, playwright, singer and film music composer. In 2008, a retrospective of his 5 full-length films and numerous short films was held in Filmclub 813 in Cologne (from German Wiki). In 1977 and 1978, Gosov self released two LPs of his rather idiosyncratic own songs, under the unifying theme of Diletanttische Lieder, or Dilettantish Songs, or Dabbler Songs (see official website). Titled Baby Mann, the first LP was an autobiographical homage to his mother through a cycle of intense, one of a kind songs in unique arrangements. The Steine Kitzeln LP followed in 1978 and then Vocoding Life/Psycho-Akustik appeared in 1980 on Kuckuck, the legendary electronic and avantgarde label from Munich (Deuter, Hans Otte, Eberhard Schoener, etc).

Above: one of the short films Gosov produced in 1977 based on his songs.
Several of these films were uploaded to Vimeo in 2011 (look here).

♫ As opposed to his first acoustic LPs, Vocoding Life is dominated by synthesizer and Vocoder, as all vocals and guitars are channeled through the device. But while in Giorgio Moroder the Vocoder is used to create a pseudo-futuristic sheen over smooth girly vocals, in Vocoding Life the Vocoder creates a feeling of radical estrangement, or Verfremdungseffekt, ala Bertold Brecht, something even more exacerbated in the video above. These are mostly sentimental songs with weird arrangements on the verge of incredibly strange music. Due to the tone of the voice and the lyrics from previous LPs, I assume the German lyrics are either autobiographical or deal with very personal feelings and thoughts. It is even possible the entire project meditates on the state of Heimatlos and loneliness. Somewhere between spoken word and song, often semi-improvised over a basic written structure, these tracks form a coherent song cycle with extremely minimal arrangements sometimes reduced to voice and Vocoder only. Other tracks feature synth loops, rhythm from an electric organ or electric guitar, but voice and Vocoder remain prominent features.

Klar, unvollkommen bin ich. Wie kann ich anderen die Leviten singen. Auch ich bin ein von Zukunftserfahrungen gebranntes Kind, zurück-gefallen auf mich selbst und ahne schon die Gewißheit, daß am Ende nur jene Güte beweisen werden, die an nichts glauben.
[from liner notes]

01 Eifersucht (8:39)
02 Amore (3:15)
03 Lampenfieber (9:09)
04 Babymann (2:58)
05 Gitterbett (2:27)
06 Mütterlein (5:18)
07 Ferne Nähe (7:25)
08 Clown (5:02)
09 Kaltes Stück (5:11)

Total time 49:20
LP released by Kuckuck, Munich, West Germany, 1980

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Walter Fähndrich – Musik für Raüme (Giannozzo)

Teaching improvisation at the Musikhochschule in Basel since 1985, Swiss composer and sound artist Walter Fähndrich (b. 1944) is both a professional viola player performing in chamber ensembles (see here) and a composer interested in various genres like stage and film music, electroacoustic music or Hörspiel (see official website). Since 1980, Fähndrich has explored room frequency resonances through a series of sound installations in art galleries, specific architectural sites and even outdoor venues (like Music for a Quarry, 1999; see info/video). Titled Musik für Räume, or music for spaces, these sound installations use simple electronic tonalites whose pitch is determined by the room’s dimensions and resonance properties. The music is meant to excite room resonances and thus achieve the sonification of architectural spaces. Several exhibition catalogs with CDs were published about Fähndrich’s Musik für Räume, so it is possible the music on this cassette has already been digitized and made available.

♫ Published in 1985 by Edition Giannozzo, this cassette was the first to document Musik für Räume as a standalone soundtrack. Founded in 1978 by sculptor and musician Rolf Langebartels, Galerie Giannozzo was a two-storey gallery in Berlin Charlottenburg, with monthly exhibitions by artists like Rolf Julius, Takehisa Kosugi, Akio Suzuki or Christina Kubisch, until it closed doors in 1986. On show in the gallery during November 1985, Fähndrich’s sound installation consisted in the sonification of both storeys with sounds deduced from the galleries’ proportions. For instance, and if I understand the liner notes correctily, the upper room’s length of 720 cm corresponds to a frequency of 47.6 Hz. Of course, these electronic sounds are meant to be heard in the Giannozzo gallery only, but, on their own, they function as a wonderful musique d’ameublement, or discreet music in English.

01 Räume Giannozzo VI (23:28)
02 Räume Giannozzo VII (23:28)

Total time 46:56
Cassette released by Edition Giannozzo, Berlin, 1985

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Continuumix #13

Continuumix #13 – Transwonderland
Mix by Continuo – May 2012
Total time 93:30

Named after Noo Saro Wiwa’s book Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria, published by Granta in 2012. Artwork after Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome, as reconstituted at Art Basel Miami Beach, December 2011.

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/     /     /     /      T      R      A      C      K      L      I      S      T      /     /     /     /

00:00 | Atom™ – Cold Memories Part 1 (1994)
Composed in 1994 by Uwe Schmidt for Helsinki’s Museum of Contemporary Art “Ambient City Radio” program. Released as a 2xCD set on Sähkö Recordings, Finland, 2012.

04:25 | Stuart Dempster – Didjeridervish (1976)
Shouts and didjeridoo droning sound recorded by trombone player Dempster inside the resonant Abbey of Pope Clement VI in Avignon, France, in 1976. The “didjeridoo” is actually a plastic sewer pipe. Excerpt from the B-side of the legendary In The Great Abbey Of Clement VI LP published by Arch Records in 1979.

09:29 | Eternal Music application
Using the yellow, blue, pink and green dots, anyone can produce enchanting chiming tonalities.

11:58 | Alexander Zhikharev – Bronze Flat Bells
Moscow composer and bell ringer Zhikharev, born 1951, created and fine tuned these flat bells in 1988, with specific resonances. He plays them often at the Kolomenskoe monastery, near Moscow. [source]

16:52 | Albert Mayer – Proposta Sonora X (1966-69)
Italian composer Albert Mayer conceived his Proposta Sonora experiments from 1966 to 1969 in Pietro Grossi’s own Studio Di Fonologia Musicale Di Firenze, and using the same basic electronic tonalities sourced from elementary sine waves and enveloppe generator. From the “Proposte Sonore” CD on Ants, 2004.

18:09 | Steve Reich – New York Counterpoint (2005)
Interpreted and arranged by Swiss duo One Plus One (Anne Gillot on recorders and Laurent Estoppey on saxophones), this 10-inch record wa published by Lausanne contemporary art center Circuit in 2005. One Plus One also made a great Philip Glass LP in 2006.

27:30 | Masayoshi Urabe – デュオ (2008)
In this excerpt from the Flag Of Midsummer CD on PSF, 2008, Japanese radical saxophonist Masayoshi Urabe is heard on harmonica, accordion and found objects, with assistance from Kuwayama Kiyoharu on found objects.

32:30 | Roland Moser – Stilleben mit Glas (1970)
Mostly based on glass sounds, this musique concrète piece was created in 1970 by Swiss avantgarde composer Roland Moser, born 1943, in the Studio für Elektroniche Musik der Hochschule in Köln. From the Ensemble Neue Horizonte Bern 2xLP published by Jecklin, Switzerland, 1977.

40:56 | Astreya – Dolcissimo & Death Valley (excerpts) (1988)
Astreya (Viacheslav Artiomov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Victor Suslin) with Californian electronic musician Miles Anderson. Recorded 1988. From the Astreja retrospective CD on SLYD Records, ref. SLR0027, 1994. On Artiomov and Astreya, see previous post.

49:22 | Friedrich Glorian – Nuzheng Miniature (2012)
German composer and improvisor Friedrich Glorian started playing in kraut rock and jazz bands in the 1960s, before turning to Indian classical music, special intonation and self build instruments. This track is played on a guzheng, a Chinese traditional string instrument, with live loop and sound effects [source].

53:07 | Excerpt from Hüört ens! Songs aus Solingen Vol. 2 (2012)
Unidentified excerpt from Vol. 2 of a compilation celebrating artists from Solingen, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The compilation comes with a rare appearance of German art rock/NDW band S.Y.P.H. [source]

58:22 | Hentai Improvising Orchestra – Coelacanth remix (2011)
Hailing from Fort Worth, Texas, Hentai Improvising Orchestra are Terry Horn, Matt Hickey and Ken Shimamoto. On this track, electronic artist Coelacanth remixes some H.I.O.’s live performance at Doc’s Records, a Fort Worth record store, with the addition of Chris Vaisvil’s fretless bass.

65:51 | Pascal Comelade – La Coquille et le Clergyman (2009)
In 2009, Comelade was commissioned a new soundtrack to Germaine Dulac‘s Surrealist silent film realized in 1927, published as a DVD by Éditions Light Cone in 2009. The score was written for a re-formed Bel Canto Orchestra with Comelade at the grand piano.

72:14 | Ezra Pound – On Cantos
Archive recording of Pound himself reading from his Cantos cycle. From American experimental webcast Cytopicus and sister project Saxonian Folkways blog. Also highly recommended is their Decline of Poetry in 20th Century mix of atonal contemporary music ala Xenakis with unidentified poetry readings, possibly Yeats, Pound and others.

74:15 | Charles Curtis – Ultra White Violet Light (1999)
US classical cellist Curtis, b.1960, collaborated with La Monte Young in the 1990s, performed within the Dream House and premiered a La Monte new composition in 2003, as well as a piece by Eliane Radigue in 2006. Ultra White Violet Light is for two cellos, sine wave and sustained electric guitar. From the double LP on Beau Rivage, originally published 1998, reissued by Squealer Music in 1999. This is side A, but I noticed all 4 sides are available on YouTube.

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Hugo Weris – Nouvelle Recette

Parisian cassette label La Fondation started in 1981 as a collective including experimental film makers, radio producers, musicians and contemporary artists. They first released a pair of compilation cassettes and, later in the 1980s, solo efforts by the likes of new-wave singer Nini Raviolette or the Residents-inspired Les Frères Lefdup, a duo including Alain Burosse. The collective became famous in France in the mid-1980s, when Burosse produced short films and soundtracks for avant-pop French TV programs Haute Tension and L’Oeil du Cyclone. Under the “L.D. Track” alias, Hugo Weris composed some of the music for Nini Raviolette’s new-wave songs, including the hit Indicateur Ou Dragueur. As a solo artist, Weris released four cassettes on La Fondation: Nouvelle Recette (198?), Dessert (198?), Bonne Année (1985) and Bzz (1992). This post offers my own rip of Nouvelle Recette, yet the tracks are different from the sound files offered by La Fondation’s website for the same cassette.

♫ The music blends synthesizer, sequencer loops, musique concrète and found sounds, typical of hometaping releases of the 2nd half of the 1980s. More peculiar is the great lyricism with which Weris infuses his minimalist keyboard playing and the vintage gearing used (apparently a VCS3), so that the music evokes both Brian Eno’s Music for Films and ZNR’s Barricades 3. Another original touch is the addition of found sounds or kitchenware recorded at home – hence the title, meaning New Recipe. There’s also a remarkable tape loop lifted from an old movie on track #9, where a French actress endlessly repeats “Embrasse-moi” (or Kiss me) on a background of static noise, creating a rather moving moment of pure Hauntology.

17 tracks

Total time 60mn
Cassette released by La Fondation, Paris, France, 198? (~1985-1990)

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Dreamtiger – East-West Encounters

Dreamtiger was a British contemporary music ensemble led by composer Douglas Young and featuring pianist Peter Hill, flutist Kathryn Lukas and cellist Rohan de Saram, among others [see my Wikipedia article for details]. Despite the prestigious cast and the number of concerts and tours they performed between 1974 and 1984, Dreamtiger left surprisingly few traces on the web and in reference books. Published in 1982, East-West Encounters was the ensemble’s unique LP – a marvelous collection of Eastern-influenced works by 20th century composers, including masterpieces that found their way in the classical canon–, based on Dreamtiger’s 1980 U.K. tour repertoire.

♫ The enchanting Balinese Ceremonial Music of US composer Colin MacPhee (1900-1964) is an adaptation of gamelan music for two pianos inspired by his intermittent stays on the island between 1932 and 1938 [on MacPhee, see previous post]. MacPhee’s intimate knowledge of Balinese vernacular music is palpable throughout this colorful microtonal reverie in three parts (Pemoengkah, Gambangan, Taboeh Teloe). Balinese Ceremonial Music was first recorded by the composer and Benjamin Britten at the piano on a Schirmer’s Library of Recorded Music 78rpm disc published in 1941 – see video below.

Douglas Young‘s Trajet/Inter/Lignes for solo flute and small percussion was premiered in 1981 by flutist Kathryn Lukas. The latter’s nuanced and sensible approach brings incredible presence and liveliness to these rarefied, aural ideograms. Undertaken in 1986, Peter Hill‘s complete recordings of Messiaen’s piano music for British label Unicorn-Kanchana are a reference for the warmth and humanity they brought – sounding more like André Jolivet and less Darmstadt, if you get the idea. This 1982 version of Cantéyodjayâ, is different, less authoritative and 2mns longer than the 1986 version. Finally, the Dreamtiger ensemble offers a fine rendition of the classic Vox Balaenae, George Crumb‘s poetic evocation of whale songs.

1. Colin McPhee – Balinese Ceremonial Music (10:30)
   Douglas Young, Peter Hill, pianos
2. Douglas Young – Trajet/Inter/Lignes (13:49)
   Kathryn Lukas, flute
   Douglas Young, percussion
3. Olivier Messiaen – Cantéyodjayâ (13:42)
   Peter Hill, piano
4. George Crumb – Vox Balaenae (The Voice of the Whale) (19:30)
   Kathryn Lukas, flute
   Peter Hill, piano
   Rohan de Saram, cello

Total time 57:30
LP released by Cameo Classics, Manchester, UK, 1982

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Dave Vorhaus – The Vorhaus Sound Experiments

Published in 1980, The Vorhaus Sound Experiments was Dave Vorhaus‘ first solo release on KPM and the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with the prominent British library music company. Vorhaus never envisaged producing incidental, background music, though, and his was always meant as music of the highest order with elaborate arrangements and sumptuous electronic sounds, as is the case in this fine collection of electronic miniatures. Some of the tracks on this LP were used for the soundtrack of cult Australian TV series Prisoner: Cell Block H, appearing on Australian TV between 1979 and 1985. Some of these tracks are available on YouTube “videos”, like Disintegration Series, Momentum, Time Base or Voyager One, albeit with bad sound quality. The Prisoner series also included music lifted from other library music LPs by the likes of Keith Mansfield and John Saunders. No surprise, then, The Vorhaus Sound Experiments sometimes verge on film music and is often reminiscent of Colin Towns’ remarkable Full Circle soundtrack, 1978. Additionally, track #19 Aurora was written by film music composer Brian Gascoigne, famous for The Emerald Forest soundtrack.

01 The Great Chip Takeover (2:04)
02 Design Technology (1:09)
03 Interaction (1:10)
04 Energizer (2:16)
05 Computer Code (A) (1:49)
06 Computer Code (B) (:33)
07 Sea Of Tranquility (A) (1:10)
08 Sea Of Tranquility (B) (2:50)
09 Regeneration (2:04)
10 Momentum (A) (2:18)
11 Momentum (B) (:38)
12 The Jamaican Digital Blues (:43)
13 Time Base (3:03)
14 Disintegration Series (A) (1:17)
15 Disintegration Series (B) (:32)
16 Voyager One (3:52)
17 Future Scan (2:32)
18 Charged Particles (2:14)
19 Aurora – with Brian Gascoigne (2:49)
20 Moog Logo (A) (:14)
21 Moog Logo (B) (:14)
22 Moog Logo (C) (:16)
23 Synth Effect (A) (:15)
24 Synth Effect (B) (:10)
25 Synth Effect (C) (:11)
26 Synth Effect (D) (:10)
27 Synth Effect (E) (:10)
28 Synth Effect (F) (:19)

Total time 37:00
LP released by KPM, ref. KPM1243, London, 1980

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Various – LA Mantra II

Barry Craig (1952-2011), also known as ambient music composer A Produce, launched Trance Port Tapes in 1983 when he was still a member of Afterimage, a new wave band from Los Angeles. During its 4 years of activity, the nine volumes of the Trance Port cassette series documented the growing ambient, avantgarde, synth-based music projects of L.A. in the distinctive fold-out packaging designed for the series by Independent Project Press, aka Bruce Licher of Savage Republic. The monumental LA Mantra II compilation was actually Trance Port Tapes’ swan song, as it ceased activities soon after its release. But Craig actually succeeded helping what he called the “trance music” scene emerge at a time when Los Angeles was burgeoning with as many “scenes” as suburbs – to name a few: the synth-punk movement (Nervous Gender, If Then Else, Screamers) ; the “art punk” scene of Wall of Voodoo, Oingo Boingo or the Fibbonacis ; the Urinals and the Happy Squid Records stable ;  the Anticlub venue ; Al’s Bar live venue ; the LAFMS compilations ;  or the Savage Republic stable.

♫ Along its 4 sides, the compilation covers different music genres, with each side devoted to a particular style. A fine collection of cold- and new-wave bands, the first side features powerful songs by the likes of Psi-Com, with  Rich Evac and Perry Farrel, the latter of Jane’s Addiction, or Abecedarians, who will release a 12in on Factory Records in 1985. Starting with a neo-classical, post-punk instrumental by 17 Pygmies, the mood changes on side 2, tuning into guitar-based, sumptuous, atmospheric tracks that tend to carry your mind away. The third side indulges into more ambient experimentalism with radical sound artists like Chas Smith, Carl Stone (who contributes a plunderphonic track of 1960s radio hits), Tom Recchion, of LAFMS fame, or pure mavericks like John Trubee. Sound effects and repetition take over on side 4, a series of surreal, rhythm-less sound experiments. While guitars were still recognizable on side 3, they are now channeled through sound filters, studio manipulation and unconventional playing technique, like in Brent Wilcox‘s mystical Secret of Cargo, for prepared guitar sounding like a psalterion, backward-running guitar and tape manipulation – Wilcox released a 7in single on Happy Squid Records in 1981.

I find it hard to listen to this compilation in one run, because when I’m in the mood for side 1, I’m usually not in the moon to appreciate side 4 and vice versa. Otherwise, this is an exceptionally solid collection of musics.

Side 1:

01 Marina La Palma – Mi Ni Parolas (2:51)
02 Randall Kennedy – Never Ending Night (2:58)
03 John J. Lafia – Queen of the Nile (3:49)
04 Abecedarians – They Said Tomorrow (5:14)
05 Psi-Com – Psi-Com (Theme) (5:38)

Side 2:
06 17 Pygmies – Moment In Ceylon (3:19)
07 Rick Cox – S P (3:54)
08 Anthony Teti – Winter Arriving (4:22)
09 Bay Of Pigs – Child’s Lament (2:02)
10 Repetition Repetition – Over & Over, Pt. 8 (8:16)

Side 3:
11 Chas Smith – Beatrix (4:17)
12 Scott Fraser – An Act of Control (3:23)
13 Apes Of God – The Discovery of Fire (4:35)
14 John Trubee – Crawling Down The Corridor (3:49)
15 Carl Stone – Wave Heat (3:29)
16 A Produce – Dorian Imagination (5:19)
17 Tom Recchion – Metallic Bowl (5:26)

Side 4:
18 Brad Laner – N-Counter (3:29)
19 Brent Wilcox – Secret of Cargo (3:54)
20 Points Of Friction – Midnight Globe (5:25)
21 Peter Catham – Not a Congo Line (2:05)
22 An Bene – March to Miramol (4:35)
23 D.D. Dobson – Agua Y Tia (4:55)
24 Fluxus Appliance – Accidents in the Home (4:00)
25 Bruce Licher/Chez Voz – Bridge (2:21)

Total time 1h 43mn
2xk7 set released by Trance Port Tapes, ref. trance 8, Los Angeles, CA, 1984

Download (250Mb)
[alternate link]

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Trance Port Tapes cassetography:
1983 Various “L.A. Mantra”, trance 1 >
1983 Randall Kennedy “Scenes From Redemption (Pts. 1 & 2)”, trance 2
1983 An Bene / Pierre Lambow “Sustained Space”, trance 3 >
1984 John J. Lafia “Prayers”, trance 4 >
1984 Various “Live At The Trance Port”, trance 5 >
1984 Afterimage “Anthology”, trance 6
1984 Timothy Leary “The Final Taboo”, trance 7  >
1984 Various “L.A. Mantra II”, trance 8
1984 Various “Phantom Takes”

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Sound Image – A Magazine of Aural and Visual Arts

US independent radio producer Jim Metzner was born in New York, graduated from Yale School of Drama in 1969 and received a BA in ethnomusicology from University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 1975. He started producing radio features around this time, the first being Voices in the Wind for National Public Radio, followed by You’re Hearing Boston (1979-80) for WEEI-FM (CBS), You’re Hearing San Francisco (1982) for KYUU (NBC) and You’re Hearing America (1983-84), distributed on a network of 50 radios across the US. In the 1980s, Metzner specialized in daily, short format series of typically 2-mn programs like You’re Hearing America. He’s also a believer in binaural recording and multichannel diffusion. Since 1989, he’s the respected producer of Pulse of the Planet.

In the mid-1970s, Metzner published three issues of his Sound Image music magazine LPs. The series included archive sounds, field recordings, sound art on the LP, and photographs and essays on the accompanying portfolio. Today’s post is Vol. 1, while Vol. 2 was about Greece and Vol. 3 about Brazil, titled Bahia–Traditional Music of Brazil with photographs by Jay Maisel.

♫ This LP is a baffling collection of microtonal music, musique concrète, electronic sounds, field recordings, ethnic music, free jazz, poetry reading and… balloon music. The disciplines of sport, science, ethnomusicology or literature are covered, typical from Metzner’s wide ranging interests as a radio producer. There’s admittedly some bravura in the juxtaposition of all these different styles and themes, yet it coalesce somehow thanks to Metzner’s skillful mixing. It starts with two aeolian harp recordings from an instrument build by Paul Dixon. These lovely sounds remind Harry Bee and Chuck Hancock’s The Wind Harp – Song from the Hill 1972 double LP anthology, save for the addition of electric guitar and the sound of children playing in the background on #2. The wonderful #3 Squash is harpist Julie Haines playing recorder and xylophone in a reverberant squash court, making the best of the room’s resonant acoustics, much like Peter Van Riper will do in the late 1970s. Track #5 offers a demonstration of balloon music by Margaret Rebar, from Hampshire College, Mass., yet more as a joke than what Judy Dunaway would do in the 1990s. Doctor Dick Manchester is a pioneering pulsar hunter, and tr. #6 offers an early recording. Metzner himself contributes several sound collages in addition to his aeolian harp recordings. Daniel Pinkham‘s August Landscape is an electronic music piece.

Photographers appearing in the black & white portfolio, included as a PDF in the d/l file, are: Burt Glinn (cover art), John Goodman, Lotte Jacobi, Marc Orlove, Ralph Gibson, Andre Kertesz, Gus Kayafas, Minor White and John Gutmann.

Sound Image – A Magazine of Aural and Visual Arts, Vol.1:

01 James Metzner Aeolian Harp – solo harp (6:17)
02 James Metzner Aeolian Harp – with guitar (3:42)
03 Julie Haines Squash (3:15)
04 Bill Cole Walla Walla, Washington (2:23)
05 Margaret Rebar Sonata for a Spring Afternoon (1:34)
06 Richard Manchester Pulsar PSR 083-45 (1:18)
07 James Metzner Freeze Madagascar (1:23)
08 James Metzner Running With The Indians (1:45)
09 Robert Francis Like Ghost of Eagles + The Hawk (2:36)
10 Daniel Pinkham August Landscape (3:19)
11 J. Rainbow Who Sings The Song In Your Heart? (2:29)
12 James Metzner Baseball Transformation (0:53)

Total time 30:54
LP released by Sound Image Inc., Amherst, Mass., 1975

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