IDM Mailing Archive

1997-12-29 15:19Arthur B. PurvisIn the interest of killing the Wire thread, I'll just respond to the unrelated parts of pe

From:: Arthur B. Purvis <abpurvis@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
To:: <idm@hyperreal.org>
Date:: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 10:19:03 -0500 (EST)
Subject:: (idm) The Wireboy cometh

In the interest of killing the Wire thread, I'll just respond to the unrelated parts of people's posts. Sorry to the guy I called a fool, I was in a bit of a bad mood after reading the kind of inanities that Greg Earle was throwing around.

quoted 2 lines Violent Onsen Geisha, and a few others, when Aube is infinitely more

>> Violent Onsen Geisha, and a few others, when Aube is infinitely more >> interesting than all of them?

quoted 2 lines Please explain *why* Aube is infinitely more interesting than all of

>Please explain *why* Aube is infinitely more interesting than all of >them, and then how this explanation becomes universal.

Well, I shouldn't have spoken for VOG, b/c I've heard terribly little, but it sounded like the standard junk music/metal banging that Merzbow's done for _years._ As for Merzbow himself, he just gets real old, real fast - one Merzbow CD (since he went "power electronics;" there are more interesting ones before) is enough for almost anyone (for me, anyways, and I _like_ noise). Aube, on the other hand, is all over the map sonically and texturally. His "gimmick" is to use a single sound source for each recording - the human heart, electromagnetic spectroscopy, dumb toys, whatever. The records range from incredibly fucked up, noisy shrieks (albeit with some kind of organization that you'd never heard in Merzbow, but not really with a rhythm per se) to very minimal ambience to very rhythmic noise. If you like musique concrete and electroacoustics, I would recommend "Magnetostriction" (if you can find it - ltd to 666 many years ago. Someone lost my copy... grrr) or "Metal de Metal" - they are much more laid back than the average Aube record. If you're a bit more adventurous, "Cardiac Strain" is a good one.

quoted 4 lines BTW, do you hate musiq.concr. and elec.acoust.? Because I could point you

>BTW, do you hate musiq.concr. and elec.acoust.? Because I could point you >to some fantastic releases that I'm sure you would love (Pierre Henry, >Bernard Parmeggiani, Xenakis, Jonty Harrison, Dennis Smalley...and the >list goes on).

Not at all; I quite like some of it. I'm unfamiliar with all the people you listed, with the exception of Henry's awful thing that had Psyche Rock in it, and a few random Xenakis records, so go ahead, make some recommendations. --- the humble abbott arthur purvis set his hand hereto

1997-12-29 17:53Oeivind IdsoeArthur B. Purvis wrote: > In the interest of killing the Wire thread, I'll just respond to

From:: Oeivind Idsoe <terje.idsoe@online.no>
To:: <idm@hyperreal.org>
Date:: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 18:53:58 +0100
Subject:: (idm) Electroacoustics (was: The Wireboy cometh)

Arthur B. Purvis wrote:

quoted 2 lines In the interest of killing the Wire thread, I'll just respond to the

> In the interest of killing the Wire thread, I'll just respond to the > unrelated parts of people's posts.

I agree -- it's probably time to kill it. Besides, I got the January issue of The Wire in the mail today and I'm basically ecstatic about the amount of interesting things to read (amongst other things relevant to this list, there's a three/four-page feature on Drexciya (sp?)).

quoted 2 lines one Merzbow CD (since he went "power electronics;" there are more

> one Merzbow CD (since he went "power electronics;" there are more > interesting ones before) is enough for almost anyone

I think I agree (sorry for the boring and non-provocative comment).

quoted 9 lines BTW, do you hate musiq.concr. and elec.acoust.? Because I could point you

> >BTW, do you hate musiq.concr. and elec.acoust.? Because I could point you > >to some fantastic releases that I'm sure you would love (Pierre Henry, > >Bernard Parmeggiani, Xenakis, Jonty Harrison, Dennis Smalley...and the > >list goes on). > > Not at all; I quite like some of it. I'm unfamiliar with all the people > you listed, with the exception of Henry's awful thing that had Psyche Rock > in it, and a few random Xenakis records, so go ahead, make some > recommendations.

Cool. Regarding Pierre Henry's "Psyche Rock": I haven't heard it and probably never will, but that's just because the general consenus seems to be that it's one of the worst things he's ever done (althought it *is* a collaborative 'effort', so it isn't just Henry's fault). Here's a list of my current (and not so current) favourites: * Pierre Henry - "The Man With The Camera" (Mantra; music to accompany Dziga Vertov's classic silent (?) movie. A fantastic record containing all sorts of rhythmic and repetetive squeaks and screams and machinic noises. Also, it's fairly new -- I think it was composed in 1993 or 94, so it's one of Henry's latest works) * Pierre Henry - "Fragments pour Artaud" (Mantra; more excellence from the guy I consider to be more interesting than Stockhausen) * Iannis Xenakis - "Electronic Music" (EMF; a very recent release containing various electronic works from the period early 1950's up until the 90's. Essential.) * Iannis Xenakis - "The Legend of Eer" (Montaigne; an epic 70+ minute masterpiece made up of sampled and manipulated fragments of sounds from various 'exotic' percussive instruments) * Iannis Xenakis - "Kraanerg" (recently re-recorded and released on Asphodel; another gigantic orchestral machine, electronically manipulated for your listening pleasure) * Bernard Parmeggiani - "De Natura Sonorum" (INA-GRM; classic stuff from the 70's. I noticed Autechre ended their very short summary of 1997 for The Wire with the following telling statement: "P.S. Bernard Parmeggiani - fucking hell!" Enough said.) * Tod Dockstader - "Quatermass" (Starkland; experiments from the very beginning of musique concrete (50's and 60's), including a fantastic piece made by using water as the sound source (for the record: Dockstader is apparently another Autechre favourite)) * Jonty Harrison - "Articles indéfinis" (empreintes DIGITALes; one piece is made up of noises made by striking a glass, and it proves that timestretching and smearing can used to create beautiful and intimate spaces) * Francois Bayle - "La Main Vide" (INA-GRM) * Dennis Smalley - "Impacts Intérieurs" (empreintes DIGITALes) * Patrick Ascione - "Polyphonie - Polychrome" (empreintes DIGITALes; a fine mix of acousmatic treatments and varispeed rhythmics) * Evan Parker & Lawrence Casserley - "Solar Wind" (Touch; Evan Parker's sax and Casserley's treatments produce shimmering electronics that are metaphorically similar to the chrome surface of your kitchen sink) * Alain De Filippis - "Ton Dieu Ne S´ Appelle-t-il Pas Ego?" (Metamkine) * Philippe Mion - "Confidence" (Metamkine; one of my all-time favourites from the Metamkine series. Tiny, timestretched particles appear and disappear and are interrupted by sudden outbursts of bombastically digital mega-zaps) * Eliane Radigue - "Biogenesis" (Metamkine; meditative rumblings from the master of the Arp 2600 (although I'm not sure it was used here)). * John Wall - "Fractuur" (UtterPsalm; I just got this one, and it's one helluva work. John Wall samples everyone from David Toop and The Hafler Trio to Stockhausen and Xenakis, but you wouldn't know it. His pieces often sound very 'acoustic', breaking away from the traditional anthem "if it's been manipulated it has to sound electronic"). That's it for now. Let me know if you have any questions (or perhaps other recommendations)./Oeivind/

(idm) Electroacoustics (was: The Wireboy cometh)