Bow Gamelan Ensemble - Great Noises that Fill the Air (Klinker Zoundz, 1988)

Way back in 1983, percussionist Paul Burwell, artist Anne Bean, and sculptor Richard Wilson pooled their interests and abilities in a great mass they called the Bow Gamelan Ensemble, named after their residing section of London. On first introduction, I took issue with their claim of this as a gamelan, with only the slightest similarities being the tinkering of the Javanese and the bombast of Bali. Their approach incorporated an unholy din of clanging junk and various instruments of their own design, coupled with a pyrotechnic prowess that would strike fear in the heart of any fire marshall. If nothing else, their overall impact certainly rivals that of the finest from Bali. Now I see the name as more of a convenience than anything--catchy as it might be, the Bow Junkyard Orchestra Trans-Media Exhibition and Firework Display demands a few more breaths than most would allow.

Their recorded output is scant. Great Noises that Fill the Air was their second and, as I best I can tell, final full length. It unravels as a series of events dedicated to the soundings of various items: the three flail on a pair of marimbas, set off a rapid succession of snap-n-pops followed by a chorus of car horns. Saws, whistles, hubcaps, sirens all make their way into the trio's hands. With help from students from Bretton Hall, they conjure on "Massed Percussion" what could easily be mistaken for a Balinese orchestra. What I found most exciting was their use of self-designed pyrophones, instruments that sound off when fire is emitted. Without the visuals, I'm baffled as to what apparatus when combined with a flame would produce this deep swell.

Great Noises that Fill the Air

I'd be remiss not include some visual material from the group, as sound was only a portion of their aim. This video is of a reunion performance in 2002, with the three performing on Richard Wilson's tugboat portion, the Slice of Life.

Eliane Radigue - Elemental II (ROSA, 2005)

At the beginning of the decade, Kasper T. Toeplitz approached Eliane Radigue in hopes that she would write an instrumental piece for him to perform live. Though this breaks somewhat from Radigue's usual mode as a composer, she accepted and presented Elemental II to him in 2003. Toeplitz performs the piece here on an electric upright bass routed directly into a Max/MSP patch. Though the shape of the piece to a degree lacks Radigue's overall careful and delicate touch, the subtle ebb and flow here is very much of Radigue's design, as is the opening subsonic rumble. Being unfamiliar with Toeplitz's previous work, it is difficult to determine how of his own musical vocabulary is present here, particularly with the degree to which processing has augmented his instrument.

Elemental II
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Demetrio Stratos - Cantare La Voce (Cramps, 1978)

One more entry from the Nova Musicha series. Demetrio Stratos is most known for his work with seminal Italian prog band Area, but also conducted expansive vocal research in phonetics and ethnomusicology. Cantare La Voce is his second solo entry, deeply reliant on his limber vocal range and mutliphonic abilities. The opening "Investigazioni" showcases Stratos employing both diplophony and triplophy, though it's alleged that he could even produce four simultaneous voices. For Stratos, maximizing the voice's potential, freeing it of all natural restraint, had political and psychological implications. Elsewhere on the album, Stratos layers his voice work in ways reminiscent of tape music, though rest assured it all originated from his chest and throat.

Cantare La Voce

Miguel Angel Coria - En Rouge Et Noir (Cramps, 1976)

A baffling prepared piano vignette by way of Cramps' Nova Musica series, pounded out by an otherwise unheard of maestro by the name of Miguel Angel Coria. Not quite sure how Coria has rigged his piano, but it almost sounds as though a rake head was laid inside. Alternately sparse and frantic, Coria varies between dizzying sweeps and runs, stumpy chords, and a repetitious hand-and-peck typist approach. Progressively, the vibes grow weirder, as what are either tape treatment or ghost tones emerge and Coria's playing becomes less and less frequent. Comes as a whole or in easily rearranged pieces.

En Rouge et Noir

Mixed Band Philanthropist - The Man Who Mistook A Real Woman For His Muse And Acted Accordingly 7" (Hypnagogia, 2003)

Might be the puritan in me, but I'm a bit bashful about offering this up. Starts off fine, just a tumbling ball of TV snippets, giggling children, and leftover cartoon effects. Then a minute and a half in--out comes the weiner jokes, and it's Benny Hill subbing for Vicki Bennett on Do or DIY. The pace is such that once they start coming, it's an outright flood. The flip side keeps up the pace, still rough and tumble but does so with a sense of decency. These two sides date back to 1983, a year or so prior initial work on The Impossible Humane.

The Man Who Mistook A Real Woman For His Muse And Acted Accordingly

Luc Ferrari - Unheimlich Schön (Metamkine, 1993)

This 1971 piece from the late Luc Ferrari marks another contribution from an elder statesman in the Cinéma pour l’oreille collection. As with Radigue's Biogenesis, this is a piece that diverges from the path most often identified as the author's. He begins with a deep breathed refrain by Ilse Lau, "Unheimlich schön"--roughly translated as "terribly beautiful"--which repeats on, as a steady breath and an increasingly prominent room tone swamps the phrase. Fragmented echoes begin to crowd the short line, until one can hardly distinguish the voice from the echoes. The piece bears an uncanny resemblance to Robert Ashley's She Was a Visitor, so much so that it could act as Ferrari's response to that piece in mirrored form.

Unheimlich Schön

Terry Fox - Insalata Mista cs (Edition S Press, 1982)

Sadly lacking a cover for this one, but this candid shot will surely suffice. My original plan was to share this last Thursday, as it marked one year since Mr. Fox's passing. Having missed that deadline, I see no better time than the present.

The material here gives a fine view of Fox on the run in the 1970's, as his interest in the sonic nature of spaces was just in bloom. It begins with a duet with Joseph Bueys for pipe and glass, the closing of an hour long performance where the pipe is rapped upon and aimed at windows, its echo then used to find dead spots in the panes. Once found, the pane is then broken, continuing until all panes are shattered.

Numerous samplings of Fox's long string works are featured, from springy pieces to the dense timbrel exercises most common to long string investigations. More surprising are the anomalies, like the excerpt from Fox's 1977 piece "Culvert", a warbled head scratcher if ever there was one. Another highlight is "Lunar Rambles", an audio snippet from a five part video series wherein Fox arrived unannounced at various locations in downtown NYC and conducted a brief performance on a bowed steel disc and a metal bowl.

Insalata Mista

While on the subject of film, the fine folks at Ubu recently posted the following early video work by Fox, Children's Tapes, a tight framed series of simple household experiments set on a table top.