kosmische musik

thinking about various kosmische musik recordings while listening to the wonderful new matt shoemaker album soundtrack for dislocation (elevator bath - 2010) *

- agitation free - malesch - vertigo - 1972

- amon düül II - phallus dei - liberty - 1969
- amon düül II - yeti - liberty - 1970

- ash ra tempel - ash ra tempel - ohr - 1971
- ash ra tempel - schwingungen - ohr - 1972
- ash ra tempel - seven up - ohr die kosmische kuriere - 1973
- ash ra tempel w/ klaus schulze - join inn - ohr - 1973
- ash ra tempel - starring rosi - ohr - 1973
- ash ra tempel (manuel göttsching) - inventions for electric guitar - ohr - 1974
- ash ra tempel - salle wagrem, paris, december 6, 1974

- can - delay...1968 - spoon records - 1968/1981
- can - monster movie - liberty records - 1969
- can - soundtracks - liberty records - 1970
- can - tago mago - united artists - 1971
- can - ogam ogat - 1971 (recorded in 1971 at inner space studios during the tago mago sessions)
- can - ege bamyasi - united artists - 1972
- can - future days - united artists - 1973
- can - paris 1973 - 1973
- can - the peel sessions 73-76 - strange fruit - 1995

- cluster - cluster - philips - 1971
- cluster - cluster ii - brain - 1972
- cluster - zuckerzeit - brain - 1974
- cluster - sowiesoso - sky records - 1976
- cluster & eno - cluster & eno - sky records - 1977
- eno moebius roedelius - after the heat - sky records - 1978

- the cosmic jokers - the cosmic jokers - kosmische musik - 1974

- holger czukay - canaxis - privately released - 1969/ revisited records - 2006

- deutscher wertarbeit - deutscher wertarbeit - sky records - 1981

- dzyan - electric silence - bellaphon records - 1974

- edgar froese - aqua - brain - 1974
- edgar froese - epsilon in malaysian pale - virgin - 1975

- tony conrad with faust - outside the dream syndicate - caroline - 1973/table of the elements - 1993
- faust - faust iv - virgin - 1973

- harmonia - musik von harmonia - brain - 1974
- harmonia - deluxe - brain - 1975
- harmonia 76 w/ brian eno - tracks and traces reissue - rykodisc/gronland - 1976/2009

- kluster (conrad schnitzler , dieter moebius , hans-joachim roedelius) - zwei-osterei - schwann - 1971
- kluster - klopfzeichen - schwann - 1971

- kraftwerk - kraftwerk 1 - philips - 1970
- kraftwerk - live on radio bremen - 1971
- kraftwerk - kraftwerk 2 - philips - 1972
- kraftwerk - ralf und florian - philips - 1973
- kraftwerk - autobahn - philips - 1974
- kraftwerk - forum leverkusen germany 04, 22 1974
- kraftwerk - radio-activity - kling klang/emi/capitol - 1975
- kraftwerk - trans-europe express - kling klang/emi/capitol - 1977
- kraftwerk - the man machine - kling klang/emi/capitol - 1978

- neu! - neu! - brain - 1972
- neu! - neu! 2 - brain - 1973
- neu! - neu! '75 - brain - 1975

- popol vuh - affenstunde - liberty - 1970
- popol vuh - in den gärten pharaos - pilz - 1972
- popol vuh - hosianna mantra - pilz - 1972
- popol vuh - seligpreisung - kosmische musik - 1973
- popol vuh - einsjäger & siebenjäger - kosmische musik - 1974
- popol vuh - das hohelied salomos - united artists - 1975
- popol vuh - aguirre - ohr - 1976
- popol vuh - letzte tage - letzte nächte - united artists - 1976
- popol vuh - herz aus glas - brain - 1977
- popol vuh - nosferatu: the vampyre - egg - 1978
- popol vuh - sei still, wisse ich bin - innovative communication - 1981
- popol vuh - fitzcarraldo - spv recordings - 1982/2005
- popol vuh - perlenklänge - the best of popol vuh - ohr - 1992

- sand - ultrasonic seraphim - united durtro - 1996

- conrad schnitzler - zug (re-release of the self released red cassette from 1973)
- conrad schnitzler - rot - schnitzler private pressing - 1973
- conrad schnitzler - blau - schnitzler private pressing - 1974
- conrad schnitzler - 12 stucke aus dem jahr (gelb) - edition block - 1974/1981
(reissue of the private tape release the black cassette from 1974)
- conrad schnitzler - con - paragon records - 1978
- conrad schnitzler & gregor schnitzler- conrad & sohn - schnitzler private pressing - 1981
- conrad schnitzler & michael otto - micon in italia - adn - 1986

- klaus schulze - irrlicht - ohr - 1972
- klaus schulze - cyborg - ohr - 1973

- tangerine dream - essen grugahalle, germany 29th september 1968
- tangerine dream - electronic meditation (w/ edgar froese, klaus schulze, conrad schnitzler) - ohr - 1970
- tangerine dream - frankfurt goethe university 19 june 1971
- tangerine dream - ossiach world music festival, austria 25th june 1971
- tangerine dream - alpha centauri - ohr - 1971
- tangerine dream - live cologne germany 1972
- tangerine dream - zeit - ohr - 1972
- tangerine dream - klangwald cologne wdr sendesaal germany 25th november 1972
- tangerine dream - atem - ohr - 1973
- tangerine dream - phaedra - virgin records - 1974
- tangerine dream - sheffield city hall, england 29th october 1974
- tangerine dream - reims cathedrale, france 13th december, 1974
- tangerine dream - rubycon - virgin records - 1975

*****

- matt shoemaker - groundless - trente oiseaux - 2000
- matt shoemaker - warung elusion - trente oiseaux - 2001
- matt shoemaker - forking path navigator - oblast - 2005
- matt shoemaker - spots in the sun - helen scarsdale agency - 2007
- matt shoemaker - mutable depths - ferns recordings - 2008
- matt shoemaker & dave knott (omake & johnson) - headiferous unctabulum - human faculties - 2008
- matt shoemaker - erosion of the analogous eye - helen scarsdale agency - 2009
- matt shoemaker - the sunken plethora consumes all - mystery sea - 2009
- matt shoemaker - wayward set - human faculties - 2009
- matt shoemaker - tropical amnesia one - ferns recordings - 2010
- matt shoemaker - isolated agent / stranding behavior - elevator bath - 2010
- omake & johnson - every room has a grotto - human faculties - 2010
- matt shoemaker - soundtrack for dislocation - elevator bath - 2010

books
- krautrock: cosmic rock and its legacy - black dog publishing - 2009

thanks to colin, matt and ingenting kollektiva for help with the list

suspended far up in the sky (distant melodies)

eeaoa033 *

eeaoa031 *

we stood there, listening attentively together. at first i heard only the deep note of the water and the hissings rising from its turbulent surface. the willows, for once, were motionless and silent. then a sound like the humming of a distant gong. it seemed to come across to us in the darkness from the waste of swamps and willows opposite. it was repeated at regular intervals, but it was certainly neither the sound of a bell nor the hooting of a distant steamer. i can liken it to nothing so much as to the sound of an immense gong, suspended far up in the sky, repeating incessantly its muffled metallic note, soft and musical, as it was repeatedly struck. my heart quickened as i listened.

text from the willows, images from 2 new elevator bath recordings, one by keith berry and the other by matt shoemaker, both containing ancient sounds that "seem to increase with the darkness".

cloud erosion

covers of erosion of the analogous eye by matt shoemaker
design by jim haynes

(recent drones floating in and around the art of memory)

- alio die - khen introduce silence - hic sunt leones - 2003
- alio die & werner durand - aqua planing - hic sunt leones - 2005
- alio die - aura seminalis - hic sunt leones - 2008
- alio die & aglaia - private history of the clouds - infraction - 2009
- william basinski - 92982 - 2062 - 2009
- aurélie brouet & constantin dubois - a.o.i. the odomez diary - nothing out there - 2009
- alvin curran - lost marbles - tzadik - 2004
- yannick dauby & wan-shuen tsai & christophe havard - village, vestige - le collombier - 2009
- gareth davis & steven r. smith - westering - important records - 2009


- stuart dempster - on the boards - anomalous records - 1986/2001
- taylor deupree - weather and worn - 12k - 2009
- dropp ensemble - safety - either/oar - 2009
- werner durand - the art of buzzing (excuse the delay vol. 1) - x-tract - 2004
- ambrose field & john potter - being dufay - ecm - 2009
- kiln - thermals - infraction - 2001/2005
- saito koji - beautiful - sem - 2009
- ingram marshall - fog tropes, gradual requiem, gambuh 1 - new albion - 1984
- ingram marshall - alacatraz - new albion - 1991
- michael northam - suhina - drone records - 2009
- nils økland - monograph - ecm - 2009
- giacinto scelsi - the works for double bass (robert black) - mode - 2007
- matt shoemaker - erosion of the analogous eye - helen scarsdale agency - 2009


- richard skelton (a broken consort) - box of birch - tompkins square - 2009
- richard skelton (a broken consort) - crow autumn part two - sustain-release - 2009
- richard skelton (carousell) - black swallow & other songs - sustain-release - 2009
- tamaru - figure - trumn - 2009
- yoshi wada - earth horns with electronic drone - emega point records - 1974/2009
- jozef van wissem - it is all that is made - important- 2009

chris welsby, victor erice and other new items

1. the films/videos of chris welsby.
included in the amazing new bfi release of 8 films by chris welsby.

a great new dvd of the work of the british film-maker chris welsby. welsby in many ways comes out of the tradition of "structuralist" (p. adams sitney) film-makers and his work is related to artists like leighton pierce, jj murphy, marc lapore, andrew noren, peter hutton, rose lowder, michael snow, ernie gehr, hollis frampton, daniel barnett, larry gottheim, ken jacobs, malcolm le grice, thomas koner, mary lucier, jürgen reble, andy warhol, fred worden, tony conrad, paul sharits, joyce weiland and others.





"in my work the mechanics of film and video interact with the landscape in such a way that elemental processes - such as changes in light, the rise and fall of the tide or changes in wind direction - are given the space and time to participate in the process of representation. the resulting sequences of images make it possible to envisage a relationship between technology and nature based on principals other than exploitation and domination." chris welsby

because welsby makes "weather films" (as he calls them), they follow one of the structuralist film tendencies of being without people. however people end up creeping into the films in startling ways, like a jogger in wind vane, or the shadow of the cameraman in seven days. these events (like the ones in michael snow's wavelength and back and forth) give the work a sort of abstract narrative, that has no explanation, but still evokes some sort of plot.

films, videos and installations:
-tree studies, 2006
-trees in winter, 2006
-windmill, 2005
-waterfall, 2004
-changing light, 2004
-at sea, 2003
-tide line (contained), 2002
-drift, 2002
-tide line, 2000
-lost lake, 1998
-drift, 1994
-sea pictures, 1992
-rainfall, 1990
-sky light, 1988
-rainfall, 1983
-estuary, 1980
-shore line II, 1979
-sea/shore, 1979
-wind vane III, 1978
-cloud fragments, 1978
-shore line, 1977
-stream line, 1976
-wind vane, II, 1975
-colour separation, 1975
-windmill III, 1974
-seven days, 1974
-anemometer, 1974
-tree, 1974
-fforest bay, 1973
-running film, 1973
-windmill II, 1973
-park film, 1972-73
-winter and summer, 1972-73
-river yar (with willian raban), 1972
-wind vane, 1972

books:
-the garden in the machine: a field guide to independent films about place, by scott macdonald, univ. of california press
-landscape, natural beauty, and the arts, cambridge university press (with an essay by p. adams sitney)
-experimental film and video anthology, indiana university press (with an essay by chris welsby)
-chris welsby - films/photographs/writings, arts council of great britain
-abstract film and beyond, by malcolm le grice, studio vista
-afterimage 1976 (with st. george in the forest: the english avant-garde, by deke dusinberre)
-millennium film journal fall/winter 1986–1987

more info here and here.





2. also noteworthy is the release of the spirit of the beehive by victor erice, 1973.

one can also view this film as coming from the same tradition as the list above, and adding such directors as jacques tati, jean-pierre melville, robert bresson, chantal ackerman, andrei tarkovsky, bela tarr, otar ioselliani, michelangelo antonioni, ingmar bergman and others. these films share an interest in formal elements (among other things). one sees this in erice's use of muted colors, long takes, formal camera movements (like the shot of the character teresa bringing her mail to the train, not unlike the opening shot of tarr's satantango), stark landscape photography and abstracted sound.

other formal elements like the structure of a film within a film relate to the great novels of cervantes, borges, eco, etc. that use the book within a book.

the visual language of erice's film makes reference to the great dutch painters like johannes vermeer (image below) (mentioned in the footprints of a spirit a documentary on victor erice), rembrandt and peter de hooch, and also the netherlandish painters jan van eyck, petrus christus, and hans memling. the visual style and palletes of these painters is very apparent in this film, especially erice's photography of interiors. in fact much renaissance painting can be seen in this film, in the near monochromatic work and muted tones of antonello da messina (image below), titian, piero della francesca, and leonardo da vinci. many paintings are in fact seen in the film, one treated in a similiar way that tarkovsky did in solaris and andrei rublev. it makes sense that his other great film the dream of light / quince tree of the sun from 1992, deals with the painter antonio lópez garcía.







select filmography:
-la morte rouge, 2006
-the dream of light / quince tree of the sun, 1992
-el sur, 1983
-the spirit of the beehive, 1973
books:
-the cinema of victor erice: an open window, by linda ehrlich, the scarecrow press


other items equally interesting and not unrelated:

3. powell & pressburger's the 49th parallel

always one of my favourite of their films (including also the red shoes, i know where i'm going, and black narcissus).
"a compelling piece of anti-isolationist propaganda and a quick-witted wartime thriller".
this film seems proof that a minor work is sometimes more interesting than a "perfect" work.



4. cherry beach project, silo 11.
a new "night-ocean drone" from mystery sea.

cherry beach project is a canadian duo (joda clement and nigel craig). recorded in a silo in an abandoned peninsula in toronto.


5. matt shoemaker, spots on the sun.
limited edition disc from the helen scarsdale agency, packaged in corroded brass done by jim haynes, not unlike the oxidation paintings of andy warhol.

"shoemaker works in monochrome, shaping his gray tonalities into rhizomes of shadow which occasionally erupt in brilliance of hyper-realized clarity. while the familiar sounds of encircling birds, turbulent weather, and temple bells litter shoemaker's recordings, the sonic topography describes a vulgar and hostile landscape where fits of delirium and circadian arrhythmia are common human responses. shoemaker achieves these complex metaphors through labyrinthine drones spiralling through irradiated fog and glassine vibrations, punctured by the scars of a landscape in perpetual revolt" helen scarsdale

6. richard chartier, current.
3" fan disc from room40.

a work that is on the threshold in perceptibility, yet lush and sonic.
"on current, his latest work to be released in conjunction with his performances in australia and japan in late 2006, chartier offers a multilayered sound field. shimmering high tones filter amid a clouded layer of dense audio mist – across the 20 minutes, he creates a potent journey through crisp yet warm sound textures, metered pulses and spacious stereo field.
the piece is thematically linked to the idea of travel by airplane - the disassociation of time and location – air currents above and the oceanic currents below." room40