Experimental Work of the Month - Vote Here

cornbb

Ok, we're gonna try to get regular threads going. Every week you can propose a work (a piece, an album, whatever you want to call it) or cast your vote for a previously nominated piece. Every week (Sunday evening, if I can) I'll tally the votes and start a thread on the piece in question. If your nominated piece didn't make the cut, you can propose it again.

Because the music in this thread is a niche area and traffic around here is generally slow enough, lets make the threads as informative and helpful as possible. If there are any lurkers reading the forum, you are more than welcome to join in It would also help if someone familiar with the work could go to the trouble of writing a short introduction, with youtube clips or audio samples if possible, to get the ball rolling.

So without further ado, Experimental Work of the Week #1 is Terry Riley's "In C"

Edit - this is now a monthly thing

John

Nice idea

I'm going to suggest something old, Erik Satie's Vexations. His infamous 18 hour piano piece.

cornbb

John wrote: »

Nice idea

I'm going to suggest something old, Erik Satie's Vexations. His infamous 18 hour piano piece.

And the winner, with one vote, is Vexations

markw999

My favourite band at the moment is a London band called Baraclough. They have a myspace (myspace.com/baraclough) and a website (www.baraclough.co.uk). They've a few tracks on the myspace but recently they did an HOUR long session for ILL FM (www.illfm.net) and it's fab. They are described as "experimental" and an "elastic three piece". Shades of TG, but better than TG at times, and other bands but I love it. I love it. Hence the vote.

The session for ILL FM can be legally downloaded and/or streamed at www.illfm.net and is under the archives section.

So yes, that's my vote

ogy

Just listening to Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich and thought I would suggest it as its quite brilliant!:)

cornbb

ogy wrote: »

Just listening to Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich and thought I would suggest it as its quite brilliant!:)

I'll add my vote to that, thats an amazing piece

JC 2K3

I haven't read/posted in this forum for a while.

I vote for the album "94 Diskont" by Oval.

It's just brilliant...

nlgbbbblth

Belbury Poly - The Owl's Map.

Ghost Box is an amazing label.

http://www.ghostbox.co.uk

thusspakeblixa

ogy wrote: »

Just listening to Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich and thought I would suggest it as its quite brilliant!:)

+1

cornbb

Seeing as it's been over a month, I'll start a new thread on Music For 18 Musicians in the morning.

cornbb

For next month I'm going to vote for Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Work vol II as we were discussing it recently. (Remember that ye are free to vote for previous nominations that didn't make the cut. But ye should vote for Aphex Twin )

cornbb

Any more votes for next month's selection? We've only had one vote so far. I'll be posting it in a few days so get yer choices in!

JC 2K3

Again, "94 Diskont" by Oval.

Setun

I'm going to throw Kontakte out there, by Stockhausen.

Scubadevils

I'm going to go with Aphex Twin too, mainly because it was one of the first electronic albums I bought back then. The other around the same time was 'Surfing on Sine Waves' - both very special albums in my music collection and scary to think I have them since '94 - 14 years! :eek: Time really does fly.

But I do agree also with Oval so that gets my vote for the following month - this album actually took a couple of listens to click at first but soon did.

Oh and 'Sheet One' by Plastikman for the month after

http://www.discogs.com/release/2256

Minimal acid techno brilliance with a cool acid tabs sleeve :pac:

cornbb

Aphex Twin wins the day this month.

I'll vote for 94 Diskont for next month...

thusspakeblixa

Daddio wrote: »

I'm going to throw Kontakte out there, by Stockhausen.

+1 :pac:

macinalli

Think I'll rock the boat and go for something that's not electronic. I'll go for '6' by Supersilent

cavedave

How about Nude by Radiohead
http://www.radioheadremix.com/information/

They have made the different instrument tracks available so you can produce your own version of it. Experimental in the sense you can make it into whatever you want to.

JC 2K3

94 Diskont again.

Alice Junge

squarepushers-normal/hard daddy :):):):):):):):):)

cornbb

Alice Junge wrote: »

squarepushers-normal/hard daddy :):):):):):):):):)

I freakin' love that album

Scubadevils

Alice Junge wrote: »

squarepushers-normal/hard daddy :):):):):):):):):)

Haven't got this yet, must invest :pac:

cornbb

94 Diskont is leading with 2 votes... around a week left to get yer nominations in!

Scubadevils

I may be alone with this one but I would recommend that folks check it out at some stage -

Deepchord Presents Echospace - The Coldest Season
http://www.discogs.com/release/1232865

I only got this a few weeks ago and genuinely it is now one of my favourite CD's for unwinding. The sound just drags you in and demands that you listen from start to finish. An absolutely stunning album that I put forward for work of the month at some stage!

After four sellout twelves and a barrage of critical acclaim - Deepchord's full length Echospace excursion "The Coldest Season" is at long last available on CD and Download - featuring material not featured on the EP's and different versions of familiar tracks - all expertly blended and mastered by Rod Modell for your enjoyment. Produced using nothing but vintage analog equipment : Roland Space Echo, Echoplex, Korg tape delay, vintage signal processors, noise generators, Sequential Circuits 8 bit samplers & numerous analog synthesizers - this project goes back to the heady days of Berlin-based proto dub/techno variations, recorded and produced in Detroit and Chicago. Three of the worlds most important Techno cities colliding to form a whole that perfectly bridges the gap between The Motor City's emotive arrangements, The Windy city's percussive robustness, and Berlin's life-altering Basic Channel continuum. Listened to in one sitting, "The Coldest Season" chooses a different arrangement and track selection to slowly build up momentum and space - taking in the muted steppers reduction of "Abraxas" and the icy soundscaping of "Ocean Of Emptiness" before reaching a crescendo of sorts with the radiant techno of "Elysian" and the majestic dub killer "Empyrean" - the most revered track on board bringing this 80 minute album to a perfect close. Where Echospace go from here only time will tell - but for the moment "The Coldest Season" is a perfect distillation of dub techno and BASS reductions for 2007 and beyond. ESSENTIAL PURCHASE!
http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=37153

cornbb

Sorry I was late with this but 94 Diskont is this month's chosen piece.

Just to clarify a few quick points that have come up:
- Although you may nominate a work that has been nominated and hasn't won previously, voting starts from zero again each month
- Yes, it is totally fine to bump old Work Of The Month threads for discussion.

Scubadevils

Tis gone all quiet in experimental? How about this for future 'works of the month' - if you don't already own what has been nominated for work of the month, you go and buy it! I'm always keen to hear new music so would possibly stretch to one album of this nature per month

Also, as an OT point. I know this forum needs to be called 'Experimental' but I feel it probably doesn't get the traffic it deserves as a lot may not class what is deemed experimental to be so. How is that resolved? Haven't a clue! :pac:

cornbb

Yeah, its a shame its so quiet around here lately.

I have gone out and bought albums as a result of recommendations from this forum actually (not this thread though) and hopefully other people will find the place to be a good place to discover new experimental music.

The "Experimental" label is a bit open to interpretation I suppose. Different people would have a different opinion of what constitutes "Experimental" music. Its a nice little niche of boards to be involved in, its just a pity its so damn quiet recently. Any idea how we could attract traffic without dumbing the place down?

Scubadevils

cornbb wrote: »

Yeah, its a shame its so quiet around here lately.

I have gone out and bought albums as a result of recommendations from this forum actually (not this thread though) and hopefully other people will find the place to be a good place to discover new experimental music.

The "Experimental" label is a bit open to interpretation I suppose. Different people would have a different opinion of what constitutes "Experimental" music. Its a nice little niche of boards to be involved in, its just a pity its so damn quiet recently. Any idea how we could attract traffic without dumbing the place down?

Not this thread, shame on you! :pac: Seriously though, that Echospace album I waffled on about is essential listening - that one album has me hunting down lots more like it now from other artists and labels; and also has me buying vinyl again... expensive habit to get back into! I did actually buy Steve Reich (Phases) as a result of here alright.

I think different people would definitely have differing opinions as to what could be deemed experimental. I had never even looked at this section of boards until one day I happened to see a recent post on the boards front page which was in the Autechre thread - that got my interest so I then started posting here. I often see posts relating to Aphex Twin, Amon Tobin etc in the general music section too so people from there would most likely find music here too. I would imagine there are a few also in the dance/electronic forum who could cross over to here if they knew more about it.

In terms of how we could get more traffic/momentum here, I would suggest the following to start with...

Lets select every couple of weeks/months a particular element of experimental music. So say we went first for IDM, start a thread that deals with IDM and discuss the best albums, producers, history, youtube links, recommendations, new/unknown/myspace producers etc.... make sure to really cover a lot of aspects that can be contributed to ongoing. It should end up almost like a blog that can be built upon all the time... I mention IDM purely because it's one of my favourites but we can deal with lots of genres of experimental and build a good resource for people to read and contribute to. The question here though is, is IDM actually experimental?!

I think when dealing with more unusual or diverse genres of music you really have to delve further to keep interest and also to get the message across about the particular style of music or artist.

Tired after that post :pac:

owlwink

The Young Man Chorus seem quite random.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=5gMWS-QcEw4

cornbb

Felixdhc wrote: »

Not this thread, shame on you! :pac: Seriously though, that Echospace album I waffled on about is essential listening - that one album has me hunting down lots more like it now from other artists and labels; and also has me buying vinyl again... expensive habit to get back into! I did actually buy Steve Reich (Phases) as a result of here alright.

I think different people would definitely have differing opinions as to what could be deemed experimental. I had never even looked at this section of boards until one day I happened to see a recent post on the boards front page which was in the Autechre thread - that got my interest so I then started posting here. I often see posts relating to Aphex Twin, Amon Tobin etc in the general music section too so people from there would most likely find music here too. I would imagine there are a few also in the dance/electronic forum who could cross over to here if they knew more about it.

In terms of how we could get more traffic/momentum here, I would suggest the following to start with...

Lets select every couple of weeks/months a particular element of experimental music. So say we went first for IDM, start a thread that deals with IDM and discuss the best albums, producers, history, youtube links, recommendations, new/unknown/myspace producers etc.... make sure to really cover a lot of aspects that can be contributed to ongoing. It should end up almost like a blog that can be built upon all the time... I mention IDM purely because it's one of my favourites but we can deal with lots of genres of experimental and build a good resource for people to read and contribute to. The question here though is, is IDM actually experimental?!

I think when dealing with more unusual or diverse genres of music you really have to delve further to keep interest and also to get the message across about the particular style of music or artist.

Tired after that post :pac:

Regarding whether or not IDM is experimental, I think it is not inherently experimental but tends to produce more experimental music than most genres. If you know what I mean. I think the advent of IDM in itself was a great leap for music, it threw a whole load of new techniques and ideas out there. These drew inspiration from both mainstream electronic music and from an impressive stable of 20th century "art" music - from minimalism to musique concréte and everything in between. So IDM certainly has roots in bone-fide avant garde music. But new techniques and ideas are only experimental for as long as they are new. So while IDM still produces great new experimental ideas, it is not necessarily all experimental.

As for the idea of starting threads on certain genres and using them as a springboard for finding new music, I'm all for it. Its important to remember that all of the content on these forums is user-driven, however, so the forum will only continue to thrive for as long as people contribute. I started these "Work of the Month" threads to nudge things along, I think that they have helped to a certain extent but things will only continue to move along while people contribute new and diverse ideas. The bottom line is, if you want to see a discussion on any aspect of experimental music, start one! I have a feeling there are a good few regular lurkers on the forum, so that message is especially directed towards you guys :pac:

Listening to some of Echospace's stuff on their MySpace* page and I'm liking it, reminds me of Basic Channel...

*Someone put MySpace out of its misery please, I hate that goddamn website so much...

Scubadevils

cornbb wrote: »

Regarding whether or not IDM is experimental, I think it is not inherently experimental but tends to produce more experimental music than most genres. If you know what I mean. I think the advent of IDM in itself was a great leap for music, it threw a whole load of new techniques and ideas out there. These drew inspiration from both mainstream electronic music and from an impressive stable of 20th century "art" music - from minimalism to musique concréte and everything in between. So IDM certainly has roots in bone-fide avant garde music. But new techniques and ideas are only experimental for as long as they are new. So while IDM still produces great new experimental ideas, it is not necessarily all experimental.

As for the idea of starting threads on certain genres and using them as a springboard for finding new music, I'm all for it. Its important to remember that all of the content on these forums is user-driven, however, so the forum will only continue to thrive for as long as people contribute. I started these "Work of the Month" threads to nudge things along, I think that they have helped to a certain extent but things will only continue to move along while people contribute new and diverse ideas. The bottom line is, if you want to see a discussion on any aspect of experimental music, start one! I have a feeling there are a good few regular lurkers on the forum, so that message is especially directed towards you guys :pac:

Listening to some of Echospace's stuff on their MySpace* page and I'm liking it, reminds me of Basic Channel...

*Someone put MySpace out of its misery please, I hate that goddamn website so much...

Yeah that's true regarding IDM I suppose and it's place in experimental, it still remains quite a niche music genre too.

I will start something for an IDM thread soon, will get working on it I would nearly write a book on The Black Dog at the moment, I am totally obsessed with their music at present, absolutely amazing... and any other links from members be it Plaid or Balil. I have had the Plaid 'Trainer' CD on repeat in the car for the last week, it really is brilliant.

Regarding that Echospace/Deepchord album, ideally it needs to be heard as a complete piece without interruption, get it and you will know what I mean But anything right now by Deepchord or on the Modern Love label is well worth a listen... the new wave of Dub Techno right now is simply amazing. Also check out the Styrax label. Lots more but these are good starting points if you like dub techno.

http://www.discogs.com/label/Modern+Love

http://www.discogs.com/label/Styrax+Leaves

http://www.discogs.com/label/Styrax+Records

CeluiDuDehors

Hi there, i'm new here, i wanted to vote for "La legende d'Eer" by Iannis Xenakis...do you like great composition? Do you like noise? That's a noise symphony, ENJOY!

jiltloop

no posts at all in june on this thread?? can't let that happen in july so i'm gonna suggest the album "tango'n'vective" by mu-ziq one of my fav artists alongside aphex twin and squarepusher oh and luke vibert.
that album really got me into electronic music and it still sounds very different from anything i've heard since (except for mu-ziq's later albums of course). it sounds really well conceived, almost as if the some of the songs were composed in a classic form rather than built from deviating loops

Scubadevils

Yeah it's a great album, must dig it out for a revisit. I only got the reissue a couple of years ago with the 2nd disc which is really excellent. Stand out track on the original album probably Phi*1700 (U/V). For anyone not familiar with the track -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPgFHHzQ86c

Love that tune!

http://www.discogs.com/release/32074

jiltloop

Felixdhc wrote: »

Yeah it's a great album, must dig it out for a revisit. I only got the reissue a couple of years ago with the 2nd disc which is really excellent. Stand out track on the original album probably Phi*1700 (U/V). For anyone not familiar with the track -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPgFHHzQ86c

Love that tune!

http://www.discogs.com/release/32074

Yes! thats my fav track on the album, got the 2 cd reissue too and that track is actually extended in the reissue and is much better, the lovely warm xlyophone type sample goes on a kinda solo trip for the last few minutes, hmmm sublime

cavedave

"Forget about this," she says, "it's for interest only."

Anyone know where to get this Delia Derbyshire dance track from 1969?

John

No, the streaming wouldn't work for me earlier

Hopefully these items will be given a release in a nice tasty box. Delia.

Setun

Pity the work of the month threads haven't been busier (but I suppose I'm partly to blame for that, having not posted in them alot :rolleyes: But if they do get going again I'd like to recommend I Am Sitting In a Room by Alvin Lucier.

Anyone else familiar with the work?

Alvin Lucier's I am sitting in a room (1969) is an electroacoustic classic. The work, which questions the distinctions between speech and music, is conceptually rich, sonically beautiful, and is achieved with an extraordinary economy of means. The score begins: "choose a room the musical qualities of which you would like to evoke." A text is then read and recorded in that room; the recording is played back through a loudspeaker, and the playback itself recorded; and the cycle of playback and recording is continued through a variable number of generations.

As the text is repeated over and over into the room, the acoustic properties of the room assert themselves. Echoes elongate and smear the speech, and the resonances of the room enhance some of the frequencies present, while others are eliminated. Gradually, the speech is transformed into music: the text becomes a complex weave of pitches, based upon the intersections of the recorded voice and the resonant frequencies of the room.

link

John

That's actually one of my favourite pieces of the 20th century. Such a simple but mindblowing idea, it gets my vote (and hopefully gets the work of the month back).

cornbb

My apologies for not updating work of the "month" for a very long time, I've been away for a while and I've been pretty busy. "I am sitting in a room" will get my vote too, I'll start a new thread ASAP.

If I fail to provide updates for a while again, you guys feel free to start new Work of the Month threads yourselves and myself or John will provide the stickyness.

Edit: Work #6, "I Am Sitting In A Room"

John

cornbb wrote: »

My apologies for not updating work of the "month" for a very long time, I've been away for a while and I've been pretty busy. "I am sitting in a room" will get my vote too, I'll start a new thread ASAP.

If I fail to provide updates for a while again, you guys feel free to start new Work of the Month threads yourselves and myself or John will provide the stickyness.

Edit: Work #6, "I Am Sitting In A Room"

I like to let you do the work because you do it with more flair

le_tigre

Have you lot seen Bernard Parmegiani's L'Oeuvre Musicale, a twelve-CD boxed set compiling most of his acousmatic and electro-acoustic catalogue? It's the release of the year, IMHO.

John

No I haven't, I only know his De Natura Sonorum (and even then only part of it). Strangely I was looking for more info on him but couldn't really find much. What label has released that box and any links?

le_tigre

O, man, you are in for a treat. Here's a taste of the Boomkat hype machine:

http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=118588

I already owned about half of this and still consider it a great deal. You can buy it from INA-GRM and probably elsewhere cheaper, though.

http://www.ina.fr/actualites/boutique/disques.html?pdt=1585

John

le_tigre wrote: »

can buy it from INA-GRM and probably elsewhere cheaper, though.

€40 for 12 CDs is still pretty amazing though! I'll be buying this for sure once my wages come through.

le_tigre

You'll thank me, boss.

John

I'm going to thank you in advance!

c_o_ck p_i_ss chillage

My nomination for work of the month is BIOSPHERE & Higher Intelligence Agency: "POLAR SEQUENCES".
Having played many excerpts from it on the show (The Chillage Idiots, Xfm) over the years and its one of my personal favourites and has been quite sought after hence its re-release. It was also cool to hear two of my favourite artists collaborate on quite a unique idea.


Some samples here:

Snapshot survey: http://www.ambient-music.com/mp3s/biospherepolar2.mp3

Corona: http://www.ambient-music.com/mp3s/biospherepolar5.mp3

Thanks,
P

You can purchase from link below:

http://www.biosphere.no/headphone.html

BIOSPHERE & HIA: POLAR SEQUENCES
Headphone Records (UK) is pleased to announce the long awaited re-release of the first HIA/Biosphere live collaboration Polar Sequences, first released in 1996 as a limited edition on Beyond Records it rapidly sold out and has been unavailable for many years. Critically acclaimed and voted as one of the best all time ambient releases by fans at Hyperreal.org, Polar Sequences stands out from other releases in this genre in being taken from one unedited live performance.
Kieran Wyatt, Muzik Magazine:"Recorded live at the 1995 Polar Music Festival up in the wilds of Norway, Polar Sequences is the sound of what must have been one hell of a gig. At a mountain site accessible only by cable cars and caught in a violent snowstorm in darkest midwinter, Biosphere´s Geir Jenssen and Higher Intelligence Agency´s Bobby Bird sampled glacial streams and snowfalls to use in a hyper-intense electronic jam. Jenssen´s arctic moods and Bird´s keen ear for understated melodies are to the fore. A dark and minimalist composition, it will no doubt prompt comparisons with the baroque dronescapes of Dr. Atmo and Fax boss Pete Namlook, but drawing a parallel with guitar-wielding isolationists like Main, Loop and Seefeel is probably even closer to the mark. There are plenty of brooding industrial undertones, partly as a result of sampling the clink and clank of the cable cars which transported the audience to the show. If you could record God´s brainwaves, the result would sound not unlike Polar Sequences. Chilling to the (ice)core."

cornbb

I'm going to nominate John Cage's "Imaginary Landscapes" for next month.

Scubadevils

c_o_ck p_i_ss chillage wrote: »

My nomination for work of the month is BIOSPHERE & Higher Intelligence Agency: "POLAR SEQUENCES".
"

Yeah I would definitely second this nomination, spectacular album. Only got this a few weeks ago on Amazon and it really is amazing... as you would expect from a collaboration like that.