The Michael Gordon Philharmonic ‎– The Michael Gordon Philharmonic (1987, LP, Usa)

Tracklist:

A1. Strange Quiet (13:31)

Bass Clarinet – Evan Ziporyn

Clarinet – Evan Ziporyn

Engineer – David Avidor

Guitar – Bob Loughlin

Keyboards – Michael Gordon

Percussion – Michael Pugliese

Producer – Steve Cellum

Viola – John Lad

Violin – Ted Kuhn

A2. Acid Rain (7:42)

Cello – Rohan de Saram

Clarinet – David Campbell

Conductor – Guy Protheroe

Double Bass – Roger Dean

Flute – Philippa Davies

Keyboards – Yvar Mikhashoff

Recorded By – Aaron Heller

Viola – Levine Andrade

Violin – Miranda Fulleylove

 

B. Thou Shalt! / Thou Shalt Not! (18:09)

Bass Clarinet – Evan Ziporyn

Clarinet – Evan Ziporyn

Engineer – Eric Liljestrand

Guitar – Jon Fields

Keyboards – Michael Gordon

Percussion – Michael Pugliese

Viola – John Lad

Violin – Ted Kuhn

Michael Gordon is a founding member of Bang on a Can, and also has a few albums under his name. This is the only LP, that I'm aware of, under the Michael Gordon Philharmonic moniker. It's also his first LP. This is the pure definition of what we now call Avant Progressive or what we used to call RIO influenced chamber rock. Gordon is the keyboardist, and you can tell his fondness / training for minimalism. The Philharmonic part is the classically oriented music, but there's a rock backbone, thus pushing the album into our scope. Recommended for fans of The Alain Eckert Quartet, Wittox O'Hara and Chris Lemon. Neat WPA era artwork.

Alessandro Alessandroni ‎– Angoscia (1975, LP, Italy)

Originally released in 1975 by Italian label Octopus Records, a label devoted to thematic libraries, Angoscia is one of the best works by Italian composer Alessandro Alessandroni. Famous for his film-score work - often with such masters as Piero Umiliani and Ennio Morricone, with whom he collaborated to create some truly immortal soundtracks (especially those written for Sergio Leone) Alessandroni also developed a parallel career as an author of library music, freely crossing and touching every music genre. Alone, or together with friends and pupils like Rino de Filippi (aka Gisteri) and Giuliano Sorgini (aka Raskovich), he always managed to push the boundaries of experimentation, but with great taste and personality, never giving up on the majestic orchestrations characteristic of his art. Angoscia, released when Alessandroni was at his creative peak, features 12 tracks revolving around the album's core theme of angoscia, or anguish; the pieces move through dismay, desperation, uncertainty, pride, resignation, frustration, desolation, agony, prostration, obsession, and, finally, fear. Thirty minutes of anguish have never seemed so enticing and nuanced.

Ennio Morricone ‎– Gestazione / Totem Secondo (1982, LP, Italy)

Tracklist:

A. Gestazione (24:00)

B. Totem Secondo (14:32)

Musicians:

Bassoon – Alfio Poleggi (tracks: B), Eliseo Smordoni (tracks: B), Maurizio Venturini (tracks: B), Ottorino Malavasi (tracks: B), Pasquale Sabatelli (tracks: B)

Conductor – Franco Tamponi

Contrabassoon – Ermenegildo De Vincentis (tracks: B), Rocco Sgambetterra (tracks: B)

Double Bass – Franco Petracchi (tracks: A)

Engineer – Leandro Leandri (tracks: B), Sergio Marcotulli (tracks: A)

Executive Producer – Benito Vassura

Orchestra – RCA Italiana Orchestra (tracks: A)

Producer – Ennio Morricone

Viola – Luigi Sagrati (tracks: A)

Voice – Gloria Banditelli (tracks: A)

Composed By – Ennio Morricone R.I.P.

Gestazione is scored for female voice, electronic sounds and string orchestra. Recorded at Studio Forum, Rome, May 1982.
Totem Secondo is scored for 5 bassoons and 2 contrabassoons. Recorded at Studio B, RCA Rome, June 1982.

Ennio Morricone ‎– Controfase (1973, LP, Italy)

SIDE A
1. Controfase
2. Temp
3. Soli
4. Come Sommersi
SIDE B
5. Con Ferma Ostinazione
6. Follia
7. Degenerazione
8. Eclissi Seconda

Controfase is an unknown (and almost lost) masterpiece.A shadowed giant of compositional skill and deft application - a moment when all the stars and their cycles align - unique, harmonious, undeniably perfect. From Walter Branchi’s skeletal web of processed VCS3 duetting with mournful violin, to Egisto Macchi’s demonstrative percussion jousting Edda Dell’Orso’s breathless siren’s call, Morricone and Nicolai have crafted a radiant, forbidden jewel.

First ever commercial release for this Holy Grail 1972 Library LP of brooding avant orchestral, abstract percussion and analogue synth genius. Special guest appearances from ‘Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza’ and Edda Dell’Orso.

Daniel Lentz ‎– Missa Umbrarum (1985, LP/CD, Usa)

Songs
1. O-Ke-Wa (13:46)
2. Missa Umbrarum (22:42)
3. Postludium (8:10)
4. Lascaux (9:11)

Art Zoyd Studios – Experiences De Vol #7 / Pure Noise (2009, CD, France)

Studio Album, released in 2009

Songs / Tracks Listing
1. Ragnar2 (Ulrich Krieger) (15:13)
2. Eau Blanche (Kaspar T Toeplitz) (21:54)
3. Ousia (Dror Feiler) (38:25)

Total time 75:32

Line-up / Musicians
Carl Faia / electronics & computer (1)
Ulrich Krieger / saxophone (1,2)
Carol Robinson / clarinet (2)
Laurent Dailleau / Theremin (2)
Kasper T Toeplitz / bass, bass computer
Erik Baron / bass (2)
Jérôme Soudan / percussion (2)
Gérard D'Élia / sound designer (2)

Releases information
CD In-Possible Records - AZ2010 (2009, France)

Various ‎– Made To Measure Vol. 1 (1984, CD, Belgium)

Volume 1 initiated Made to Measure, a series of records of experimental soundtrack music, in high form as a compilation with several artists from Crammed Discs' roster. Minimal Compact offer some songs from a ballet, Tuxedomoon weigh in with three pieces from a film score, Benjamin Lew with a sound backdrop to a fashion exhibition, and Aksak Maboul bring in an excerpt from a private movie, as well as music composed for a play. Except for the Minimal Compact cuts, these are instrumentals of various moods and textures, and the various contributors complement each other with similar Euro-art rock aesthetics. Though Tuxedomoon expatriated from the U.S. and Minimal Compact from Israel, both groups have a very European sound, though Minimal Compact do throw some Middle Eastern flute and chanting on "Too Many of Them." Otherwise their tracks don't differ too much from what is on their regular albums, clunky rhythms, creepy and subdued art-rock songs. Lew's track is far more gothic, with symphonic overtones. Aksak Maboul end side one of the LP with the best track on the disc, "Scratch Holiday." Using only a turntable and an old 7" from the '60s, "Scratch Holiday" layers repetitive sound on top of repetitive sound to create hypnotic ambient textures of incredible beauty. The six Aksak pieces on the flip side of the LP are quite different, beginning with the baroque chamber music of "Odessa" and throwing in several piano solos, from the dreamy "Lili Danse" to the more sullen "Ossip et Lili." The three Tuxedomoon instrumentals also offer drastically different moods; "No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition" is a scary track with disturbing drones and breaking glass, while "Driving to Verdun" has a bouncy electro-rhythm and a droll melody. For the most part, excellent stuff with lots of dynamics that rise well above the concept of background music. (search: AllMusic)

Pieces For Nothing
1–Minimal Compact/ Bat-Yam (4:33)
2–Minimal Compact/ Too Many Of Them (4:32)
3–Minimal Compact/ Immer Vorbei (4:00)
4–Minimal Compact/ Animal Killers (3:33)
A La Recherche De B.
5–Benjamin Lew/ A La Rechèrche De B. (2:51)
Scratch Holiday
6–Aksak Maboul/ Scratch Holiday (4:15)
Featuring – The Honeymoon Killers
Recorded By – Aksak Maboul, Alig
Un Chien Merite Une Mort De Chien
7–Aksak Maboul/ Odessa (4:00)
8–Aksak Maboul/ Chez Les Futuristes Russes (1:23)
9–Aksak Maboul/ Ossip & Lili (1:05)
10–Aksak Maboul/ Lili Danse (1:42)
11–Aksak Maboul/ Retour Chez Les Futuristes (0:38)
12–Aksak Maboul/ Mort De Velimir (3:33)
Verdun
13–Tuxedomoon/ Fanfare (4:37)
14–Tuxedomoon/ No One Expects The Spanish Inquisition (4:50)
15–Tuxedomoon/ Driving To Verdun (2:33)

Producer – Gilles Martin (tracks: 1 to 5, 7 to 15), Marc Hollander (tracks: 7 to 12), Peter Principle (tracks: 1 to 4), Tuxedomoon (tracks: 12 to 15), Vincent Kenis (tracks: 7 to 12)
Recorded By – Gilles Martin (tracks: 1 to 4, 7 to 12), Marc Hollander (tracks: 7 to 12), Peter Principle (tracks: 1 to 4), Vincent Kenis (tracks: 7 to 12)
Saxophone, Clarinet – Steven Brown (tracks: 1 to 4)
Violin – Jeannot Gillis (tracks: 1 to 4)

Note
Tracks 1 to 4 made to measure for a ballet by Pierre Droulers.
Track 5 is an aural backdrop made to measure for a fashion exhibition ("Huit Jeunes Stylistes Limbourgeois").
Track 6 made to measure for The Honeymoon Killers' "Pan! Dans Les Vacances" private movie.
All sounds generated with a turntable.
Tracks 7 to 12 made to measure for a play by Michel Gheude based on the life of Maïakovsky.
Tracks 13 to 15 made to measure for "Het Veld Van Eer", a film by Bob Visser.
(search: Discog)

Egisto Macchi ‎– L'Assassinio Di Trotsky / Il Delitto Matteotti (1972-73, CD, Italy)

Egisto Macchi ha scritto due colonne sonore pregevoli per due film che raccontano fatti della storia dell'uomo, Intrise di grande drammaticità e dolore, L'assassinio di Trotsky diretto da Joseph Losey nel 1972 e Il delitto Matteotti, diretto da Florestano Vancini nel 1973. Tutta la forza della contemporaneità della musica di Egisto Macchi esplode violentemente come risultato del suo lavoro come membro di "Nuova Consonanza", una scuola musicale che influenza profondamente le due opere. Entrambe furono registrate in quegli studi per la prima volta e consente ai collezionisti di colonne sonore una possibilità di entrare un mondo nuovo ed affascinante, dove l'orchestra e straordinarie sonorità elettroniche sono unite. Per l'assassinio di Trotsky, Macchi ci dimostra il suo grande talento di musicista e compositore contemporaneo, I sette brani estratti dalla colonna sonora contengono straordinarie invenzioni musicali. Egisto Macchi ha creato per il suo "trotsky" un'alchimia di sonorità orchestrali ed elettroniche. La voce umana diventa nella colonna sonora uno strumento reale con il suo spessore.Si inserisce in un contesto evocativo ed il risultante magma di suoni sciocca e allo stesso tempo affascina l'ascoltatore. Una sussurro confuso si inserisce su di un tappeto di archi sul quale un tema triste per voci viene sviluppato. Un fischio elettronico duro e terribile domina il mix orchestra-coro. La tromba accompagnata da rullii di batteria dall'atmosfera spagnoleggiante, è seguita poi dalla ritorno di voci caotiche come sottofondo per gli archi ed il coro, mentre la tromba, più avanti ripresa, sembra svanire coperta nel magma di tonalità elettroniche. Il fischio elettronico, acuto e penetrante, insieme agli archi stridenti, sembra presagire all'imminente tragico evento. Macchi costruisce inquietanti passaggi musicali suonati dagli archi alla loro più alta tonalità che insieme ai suoni elettronici producono un'atmosfera tenebrosa. Altri momenti sonori emergono da un costante dialogo atonale tra gli strumenti a fiato in legno e le sezioni di archi. Per "il delitto Matteotti", Egisto Macchi ha costruito un'atmosfera molto drammatica, rinforzata da un'ottima performance dell'orchestra. Questo CD include 6 sequenze musicali che idealmente esprimono tutto il pathos dell' evento storico-politico. Sonorità orchestrali violente sono alternate con singolari suoni a fiato (sequenza 1). Una drammatica atmosfera è resa attraverso l'invenzione originale di scandire la consonante "R" insieme al rombare di un forte crescendo orchestrale dove gli archi intervengono solennemente (sequenza 2) L'orchestra gioca un rapido ed intenzionalmente caotico movimento mentre sullo sfondo di Pianoforte e batteria, gli archi suonano un motivo soggiogante quasi religioso, quindi il ritorno di ottoni percussioni e pianoforte sostenuto con l'effetto di riverberi di strumenti a fiato (sequenza 3).Il tema solenne quasi mistico è ripreso, poi gli archi creano momenti musicali di grossa intollerabilità , miscelandosi con una voce lontana e appena percettibile (sequenza 4). Il vivace suono di violoncelli è di nuovo di scena, più profondo e misterioso, il tema solenne e mistico, poi il Fortissimo crescendo orchestrale prima ascoltato conclude il pezzo (sequenza 5). Il dramma ed il dolore per l'omicidio di Matteotti sono descritti per l'ultima volta dal tema solenne-mistico che ora assume quasi il ruolo di un requiem per celebrare la morte dell'uomo (sequenza 6). Riassumendo il maestro Macchi è riuscito ad applicare ammirevolmente il concetto di musica contemporanea all'immagine cinematografica, un tipo di musica che diventa "colonna sonora della storia dell'uomo" e che è descrizione contemporanea di un evento politico-sociale attraverso l'affascinante acquerello di un pentagramma musicale. Questo cd può essere considerato il disegno di un artista.

David Rosenbloom ‎– Electric Chorus & Orchestra (1983, LP, Usa)

 

Side A

A. Souls Of Chaos

Section I "Rock And Hawk" (7:29)

Section II "The Lights Of Holiness" "The Three Ravens" (9:05)

Section III "Watch The Lights Fade" "The Soul's Desert" "The Lights Of Holiness" (10:03)

Side B

B. Departure (Excerpts)

I. An Image In The Place Of An Image - Descent (6:56)

The Last Dance - You Shall Enter (4:20)

II. The Images Are Manifest To Man - Hinnih Hannah (4:44)

We Are Souls - Cacophony - Thick Chord - Crossed Descent (11:20)

III. Coda - Coda II (2:04)

Musicians

Bass – David Hofstra, Joel Goldstein

Cello – Alyssa Pava

Conductor – David Rosenbloom

Drums – John Mernit

Flute – John Ranck, Laura Josephson

French Horn – Heidi Garson

Guitar – David Rosenbloom

Oboe – Brian Charles, George Boziwick

Organ – Barbara Osborne

Percussion, Vibraphone – Geordie Gillespie

Saxophone – Carla Whitney

Violin – David Sulzer, Jeannette Riedel

Voice – Jennifer Smith, Laura Josephson, Maryanne Bachia, Melanie Hedlund, Shirlee Lance, Sima Wolf, Sussan Deihim

Music, Producer, Painting – David Rosenbloom

Note

Souls Of Chaos 

First performance: June 4, 1982, Inroads, NYC 

Recorded October 17, 1982 

Departure 

First performance: January 17, 1982, Saint Peter's Church, NYC 

Recorded March 27, 1982 

Guitarist/composer Rosenbloom came to attention for his work with Rhys Chatham, Glenn Branca & Robin Crutchfield in the late 70's. This album consists of two extended works (Souls Of Chaos & Departure) for rock band, orchestral instruments and voices. "[These pieces] were written during the period of 1981-82, the tail end of the heady, club-based period of cross-fertilization between what seemed like nearly every type of music...anything was possible - why not a large orchestral piece?"

N.O.R.M.A. + Chris Cutler ‎– L'Arpa E L'Asino (1997, CD, Italy)

Repost

N.O.R.M.A. ‎– N.O.R.M.A. (1992, CD, Italy)

N.O.R.M.A. first LP's very original, though it definitely reflects an out-of-date fashion: reliance on improvisation, non-looped vinyl sampling, winds and chamber-like passages would make the album a perfect addition to the Nurse With Wound List, if only it came out a couple of decades before.Anyway, the music's playful and surprising, varied, well-crafted. Two multi-part suites, a longer track in the middle and some final mid-length pieces merge old-fashioned easy listening, radical improvisation, jazz, fanfare and classical music, East-Asian sketches, kitchen recipes and Federico Fellini quotes in a typical Rock In Opposition aesthetics.

Giorgio Fabbri Casadei: guitar, percussion 

Gerard Antonio Coatti: trombone 

Paola Garavaldi: violin, voce 

Paolo Grandi: cello, bass 

Roberto Monari: sound direction 

Tiziano Popoli: synth, sampler 

Massimo Semprini: sax alto 

Massimo Simonini: records, cds, tapes, objects, percussion, 

Casio SK1, voice 

Recorded live at D.A.M.S., Bologna, 1990 

Produced by Pierrot Lunaire 

released January 1, 1992

Erehia ‎– Manuzkritoz Ze (1999, CD, Mexico)

A Mexican rock outfit EREHÍA, founded by Jorge Gaytan (bass, viola; ex-NAZCA, BANDA ELÁSTICA) and Tizok aka Tizok Briseno (guitar, drums, programming) in 1998, have a career of over decade in "Rock en Oposiciòn" scene. Under the influence of King Crimson, Univers Zero, or Frank Zappa, they have shoved strong dissonances and frequent rhythmic pattern alterations forward, which have been crystallized into their debut creation "ManuzkRitoz ZE" released in 1999 via Smogless Records.

Rich Woodson's Ellipsis ‎– The Nail That Stands Up Gets Pounded Down (2005, CD, Usa)

Influenced by the likes of Tim Berne, Frank Zappa, and contemporary classical composer Charles Wuorinen, Brooklyn-based guitarist Rich Woodson traded his interest in hard rock and speed metal for a blend of creative jazz, avant metal, and contemporary chamber music textures in his Ellipsis quintet. Featuring Woodson along with drummer John Hollenbeck (Claudia Quintet), soprano saxophonist Peter Epstein, tenor saxophonist Aaron Stewart, and acoustic bassist Mat Fieldes, the group's recorded debut, Control and Resistance, arrived on the Cuneiform label in 2000. Across nine tracks and a total of 43 minutes, the ensemble maintained a herky-jerky momentum performing composer Woodson's head-spinningly brief and knotty multi-layered motifs in constantly permuting convolutions. The group's sophomore album, 2005's independently released The Nail That Stands Up Gets Pounded Down, featured Woodson again joined by Hollenbeck, Stewart, and Fieldes, but with clarinetist Anthony Burr replacing saxophonist Epstein. The Nail That Stands Up continued the conceptual thread of Control and Resistance, packing more of Woodson's ever-changing dense compositional textures into the album's 40-minute length. Although no further Ellipsis albums would be released, Woodson and company left fans of complex avant and experimental music with enough sonic material to warrant repeated listens for years to come.

Commuters (Dagmar Krause, Harold Schellinx, Ronald Heiloo) – Commuters (1982, CD, England)

Dagmar Krause, Harold Schellinx, Ronald Heiloo

Recorded 28th September to 5th October 1982 at Ark Studio, Kingston-upon-Thames. Cut November 1982 at Utopia, London.

The EP Commuters, a one-time collaboration between Slapp Happy vocalist Dagmar Krause and Amsterdam avant-garde composers Harold Schelinx and Ronald Heiloo, was first released as a limited pressing on Amphibious Records in 1983. Soon deleted, it quickly became the Holy Grail fans of Krause were all after. The album was reissued in 2000 on La Cooka Ratcha (a Voiceprint imprint). Although it runs for only 16 minutes, Commuters contains ten songs and really should be perceived as a full album. Schelinx's short stories are set to dense piano pieces taking elements from Erik Satie, Charles Ives, and Kurt Weill. Krause's voice delivers the text in angular melodies in a way similar to her work with News From Babel (on Work Resumed on the Tower). These 60- to 120-second half-cabaret/half-atonal pieces are as complete as can be and the listener comes out of them as if the experience had taken an hour. The simplicity of the piano/voice setting is constantly challenged by the obscurity of the lyrics, the complexity of the melodies, and the sparse but very concentrated piano parts.