Sounds from Innerspace

Zhanteimi · 06-25-2019, 12:54 AM

"Go beyond the algorithm."

Man, you said it!

innerspaceboy · 06-30-2019, 04:03 PM

When I learned that Oxford University Press had just published a volume of its Keynotes series wholly dedicated to examining Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music For Airports, I raced to secure a copy.

The keynote was written by John Lysaker, the William R. Kenan Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy Department. Researchgate.net reports Lysaker’s project goal with the book was to provide “a 30,000 word study of Eno’s seminal album. This short study will explore the nature of ambient music, situate the album in 20th century avant garde music practice, and consider multiple forms of listening.”

Lysaker outlines the origins of this exploration in the Acknowledgements:

Quote:

I test-drove some early thoughts at a meeting of the American Philosophies Forum. This was a great prod in the right direction, and comments from other participants proved useful as the project developed, as did the opportunity to concretize those remarks in an article, "Turning Listening Inside Out" which appeared in the Journal of Speculative Philosophy.

(He also acknowledges) the writings of Geeta Dayal, David Sheppard, Cecilia Sun, Eric Tamm, and David Toop (and included) the titles of their books alongside others in the section called Additional Sources for Reading and Listening. (He also thanks) the tireless laborers that maintain two websites: MORE DARK THAN SHARK and EnoWeb. Each has gathered numerous interviews that are resources for scholars and fans alike.

The Introduction quickly frames the tasks undertaken by the book:

Quote:

This short study is for listeners who want to think and reflect on what Eno's LP has to offer, and in a way that deepens future listening rather than replaces it with scholarly prose.

…

Five chapters and an afterward follow. They blend musical and historical analysis with occasional philosophical reflections on what "music" means in a context as provocative as the one convened by MFA.

Chapter 2: Music for Airports and the Avant-Garde touches upon a number of pivotal composers and works which paved the way for MFA. David Toop’s Ocean of Sound is discussed, as are Debussy, Ives, Schoenberg, Luigi Russolo, Pierre Schaeffer, Edgar Varèse’s Poème électronique, Michael Nyman, La Monte Young, Steve Reich, Alvin Lucier's I Am Sitting In A Room, David Tudor, Cage, and Riley’s In C. Lysaker demonstrates how each of these predecessors provided an environment for Eno’s composition and he concludes the chapter by succinctly identifying the properties and musical concepts embraced by Music for Airports:

Quote:

...in a short book, one is forced to make choices, and I elect to provide what I consider MFA's most immediate context... ...Rather, I've been marking conceptual, technological, and sonic shifts that helped make a record like MFA possible, and we've encountered several.

Music can be built around something other than a motif, or basic musical phrase.
Microtones and the dissonances they introduce can be musical.
Traditional harmony (and even harmony altogether) neither exhausts nor is required for a musically legitimate arrangement of sounds.
Any sound is suitable material for a musical composition.
New technologies for the generation and reproduction of sound are not only welcome but necessary.
The presence of unintended sounds, i.e. noise, is an acceptable (and inevitable) part of a musical work.
Musical works can productively interact with the sonic environment in which they are produced.
Single tones and chords are musically complex and interesting, particularly when sustained for lengthy periods of time or subjected to extended repetition.

Chapter 4: Ambience explores the nature and function of the general umbrella of various ambient musics. Satie's musique d'ameublement ("furniture music") is examined, as is divertimenti music of the eighteenth century. Lysaker goes on to contextualize Cage, La Monte Young, Pauline Oliveros and the Deep Listening album, Moby, Aphex Twin, Thomas Köner, Wolfgang Voigt, Robert Scott Thompson, Max Richter's Sleep, William Basinski, Stars of the Lid, and FSOL, as well as a brief history of Muzak and the 1950s Capital Records "Moods in Music" series.

Lysaker quotes Eno's description of MFA's movement "away from narrative and toward landscape" and says that "MFA's somewhat amorphous and discontinuous sonic material seems to suspend its listeners somewhere in the space between hearing and listening."

He describes the state of reverie induced by MFA, and suggests that it "enters life differently - obliquely, gently, but nevertheless, at least on occasion, transformatively."

The final Chapter 5: Between Hearing and Listening – Music for Airports as Conceptual Art effectively summarizes the conceptual nature of MFA:

Quote:

At one extreme, futurists like Russolo tried to humanize those sounds, creating compositions that strove to translate the sounds of the world into an expanded but nevertheless fully realized musical idiom. At the other extreme, Cage sought to let sounds be sounds through compositions that removed as thoroughly as possible his taste, judgment, and skill as a composer.

When interpreted conceptually, the approaches of Russolo and Cage create an opposition: either (a) art absorbs nature in the self-enlarging process, versus (b) art exposes nature in a self-effacing one. The former offers us culture over nature, whereas the latter labors to displace human activity from an emerging culture-or field-of sounds. MFA eludes this opposition, seeking neither a denatured culture nor an ascetically cleansed field of sounds. Instead, it enacts itself as one aspect of the world operating on another. By working with its world, and by clarifying itself with theories that naturalize the human desire to make art, it presents itself as nature unfolding, taking nature, cybernetically, as a dynamic system of interactions that includes its (and our) own efforts.

Lysaker presents and describes various forms of listening, including background listening, foreground or performance listening, aesthetic listening, adequate listening, and regressive or narcissistic listening. He then offers a metaphor for the reader to consider the type of listening warranted by MFA through a different "lens" of prismatic or immersive listening.

He goes on to observe the subtle differences between listening to MFA across different media formats, from compact disc to vinyl, and then explores the vastly different texture, spaciality, and sonic palette offered by the instrumental realization of the album by Bang on a Can which displaces the monochromatic character of "2/2," effectively enlivening and humanizing the track.

The book concludes with an Afterward framing the enduring influence of MFA, and the author closes with a brief list of further reading and listening materials. Additionally, Oxford University Press created a website to accompany the bookthat features audio clips of many musical passages discussed over the course of its chapters.

The short text was a delightful and engaging read, and the philosophy explored by the author is never lost to overly-academic pomp. The book is a thoughtful and knowledgeable reflection on a critically influential work of music which continues to influence and inspire musicians and listeners alike over forty years after its release.

innerspaceboy · 07-03-2019, 04:09 AM

Supplemental Note:

On June 11th I shared the sheet music for MFA which I'd reworked into a 10" x 13" framed piece for my new office, and shared it to a Brian Eno group on FB along with the newly-acquired Oxford Keynote book by Lysaker.

A fellow member of the group by the name of Kirk McElhearn thanked me for putting the book on his radar, and ended up contacting Lysaker for a 30-minute interview session for his podcast, The Next Track.

That interview is now live and listenable here: https://www.thenexttrack.com/156

OccultHawk · 07-03-2019, 08:24 AM

Recently I’ve been reading essays by Willard Van Orman Quine and Martin Heidegger and one idea I’m taking away from both of them is that there’s an ethereal period in both our ontological as well as our epistemological understanding of something new while we’re determining the right language to describe what it is. Ambient music is definitely in that ethereal zone. All you have to do is go to the descriptions from the artists themselves and it’s almost painful to witness first hand their desperate attempts to bridge the gap linguistically. Considering the impact music has on culture, finding a way to attach the correct langauge to ambient music is potentially a positive cultural revolution in the making.

innerspaceboy · 07-03-2019, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Recently I’ve been reading essays by Willard Van Orman Quine and Martin Heidegger and one idea I’m taking away from both of them is that there’s an ethereal period in both our ontological as well as our epistemological understanding of something new while we’re determining the right language to describe what it is. Ambient music is definitely in that ethereal zone. All you have to do is go to the descriptions from the artists themselves and it’s almost painful to witness first hand their desperate attempts to bridge the gap linguistically. Considering the impact music has on culture, finding a way to attach the correct langauge to ambient music is potentially a positive cultural revolution in the making.

Well said! I tried reading Roger Scruton's The Aesthetics of Music which examines the art form from the perspective of modern philosophy, but it just didn't grab me. The linguistics of it, however, might be of greater interest.

Thanks for sharing!

innerspaceboy · 07-06-2019, 02:49 PM

I've been an avid fan of the Hearts of Space radio program for many years. The show's producer and presenter, Stephen Hill has been showcasing the finest in ambient, space, and contemplative music for over thirty five years.

Their label has issued almost 150 albums and in 2001 they launched an online streaming service where members have access to the complete broadcast history of the program, complete with playlists and the ability to enable or disable the narration segments.

As of the date of publication of this article, I maintain a complete archive of all HOS program broadcasts from their premiere on January 1st, 1983 to program 1,219 which aired on June 28, 2019. I also have the official HOS poster framed in my office.

You can imagine my delight at discovering that in 2018, Valley Entertainment, (the company that bought Hearts of Space Records in 2001), issued a limited edition double LP of the music from the first-ever syndicated broadcast of the show.

Originally issued on compact disc in 2008 under cat # 2-HOS-11500, this special vinyl edition was released Sept 21, 2018 in honor of the 35th anniversary of the program.

From the official release page:

Quote:

Best of Hearts of Space,No.1: First Flight appears on vinyl as Hearts of Space celebrates the 35th anniversary of the airing of this - its first ever show. This double-LP pressing is a limited edition of only 500 pieces and features the music of original broadcast including Academy Award winner Vangelis with Irene Papas and Grammy Award winners Kitaro and David Darling. Other artists include Russian composer Thomas De Hartmann, instrumentalist Deuter, and pioneering ambient musician Michael Stearns.

“You have in your hand something of a classic. This was the kickoff program of the nationally syndicated Hearts of Space Public Radio show in January 1983. It's perhaps the best example of the creative mix of contemplative jazz, classical, electronic, world and new age music that remains the central innovation of the program. Far from the chaos of digital music today where everything is accessible but uncurated, First Flight is an enduring, transcendent experience.”

- Stephen Hill, Producer – Hearts of Space

______

After ten years as a local Bay Area program Hearts of Space emerged in January 1983 with syndication to 35 non-commercial radio stations. The program is now syndicated on over 200 NPR stations and boasts the second largest footprint of any current show on NPR. From the beginning, the program's success has come from consistently high production quality and sensitive, knowledgeable music programming. The program has defined its own niche -- a mix of ambient, electronic, world, new age, classical and experimental music. Artists and record companies around the world recognize Hearts of Space as the original, most widely heard, premiere showcase for "contemplative music, broadly defined." The Best of Hearts of Space: First Flight is the first show aired from January 1, 1983. The show features what are now premier names in the format including Academy Award® winner Vangelis with Irene Papas, Grammy® Award winner Kitaro and Grammy® nominated David Darling. Other artists include Russian composer Thomas De Hartmann, instrumentalist Deuter, and pioneering ambient musician Michael Stearns.

This limited edition double LP is catalog no. 1-HOS-11500 and is another proud addition to my archive.

"Safe journeys, space fans, wherever you are."

innerspaceboy · 07-06-2019, 06:46 PM

Obligatory related post.

innerspaceboy · 07-07-2019, 02:57 AM

The privilege of hearing exclusive private releases can sometimes be the most rewarding and fulfilling musical experiences in an archivist’s life. And so it is with this brand new edit. The history and context of its composition is cryptic and shrouded in mystery, with very few search results on the internet, (I count three in total at the time of this drafting), which make the honor of receiving a copy all the more exciting.

From the very little information available publicly, it seems that this was originally released in an unknown number of exclusive edit singles, (at least 39 as evidenced by what members have compiled and contributed to theritesofmu wixsite at https://theritesofmu.wixsite.com/klf...he-past-puzzle). It appears that the new complete(?) cut titled, "Welcome To The Past (Unedited)" was issued June 30th and distributed directly by the artist via private email in WAV format.

One of the previously-issued segments have been filed on Discogs here:

https://www.discogs.com/The-KLF-Welc...lease/12381982

But the new complete (?) WAV now has an entry of its own:

https://www.discogs.com/The-KLF-Welc...lease/13822393

The WAV's Discogs entry sheds little additional light on this mysteriously wonderful release. It has what appears to be placeholder artwork as I've found no record of official art for the track, but the Discogs entry does provide a few other pieces of information.

First, it confirms the total run time of the track to be 41:47 (corroborated by the WAV file I received), and bears the style tags of "ambient," "synth pop," and "trance." It also offers a catalog number as part of the unofficial (but intensely professional) series, with this entry marked as “KLF 000RE.”

Distribution is denoted as UK and Europe, but with my understanding that this was a non-physical digital release issued via email I would say that the UK and Europe designation serves more a point of origin rather than an official region for the release. (I am in the US.)

But on to the track itself. The KLF Recovered & Remastered series is infamous and highly-prized for good reason, with several titles outshining even the original incarnations by Bill and Jimmy, themselves. Live From The Lost Continent is the greatest concert that never was. This Is Not What Space Is About and This Is Not What Chill Out Is About are each a pure triumph of the art of remixing and are powerfully epic listening which transport the listener to new worlds of experience.

Welcome To The Past (Unedited) is no exception to the incredibly high standard of production and musical cut-up artistry maintained consistently throughout the continuing Recovered & Remastered saga. It is frankly astonishing how much dynamic and fresh content its creator has been able to construct from the finite bank of the KLF's catalog. He effectively breathes new life into their music and meticulously and masterfully assembles an array of seemingly innocuous samples of sirens, trance beats, and train station field recordings into a seamless and transportive opus of provocative proportions.

The final minutes of the mix are evocative and stirring, tugging wistfully at the heartstrings of every KLF devotee who has followed their zenarchistic madness from 1987 to the present day. Perhaps it is silly to romanticize trance music built upon discordian mythos and mayhem, but Welcome To The Past is an exquisite specimen of remix culture and a pure and proper celebration of the legacy of The KLF.

Five stars. Pure joy. “This is what the KLF are about. Over and out.”

innerspaceboy · 07-16-2019, 06:34 PM

Another Underworld classic has arrived at Innerspace Labs! "Glory! Glory!" is a single from the Mk1 era before they changed their sound and released their epic Dubnobasswithmyheadman LP.

Their singles from this period were released between 1988 and 1989, and the Sire label singles featuring b-sides not found anywhere else in their catalog were issued exclusively in Germany and Australia.

I've researched all 53 variations of these single, compiled a list of all edits and b-sides and have been collecting them for years.

The Sire Singles b-sides include the following:

Glory Glory (7 pressings)

Shokk The Doctor
Glory! Glory! (Live - Full Length Version) - same as "Glory! Glory! (Live)"

Underneath the Radar (17 pressings)

Big Red X
Underneath the Radar (Edit)
Underneath The Radar (Instrumental Version)
Underneath The Radar (12" Remix)
Underneath The Radar (7" Remix) - 4:43 and exclusive to the Sire ‎– PRO-CD-2942 US CD Promo Single
Underneath The Radar (Dub)
Underneath The Radar (8:00 Remix) - same as 12" remix
Underneath The Radar (6:00 Dub) - same as "(Dub)"
Underneath The Radar (Edit From Shep Petitibone Remix) - 4:40 and exclusive to the Sire ‎– 927 937-7 European 7" single manufactured in Germany - NOTE: This version has the same runtime as the track listed on Sire ‎– PRO-CD-2942 called 7" Remix issued as a promo CD in the US and the Discogs entry lists it as being "Edited By – Shep Pettibone." They are very likely the same track.

Show Some Emotion (7 pressings)

Show Some Emotion (Remix)
Shokk The Doctor - also featured on some of the "Glory! Glory!" singles

Stand Up (14 pressings)

Stand Up (Extended Dance Mix)
Stand Up (Edit)
Stand Up (Ya House Mix)
Stand Up...(And Dance)
Outskirts

Thrash (3 pressings)

Thrash (Dance Pass)
Thrash (Extasy Pass)

Additionally, "Change the Weather" (3 pressings), "I Need a Doctor" (1 pressing), and "Pray" (1 pressing) were also issued as singles but only contained standard A-sides from the two full-length LPs released during the Mk1 era, Underneath the Radar (1988) and Change the Weather (1989).

Of these 53 releases I am missing four tracks -

Underneath the Radar (Edit) - 3:59
Underneath The Radar (7" Remix) aka (Edit From Shep Pettibone Remix) - 4:43
Thrash (Dance Pass)* - 6:25
Thrash (Extasy Pass) - 5:46

I am actively working on completing the set.

I want to give some praise to Post Punk Monk who has engaged in a similar endeavor with Underworld's even earlier work as Freur. His (or her) REVO Remastering: Freur/Underworld [Mk I] – Stainless Steel Tears [REVO 036] self-produced remaster compilation is exactly the sort of work I'm tackling.*

At the present moment my Underworld collection presently comprises 62 physical releases and artifacts, memorabilia, subway posters, books, prints, magazine articles, DVDs, VHS tapes, etc, as well as 589 digital albums, EPs, mixes, concerts, and other materials. With new material being released every week, they're showing no sign of slowing down.

OccultHawk · 07-16-2019, 07:05 PM

Did you say 589?

06-25-2019, 12:54 AM	#1 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,873	"Go beyond the algorithm." Man, you said it! __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic

07-03-2019, 08:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,006	Recently I’ve been reading essays by Willard Van Orman Quine and Martin Heidegger and one idea I’m taking away from both of them is that there’s an ethereal period in both our ontological as well as our epistemological understanding of something new while we’re determining the right language to describe what it is. Ambient music is definitely in that ethereal zone. All you have to do is go to the descriptions from the artists themselves and it’s almost painful to witness first hand their desperate attempts to bridge the gap linguistically. Considering the impact music has on culture, finding a way to attach the correct langauge to ambient music is potentially a positive cultural revolution in the making. __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html Last edited by OccultHawk; 07-03-2019 at 08:47 AM.

07-16-2019, 07:05 PM	#10 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,006	Did you say 589? __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html