Premier Rock Forum

sunlore wrote:Some sweetness for the Sunday (well, Monday) comedown.

Glenn Gould - Solitude Trilogy

These "radio documentaries", or "oral tone poems", examine both the real and imagined effects of geographical or cultural isolation on people. Glenn Gould, to whom innovation came naturally, used a technique which he called "contrapuntal radio" - a process where sound counterpoints his ideas. The programmes, viewed as revolutionary in their concept when they were first broadcast in the 1960's and 1970's, remain fresh and reflect the soul of Glenn Gould himself, the performer, the thinker, the philosopher, the composer, and indeed, someone who himself lived in isolation.

burun wrote:...I wore sunglasses, my crew henley, and played guitar sitting down with my back to the audience. Kinda like a cross between Sonic Boom and the JAMC, but nowhere near as talented or cool. I am also sure I have posted about this show here before....

slowriot wrote:tiny hawks. people without end.


http://www.sendspace.com/file/u0467o

Wiki wrote:John Gavanti is a "No Wave opera" originally released in 1980. It was written by Mark Cunningham (of Mars), Sumner Crane (of Mars), China Burg (of Mars), Ikue Mori (of DNA) and Arto Lindsay (of DNA). (In fact, All Music Guide credits the album to "Mars & DNA.") All were prominent members of New York City's short-lived No Wave music scene.

Mark Cunningham wrote: John Gavanti was, in a sense, a band, as we spent over a year developing and rehearsing the work. It consisted of Sumner Crane, the author of the libretto and songs, Don Burg, altar ego of China Burg, and myself as well as Ikue Mori from DNA. In the recording sessions we also used Arto Lindsay and his brother Duncan on garbage lid percussion for a samba takeoff. Sumner played guitar and piano, Don bass clarinet and I managed to get in trumpet, trombone, baritone horn and tuba. Ikue played the viola and cello. Neither she nor Lucy had ever touched those instruments before. Sumner called the shots generally but the arrangements were collective improvs. We recorded it in NY at Sear Sound, an all vacuum tube studio later popularized by Sonic Youth. It was released on my own label Hyrax in 1980, and sold over the years almost all the 3000 vinyl copies printed. It's now been reissued as a CD on Atavistic.

In the early eighties, some crazy Italian fans made a video of the whole opera which was really quite amazing; we figured the only way to represent it would be a big budget film, but they did it with no budget, an all male cast and lots of energy and humor. Unfortunately finding a copy is probably next to impossible.

Trouser Press' Glenn Kenny wrote:Some have called this the most unlistenable record ever made, and that's a fine invitation indeed.

Minotaur029 wrote:This is good stuff...you can constantly hear Gould humming along like some great douchebag for a lot of these Bach recordings. He's also criticized for not really playing what's on the page (or something).