ANOTHER This Second Sleep & ether^ra Collaboration

Another

SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL TRAITS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC

This list below is courtesy Thom Holmes' wonderfully comprehensive book ELECTRONIC AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC,  2nd edition (2008).  In many ways,  the ideas presented in this book clarify and expand on 20th century avant-garde ideals and establish their potential well into the 21st century.   Upheavals still abound for those of us looking, listening and acting.

1.  The sound resources available to EM are unlimited.

2.  EM can expand the perception of tonality.

3.  EM exists in a state of actualization.

4.  EM has a special relationship with the temporal nature of music.

5.  In EM,  sound itself becomes the material of composition.

6.  EM does not breathe:  it is not effected by the limitations of human performance.

7.  EM often lacks a point of comparison with the natural world of sounds,  providing a  
     largely mental and imaginative experience.

Much of this sounds like art that has been liberated from constraints of any sort,  and suggests an open process of seeking form through self-actualization on the part of the artist's collusion with both intent and chance.  To me,  electronic music is an assertion of our shared humanity and our essential "otherness". As William Burroughs (or some other sage) once said many years ago,  "nothing is true,  everything is permitted".

GRAPHIC SCORE, MAYBE

In an attempt to loosely codify the performance of both structured and aleatory musics,  graphic scores provide a brave attempt at visualizing sound,  silence,  pitch,  duration,  etc.  This often takes the shape of  some kind of geometric abstraction,  and can be viewed as a work of art unto itself.  Most of these scores certainly leave room for interpretation by the performer.  This,  and another 20th century tradition,  artistic appropriation, provided the impetus for the above video.  See if you can see the sound's connection with the waxing, waning,  and disintegrating geometry.

OSCILLATIONS - AS THE CROW FLIES by The Advisory Circle

With its Julian House graphic design and suggestions of an earlier rural England,  the latest release by Jon Brooks' Advisory Circle fits comfortably into the Ghost Box label's approach to sound and vision.  At first listen I heard what appeared to be an overly conservative electronica gently warped by nostalgia and analogue warmth.  Not bad,  but hardly compelling.  With each subsequent listen a kind of queasy wistfulness emerged,  the melodies bloomed,  and I quickly sought refuge in the inviting landscapes.  It's certainly a more eloquent take on Hypnogagic Pop,  even without the benefit of much lyrical content apart from  endpiece "Lonely Signalman",  a vocodered cautionary tale.  Most of the the lyrical content here takes the form of brief spoken word samples that add gravitas to the already mysterious proceedings.  What makes this Advisory Circle recording so different from earlier releases is the addition of acoustic instrumentation like clarinet and acoustic guitar,  but Jon Brooks' intention remain the same,  and that is to give voice to nature's cycles and the traditions the brought meaning to his ancestors' lives.  And also to remind us of our  now tenuous grip on that meaning.  A delight.

A BUCHLA 296e VIDEO BY LYONEL

This video by the Paris-based sound artist Lyonel shows some of the strangely warped promise inherent in the Buchla 296e Spectral Processor.  Much of his work is more tonal,  but this piece stretches into an altogether edgier realm.  Thanks Lyonel.

NEW TOY: Buchla 296e

The latest in a series of daring additions to my Buchla 200e fixation is the Model 296e module,  or more precisely the Spectral Processor.  This double-sized module is a 16 channel bandpass filter with both visual analysis and synthesis capability. There seems to be limited information about this unit on the web mostly due to its somewhat prohibitive price,  but given the myriad possibilities inherent in all Buchla modules that is a small consideration. Ultimately this is an expressive tool that makes an already wonderfully expressive instrument even more so.  As a painter I cherish the happy accidents that lead to creative epiphanies,  and those are the kind of thrills I live out with my 200e. While the language of synthesis generally goes beyond certainty for me,  it is the mystery of intangible sonic forms and fleeting processes that become its invitation.  And keep in mind,  the lights are really cool too!