Sun Environment

Here's an odd one. A weird private press affair of zoned out, stare at the sun, New Age oddness. It's so far off the radar that I'm not really sure if the words 'Sun Environment' printed on the inner label refers to the artist or indeed the title of the track. Enjoy.

La Télévision Dechiquetée Ou L'anti-Crétinisation

Irina Gabiani

Passing Through The Opposite Of What It Approaches, Chapter 25

Big Elettronic Sound

Here's a quirky little thing.  It manages to combine all the things I like in one little dinky seven inches of vinyl - wonky jazz, electronic wizz, strange orchestrations and of course film music. Enjoy. 

Yyaa

Sonic Cineplex

Next weekend, an unusual film and music event entitled Sonic Cineplex will take place in the dark and cavernous railway arches underneath Glasgow.  Featuring a host of musical luminaries such as Jeff Mills and Dieter Moebuis, I'm particularly looking forward to lending an ear and eye to Andy Votel's [Finders Keepers] and Sean Canty's [Demdike Stare] film and tape hiss project Neotantrik. Oh, and if you hear a little oddball jazz and wonky electronic music echoing through the arches - that might just be me spinning an odd record or two.

Mac­Don­ald Edu­ca­tional Ltd

Typiska Arbeten

Down Mix

If you're a regular reader of this blog you've probably worked out I have a 'thing' for oddball film music and it's with great pleasure I present this wonderfully curated mix of rare Italian soundtrack and library records which have been expertly woven together by David Thrussell (head curator of the rather fine Omni Recording Corporation reissue label). Enjoy.

Down Mix

1. Suicidio - Corviria
2. Tema Di Andromeda (titoli) - Mario Migliardi
3. Asymetric - Armando Sciascia
4. Primavera - Pietro Grossi
5. Horizons - Fabio Fabor
6. Toni Ligabue (Titoli) - Armando Trovjaoli
7. Balletto Venusiano - Pietro Grossi
8. Algorithmique - Fabio Fabor
9. Caldo Caldo - Giampiero Boneschi
10. Reagente B - Armando Sciascia
11. Momento Cosmico - Pietro Grossi
12. Esponenziale - Bruno Nicolai
13. A Come Andromeda (seq. 10) - Mario Migliardi
14. Un Tempo Infinito - Ennio Morricone
15. Lamento - Egisto Macchi
16. Preludio No. 6 - Egisto Macchi

The Anti-University

Kolář Jiří

The Hip Priest Sermons Of Brother John Rydgren

In the beginning was the word brothers and sisters ...... and this word was spoken in such a deep, rich, resonant, baritone voice and backed by what only can be described as the holiest of musical trinities; the Vox guitar fuzz pedal, the electric sitar and the rock drum that the kids had no choice but to open their ears and listen to the words being spoken. The devotional psychsploitation sermons of Brother John Rydgren are weird gear indeed, a strange interzone of righteous scripture and head shop nonconformity. This anthology collects three of his rarest lps “Worlds Of Youth” [1966] “Cantata For New Life” [1967] and “Silhouette Segments” [1968] and each one is a masterpiece of spoken word ecclesiastical weirdness. Brother Rydgren’s recording career started in 1962, working as a radio announcer and narrator for the American Lutheran Church who distributed and broadcast his sermons in syndicated shows across America. These pre recorded monologues were a collision of beatnik hip talk and lysergic spiritualism and often featured flipped out musical collages of sampled psychedelics which appealed to both hipster and Jesus freak alike. This anthology finely documents a turbulent period of history, where the Christian faith collided head on with an emerging sixties counterculture to create surprisingly wild and playful cultural hybrids. Like the Beats, Rydgren wrote for the ear as well as the printed page and his delivery is always spot on. His monologues, which are delivered in a voice not too dissimilar to the seductive vocal tones and shades of Chicago versifier Ken Nordine combine a warm reverence, droll observation and humorous word play which all but masks the ever present religious or moral subtext. Making leaps of association between musical, literary and theological ideas, Rydgren harnessed many of the cultural signifiers of the period, playfully subverting them through the miracle of ecclesiastical détournement, literally putting the message back into the medium. Dig.

“Silhouette Segments” is released this month by the Omni Recording Company. 

For more information about Brother John Rydgren have a peek here.

Neotantrik

...... not sure if this is in the public domain yet but here's a short piece of flickering light and private press electronic tape hiss by Neotantrik [Andy Votel, Andy Rushton and Sean Canty]. Enjoy.

Notes From The Cosmic Typewriter

I was delighted to find this book on my hallway rug this morning. It seemed somehow fitting that a book containing visual poems, meticulously constructed using the typebars of a manual typewriter should fall through something called a letterbox. 'Notes From The Cosmic Typewriter' documents the curious life and work of theologian, concrete poet, visual philosopher and Benedictine monk Dom Sylvester Houédard. Despite being a prominent and pivotal figure in the postwar British cultural landscape, Houédard is little known outside the rarefied world of the private art collection and the hallowed doors of institutional academia. Hopefully the publication of this book will rectify this. It's an odd story: a tale of a monk and his extraordinary lifelong pursuit to create a hymnal to the typewritten word using a portable Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter and his poetic imagination. It's a story which needs to be told. Although marginalised by history, Houédard was one of the key figures in introducing concrete poetry to Britain both as a theorist and as a practitioner. His poetry, visual art and scholarly rigour touched bases with an international network of like minded visual artists, poets, performers and musicians as well as many of the key art movements of the period such as Auto Destructive art, mail art and Fluxus. Many of the images and texts reproduced in the book have seldom been seen, either being self published in small editions or appearing in arcane periodicals or private press pamphlets. This book clearly illustrates Houédard's ever playful inventiveness in pushing the boundaries of what poetry can be - 'collaged found objects, cosmic dust, newspapers, jam and glue, origami paper folding, wooden boxes, shadow, reflections, audible and inaudible sounds, dance movements, gestures, spit and silence' are all up for grabs as the raw materials for creating poetry. Many of the works are both playful and profound. The typestracts (a term coined by the poet Edwin Morgan which combined the words 'typewriter' and 'abstract') are particularly breathtaking in both their visual appeal and their extraordinary method of production. Painstakingly produced by the precise manipulation and dexterous turning of paper and the coloured ink ribbons of a portable Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter, Houédard alchemically transforms the typed word into a series of beautifully restrained typographical and poetic compositions.

A most curious and rewarding publication.

"Notes From The Cosmic Typewriter : The Life And Work Of Dom Sylvester Houédard" is published by Occasional Papers.

Shall I Write It

Dream's Servants Mix

A Sound Awareness is delighted to present this enchanting little audio collage by Jeremy Novak [ one half of 'strange pop' duo Dymaxion ]. Hopefully this wonderful collection of 'spectral pop' and 'haunted folk musique' will help soothe a few aching heads this morning. Again, many thanks to Jeremy for taking the time to assemble such a beautifully woven mix! Hope you all have happy new ears in 2013! 

Dream's Servants Mix

1. Walter Franco - Muito Todo

2. Simon Park Orchestra - Dawn to Dusk

3. Les Masques - Dis Nous Quel est Le Chemin

4. Brigitte Fontaine & Jacques Higelin - Maman J'ai Peur

5. Ronald Stein - Moon Rock Ad Talk

6. Barbara - Regardez Les Regard Des Hommes

7. Scotty McKay - Black Cat

8. Lill Lindfors - Grimasch Om Morgonen

9. Collage - Dream's Servants

10. Skaldowie - Cala Jestes w Skowronkach

11. Lincoln Mayorga - Love Rach

12. The Open Window - 4 a.m., June, The Sky Was Green

13. The West Coast Workshop - Ode to Jackie, Dorothy and Alyce 

14. Zanagoria - Cancrizzante in Ritmo

15. Eric Framond - Klaxon No. 1

16. Alexander Gradsky - Tanya, Tanyusha

17. Alwin Nikolais - Eruptions & Evolvements

18. Luis Bacalov - Voci Nella Citta Delle Donne

19. Peter Garland - Apple Blossom

A Toast

It's the last day of 2012, so here's a little spoken word curio to toast the New Year. This recording features the rather sonorous vocal tones of actor Gavin Mitchell and was written by a bloke who finds both drawing and the formation of letters a bit of a challenge. I should probably mention that this recording is not suitable for those of a sensitive nature or indeed small children and most places of work. I've posted it on Soundcloud which unfortunately has a limited number of downloads but if enough folk nag me later I might post it up somewhere else. Time to raise a glass.

Free Associations

Social Sculpture