Paul  Etheredge's Album

The Double-Chinned Dying Swan [original instrumental]

Feeling like 3 hours of American gamelan? I got you covered.

In the last few months, I had an immersion into the 'genre'. A story of how deeply personal obsession of Canadian composer Colin McPhee (and later his American counterpart Lou Harrison) resulted in the unlikely transplant of traditional Indonesian music culture into the ivied towers of American academia. A story somewhat related, but very different from musicological cliché about Exposition Universelle 1889, French musical impressionists and tiresome litanies about cultural colonialism.

While I was going through the written history, I also started to amass the recordings. In stark contrast to the abundance of bibliography - McPhee alone wrote three books - I was surprised to find that audio renderings are few and far between. Most of it out-of-print or released by tiny avant classical or uni-adjacent imprints. It took a while to source and process it. Most of what I encountered is gorgeous. Depressingly, obscure to anyone but people purposely researching the subject. Midway through this process I realized I should systematize the findings into a sort of digestible genre survey. I find it's a good way to remember things. And since not many people in their right mind would undertake similar deep-dive I decided to share it. The 'programme' is a lengthy one due to the nature of the material. So, I split it in 2 parts.

The timespan is from the 1930s (McPhee's brilliant proto-Reichian orchestral stylisation Tabuh-tabuhan) via postwar music by Harrison and minimalist gamelan by the 1970s downtown cohort (Barbara Benary, Philip Corner) + their West Coast counterparts (Daniel Schmidt, Daniel Lentz). With healthy dose of recent'ish pieces by Brian Baumbusch, Bill Alves and Michael Tenzer. I also included some sonorically sympathetic works by Partch and Cage which influenced all the above. There're also odder bits by Robert Turman, John L.Adams, Maggi Payne and R. Murray Schafer to keep things quirky. Now I don't know who would be interested in 3 hours of gamelan, but it's up there for the taking.

Full tracklist here:
https://snowsovgethen.com/journal/snows-ov-gethen-hermetic-journals-american-gamelan-part-i-ii

Hermetic Journals: American Gamelan Part II

Hermetic Journals: American Gamelan Part I

Allemande (feat. Diogenes Plantagenet) [original song]

Courante (feat. Diogenes Plantagenet) [original song]

Sarabande (feat. Diogenes Plantagenet) [original song]

Bourrée (feat. Diogenes Plantagenet) [original song]

Chaconne (feat. Diogenes Plantagenet) [original song]

Gavotte (feat. Diogenes Plantagenet) [original song]

Jesus H. Tap-Dancing Christ [original instrumental]

Air (feat. Diogenes Plantagent) [original song]

Oatmeal [original instrumental]

2CD available directly from Imprec.com

American percussionist and composer Michael Ranta is a legendary figure who has worked with some of the most significant names of 20th century music but despite this and impressive body of work of his own, he has remained an obscure figure. Important Records and is pleased to present “Transits, Volume 1” the first in a series of releases by composer/percussionist Sarah Hennies documenting never before heard chamber works mostly composed in the 1970s while Ranta was living in Taiwan. 

Mastered by Tom Eaton at Sounds & Substance.

Based overseas since the late 60s, Ranta is known primarily as a percussionist who worked closely with Harry Partch, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Helmut Lachenmann, Toru Takemitsu and Jean-Claude Éloy but is also an accomplished artist himself with a vast body of work spanning improvisation, electronic music, and composition. The works in the “Transits” series comprise a dozen works of scored compositions for solo and chamber ensembles almost all of which are completely unknown with no known performances or recordings since their original premieres. Volume 1 includes “Mharuva,” a 30-minute marathon tour-de-force for solo marimba, “Seven Pieces for Three Percussionists,” and the 40-minute “Continuum II,” a stunning display of virtuosity for two bass clarinets, percussion, and electronics.


“Transits, Volume 1” features performances by Sarah Hennies, NYC clarinetists Madison Greenstone and Katie Porter, and the Bard College Conservatory Percussion Ensemble.

Micael Ranta - Mharuva (excerpt) - From Transits Vol 1 - Available Nov 22, 2024

Rita Lee [original instrumental]

Os Mutantes [original instrumental]

Lovefoxxx [original instrumental]

Middle of the Roadkill [original instrumental]

Depressive Suicidal Mariachi [original instrumental]

Partch's Mirrors (2024) - clavier électronique & ensemble (15 musiciens) - Nao Momitani, keyboard, Sturm und Klang, Thomas Van Haeperen, cond. Live recording Ars Musica Brussels 2024 - Hommage à / tribute to Harry Partch.

Partch's Mirrors-Live

Transmissions to the aether • des bruits colorés
https://snowsovgethen.com/

Solo artist.  Song and dance man.  Folk.  Blues.  Contact:  desertersongs@yahoo.com Film critic at https://paulydeathwish.com/

New tracks tagged #Harry Partch