You want more don't you?
Here we have the mongolian style drone singing of the La Monte Young husband and wife team,with John Hassell joining in the fun on what sounds uncannily like a Kazoo?But i'm reliably informed that it was a trumpet?.....yeah right? I'm not as stupid as I sound,it's a Kazoo!
So technology existed in 1974 that could cram 80 minutes of drone on two sides of one vinyl 12 incher,which makes it all sound even shitter quality,and is rather crackly;which adds to its charm and not only gets rid of the normals from your personal space, but the audiophiles too. Its a win/win situation.
Again we have instructions on how to play your record....thanks 'La':
"For the maximum fidelity on Side B, reduce the treble controls on your pre-amplifier to minimum. Since the sine waves have no harmonic content, and all are below 202.5 Hertz, this will reduce the surface noise which is normal on most discs. Note: Be sure to keep the treble controls normal on Side A."
I did all that and it still sounds shit,but being a fan of Shit-fi I mind not.
So now you know what you've been doing previously is WRONG!...which is not too much of a pity because the Audiophiles have now left the room.....FOR GOOD!
Now, if you haven't been patronized enough here's an explanation, from 'La' to you:
"Side B. Drift Study 14 VII 73 9:27:27 - 10:06:41 PM NYC Three sine waves. Frequencies and voltages of the sine waves determined and tuned by La Monte Young using oscillators custom designed by Rober Adler to generate specific frequencies and voltages of great stability. Performed 14 July 1973 at La Monte Young's private studio."
Art-Club Rule number one....NEVER EXPLAIN YOUR WORK!
Art-Club Rule number two....NEVER EXPLAIN YOUR WORK!!
Tracklist:
A 13 I 73 5:35-6:14:03 PM NYC 39:03
B Drift Study 14 VII 73 9:27:27-10:06:41 PM NYC 39:14
A 13 I 73 5:35-6:14:03 PM NYC 39:03
B Drift Study 14 VII 73 9:27:27-10:06:41 PM NYC 39:14
Is that a misprint? I thought side B is "Grift Study".
ReplyDeleteProbably not the first to take La to task over this but... OK, sine waves have no harmonic content, but, you're playing in a freakin room, ja? (Unless you're one of those wankers who runs everything with a plug direct to the machine) And it's kind of a resonant room, so... leave the treble where it's at. Also, you call it "drift study" but then you tell us some guy made these especially _stable_ oscillators _just for you_. Are you trying to prove that his oscillators are crap or something? Just seems kinda shitty.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, Laswell played in Curlew--but only occasionally, and I think he was still makng an effort back then.
Art-Club Rule number three...EXPLAIN YOUR WORK TO THE POINT NO ONE CARES
ReplyDeleteArt-Club Rule number four....EXPLAIN YOUR WORK TO THE POINT THE EXPLANATION IS MORE ANNOYING THAN THE WORK ITSELF.
In glorious shit-fi as well. perfect.
They spent all their money on hyper-stable oscillators. Nothing leftover for good microphones and a stable tape recorder.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing about La... He studied with Pandit Pran Nath, has a lifelong fascination with Indian classical music and such--did no one ever tell him what that bit of thread under the bridge of his tanbura was for? Or why the bridge is shaped all funny-like? Or introduce him to the notion of javari? It's all about producing the desired overtones, man--and he's playing around with freakin SINE waves?!! I can't imagine someone like Tony Conrad saying, "I wish I could get my viola to produce something closer to a sine wave."
ReplyDeleteI'd say that La is fucking with us, but for the fact that he invested (and continues to invest... eternally, apparently) considerable time and energies into various sine wave "studies." Or perhaps it's a long con? (like in that episode of Lost, where I learned all about "long cons."). He shoulda left the sine waves and tanburas to the experts and gone back to his Bosendorfer.
I saw Chas 'n' Dave on an old Top Of thr Pops the other day,and what was Chas playing?.....you got it...a Bosendorfer!....wasted in La's hands.
ReplyDeleteRabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit. You got schhhtyle. Christ, where have these guys been for my entire life? Surely they must have collaborated with Tony Banks at some point during their storied careers--I simply can not imagine that NOT happening.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Chas Hodges has worked with everyone from, Gene Vincent to Joe Meek, To, probably, Tony Banks.....basically Fuck the 'Well Tuned Piano', a Bosendorfer was made for a tune like "Gertcha".....
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/q87TmUmVg0Y
ps I own few t-shirts with bands on them, I have a Slaughter and The Dogs tee,a Van Der Graff Generator, and...yep...Chas'n'Dave "Rabbit"...I feel that covers all that ever mattered in Rock'n'Roll?
This one has been reissued, does that mean it's ok for latecomers to hear? I've got an original copy which I bought in 1990.
ReplyDeleteA VdGG t-shirt?!? Don't see many of those turning up.
ReplyDeletePandit Pran Nath lived with La and Marian at their "foundation" headquarters, and was always after beer and young skirt. Maybe he was Rock 'n' Roll...
ReplyDeleteActually both these albums are black
ReplyDeleteI just completed a ten month odyssey down the abyss of the DIE or DIY archives. I felt that I had a wide grasp of outsider and DIY music previously, but this here blog has blown my socks clean off.
ReplyDeleteMuch continued success to you and this blog going forward.
@rex ... Black Albums Matter.
ReplyDelete@ Mr P... congratulations on your odyssey.....Perseus and Jason with his Argonauts all tried and failed to cope with wading through Die Or DIY?..to the point where i had to release The Kracken...so you're one up on them...watch out for the Medusa of Pop,don't look her in the eyes or you will be turned to Rock music.
ReplyDeleteIs this the same chap who was behind Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes? It's quite a change in direction from Get Dancin'.
ReplyDeleteHey parmalee, sometimes it helps to be a little LESS ignorant.The Drift in "Drift Study" requires stable sine waves, otherwise you will not hear the effect! LaMonte Young was exploring, the drifting experience you have when 3 steady tones with the right ratio to each other are impssed on each other.Then the steady tones are becoming more alive , floating and drifting and beating.It's his variant of what other early Minimalists were exploring with phase shiffting i suppose.By the way-I am mad enough to use my lockdown time to get rid of cracling and other noises by using audio software, which takes hours or days, but i enjoy it, it's my version of computer gaming, which i don't like at all!
ReplyDelete@ Bodhi Amol.....that there's fightin' talk!....I suspect that Parmalee is substantially less ignorant than you imagine,maybe even less than your own oviously superior mind.
ReplyDeleteAnyway this blog is built on Ignorance.....and damn proud of it too.
@ Anonymous.....I wondered who would spot that....sure its Disco Tex himself...didn't you hear the stable sine wave on "Get Dancin'"????
ReplyDeleteThe Sex-o-lettes provide the out of phase vocalising on this one.
"Art-Club Rule number one....NEVER EXPLAIN YOUR WORK!"
ReplyDeleteWell fuck there goes most concept and conceptual art!
There goes most of 21st century music from experimental to pop!
If artists wanna be writers why don't they just do that!
*When conceptual art was still concept art it was novel & fun then fuck me it's dragging on to this very day!
Its also art Club Rule number 2 of course.
ReplyDeleteSilence is one of thee most creative art forms..sadly most artists have self-esteem problems and wanna show dat dey is brainy 'cus they feel dumb inside..
Always liked the line "I don't Give Interviews"...if the public wanna understand it all they can work it out for themselves can't they....they like those Whodunnit series on netflix don't they?