La Monte Young, generally regarded as the father of musical minimalism, is one of America’s most important contemporary composers–and one of the most elusive. Early on Young eschewed the conventional musical institutions of publishers, record labels, and venues, in order to create compositions completely unfettered by commercial concerns. At the same time, however, he exercised profound influence on such varied figures as Terry Riley, Cornelius Cardew, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, Velvet Underground, Brian Eno and entire branches of pop music. For half a century he and his partner and collaborator, Marian Zazeela, have worked in near-seclusion in their Tribeca loft, creating works that explore the furthest extremes of conceptual audacity, technical sophistication, acoustical complexity, and overt spirituality.
La Monte Young, generally regarded as the father of musical minimalism, is one of America’s most important contemporary composers–and one of the most elusive. Early on Young eschewed the conventional musical institutions of publishers, record labels, and venues, in order to create compositions completely unfettered by commercial concerns. At the same time, however, he exercised profound influence on such varied figures as Terry Riley, Cornelius Cardew, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, Velvet Underground, Brian Eno and entire branches of pop music. For half a century he and his partner and collaborator, Marian Zazeela, have worked in near-seclusion in their Tribeca loft, creating works that explore the furthest extremes of conceptual audacity, technical sophistication, acoustical complexity, and overt spirituality.
When Watter first appeared fully formed in 2014 as a trio featuring founding members of Grails and Slint, most assumed the mercurial group would vanish into the ether just like the foggy echoes of sound they crafted on their debut album, This World. Instead, they toured the US with their longtime friends in Om, and returned home to begin work on an ambitious new recording studio, from which their new album, History of the Future was born. As with their first album, the songs on History of the Future evolved from many long days and nights of improvisation, experimentation, and collaboration. In many ways, the guests – which include, among others, Britt Walford (Slint), Dominic Cipolla (Phantom Family Halo, Torres), Rachel Grimes (Rachel’s), Bundy K. Brown (Tortoise), and Todd Cook (Shipping News, The For Carnation) – and the gear were as vital to the creative process as the core duo of Riles and multi-instrumentalist Tyler Trotter. It is this exploratory nature that breathes life into Watter, and turns ephemeral into eternal.
Stereolab took an unprecedented two years between 1997's Dots & Loops and 1999's Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, as they tended to personal matters. During those two years, Stereolab's brand of sophisticated, experimental post-rock didn't evolve too much, even as colleagues like Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, and the High Llamas tried other things. Since each Stereolab album offered a significant progression from the next, it would have been fair to assume that when they returned, it would be with a leap forward, especially since Tortoise's John McEntire and O'Rourke were co-producers. Perhaps that's the reason that the album feels slightly disappointing. The group has absorbed McEntire's jazz-fusion leanings – "Fuses" kicks off the album in compelling, free-jazz style – and the music continually bears O'Rourke's attention to detail, but it winds up sounding like O'Hagan's increasing tendency of making music that's simply sound for sound's sake.
Career spanning 17 disc (11 CD + six DVD) box set from the British Rock icons. Timeless Flight is a definitive career-spanning Moody Blues box set. The Moody Blues have released 24 albums in a career spanning nearly five decades. They have sold over 50 million albums, earning them eighteen platinum discs and all manner of awards. This set contains 11 remastered CDs featuring key album tracks, previously unreleased mixes, out-takes and complete live concerts, three DVDs of rare television performances from around the world, promotional videos and the previously unreleased live concert from Olympia, Paris in 1970, three DVD audio discs containing the long-deleted 5:1 surround sound mixes…