Wednesday, July 20, 2016

LA MONTE YOUNG / MARIAN ZAZEELA - The Theatre Of Eternal Music – Dream House 78'17" (LP-1974)




Label: Shandar – 83 510
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: France / Released: 1974
Style: Modern Classical, Drone, Minimal
Cover [Label, Design, Calligraphy] – Marian Zazeela
Photography By [Cover Photo] – Robert Adler
Liner Notes – Julian Cowley, La Monte Young
Matrix / Runout (A): 83 510 A
Matrix / Runout (B): 83 510 B

A - 13 I 73 5:35-6:14:03 PM NYC ............................................................... 39:03
       trombone – Garrett List
       trumpet – Jon Hassell
       voice – Marian Zazeela
       voice, Electronics [Sine Waves] – La Monte Young
B - Drift Study 14 VII 73 9:27:27-10:06:41 PM NYC .................................. 39:14
       electronics [sine waves] – La Monte Young

Side A - 13 I 73 5:35 - 6:14:03 PM NYC is a sub-section of Map Of 49's Dream The Two Systems Of Eleven Sets Of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery, begun in 1966 as a section of the even longer work: The Tortoise, His Dreams And Journeys which was begun in 1964 with The Theatre Of Eternal Music. Performed 17 January 1973 at La Monte Young's private studio.
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.

For the maximum fidelity on Side 2, 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 1.

Sleeve Notes:
“Frequencies and voltages of the sine waves generators were determined and tuned by La Monte Young using oscillators custom-designed by sound technician Robert Adler to generate specific frequencies and voltages of great stability. The sine waves produced are such that they interfere with each other, creating changes of volume both in time and space that can be experienced either walking within the room or staying put. If one chooses to walk, he will change the sound experience of other people in the room by moving the molecules of air.”




Dream House 78’17” was originally released by Shandar in 1974. I touch on the label’s history in my piece on Steve Reich’s Four Organs / Phase Patterns. Of all the releases in the label’s catalog, Young’s is the most sought after. It contains two single-sided works. 13 I 73 5:35 – 6:14:03 PM NYC is a sub-section of Map Of 49’s Dream The Two Systems Of Eleven Sets Of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery, which extended from the iconic The Tortoise, His Dreams And Journeys. The recording features a later incarnation of The Theatre Of Eternal Music, with Garrett List on trombone, Jon Hassell on trumpet, Marian Zazeela singing, and La Monte Young singing and playing electronics. It’s pretty mind bending – with Young and Zazeela’s vocals droning away over the sustained electronics and horns. The tonal relationships between the five elements are hypnotic and totally engrossing. One of the first things you’ll notice about the piece is that it stretches a shocking 39:03 – almost double the standard length of an LP side  – but, they are managed the impossible.

The second side finds the third issue of Young’s Drift Study – in this case 14 VII 73 9:27:27 – 10:06:41 PM NYC. Two shorter versions were released during the late 60’s in Aspen, and S.M.S. This is its definite rendering – stretching to 39:14. Drift Study is built from three sine waves which are precision tuned and run through oscillators. If you’ve ever been to the Dream House in NY, this is the same technology (though in the record features a higher frequency). It can be incredibly dislocating. My first few hours in the space (of countless hundreds) were spent trying to work out how the sounds were fluctuating and changing. It messed me up. It’s the closest auditory equivalent to Brion Gysin’s hallucination-inducing Dream Machine. The tonal shifts are created by altering your physical proximity to the waves – thus where in their path or reflection you encounter them. I’ve spent untold hours moving around the Dream House like a turtle, trying to grasp its totality. The recording goes a long way to recreate this experience at home, making Dream House 78’17”.
(Review by Bradford Bailey)


Note:
Though I’ve seen reissue of La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela & The Theatre Of Eternal Music’s – Dream House 78’17“, I didn’t hold my breath. Every fan of Young knows of his refusal to grant his blessings for reissues, and of the scarcity (and extremely high price) of originals. Aguirre Records, the label responsible for its return, somehow obtained the record’s license – though I’d be surprised if La Monte gave his permission, making it a curious ethical line.  Since the label did their due diligence, and it’s hard to know what La Monte’s thoughts are (not to mention the fact that he can be a pain in the ass), I’m letting my excitement get the better of me, and giving this one a plug.



If you find it, buy this album!

16 comments:

  1. LA MONTE YOUNG / MARIAN ZAZEELA - The Theatre Of Eternal Music – Dream House 78'17" (LP-1974)
    Vinyl Rip/FLAC+Artwork

    1fichier:
    https://1fichier.com/?am6orp8dv4

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  2. Thank you very much, wondered if I'd ever get to hear this!

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  3. Must be rare. I know the artist. I know the label. Never seen, didn't know of, never heard of this. Many Many thanks!

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  4. Very many thanks

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  5. LaMonte³ - you're on a roll, Vitko. Cheers from an old pal.

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  6. Gruß, Lucky!
    I think, it would be now a good fit here an album of Yoshi Wada, but..... should not be exaggerated :)
    In any case I will present his great work once.
    And now I'm going to search "Orang Lucky" blog. From whom it is?
    Cheers.

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  7. RE: reissue La Monte probably owns the publishing but if the Shandar paid him for the master tapes and had a good contract with him then the reissue is legit. I am sure if it wasn't La Monte would have released a statement about it as he did with the book he didn't approve of. This record isn't that great - you'd be much better off going to see him live which is easy to do if your in New York - there's always at least two rounds of concerts every year - last year there were loads more with the temp Dream House in Chelsea.

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  8. Vitko - it's a very personal affair, here's a bit of a write-up I'm scattering among blogs:

    *

    A little bit of self-promo - 10 years in the making:

    http://oranglucky.blogspot.com/

    It's an archive of 47 compilations I made over the years, there's much Lucky in it. Audio links will be valid 30 days from today (zippyshare), then they'll die like the flies, I guess. Check them out.

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    Replies
    1. Be sure, I'm working on it. Here is hidden a lot of good material. Thanks Lucky.

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  9. What's that? I already see the blog in your blogroll???? :)

    Many thanks... without people coming by a blog or an archive doesn't make any sense, right? And maybe this way I will force myself to keep the compilations going - making even new ones! Salut.

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  10. thanks for this rip. la monte's recordings are hard to see (hear)in a legitimate format, so this is a close experience to owning the original vinyl. I guess !!!

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  11. Thanks for this one. I guess none of the Shandar's are thick on the ground these days, but this is particularly scarce . Interesting to hear . DT

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  12. Thanks for the share.Here is a link to a ny times story about young and zazeela.interesting and a bit sad.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/t-magazine/la-monte-young.html

    ReplyDelete