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This week we dive into Kate Gentile’s massive Find Letter X project, positioning it in the Braxtonian lineage that combines the highly-structured compositional techniques of Carter, Nancarrow and the spectralists with the improvisational traditions of jazz and rock. Live electronic music is another recurring theme, with Sylvie Courvoisier, Wadada Leo Smith, Roger Reynolds, Irvine Arditti and Yikii in the spotlight with new albums. Our 50 years ago in the avant-garde feature traces all this back to Stockhausen’s legendary live electronic ensemble, featured in its final recording which combines analog-era instruments and South Asian drumming.
We also revisit Daníel Bjarnason’s spatially-extended orchestral piece From Space I Saw Earth in its first studio recording, while Xiaoyong Chen offers East meets West, and the bands Ni and Mendoza Hoff Revels offer aggressive avant-fusion. A bit of John Cage rounds out the eclectic playlist.
Photo credits and annotated playlist with Comments.
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Flotation Device 2023-11-19: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Born crazy [0:00]
1. [1:51] Ni: Rigoletto. From Fol Naïs (Dur et Doux, 2023) with Anthony Béard (guitar), François Mignot (guitar), Benoit Lecomte (bass), Nicolas Bernollin (percussion), Stéphane Piot (recording engineer)
2. [5:17] Kate Gentile: garbage juice. From Find Letter X (Pi, 2023) with Jeremy Viner (clarinet, bass clarinet), Matt Mitchell (piano, Prophet-6, modular synths, electronics), Kim Cass (acoustic and electric bass), Kate Gentile (drums), D. James Goodwin (recording engineer)
3. [9:25] Kate Gentile: …va zisroas. From Find Letter X (credits as above)
4. [16:29] Kate Gentile: …zislupme tnilyive tsoam ath. From Find Letter X (credits as above)
5. [20:28] John Cage on I've Got a Secret (CBS television, 1960)
6. [21:45] John Cage: Music For Three. From Modern Horn Trios (CAvi-music, 2023) with Přemysl Vojta (Horn), Ye Wu (violin), Florence Millet (piano), Arnd Coppers, Enrique Foedtke (recording engineers). NOTE: First recording of this piece for horn trio, arranged from the materials of Music For … (1984–87)
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SET 2: East meets West [26:46]
1. [30:49] Xiaoyong Chen: Wasserzeichen (excerpt). From Qian & Yan (Col Legno, 2021) with E-MEX Ensemble: Evelin Degen (flute), Joachim Striepens (clarinet), Rike Huy (trumpet), Christopher Weddle (horn), Bruce Collings (trombone), Kalina Kolarova (violin), Konrad von Coelln (viola), Burkart Zeller (cello), John Eckhardt (double bass), Petteri Waris (accordion), Martin von der Heydt (piano), Michael Pattmann (percussion), Chai Found Music Workshop: Wu Chung-Hsien (di), Huang Lung-Yi (sheng), Lin Hui-Kuan (pipa), Yeh Jiuan-Reng (zheng), Tu Ming-Hui (ruan), Huang Chen-Ming (erhu), Li Tsai-Ling (yangqin), Chen Wen-Ting (chinese percussion), Christoph Maria Wagner (conductor). NOTE: Composed 2009/15
2. [31:45] Xiaoyong Chen: Speechlessness, Clearness and Ease (excerpt). From Qian & Yan (credits as above). NOTE: Composed 2004
3. [38:17] Yikii: Cicadas in the Snow. From 铃宕/Black Hole Ringdown (Bandcamp, 2023) with Yikii Tong AKA Yikii
4. [42:30] Sylvie Courvoisier: Partout des prunelles flamboient (excerpt). From Chimaera (Intakt, 2023) with Nate Wooley (trumpet L channel), Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet R channel), Christian Fennesz (guitar, electronics), Sylvie Courvoisier (piano), Drew Gress (bass), Kenny Wollesen (drums, vibraphone), Ryan Streber (recording engineer)
5. [47:26] Sylvie Courvoisier: La chimère aux yeux verts. From Chimaera (credits as above)
6. [55:47] Outro with Wadada Leo Smith, Hardedge: The Nile
7. [59:01] Devin Hoff: Dyscalculia. From Echolocation (AUM Fidelity, 2023) with Mendoza Hoff Revels: James Brandon Lewis (tenor saxophone), Ava Mendoza (electric guitar), Devin Hoff (electric bass), Ches Smith (drums), Jim Clouse (recording engineer)
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SET 3: From space I saw strange music [1:06:07]
1. [1:07:42] Roger Reynolds: Shifting/Drifting [Sharespace IV] (excerpts). From For a Reason (Neuma, 2023) with Irvine Arditti (violin), Paul Hembree (computer musician, recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2015
2. [1:16:41] Daníel Bjarnason: From Space I Saw Earth. From Atmospheriques (Sono Luminus, 2023) with Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Members of ISO Youth Orchestra LHÍ, and the Bell Choir of Reykjanesbær Music School (crotales), Daníel Bjarnason, Eva Ollikainen, Kornilios Michailidis (conductors), Daniel Shores (recording engineer)
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SET 4: 50 years ago in the avant-garde [1:29:45]
1. [1:34:02] Karlheinz Stockhausen: Ceylon. From Ceylon/Bird of Passage (Chrysalis, 1976, reissued 1995 by Stockhausen-Verlag as Stockhausen Edition 11: Prozession/Ceylon) with Harald Bojé (electronium), Péter Eötvös (Persian camel bells, 2 triangles, synthesizer), Aloys Kontarsky (modulated piano), Joachim Krist (tam-tam), Karlheinz Stockhausen (Kandy drum), Tim Souster (sound projection). NOTE: Composed 1970 as the 17th piece in the collection Für kommende Zeiten. Premiered November 22, 1973 at the Merz Festival, recorded April 4, 1975 at WDR, Cologne)
2. [1:56:34] Outro with Hanuma Vannama (with Piyasara and Chandrakanthi Shilpadhipathi)
Photo credits: Xiaoyong Chen by Verena Chen, Chimaera (Kenny Wollesen, Nate Wooley, Drew Gress, Sylvie Courvoisier, Wadada Leo Smith, Christian Fennesz) by David Breskin, Ava Mendoza and Devin Hoff via the artists, Karlheinz Stockhausen with Kandy drum by B. Perrine and Trevor Key, John Cage on I've Got a Secret (1960), Yikii via the artist, Daníel Bjarnason by Saga Sig 6, Kate Gentile by Dustin Carlson, Ni (Nicolas Bernollin, François Mignot, Benoît Lecomte, Anthony Béard) by Oofzos, Roger Reynolds and Paul Hembree in Kyle Johnson: Far.