An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music/First A-Chronology Volume 1

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 1, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Quatermass Belgium
• ASIN: B00006JM7S
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #798,270 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Corale (1921) - Luigi Russolo

2. Wochende (1930) - Walter Ruttman

3. Cinq Etudes De Bruits: Etude Violette (1948) - Pierre Schaeffer

4. Scambi (1957) - Henri Pousseur

5. The Dresden Interleaf 13 February 1945 (1965) - Gordon Mumma

6. Trance #2 (1965) - John Cale

7. Untitled #1 (2000) - Otomo Yoshihide

8. October 24, 1992 Graz, Austria (1992) - Survival Research Laboratories

9. Ragout: Kuchen Rezpt Von Einsturzende Neubauten (1998) - Einsturzende Neubauten

10. Aspekt (1966) - Konrad Boehmer

Disc: 2

1. Hommage A John Cage (1958-59) - Nam June Paik

2. Rozart Mix (1965) - John Cage

3. Audience (1983) - Sonic Youth

4. Poeme (Electronique (1957-58) - Edgard Varese

5. Concret PH (1958) - Iannis Xenakis

6. FTP>Bundle/Conduit 23 (2001) - Paul D. Miller AKA DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid

7. A Little Noise In The System (Moog System) (1966) - Pauline Oliveros

8. One Minute (1997) - Ryoji Ikeda

Editorial Reviews

Sub Rosa presents part 1 of a vast anthology of noise and electronic music to be released during the next years in seven volumes. An Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music Vol. 1 begins in the 1920s, with the Russolo Brothers, and looks at each decade in turn -- Var‚se, Cage, Schaeffer, Xenakis, the great pioneers -- and shows the first traces of a music that was necessarily revolutionary: electronic music, created from nothing (and hence to be entirely invented). Some pieces on these CDs are certainly classics, but there are others, which, though old, were distributed informally or never even released. The more contemporary pieces are, wherever possible, previously unreleased. In fact, more than the half of what we listen here is unreleased and unpublished. This 2xCD comes as a Digipak with 24 page booklet." Artists include: Luigi & Antonio Russolo, Walter Ruttman, Pierre Schaeffer, Henri Pousseur, Gordon Mumma, Angus Maclise, Tony Conrad & John Cale, Philip Jeck, Otomo Yoshihide & Martin T‚treault, Survival Research Laboratories, Einsturzende Neubauten, Konrad Boehmer, Nam June Paik, John Cage, Sonic Youth, Edgard Var‚se, Iannis Xenakis, Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, Pauline Oliveros, Ryoji Ikeda.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars incredible collection of cutting edge sounds, August 24, 2005

By 

R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music/First A-Chronology Volume 1 (Audio CD)

I finally tracked this one down, and it was worth waiting to hear! (It's still out there to be found, don't despair...) This is Volume 1 of a series assembled by Guy Marc Hinant for Sub Rosa, but this is the gem of the series -- Volumes 2 and 3 don't contain as much of the rare, early pioneering music.

The entire first disc is fantastic, with major works by Ruttman, Schaeffer, Pousseur, Mumma, and Boehmer. There are a couple of quirky pieces thrown in, including the sounds of the fighting robots of the Survival Research Laboratories, but they work. Compared to much of what was produced in the onslaught of electronica since the early 1990s, it is amazing how much variety and creativity these older works are brimming with.

The second disc contains more amazing selections -- Cage's "Rozart Mix" and Nam June Paik's "Hommage a John Cage," Varese's masterpiece the "Poeme Electronique" and Xenakis's short "Concret PH," which were played together at the famous 1958 Philips Pavilion at the World Fair in Brussels, (the pavilion designed by Xenakis using the same equations he used to produce glissandi in his music! -- that's it on the cover of this disc), and a long piece by Pauline Oliveros. This one goes on too long at 30', but the ideas are fascinating for about 1/2 or 2/3 of that time. The more recent piece by dj Spooky is excellent, and Sonic Youth electronically manipulating crowd noise not only fulfills the "noise" part of the disc's title, but is strangely compelling in its own right.

The peak level of inventiveness and the variety make this disc compulsively listenable, in addition to being a treasure trove of electronic music landmarks.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, January 26, 2004

By 

J.F. Quackenbush "jason_quackenbush" (SeaTac, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music/First A-Chronology Volume 1 (Audio CD)

This collection is simply incredible. Traces the history of avant garde noise experimentation and it's cross breeding with electronic music over the course of the 20th century. There are pieces on here that are breathtaking that you will not hear anywhere else. A must for any fan of challenging, experimental music.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars this opened my ears to a new world of possibilities, April 26, 2006

By 

Andreas C G "Andreas Carl Georgi" (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music/First A-Chronology Volume 1 (Audio CD)

I hadn't previously explored this type of stuff directly. I bought this on a lark because I liked the title. I'm very glad I did, as it really opened my ears up to a wide spectrum of experimental music.

I have subsequently bought Volumes 2 & 4. As of July 08 there are 5 volumes released, out of a planned 7 volumes. All the ones I have are excellent, but this one may be the best.

The series is described as an "achronology". Rather than presenting it has an historical text book, he idea is to present it emphasize the great diversity throughout the 80+ years covered through juxtaposition. Most of the series jumps accross time periods, styles, and places to focus on the great variety of stuff out there. The first half of disk 1, as an introduction, does follow a chronological order, with one piece from every decade from the 20's through the 60's. The ones that stand out in my mind are the Pierre Schaeffer, Gordon Mumma, and Nam Jun Paik pieces (play the Mumma piece LOUD!). A couple of the pieces run too long, but overall it's a fascinating listen.

I would recommend to anyone who wants an introduction to get this CD and also Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music Special Edition 3CD + DVD. Make sure you get the version of OHM with the DVD.