Inside the Dream Syndicate, Vol. 1: Day of Niagara [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

John Cale

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2000)
• Original Release Date: May 9, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Table of Elements
• ASIN: B00004SR1R
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #175,927 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Inside the Dream Syndicate is a very cruddy-sounding recording of very important music. How important is this music? Imagine a great work of art, among the most influential work in any given genre--Marcel Duchamp's sculpture The Large Glass, say, or William Burroughs's Naked Lunch, something that took years to create and which showed people an entirely new direction for art. Imagine that the artist or his estate didn't wish for this work to be seen and the only way you could see it were via smudged Xeroxes of a photo taken of the original sculpture or manuscript; wouldn't you still want to see it? The work made from 1962-1965 by the Theatre of Eternal Music ("Dream Syndicate" is a term used to represent this phase of that group) was that important to modern classical music, and has not been heard until now due to the fact that musician La Monte Young will not officially release the recordings unless he gets sole composer credit. Violinists John Cale (later of the Velvet Underground) and Tony Conrad (the pioneering filmmaker) claim the works were collaborative; Young's wife and artistic collaborator Marian Zazeela sides with Young; percussionist Angus MacLise (an early member of V.U.) is dead so he cannot comment on the affair. The music? It's wonderful to finally hear it, a thick sheet of piercing, assaultive drone sound made with two voices, hand percussion, and two intensely screechy violins harmonizing together, in just-intonation pitches held for long moments. It sounds like Indian classical music transported to an alien realm. Thank God it can now be heard, in however flawed a manner. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The DRone DronEs On...and on and on and on...., January 10, 2002

By	Andrew R. Golden (Redwood City, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Do you wish that you could listen to 30 minute plus chorus of electric razors? Are you moved by the spin cycle on your washing machine..? Do you like to meditate beneath a perpetually buzzing streetlight? If not, this IS NOT the recording for you. If you do crave and intense and endless drone, you'll love this one. If you're in New York, check out La Monte Young's Dream House. After a visit there, you'll crave more of the drone. This album gives me vivid dreams that I can touch smell and taste while they are happening, yet I can never remember them when they are over. It sets the tone for a unique psychological adventure...but only if you are ready to partake.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sound aesthetics, August 8, 2000

By	Paul Inez (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

....The Dream Music which these artists crafted was realized in order
to create an atmosphere, a transcendental anti-consciousnes, in which
the many conotations of the self (including the notion of authorship)
were meant to be eradicated. This ideology was acheived through an
aesthetic seemingly equal parts aggressive-sound (the multitude of
frenetic, scraping micro-movement found in the clashing of overtones),
and trance-like state (achieved through the continous, singular
drone). This recording is absolutely not the most technical, clearly
mastered recording possible of this music, but I would make the
argument that it is just this aural grit that lends itself to the
overall aesthetic. The sound quality is in tandem with the music,
hazy, blurred, yet also metallic and harsh, furthering the conjunction
between the original intentions. The tape is obviously unedited,
lurching to a start, already in full throttle, then spluttering to a
glorious end, as if retreating into the holy vacuum from which it
came. This revolutionary disk is not only important, but an
exhilirating experience, one which I think is in keeping with the
forgotten beliefs of this often misconstrued group of collaborators.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not For Everyone, June 20, 2001

By	Devon Athans (San Marcos, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This album (similar to Sonic Youth's "Silver Session for Jason Knuth") is one tremendous wall of sound. Don't get me wrong, the wall of sound pulsates from time to time, but mostly the two violins, yelling, and minimalistic percussion float in a sea of blissful sound for over half of an hour. Sound like torture? In many others hands it would have been, but Cale, Young & crew aren't spitting out random sounds but tickling places in your mind that you lay previously unaware of. I'm not saying your going to gain E.S.P.; but you just might find you're unable to resist listening to the entire album. Even if, intellectually, you find yourself put off by the music (or lack of). Something in that shrill wall of sound just wont let you press stop. If you enjoy Eno, Cage, Cale or other similar shapers of sound, this is a must for your collection. If you've never seen any of these names before, pass it by.