ELIANE RADIGUE OPUS 17 ELECTRONIC 2-LP ALGA MARGHEN-PIERRE HENRY-LUCIER-SEALED

$

39

ELIANE RADIGUE

 OPUS 17 2-LP

Alga Marghen

Limited Edition: 400 copies  

Works from the period 1969-1970 from mastermind french composer Eliane Radigue coming in a deluxe limited edition of 400 copies.

Some info on the release:  Rare original issue, released in Italy on the great Alga Marghen label (John Cage, Max Neuhaus, Henri Chopin, Bernard Heidsieck, Brion Gysin, Sten Hanson, Jacques Berrocal, Philip Corner, Nam June Paik, etc.). Deluxe edition of previously unheard material from Eliane Radigue circa 1970 - presented in a gorgeous Gatefold sleeve with printed inners and extensive liner notes - Edition of 400 copies** Alga Marghen present this vinyl-only first release of Eliane Radigue's pivotal, previously unreleased 'Opus17' - her last work made with feedback material. It's one of the strongest, if not definitive, examples of Radigue's tactile and meditative approach to composition, an engrossing, intuitive refinement of the techniques and practice she honed over prior years at RTF's Studio d'essai under the guidance of Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry's Studio Apsome, and later at the New York University School of the Arts. Created at the Fête en blanc - White Festival - in Verderonne on May 23, 1970, 'Opus17' breaks down to five pieces making up a mesmerising voyage to the heart of the drone. Using various early tape techniques, Eliane meticulously, imperceptibly peels the source samples in a discreet microcosmos of morphing, moebius-like loops and shimmering overtones, rendering their vibrational energy and unique accents with a poetic, dreamlike quality. It opens with a relative shock in the 19 minute self-portrait of 'Etude', where she gradually transforms a looped passage of Frederick Chopin into an opiated, howling ghost of itself using practically identical microphone and tape feedback procedures to those on Alvin Lucier's 'I Am Sitting In A Room' (although it should be noted that she wasn't aware of this at the time), whilst 'the shorter 'Maquette' applies the same technique using a part of Wagner's 'Parsifal', but this time with the sample subtracted leaving only a spectral trace of grandeur. Following this, we're floored by the roiling pulsations of 'Epure' - a sort of rudimentary pre-cognition of industrial and minimal techno building palpitating throbs into a dense yet delicate and ferric-rich flux, sharing rhythmic similarities with the aptly titled trip of 'Safari', where elliptic bass patterns melt and congeal in morphing shapes and curdled overtones with an alien, otherworldly quality presaging the like of Rashad Becker. Yet, the ultimate exposition of Eliane's time-dilating technique is found in the 22 and a half minute panoramic excursion 'Number 17', examining her sonic phenomena at microscopic level, homing in and expanding on its globular bass shapes and radiant harmonics. Even by Radigue's standards, this is a breathtaking and beguiling body of work, opening up whole worlds of sound from so very, very little.

Her singular sound is best described by Michel Chion as "infinitely discreet… next to which all other music seems to be tugging at one's sleeve for attention." Working since the late '50s under the tutelage of Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry at RTF's Studio d'essai - the birthplace of musique concrète - she created a body of work whose profound simplicity has only begun to be widely appreciated over the last decade or so. Preferring to work at night - once her children were asleep - her compositions were created using tones derived from an ARP 2500 synthesizer and manipulated on multiple tape machines, creating feedback loops and altering their pitch and duration to coax out quavering microtonal harmonics and ultrasound frequencies not usually perceived at their normal setting. As practically anyone who knows (and probably adores) her music will testify, there's really very little else out there that compares to the elemental tranquility and hallucinatory effect of her works.

Condition: Vinyls lies in mint condition, this is a sealed stock copy, while cover lies in mint shape, like new (see picture).

Tracklist

SHIPPING & PAYMENT

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Packaging: I am a collector too and i know