Having discovered space as a tangible medium, English performance artist Peter Dockley developed a multimedia theatre piece in 1969. Gymnasts, kendo fighters and dancers create a dynamic energy zone full of colours, light and excitement. The soundtrack, recorded by Canterbury rock band Soft Machine, was inspired by techniques of musique concrète, laying the foundation for experimental industrial ambient music.
With 10k+ archived releases, Sounds Central's proprietor, Paul Paulun, tells a personal history of music and sound art
The atmosphere becomes minimalistic and meditative when Eleh operates the controls and patch cables of his analogue modular synthesizers. The textures he creates with the machines convey a sense of precision, as if they were carved or sculpted. And they are characterised by a spiritual component that seems to be rooted in the cosmos itself.
In the media age, imagination has come under attack. However, the interface between the unknown and the self needs to be triggered as a source of inspiration for art and science. Listening can be a key to activating one's own imagination. Jazz musician Brother Ah discovered this technique at the age of five in his family’s fifth-floor flat in Harlem, New York.
A mix of ethnological recordings, found sounds and pirated material formed the basis for the performances of the radical theatre group Magazzini Criminali from Florence. In 1980, they used ambient music by Jon Hassell without permission. The composer was impressed – and collaborated with the group on an adaptation of Jack Kerouac's iconic beat novel ‘On the Road.‘
‘I want to put as many aspects of myself into music as I can, as much as possible of being alive, intensely conscious on all levels.‘ With this attitude, American composer Laurie Spiegel developed her concept of Slow Change Music in the mid-1970s at Bell Labs in New Jersey, using the prototype of a computer system to control synthesizers.
The stoic, almost machine-like drumming of many West German music from the early 1970s became the trademark of a new sound – different from British pop or American rock and in no way related to the country's horrible Nazi past. 45 minutes with Cluster, Faust, Harmonia 76, Wolfgang Riechmann and others.
“Listen to your world. It may be more interesting than all the things you buy to escape from it.” 46-minute mix that proves Sasha Frere-Jones’ observation from 1999 right – with field-recordings by Alejandra & Aeron, Bill Fontana, Chris Watson, Paul Bowles and others.
An invented language, imitations of field recordings, or the idea of a visual work with sound allow these tracks to express something as yet unknown. 38 minutes with Buffy Sainte-Marie, Gazelle Twin & NYX, Glynis Jones, Valentina Goncharova and others.
Known for his innovative studio techniques, unique production style and weird tunes, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry combined influences from soul, funk, reggae and dub in the early and mid-1970s. 46-minute mix with 14 tracks from the Perry orbit.
Whether conceptual or performance art, electronic music, counterculture, minimalism, drone sounds or Fluxus – New York City is a hotbed for all sorts of experiments during the Sixties. 54 minutes with Angus MacLise, Henry Flynt, La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela, Richard Maxfield and others.
Artists see things differently. 45 minutes with sound works by Carole Caroompas, Dieter Roth, Jess Holzworth and Jutta Koether, Magazzini Criminali and others.
