When no wave emerged in New York City in the late 1970s, noise musician, art critic and artist Joseph Nechvatal was already there. Drawing on music of the time, he and Paul Paulun discuss aspects of the movement that opposed the commodification of music and art with radical, often multimedia works.
Category: Series
Headroom (3): Whispers
Living skies, a rhyming planet, plus urban and Saharan fantasies. 21st century chill-out music made between 1992 and 2022.
Headroom (2): Instants
Apricots, cocoa, and dancing at the fountain. 21st century chill-out music made between 1971 and 2022.
Headroom (1): Moving On
Join the procession, meet a cosmic shepherd and trace some magic. 21st century chill-out music made between 1974 and 2022.
Vibrant Spaces – Henri Chopin’s Sound Poetry
Being one of the leading protagonists of 20th century experimental art, Henri Chopin was among the first to exploit the true potential of a tape recorder. Many of his audio works are based on radical approaches, such as swallowing microphones. 43-minute documentary with memories and expertise of poet and curator Enzo Minarelli.
Round World – Twisted Musical Traditions (1967-94)
Traditional instruments and music – twisted by electronic musicians, composers, improvisers, and rockers. 56 minutes with The 13th Tribe, Don Cherry, Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band, Sun City Girls, and others.
Within Sound of the Nile – Tracing the Composer Soliman Gamil
As a boy in the 1930s, Soliman Gamil accompanied researchers into the pyramids to learn about Pharaonic music. After his musical education in Cairo and Paris, he recorded traditional rituals throughout Egypt with a tape recorder. Gamil developed his 20th century compositions together with village musicians playing instruments already in use millennia before.
Tabla Love – Outside of Classical Indian Music (1967-2001)
Tabla drums are a major element in Indian classical music. Since the sixties, they have also appeared outside of that context. 65 minutes with Alejandro Jodorowsky, Catherine Ribeiro + 2 Bis, Geir Jenssen, Robert Ashley, and others.
Spreading Freedom the Rough Way – War (1955-2005)
War is eternal, its accompanying aspects, however, have changed in the 20th century. 45 minutes with artists reflecting war‘s presence in the media, traumatic experiences, the home front, and the utopia of world peace. With Ami Shavit, The Android Sisters, K Foundation, Sun Ra, and others.
Ambient Channel (4): Sacred
Ideas about the concept of time, music for a skier’s descent from an impressive mountain top, and sounds from a love and peace duo. 49 minutes with “Blue” Gene Tyranny, Phew, Pikacyu★Makoto, Suzanne Ciani, and others – realized between 1962 and 2021.
Their India – Inspiration From Abroad (1956-99)
During the 20th century, India attracted artists and musicians in pursuit of answers to spiritual needs or wanting to leave something behind. 56 minutes with Alice Coltrane, Coil with Lori Carson, Psycho Baba, Sun Ra, and others.
The Tiger in Your Tank – Addressing Climate Change (1969-2020)
“The ecological catastrophe begins rehearsing in the sixties”, writes Allen Ginsberg in 1970; and for more than half a century, political systems are unwilling to fight that development. 45 minutes with sounds of protest – uttered by Appleblim, Diane Di Prima, Leslie Winer, Piero Umiliani, and others.
Ambient Channel (3): Misty
Paying homage to flying machines and next generation’s minimalism, singing in an invented language that’s both mysterious and familiar, and a special kind of rain. 43-minute mix with pieces by Anna Homler and Steve Moshier, Ennio Morricone, Harold Budd, The Human League, and others – made between 1972 and 2011.
Ambient Channel (2): En Route
Re-configuring the past, drifting into a future, connecting different worlds, and shaping the profile of a fictitious ethnic group – 43 minutes with music by Bill Drummond, Dadang Dwi Septiyan, Jon Hassell, Malayeen, and others – recorded between 1971 and 2020.
Ambient Channel (1): Perpetual Drift
Minimal melodies from Japan and Arctic Norway, music for ex army gymnasts bounding about in rubber costumes, and something from New York‘s Downtown. 55 minutes with works by Aqua Regia, The Caretaker, Midori Takada, The Residents, and others – realized between 1969 and 2019.
We Are the Machine – The Concept of Polypoetry
Only the development of new technologies will mark the progress of sound poetry, states Enzo Minarelli in his manifesto on polipoesia from 1987. On the basis of 11 sound poems, Minarelli talks about the concept of Polipoesia, and where it all started.
Hello, USA! – Observations From the Land of the Free (1966-2002)
Snapshots on national pride, cars, country music, and human abysses behind proper facades – 51 minutes with Amiri Baraka, Ann Magnuson, Henry Rollins, Madeline Ridley, and others.
New York in the Sixties – A Hotbed for Experiments
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. 62 minutes with Angus MacLise, Henry Flynt, La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela, Richard Maxfield, and others.