| $11.95
back in stock as of
september 15th, 2008
first in stock on
february 9th, 2007
threads:
lafms
live-electronic
electro-acoustic-improvisation
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| | | melon expander (usa) #me 001 cd solid eye “voyage to see what’s on the bottom” compact disc - untitled (6:05)
- untitled (7:12)
- untitled (6:22)
- untitled (7:14)
- untitled (16:36)
| | click the play button to hear an excerpt of "untitled (4)" |
| excellent set of live electronic improvisation, recorded in the late 90s by the core solid eye trio of joseph hammer, rick potts, and steven thomsen. at points; indiscernable from the amm/il gruppo/mev axis, albeit with a certain prevailing smart-ass sensibility that’s, frankly, welcome.
a few spins of this disc have convinced me to start seeking out post -mid-80s lafms output (prior i’d bee focusing almost exclusively on the 70s/early 80s spate...) |
| | melon expander press release... |
| solid eye "voyage to see what's on the bottom" cd melonex001
with an ear for unsettling detail, solid eye leave you suspended in a lurching, oozing, hallucinatory river of sound that unfolds with its own peculiar sense of internal logic. neither fish nor fowl, the aesthetic impulses that inform their soundscapes bear scant resemblance to the dominant modes and methods that govern the domain of much contemporary experimental music. savvy enough to acquit themselves of any immediate trappings that would lend itself to a casual perusal, this surrealist cabal have immersed themselves in the creation of a pata-physical metaphysic, a slippery elusive territory where the pro-found is coaxed from the ludicrous and the seemingly innocuous is inverted into the preternaturally haunting... a cosmology where the absurd, the uncanny and the unsettling coalesce, the result being distilled into a sense deforming, reality eroding alchemical elixir. the members of this trio (joseph hammer, rick potts & steve thomsen) have each spent 25+ years exploring various avenues of music coined by their 1970's collective, the los angeles free music society (lafms), as "avant-schmaltz".
joseph hammer cites am radio station mixing (receiving more than one station at the same time) and an episode of the 70s tv show land of the giants, where astronauts used tape loops to thwart alien tyrants as a couple of his musical influences. he has developed his own way of making music utilizing consumer audio technology, tape loops, samplers and analog synthesizers to create compelling and varied musical expressions. since 1980, he has performed with solid eye, points of friction, blue daisies, steaming coils, debt of nature (which became medicine), vector 3 niner, paramecial wedding and kitten sparkles.
rick potts has been making unusual music for the last thirty years, starting with the forming of le forte four and founding of the l.a.f.m.s. in 1973. playing the electric guitar with electric toothbrush, street sweeper bristles, electric cocktail stirrer and other objects, and using musical saw and analog synthesizers, he has a talent for making familiar instruments and other implements produce sounds unique, alarming and enigmatic yet oddly cordial. rick has also recorded and performed with airway, human hands, steaming coils, debt of nature, gothic hut, the monique experience and others.
steve thomsen's music has been described by boyd rice as "the strangest, most stimulating music you'll ever want to hear. it's like being in another world." in the late 1970s, steve co-founded the art group world imitation productions, which produced innovative xerox collage magazines. in 1981, this group turned to music and produced a few records under the name monitor, whose haunting delicate melodies and genuine strangeness are still remembered by those fortunate enough to have heard them. swan trove is another elusive project thomsen gave birth to, in the mid 90’s, with help from joseph hammer. this will resurface soon as a cd on the melon expander label titled “happy land of rest”. |
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