yoshi wada “earth horns with electronic drone” compact disc

• earth horns with electronic drone (77:00)

march 2009 release ; at long last - the fourth and final installment in this joint edition omega point / em records series, covering the sound-art work of fluxus-lineage sound-artist yoshi wada ... and what a long, strange trip it’s been !!! this whole series has instilled so much collective joy in amongst the leagues of past-looking experimental & drone-music followers that i’m sad to see it come to an end, but all things must ... and what better way than with this 77-minute excerpt of a 2 hour, 25 minute performance by yoshi, garrett list, barbara stewart, jim burton, and liz phillips recorded on february 24th, 1974 at the everson museum of art, syracuse, new york ... the piece opens (listen to the sound-sample) with a dry, slightly overtone-riddled sine-wave drone, over which the ensemble begin to intone on their “earth horns” - extended didgeridoo-lineage pipes (some up to 20 feet long !!!) - in unison over the tonal root ... as the piece gets underway, you really begin to feel the fabric of time slip away ; several consecutive listens-through consumed an entire afternoon, after which i had little memory of any events taking place ... this cd edition happens to be my preferred format-of-choice here as it offers the longest continuous stretch of music (plus, as the piece itself is something of a static, almost sculptural event you’ll probably want to keep this on automatic repeat for a few days - something very easy to achieve with cd players these days) ; comes with a fold-out booklet with english program notes on one side, and a george maciunas flyer for a performance by wada’s lip vibrators (see just below) on the flip. highly recommended !!!

em press release...

yoshi wada "earth horns with electronic drone" (cd) publisher: omega point / em records (op-0007 / em1081cd) a world premiere from yoshi wada and em records / omega point: the first-ever release of "earth horns with electronic drone", recorded live in 1974. combining four of wada's self-made "pipehorns" (made from plumbing materials, over three meters in length), with an electronic drone tuned to the electrical current of the performance space, this is a lost masterpiece of early minimalism, placing wada rightfully in the pantheon with la monte young, phill niblock, maryanne amacher and alvin lucier. recorded live in syracuse, new york, this recording captures the room-filling complex overtones generated by the ever-shifting interplay of the breathing horns and the constant electronic drone. this is a music of ritual hypnotic power, its heavy low end mass and sense of change within constancy engendering a meditative transcendency. "earth horns with electronic drone" is the fourth and ultimate release in our yoshi wada series, a must for all fans of minimalism, heavy drones, ritual, mystery and world-shaking transcendence. from an original performance of almost three hours, the cd features a 77 minute excerpt; we are especially honored to also offer the full performance as a triple lp set. from earth horns to beyond the firmament: prepare to be elevated!

yoshi wada “off the wall” compact disc

• off the wall i (20:27)
  
• off the wall ii (20:02)
  
• die konsonanten pfeifen (27:23)

em press release...

yoshi wada "off the wall" em records + omega point / em1078cd + op-0006 the long-awaited reissue of wada's 1985 lp off the wall, recorded in berlin and originally released on the esteemed fmp label. a minimalist yet majestic monsterpiece ("massive", as tom johnson declares in his perceptive liner notes), off the wall features wada and wayne hankin on bagpipes, marilyn bogerd on adapted organ, and percussionist andreas schmidt-neri. the original album consisted of two side-long pieces recorded on successive days by jost geber, who captured the power and dynamics of the quartet without losing the meditative delicacy of the bagpipes and the intricacy of their interplay with the homemade organ (constructed by wada), resulting in a slowly evolving mosaic of combination tones and overtones. simultaneously static yet changing, rooted and ethereal, homespun and alien, ancient and very modern, the music is created entirely with acoustic instruments but has "electronic" textures at times, yet is very warm and human, always pulsing, shifting and mutating. omega point is pleased indeed to release off the wall for the first time ever on cd, with the bonus track "die konsonanten pfeifen (the consonant pipes)", a slightly earlier recording with wada and hankin on bagpipes and kevin newhoff on percussion, originally released as a cassette.

yoshi wada “the appointed cloud” compact disc

• the appointed cloud (60:07)

em press release...

yoshi wada "the appointed cloud" (cd) em records + omega point / em1076cd + op-0005 this cd is the first-ever release of an extraordinary 1987 new york city performance. recorded at the great hall of the new york hall of science, this majestic recording captures the 60-minute opening performance of yoshi wada's interactive sound installation "the appointed cloud", which consisted of a self-made 80-pipe organ, a pipe gong, sirens and a massive suspended metal sheet, all triggered by a computer program designed by david rayna. the cd also features wada, bob drombowski and wayne hankin on bagpipes, plus michael pugliese (percussion, he has performed in tour of merce cunningham dance company with david tudor and kosugi). dramatically structured, shifting and intense, "the appointed cloud" features massive low frequencies and regal percussion vying with the ululations of bagpipes, all resounding in the huge reverberant space of the great hall with its 24-meter ceiling. this cd, the second yoshi wada release on em records (the first being the 2007 reissue of the 1982 "the lament for the rise and fall of the elephantine crocodile"), is sure to delight all who enjoy drones, dynamics and drama.

yoshi wada “lament for the rise and fall of the elephantine crocodile” compact disc

• singing (31:07)
  
• bagpipe (33:17)

em press release...

yoshi wada lament for rise and fall of the elephantine crocodile * 96khz/24bit digital remastered * complete full length version (original lp edition was edited) * new 2007 liner notes by yoshi wada * english & japanese texts * scarce photos inside first issue of joint production of em records & omega point !!! ************************************ if you have heard the music of yoshi wada, you have no doubt been impressed by his amazing sound-worlds. born in kyoto, he moved to new york in the late 1960s. he is well-known as a fluxus artist with links to la monte young, and has been involved in many performances and sound installations. however, he has released only 2 recordings (as his solo albums) , both hard to find. finally, a cd reissue of his most important and rarest lp, "lament for rise and fall of the elephantine crocodile" (recorded in 1981, issued on india navigation in 1982). this cd contains 2 pieces: track 1 - solo overtone voice (he studied with legendary indian vocalist pandit pran nath) recorded at performance space 'dry pool', with a deep underground echo feeling; track 2 - dense psychedelic drones using bagpipe-like self-made instrument. these wondrous sounds will take you to another, better world!! ************************************ "lament for the rise and fall of the elephantine crocodile is a vocal and instrumental work, on which i started working in 1979. this recording is meant to be one continuous piece; side a: solo singing & side b: the instrumental music of the bagpipe with singing. the piece itself is an experiment with reed & improvisational singing within the modal structure. the instrument could be played solo or as a drone accompaniment for voice. i originally built the bagpipe instrument out of plumbing fittings & pipes pumped by a large air compressor. i called it "an adapted bagpipe with sympathy". since that time, the original instrument has been altered and improved for the stability of the air source and accuracy of the tuning". "the photograph above shows the instruments used for this recording (note; see the cd back cover). the elephantine crocodile (right) & the alligator (left) are both reed instruments pumped by the air. the alligator instrument plays precise pitch and enables me to tune the elephantine crocodile drone pipe pitch. when i began to work with these cane reed pipes, i realized that they could be tuned to produce the intervals of extremely fine tolerance. one of the strong characteristics of these bagpipe drones is the clarity of harmonics & partials in the higher octaves. when these pipes are perfectly in tune, in unison, or in different intervals, one can hear the high microtonal partials very clearly." "in 1979, i came to the "dry pool" (an empty swimming pool in the basement of media study, buffalo, n.y.) with "an adapted bagpipe with sympathy" to do a concert. although i normally do not like long reverberation added to my music, when i entered the pool i immediately liked the acoustics of the space, which had very long delay time. the pool gave rich resonance to the voice & bagpipe sound. since that time, i became much more aware of the psychological effect of the acoustics of the room." "last november, i had a chance to come to the "dry pool" to do the recording. i stayed in the pool for preparation and slept there as well. it was very quiet. it gave me the feeling as though i were in an anechoic chamber. i started to hear all kinds of droning sound and almost could not tell as if i were hallucinating or not. when i began singing, it was with a very simple overtone series, then i gradually developed a series of intervals which i felt strong. my concern is with the timbre and tuning of the multiple chords which enable me to evolve my improvisational singing and the mode in progression." (taken from original lp liner notes on "lament for the rise and fall of the elephantine crocodile" in 1982) ************************************ (left photo) yoshi wada and "an adapted bagpipe with sympathy ii". at phil niblock's studio (this concert was sponsored by experimental intermedia foundation), 1979. photo by phil niblock. (right photo) "the lament for the rise and fall of the elephantine crocodile" by yoshi wada. at his loft in soho, ny, 1981. photo by marilyn bogerd.