Sam Rosenthal - Before the Buildings Fell (2000)

Before the Buildings Fell was recorded at various points of depression, as a catharsis. While the songs with lyrics became The Rope ( Black Tape for a Blue Girl ), these arpeggiator - driven songs were put aside. Upon reexamination, the emotions were still valid. The songs returned. Kathryn is for Ms. Pilkenton; Jane for Ms. Berube; and The Amber Girl was written so that I might forget Robin, but no such Luck.

This was recorded in my California dorm room on a 4 - track cassete porta - studio using a Korg Poly - 61 ( with Arpeggiator but no Midi ) and a Boss DSD - 2 foot pedal delay.

Sam

Black Tape for a Blue Girl's founder Sam Rosenthal had his musical beginnings in electronic music before there were genre names like "electronica." Back in 1986 (without sequencers, samplers, or MIDI for stringing together computers and keyboards) Rosenthal was experimenting with the creation of instrumental music synchronously warm and ominous. Playing with the shape of sounds in a totally "hands-on" manner, Rosenthal pioneered a style close to the post-prog work of Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno. From this point he evolved to Dark Wave - Gothic soudscapes. P. Ewing

1 - kathryn
2 - diversion
3 - resolution
4 - the room
5 - jane
6 - leading to the edge
7 - before the buildings fell
8 - fragments of benediction
9 - the amber girl (Includes a bonus fifteen minute CD-ROM track of Sam's video art, for the track Fragments of Benediction)

Sam Rosenthal - Electronics

with

Lara Radford - Violin / Industry 8 & voice 6, 8

Cauleen Smith - Cello 4

Anne Sunstrom - Sax / Industry 1, 6

Cover Model: Kathy Rohrbach, from video by Sam

Recorded in 1986 on a 4-track cassette porta-studio.
Released in 2000 by Projekt.

link@320

Alejandro Viñao - Hildegard's Dream (1994)

The first 3 pieces in this CD form a trilogy for soprano and computer which explores the relationship between melody and timbre in 3 different contexts. Both "Chant d’Ailleurs" [Chant from Elsewhere] and "Borges y el Espejo" [Borges and the Mirror] are concerned with melodic processes based on non European singing models, seeking to extend the syntax of these models beyond their Oriental origin. ‘Chant d’Ailleurs’ takes as a model the chanting tradition of Mongolia and ‘Borges y el Espejo’ that of the classical Arabic singing. ‘Hildegard’s Dream’ functions as a connecting point between these Eastern traditions and the more recent melodic tradition of Europe. The piece, as the title suggests, draws its melodic material from the monophonic singing of the Middle Ages. In those early days, the European melodic syntax was not as different from its Eastern counterpart - as it was to become after the Renaissance - enjoying a rhythmic freedom which had not yet been subjected to the constraints of a rigid meter. This composition marks the beginning of my exploration of melody and timbre which culminated, some 10 years later, in the 3 pieces forming the trilogy. All four works were influenced by the writings of Jorge Luis Borges and his labyrinthine view of the world. His influence was imprecise and diffused and yet I experienced it as something very real. If I try to define it in my own words it is the words of Borges that come to my mind: “luckily we don’t owe ourselves to one tradition. We can aspire to all of them”. Alejandro Viñao

1-3. Chant d'Ailleurs (1992, for soprano and computer)
4-5. Hildegard's Dream (1994, for soprano and computer)
6-7. Borges y el Espejo (1992, for soprano and computer)
8-9. Go (1981, tape composition)

link @320 [Re-Up]