bunnnnnn
Well-known member
chiming in well with the 'ny late 60s' thread in the music section, tony conrad's over to play a date in northampton:
here's the info from the press release:
the fishmarket music presents
TONY CONRAD
TONY CONRAD is a giant in the American soundscape. Since the early 1960s, he has utilized intense amplification, long duration and precise pitch to forge an aggressively mesmerizing Dream Music. Conrad articulated the Big Bang of minimalism and played a pivotal role in the formation of the Velvet Underground. Conrad continues to exert a primal influence over succeeding generations with his ecstatic oscillations and hypnotic drones.
"Conrad invents a new musical language ... unbearably intense and gloriously ecstatic."
The Wire
TONY CONRAD (b. 1941) is one of the most compelling figures in 20th century music, a profoundly influential composer whose radical styles defies textbook definitions and challenge accepted notions.
At the core of Conrad's legend is his work as a violinist, in which primal, enveloping drones create an oscillating ritual theater. In 1962 he co-founded the groundbreaking ensemble known as the Dream Syndicate. Wielding a drone both aggressively confrontational and subtly mesmerizing, he and his collaborators, including La Monte Young and future Velvet Underground co-founders John Cale and Angus MacLise, created some of the most revolutionary music of that or any decade. Utilizing long durations, precise pitch and blistering volume, Conrad and co. forged a "Dream Music" that articulated the Big Bang of "minimalism." However, the many rehearsal and performance tapes from this period were repressed by Young, becoming the stuff of legend.
Following the dissolution of the group in 1966, Conrad played a pivotal role in the formation of the Velvet Underground, then refocused his efforts on experimental film and video, including his 1966 masterwork The Flicker, considered the cornerstone of the Structural Cinema movement. Musically, he resurfaced with German krautrock band Faust on the 1972 LP Outside the Dream Syndicate, a work of explosive prophecy that to this day retains an undiminished power to startle and excite.
In 1994 with producers Steve Albini (Bush, Nirvana, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page) and Jim O'Rourke (Stereolab, Sonic Youth, Wilco) created, Slapping Pythagoras, which is as thrilling, vigorous and downright antisocial as any great rock album, and established Conrad's relevance and influence for a new generation of listeners.
In 1997 Tony Conrad completed a ten-year return expedition to the site of the entombed Dream Syndicate fragments to unearth the losses; from them he reconstituted and regenerated the epic 4xCD boxed set, Early Minimalism. Reaching back through time, Conrad wove a mobile narrative over and under minimalism: making music out of history, and history out of music.
Finally, in 2000, these efforts achieved a critical mass, with the controversial release of actual tapes from Conrad's original Dream Syndicate days. Recorded in 1964 and unheard since, Day of Niagara: Inside the Dream Syndicate topped numerous year-end "Best Of" lists and was lauded as "the most historically significant music release of the last 20 years."
The present decade has seen a series of releases that confirm Conrad's indefatigable creative legacy. These include field recordings, piano compositions, film soundtracks, and electronic compositions, as well as his documentation of early, seminal efforts by John Cale and the late filmmaker and performance artist Jack Smith. Taken together, these comprise a remarkable body of work, and celebrate the wild breadth of a spectacular 40-year career.
+ kosmische djs
Saturday 10th November 2007
The Fishmarket, Bradshaw Street, Northampton, NN1 2HL
Tickets £10 advance http://www.wegottickets.com/event/23028
or £12 on door
Venue opens 7pm
Phone: 01604 639090
Web: www.northamptonarts.org
here's the info from the press release:
the fishmarket music presents
TONY CONRAD
TONY CONRAD is a giant in the American soundscape. Since the early 1960s, he has utilized intense amplification, long duration and precise pitch to forge an aggressively mesmerizing Dream Music. Conrad articulated the Big Bang of minimalism and played a pivotal role in the formation of the Velvet Underground. Conrad continues to exert a primal influence over succeeding generations with his ecstatic oscillations and hypnotic drones.
"Conrad invents a new musical language ... unbearably intense and gloriously ecstatic."
The Wire
TONY CONRAD (b. 1941) is one of the most compelling figures in 20th century music, a profoundly influential composer whose radical styles defies textbook definitions and challenge accepted notions.
At the core of Conrad's legend is his work as a violinist, in which primal, enveloping drones create an oscillating ritual theater. In 1962 he co-founded the groundbreaking ensemble known as the Dream Syndicate. Wielding a drone both aggressively confrontational and subtly mesmerizing, he and his collaborators, including La Monte Young and future Velvet Underground co-founders John Cale and Angus MacLise, created some of the most revolutionary music of that or any decade. Utilizing long durations, precise pitch and blistering volume, Conrad and co. forged a "Dream Music" that articulated the Big Bang of "minimalism." However, the many rehearsal and performance tapes from this period were repressed by Young, becoming the stuff of legend.
Following the dissolution of the group in 1966, Conrad played a pivotal role in the formation of the Velvet Underground, then refocused his efforts on experimental film and video, including his 1966 masterwork The Flicker, considered the cornerstone of the Structural Cinema movement. Musically, he resurfaced with German krautrock band Faust on the 1972 LP Outside the Dream Syndicate, a work of explosive prophecy that to this day retains an undiminished power to startle and excite.
In 1994 with producers Steve Albini (Bush, Nirvana, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page) and Jim O'Rourke (Stereolab, Sonic Youth, Wilco) created, Slapping Pythagoras, which is as thrilling, vigorous and downright antisocial as any great rock album, and established Conrad's relevance and influence for a new generation of listeners.
In 1997 Tony Conrad completed a ten-year return expedition to the site of the entombed Dream Syndicate fragments to unearth the losses; from them he reconstituted and regenerated the epic 4xCD boxed set, Early Minimalism. Reaching back through time, Conrad wove a mobile narrative over and under minimalism: making music out of history, and history out of music.
Finally, in 2000, these efforts achieved a critical mass, with the controversial release of actual tapes from Conrad's original Dream Syndicate days. Recorded in 1964 and unheard since, Day of Niagara: Inside the Dream Syndicate topped numerous year-end "Best Of" lists and was lauded as "the most historically significant music release of the last 20 years."
The present decade has seen a series of releases that confirm Conrad's indefatigable creative legacy. These include field recordings, piano compositions, film soundtracks, and electronic compositions, as well as his documentation of early, seminal efforts by John Cale and the late filmmaker and performance artist Jack Smith. Taken together, these comprise a remarkable body of work, and celebrate the wild breadth of a spectacular 40-year career.
+ kosmische djs
Saturday 10th November 2007
The Fishmarket, Bradshaw Street, Northampton, NN1 2HL
Tickets £10 advance http://www.wegottickets.com/event/23028
or £12 on door
Venue opens 7pm
Phone: 01604 639090
Web: www.northamptonarts.org