31 August 2011

Eliane Radigue - Adnos I - III




Here is a spectacular item from the late and lamented Table of the Elements record label. It is getting increasingly hard to come by and hence more and more expensive, unfortunately. There are some rips of Adnos floating around on the web, but as far as I have seen, only in the mp3 format. I believe that a lossy format does this record a great disservice because the sonic richness of these three pieces really needs to be heard across the entire frequency range. I was able to locate it on a torrent site and in flac, so even if the files are much larger, I believe it's worth the extra time it takes to download them.

What to say about these three pieces? They are drone-based with obvious references to the US minimalist scene in the 60s and later around figures like La Monte Young, but to these ears, they never become monotonous. There are subtle changes going on all the time throughout these 70 minutes pieces, but it takes an attentive ear attuned to the nature of slowness to fully discover them. As such, they are meditative and in a certain way buddhist in design and execution. Radigue later got immersed in Mahayana Buddhism and these pieces provide an explanation.

Radigue likens her music metaphorically to the movement of water, to the changes of sound waves whereby the ear filters, selects and emphasizes some areas of hearing or by by looking at shimmering water, always in motion, yet remaining the same.

These are better heard on a good stereo than on an computer or a portable listening device. The acoustic ambience of the room within which these pieces are heard is part of the performance, and you may find that sound generates sound, set off by the vibrations of sound waves.

Enjoy!

To move stones around in the bed of a river does not affect its course, but can only change the play of the waves on the surface.

18 comments:

kinabalu said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Great post!

Wallofsound said...

I'll give it a listen.

steve said...

This is fascinating . . . very delicate in a way almost trance
like in another. Many Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I have this , its wonderful .. highly recommended!

kinabalu said...

A fine review here:

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/412

Do also read Rhys Chatham's longer piece in the attached scans.

serviceton said...

It's like listening to a building.
(a big one)
Thanks kinabalu.

kinabalu said...

A video of Eliane Radigue at work with the ARP 2500 - the one used for Adnos.

http://vimeo.com/8983993

harmonyharmony said...

Awesome! Thanks for posting.

Ernst Grgo Nebhuth said...

Also highly recommended is Eliane Radigue's "Trilogie de la Mort"!

kinabalu said...

Agreed, Onx. It's on the shopping list. I do have this one, which is new, but containing material from the late 60s:

http://www.discogs.com/Eliane-Radigue-Jouet-Electronique-Elemental-I/release/2631490

Anonymous said...

Thanks very much!

Nuage fiché qui rêve said...

Thanks for a beautiufl and intriguing post, Kinabalu. I'm looking forward to listen, it will be my baptême de l'air over Radiguian landscapes.

wightdj said...

Thanks for introducing me to this.

Anonymous said...

This is a great one, well worth the downloading time. I also agree with the comment above--if you like this then "Trilogie de la Mort" is essential listening. Also, for something a little different in her oeuvre the CD "Naldjorlak" (for Charles Curtis)" is highly recommended. This is a solo cello piece written for and performed by the wonderful cellist Charles. It's quite beautiful and the only work of hers (that I know of) that is entirely acoustic.

-Joel

Gerald said...

Thank you very much for all the great music. It is still downloading, but it looks very intriguing!

Jerry

ELwaChituRRon said...

Please, can you upload again? link is dead!

kinabalu said...

Sorry, this one has been rereleased:

http://importantrecords.com/imprec/imprec028

Hey, I even got myself a copy of the new one. What I posted back then was a download off the net.