Label: Apollo Records (8) – AR 088807
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: Netherlands
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic, Classical
Style: Musique Concrète, Contemporary, Experimental
Properly zoning out to this time-dissolving minimalist epic from US sound artist Terry Fox, released in 1988 via Paul Panhuysen’s Dutch label Apollo Records. The album presents two long-form pieces, the first being ‘Berlino’ which was composed during a stint on artist residency with Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin. Surveying the city from his rooftop studio, Fox observed perimeter of the Berlin Wall, noticing how the man-made boarder cut through the city, in between streets and around houses. He decided to respond to this by creating an endless piece mimicking the wall itself composed of fragments of previously recorded tapes that mimicked the different sections as an attempt at a sort of conceptual topographical sound analysis. The piece is a hard collage of various bowed piano strings, together with the location recordings of the Mariannenplatz church bells in the rain and the sound of military helicopters passing overhead. It’s a haunting yet captivating montage of sound that captures the tension and uncertainty of a city in flux. The B-side piece ‘Rallentando’ was recorded live at Het Apollohuis in Eindhoven, capturing the shimmering sustained tones of double bass, cello and piano wire working together in perfect harmony. Its a transportive and achingly beautiful listen with bags of space to explore the way in which the combined timbres of the instruments interact with one another, much like the genre-defining works of long-stringed instrument specialist Ellen Fullman or sonic sculptures of Harry Bertoia. A genuine cult release from one of the lesser mentioned yet no less influential artists of 20th Century minimalism / avant-garde. (NM / NM - with insert).
Tracklist
A Berlino (For Mitsuko Natori)
B Rallentando (For Jürgen Glassmer)
