Release

1-01	Clara Rockmore -	Tchaikovsky: Valse Sentimentale	2:08
1-02	Olivier Messiaen -	Oraison	7:42
		Performer - Ensemble D'Ondes De Montreal*
1-03	Pierre Schaeffer -	Etude Aux Chemins De Fer	2:50
1-04	John Cage -	Williams Mix	5:42
1-05	Herbert Eimert & Robert Beyer -	Klangstudie II	4:27
1-06	Otto Luening -	Low Speed	3:40
1-07	Hugh Le Caine -	Dripsody	1:26
1-08	Louis And Bebe Barron -	Main Title From Forbidden Planet	2:19
1-09	Oskar Sala -	Concertando Rubato From Electronische Tanzsuite	3:07
1-10	Edgard Varèse -	Poeme Electronique	8:00
1-11	Richard Maxfield -	Sine Music (A Swarm Of Butterflies Encountered Over The Ocean)	6:00
1-12	Tod Dockstader -	Apocalypse – Part 2	2:01
1-13	Karlheinz Stockhausen -	Kontakte (Edit)	6:20
		Performer - James Tenney , William Winant
1-14	Vladimir Ussachevsky -	Wireless Fantasy	4:35
1-15	Milton Babbitt -	Philomel (Edit)	4:57
1-16	MEV* -	Spacecraft (Edit)	6:06
		Performer - Allan Bryant , Alvin Curran , Frederic Rzewski , Jon Phetteplace , Richard Teitelbaum
2-01	Raymond Scott -	Cindy Electronium	1:55
2-02	Steve Reich -	Pendulum Music	5:52
		Performer - Sonic Youth
2-03	Pauline Oliveros -	Bye Bye Butterfly	8:02
2-04	Joji Yuasa -	Projection Esemplastic For White Noise	7:36
2-05	Morton Subotnick -	Silver Apples Of The Moon, Part 1 (Edit)	4:20
2-06	David Tudor -	Rainforest Version 1 (Edit)	5:09
2-07	Terry Riley -	Poppy Nogood (Edit)	7:55
2-08	Holger Czukay -	Boat-Woman-Song (Edit)	5:01
2-09	Luc Ferrari -	Music Promenade (Edit)	7:00
2-10	François Bayle -	Rosace 3 From Vibrations Composées	3:19
2-11	Jean-Claude Risset -	Mutations (Edit)	4:55
2-12	Iannis Xenakis -	Hibiki-Hana-Ma (Edit)	4:39
2-13	La Monte Young -	Excerpt "31\|69 C. 12:17:22-12:25:33 PM NYC" From: Drift Study "31\|69 C. 12:17:33-12:24:33 PM NYC" From: Map Of 49's Dream The Two Systems Of Eleven Sets Of Galactic Intervals (Edit)	7:00
3-01	Charles Dodge -	He Destroyed Her Image	1:59
3-02	Paul Lansky -	Six Fantasies On A Poem By Thomas Campion: Her Song	3:04
3-03	Laurie Spiegel -	Appalachian Grove I	5:20
3-04	Bernard Parmegiani -	En Phase/Hors Phase	2:29
3-05	David Behrman -	On The Other Ocean (Edit)	6:48
3-06	John Chowning -	Stria (Edit)	5:11
3-07	Maryanne Amacher -	Living Sound, Patent Pending Music For Sound-Joined Rooms Series (Edit)	7:02
3-08	Robert Ashley -	Automatic Writing (Edit)	7:07
3-09	Alvin Curran -	Canti Illuminati (Edit)	7:25
3-10	Alvin Lucier -	Music On A Long Thin Wire (Edit)	6:43
3-11	Klaus Schulze -	Melange	6:52
3-12	Jon Hassell -	Before And After Charm (La Notte)	7:59
3-13	Brian Eno -	Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills)	5:21

Credits

Artwork By [Graphic Design] - Soltze Design
Edited By - Priscilla Stuckey
Executive Producer - Jeffrey Charno
Mastered By - Toddio
Mastered By [Pre-mastered By] - Darryl Neudorf
Other [Forward] - Brian Eno
Other [Liner Notes] - Alvin Curran , Alvin Lucier , Barry Schrader , Bebe Barron , Bernard Parmegiani , Bill Laswell , Brian Eno , Charles Dodge , Chris Cutler , Daniel Teruggi , David Behrman , David Toop , Edward Strickland , François Bayle , Holger Czukay , Hugh Le Caine , Iannis Xenakis , Iara Lee , Jean-Claude Risset , Jeff Winner , Joel Chadabe , John Chowning , John Hassell , John Schaeffer , Kazuko Tanasaki , Klaus Schulze , Konrad Boehmer , Kyle Gann , La Monte Young , Laurie Spiegel , Lee Ranaldo , Luc Ferrari , Maryanne Amacher , Milton Babbitt , Morton Subotnick , Oskar Sala , Otto Luening , Paul D. Miller , Paul Lansky , Pauline Oliveros , Pete Namlook , Richard Teitelbaum , Robert Ashley , Robert Moog , Simon Reynolds , Steve Reich , Thurston Moore , Tod Dockstader
Other [Project Coordinator] - Jennifer Beal
Other [Project Director] - Ruseel, Charno
Other [Text, Interviews] - Jason Gross
Producer - Jason Gross , Thomas Ziegler (3)

Notes

Comes in a matte/clear with white/silver printing plastic slipcase, including a 90-page booklet featuring quotes from the artists, photos, and extensive notes. The tracks are presented here chronologically, and if you've read Joel Chadabe's book "Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music," then this makes an excellent accompaniment.

Note that, according to one Amazon review, the Milton Babbitt track is the totally non-electronic 'Phonemena' and not the listed 'Philomel'. Also many of the tracks have inevitably been severely edited.

Tracks 1-11, 1-16, 2-1, 3-7 and 3-12 are previously unreleased. All other tracks taken from previously released CDs.

Track 1-01 from The Art of the Theremin (Delos)
Track 1-02 from Toussaint, Murial, Provost, Messiaen, Vivier (SNE)
Track 1-03 from L'oeuvre Musicale (EMF)
Track 1-04 from The 25th Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage (Wergo)
Track 1-05 from WDR: Early Electronic Music (BV Haast)
Track 1-06 from Pioneers of Electronic Music (CRI)
Track 1-07 from Compositions and Demonstrations (Hugh Le Caine Project)
Track 1-08 from Forbidden Planet: Original MGM Soundtrack (Small Planet Records)
Track 1-09 from My Fascinating Instrument (Fax)
Track 1-10 from Instituut voor Soonologie
Track 1-11 from MELA Foundation Archives (previously unreleased)
Track 1-12 from Apocalypse (Starkland)
Track 1-13 from Kontakte (Ecstatic Peace)
Track 1-14 from Vladimir Ussachevsky: Electronic and Acoustic Works 1957-1972 (CRI)
Track 1-15 from Philomel (New World)
Track 1-16 from Richard Teitelbaum Archives (previously unreleased)
Track 2-01 from Basta Archives (previously unreleased)
Track 2-02 from Goodbye 20th Century (SYR)
Track 2-03 from Women in Electronic Music (CRI)
Track 2-04 from Electro Acoustic Music V (Neuma)
Track 2-05 from Silver Apples of the Moon (Wergo)
Track 2-06 from Rainforest (Mode)
Track 2-07 from Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band, All Night Flight, S.U.N.Y. Buffalo, N.Y. March 22, 1968 Vol. 1 (Organ of Corti)
Track 2-08 from Canaxis (Spoon)
Track 2-09 from Presque Rein (INA)
Track 2-10 from Grand Polyphonie (INA GRM)
Track 2-11 from Sud, Dialogues (INA GRM)
Track 2-12 from Electronic Music (EMF)
Track 2-13 from MELA Foundation Archives
Track 3-01 from Any Resemblance Is Purely Coincidental (New Albion)
Track 3-02 from Fantasies and Tableaux (CRI)
Track 3-03 from Women in Electronic Music (CRI)
Track 3-04 from Violostries/Pour en finir avec le pouvoir d'Orphée/Dedans-Dehors/Rouge Mort/Exercisme 3/Le Présent composé (INA-GRM)
Track 3-05 from On the Other Ocean (Lovely)
Track 3-06 from John Chowning (Wergo)
Track 3-07 previously unreleased
Track 3-08 from Automatic Writing (Lovely)
Track 3-09 from Canti Illuminati (Fore)
Track 3-10 from Music on a Long Thin Wire (Lovely)
Track 3-11 from Historic Edition (Manikin)
Track 3-12 previously unreleased
Track 3-13 from On Land (Editions EG)

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Rated 5/5

Review by IoaPetraka Oct 05, 2002

Highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in how all of this got started, and has a taste for experimental electronic. You won't find much in the way of beats and structure often, because in many cases what you are hearing on the track is the first time such methods were even used. These are the pioneers. The ones who invented the synths and the algorithms in them, with names like Chowning, Theramin, and Moog in the credits; the ones who strung thousands of feet of wire around a studio to see how it would distort a sound wave; built elaborate "sonic rooms" where the audience would walk around triggering effects, creating their own personal roar.

The book that accompanies the 3 disc set is gorgeous. Full color, glossy, and around 100 pages long. It includes not only detailed information on each song and artist on the three discs, but a wealth of tangental information as well, such as history, engineering, artist's thoughts, and so on. It is by no means a substitute for a thorough essay on the history of electronic music, but far, far more than you usually get in even a box set.

As for the music itself, it is great stuff, though a bit "out there" in some cases, and not really something you would just put on as background music. For instance, track eight on disc three features nothing but the murmering of Robert Ashley's personal thoughts surrounding his work. Other songs are practically sonic blasts that are almost akin to the Noise genre. Alas, a lot of the music has been edited and shortened, as noted above. It is understandable though, especially considering the fact that some of the tracks are excerpts from hours long shows. The good news is that you would have a hell of time procuring all of this music on your own, especially since some of these tracks have never been released before.

Some highlights: John Cage's Williams Mix, here is a song with a score that is over five-hundred pages long! From a technical standpoint, very interesting. No doubt it could be accomplished in no time with today's technology, for 1952 it was a huge achievement. Terry Riley's long, completely improv organ sets with an eastern influence. Amacher's petri dish approach to dynamic, three dimensional sound sculptures (woefully handicapped in their stereo form.) It's all good though.

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