Record Shopping - Spoils

[.mus]

So today was 'record shopping day' - once a month, my better half and I go to a preselected record shop – preferably one we've not been to before – and each make at least one purchase, then we listen to the records together in the evening. This was an event that I implemented a while ago, in order to encourage her to take more ownership of the sound system, since she likes music very much, but is in the habit of letting me dictate what we listen to all the time (plus I think she's slightly intimidate by all the gear).

The 'rules' are that the record/s should not be something that we're already familiar with, and it certainly should not be something that either of us already owns in another format - the point is to discover new stuff together.

So, today was March's outing. We went to Analog Collector - a shop that caught our eye a few months back, but which always seemed to be closed whenever we went. Anyway, today it was open, and it was great! Fantastic selection of classical music, plus a decent jazz selection, and bits and bobs of electronic, musique concrete, and avant garde; a mixture of new and second hand, but from the look of the records that I saw, the quality for second hand was very high. If you're ever record shopping Paris, I highly recommend it.

The missus went for a collection of 'Works for 2 Pianos', with pieces from Britten, Bartol, and Stravinsky. I had my eye on a collection of early electronic pieces that had been entries for a composition competition in 1968, but then found something that seemed to odd to pass up - a work by Charles Dodge called 'Earth's Magnetic Field - Realisations in Computed Electronic Sound', from 1970. It seems to be a very early piece of computer music, in which magnetic field data is translated into sound - I'm a sucker for a silly concept

And since next month we'll both be working abroad, and in different countries, I used this to justify a trip to another shop, called 'Bimbo Towers', which specialises in underground experimental stuff, with an emphasis on music from Japan. There I picked up a collection from Teresa Rampazzi called 'Musica Endoscopica' - more electronic music from the 70s.

Here are some pics – will report back with listening impressions

[.mus]

So, listened to the Teresa Rampazzi first. This came with comprehensive liner notes on each of the pieces, and some biographical info on Rampazzi. The first side contains a series of analogue pieces, seemingly based around various stages of the human digestive system - very sparse, with ominous echoes and drones. The second side has some experiments with electronics, and I enjoyed this a lot more - some great noises, with the shifting spatial characteristics that make a lot of early electronic stuff so much fun. Was reminiscent of Stockhausen from around the same period.

Next, the 'Works For 2 Pianos' - some very nice pieces here. I didn't listen very closely to the Britten, as I was mostly trying to adjust to the sound of two pianos, and to discern what each one contributing. The Stravinksky was very nice though. But the Bartok was the most enjoyable, in part because, in addition to the two pianos, it also had a small percussion section, so there were plenty of cymbal crashes and loud thuds on the kettle drum - I've not heard percussion and piano used together like that before - great fun!

The 'Earth's Magnetic Field' though was my favorite. The work is based on fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field, brought about through changes in the sun's atmosphere. These fluctuations are recorded on what's called the 'Kp index', and - for the piece - the 1961 Kp index was translated into sound, with distinct Kp readings correlated with distinct tones, and fluctuations in Kp correlated with fluctuations in the pitches of those tones. The result is some very charming spasmodic melodies.

I'll continue this thread on the next 'record shopping day', as it's nice for me to have a record of these events