Gamelan Son of Lion partners Philip Corner and Evan Schwartzman perform this Fluxus composition where two pianists play piano notes on the chromatic scale in relationship to numbers counted out loud from 1 to 88, forward and backward, creating an unusual texture and counterpoint that when taken as a whole becomes hypnotic and obsessively absorbing; inexplicably interesting.
Label: ANTS Records Catalog ID: AG16 Squidco Product Code: 28654
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2017 Country: Italy Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold Recorded at Rutgers University, MGSA, New Brunswick, New Jersey on November 27, 1985.
"After "Conceptmusic" (see catalogue), his super-provocative, "potentially-musical" artifact, here a new work by Philip Corner, the avantgarde Fluxus maestro. Recorded in 1985, this long piece, unpublished until now, belongs to the Gamelan series, which Corner has worked for years and counting dozens of pieces. In the word of the author, the piece, for two pianists represents one of the most "curious" manifestation in the Gamelan series. The increment-link, high-to-low, is maintained on the chromatic scale of the piano keyboard, giving durations from 1 to 88. However they are realized in both directions at the same time. And counted out loud."-ANTS
"Music by Philip Corner very rarely make it to these pages; I am not sure why that is, but maybe his releases are more about the world of art and less about the sort of underground we're serving. It seems the only previous time I reviewed something from him was in Vital Weekly 899, with a piano piece and some environmental sounds. It was more an improvised piece.
Corner was one of the founding members of Fluxus, but also involved with various new music ensembles. Here is a composition of his, which he and Evan Schwartzman play on two pianos and both of them count out loud. "The increment-link, high-to-low, is maintained on the chromatic scale of the piano-keyboard, giving durations from 1 to 88. However they are realized in both directions at the same time".
This thirty-five minute piece (recorded in 1985) is surely a strange piece. The counting up and down sound very rigid and over the course of this piece gets something hypnotic, even when it makes no sense or perhaps even when they might miscount (I am not sure if that happened. All along there is the occasional bang on the key (or two) of the piano. On the diagram on the cover one can see which key correspond with the number. The first two times I started playing this piece I was quickly annoyed by this and dismissed it as arty-farty nonsense, but when I finally decided to sit down and listen properly I thought this was most captivating piece of music, especially the way they keep counting quickly those numbers up and down, giving the piece a most curious groove. This is an excellent release!"-Fran de Waard, Vital Weekly