Maximum Turntablism, Part 2

Episode 19

 

Maximum Turntablism, Part 2

 

Modern Experimental Turntablism and CD Glitch Music

 

Playlist:

1. Pierre Henry, Concerto Des Ambiguïtés parts 1,2,3,and 5(1950) from Symphonie Pour Un Homme Seul / Concerto Des Ambiguïtés (1972, Philips). Premiered on August 7, 1950.
2. Christian Marclay, “Smoker,” (1981) from the album Records (1997). Christian Marclay, turntables and processing. Recorded on a cassette deck at home.
3. DJ Shadow ... And The Groove Robbers, “Hindsight,” from In/Flux/ Hindsight (1993)
4. Institut Fuer Feinmotorik, “A1” from Wenig Information: Kein Titel (1998). Recorded live between April and June 1998 in Cloister Bad Säckingen, Germany. For turntables, mixer, compressor, various processed records, paper, cardboard, scotch tape, household rubber, wire, various other odds and ends.
5. Peter Cusack & Nicolas Collins, “Hazlitt” from ‎ A Host, Of Golden Daffodils (1999). Recorded live in concert at STEIM (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) June 1996 and at Museum für Gegenwart, Hamburger Bahnhof, (Berlin, Germany), November 1996. Electronic processes, CD, radio sources, trombone-propelled electronics, Nicolas Collins; guitar, bouzouki, whistling, electronics, sampler triggers, Peter Cusack.
6. Gen Ken Montgomery, “Droneskipclickloop”(excerpt, 1998) from Pondfloorsample (2002). Using four CD players and curated sounds in the categories Drone, Skip, Click, and Loop. Mixed in real time at a performance at Experimental Intermedia Foundation (NY) on March 17, 1998.
7. Crawling with Tarts, “Trecher Track” from Turntable Solos (1999). By Michael Gendreau and Suzanne Dycus-Gendreau.
8. Yasunao Tone, “Part 1”(excerpt 1999) from Solo for Wounded CD (1999). All sounds used were from scratched CD's.
9. Philip Jeck, “Untitled 2,” from Soaked (2002). Turntables, Philip Jeck, electronics, Jacob Kirkegaard. Recorded live at the Electronic Lounge, Moers Festival, Germany.
10. Maria Chavez, “Jebus” from Tour Sampler (2004), recorded in Houston, Texas. Turntables and electronics by Maria Chavez.
11. Marina Rosenfeld, “Three” from Joy of Fear (2005). Piano, turntables, dubplates, electronics, sound processing], vocals, Marina Rosenfeld. She said, “This record couldn’t exist without the small collection of one-off ‘acetate records’ (dub plates) that I’ve been making since 1997, when I first encountered Richard Simpson and his disc-cutting lathe in Los Angeles.”
12. Luc Ferrari and Otomo Yoshihide, Slow Landing” from ‎Les Archives Sauvées Des Eaux (2008). Composed by Luc Ferrari and Turntables, Electronics, prepared phono cartridges by Otomo Yoshihide.
13. Christian Marclay, from Record Without a Cover (excerpt, 1999). Marked with instructions, "Do not store in a protective package," my copy is a reissue of the disc first released in 1985, done by Japanese label Locus Solus. The naked record will naturally become increasingly damaged from shipping, storing, and playing the record, all becoming part of the work. In essence, the owner is implored to progressively destroy the release, allowing it to become scratched and bruised from accumulating damage that make each copy unique. My copy actually skips a lot. In the passage I am playing I often had to press the needle down a little bit to get through a skip. There is faintly recorded jazz music found on some of the disc, while other parts are pretty much composed only of surface noise.

The Archive Mix in which I play two additional tracks at the same time to see what happens. Here are two more tracks of modern experimental turntablism:

• Tsunoda Tsuguto, “Air Pocket” (1997) from Turntable Solos (1999).
• Merzbow, “Batztoutai—The Nightengale’s Song” (1985) from Turntable Solos (1999).

The incidental music heard while I’m speaking is from a damaged and skipping CD that I have of Sun Ra. The track is “Sound Spectra/ Spec Sket” from the album Other Planes of There (1964).

For more information about the history of turntablism, read my book: Electronic and Experimental Music (sixth edition), by Thom Holmes (Routledge 2020).

Notes for this episode can be found on my blog: Noise and Notations.