[CP 256 CD] Godfried Willem Raes; Bellenorgel, New Self-Made Electroacoustical Instruments
The penultimate issue in the epic Creel Pone Igloo campaign (for now) is the recorded debut of Logos Foundation founder Godfried Willem Raes, produced by Igloo founder Daniel Sotiaux during the 1978-79 season, and issued in a paltry 100-copy edition as only the label's fourth release (after Jean-Paul Ganty's readings of Artaud, Jarry, Bréton & others; Arthur Petronio's zorched tape-munge Sound Poetry; and the set of André Stordeur's home-brew Analogia that kicked off this program in fine style) replete with the explicit, open-world missive from the Composer himself that: "I declare this record free from any copyright, public performance, broadcasting and copying allowed when source mentioned."
The first side covers the titular sculpture, framed as "A Slightly Different Music-Box" and consisting of an ear-shattering array of, essentially, electro-mechanical door chimes triggered by a sentient network of solenoids & processed through "self-made" circuits that all appear to share the same control layer (Raes' voice appears to be triggering aspects of the installation). While the complexity and absurdity of the range of sounds conjured via this particular sound-sculpture has its origins in the work of Jean Tinguely & Molohy-Nagy, the output is far more abrasive than said's controlled kinetics, reminiscent of a runaway vessel careening down a mountain switchback to its doom.
The second side is given over to four individual Analogue Electronic instruments/pieces and acts as something of a demo-reel/calling-card, with Raes' often tongue-in-cheek sensibilities very much on display at this early age. "VCS 2000" appears to convert input signals (stray, overloaded percussion sounds) into a filter network that renders it into a fine mist of DC offsets and shrieks, recalling the contemporaneous "Crackle" work of relative neighbor Michel Waisvisz. "On One String Only" (for "Klavimonochord" & "Transformational Regenerative Synth) runs non-tempered steel improvisations into an array of Electronic modifiers, yielding a consistent bucket brigade clock whine & the associated artifacts. "Out Of A Tiny Box" (for "Synthelog") offers a selection of single-channel stereo-chatter that rises into a fine wash of FM'ed matrices. Finally, "Dudafoon" offers an erratic scrabble that, while reminiscent of Hans Reichel's daxophone work, accelerates into a maze of motorized audio-rate grind.
As is C.P.'s methodology, this 2021 replica edition concerns itself solely with an individual copy of this fine record (these were individually silkscreened in varying degrees & hues of color; it took the Cabal 3 or 4 passes to source this particularly blessed variant) and includes the double-sided insert as a pair of fully legible panels in the inner gatefold.