[CP 087 CD] Günter Maas; Klangbilder, Bilder Und Klangbilder

2017 reédition now including the material from the 33RPM 7" single included with the "Bilder Und Klangbilder" book issued in 1965 (predating the "Klangbilder" LP, but appearing second here due to continuity!) along with a, frankly, ridiculous full color, double-sided 3.6~" x 17" (!!!) accordion-fold insert collating all of the plates/images/inserts from the book itself; a long overdue upgrade to one of the series' (many) mid-period highlights!

Whoah. Here’s one you’re not likely to have heard/seen evidence of; Mr. P.C. C.P.’s treatment of German Painter Günter Maas’ sole LP release, privately-pressed in 1969.

“Klangbilder” contains four extended pieces, ranging from Oskar Sala-esque sheets of detuned electronic sound - composed on the then state-of-the-art Siemens synthesizer utilizing an experimental photo-electric coupler which converted his paintings into control-voltage !!! - to dark Musique Concréte pieces utilizing evil-sounding mass-chants & “Traditional” processing. The record builds in a linear fashion, climaxing with the intense “Reise;” ten minutes of turbulent environmental noises & dissonant, rasping synthesized tone clusters.

A completely eye & ear opening set; one of the more “Advanced” chunks of Early Electronic music to cross my desk in some time. If you’ve found resonance with Andre Almuro’s dark Concrète and/or Toru Takemitsu’s wind-swept score to “Woman in the Dunes,” this is something you’ll need to hear for yourself.