[CP 244 CD] Radiophonic Tape Compositions

Replica edition of this impossible-to-find, internal compilation of early-mid-80s Australian Tape Collage & Digital Assemblage, issued privately by Sydney Classical radio station 2MBS & consisting of five extended pieces; one each by Composers Peter Mumme, Peter Schaefer, Robert Douglas, Jon Rose, & Michael Hannan. There is a fair deal of the Fairlight's timbral & formal palette across the album's otherwise conceptually disparate offerings; understandable given the era & geographic associations at play, making this as something of a calling card for the instrument in more Academic & Avant-Garde contexts outside of its storied use across the myriad early Genesis members' contemporaneous solo work. Think of it as the Fairlight "Creation du Monde" to the various Jellybean Benitez Publison-laced productions.

Mumme's "Veronica Takes A Bath" opens with an assemblage of water sounds not too far removed from Knud Viktor's "Images" & "Ambiances" (see [CP 100-101 CD]); this gives way to a section of rather Dockstader-esque space bleep before more humanistic endeavors enter the fold. It's one of the more nuanced pieces on the record, and reminds me in spots of the whole Quebecois Empreintes Digitales scene; pristine, digital-leaning Concrète. Conversely, Schaefer's "See" introduced harmonics & enharmonic intervals to a rising jagged-edged waveform in a manner befitting Roland Kayn's work, before a regular pulse is introduced, lending the piece a sense of momentum; gorgeous.

The second half is dedicated to more overtly digital music, with Douglas' "Homage To Bessemer" offering the sort of carnival-esque chuff & wonky rhythmic etudes that one would more regularly associate with the Fairlight. Rose's "Colony: Survival In The Right Hemisphere" works an Anton Bruhin-esque vocal gurgle through it's buzzing, low-bit paces, & the Liquid-Sky-esque drumatics of Hannan's "Callisto" close things out in fine form. 

One of my personal long-term Australian want-list titles; very glad to have this in the program - it offers a fine counterpoint to the "University of Melbourne Electronic Music" & "Full Spectrum" sets (neatly combined recently as [CP 044 CD]) pushing forward a decade into the country's embryonic digital-music possibilities.