[CP 052 CD] Þorkell (Thorkell) Sigurbjörnsson; La Jolla Good Friday I-II, Kisum, Intrada

2021 reédition of this classic mid-period C.P. title, now including the entirety of Sigurbjörnsson's 1971 Expo Norr "Reportage" series (the same as that amazing "Spela Själv" LP by International / Harvester / Pärson Sound / Träd, Gräs Och Stenar's Bo-Anders Persson) offering two great "Acoustic-Electronic" suites ala Helmut Lachenmann (i.e. utilizing extended techniques to yield other-worldly timbres) all sandwiched together on a single disc!

Reproduction of this 1981 LP featuring two wasted / buzzing / side-long / go-nowhere early Computer-controlled Analogue Synthesizer pieces - rendered via Ed Kobrin's "Hybrid IV" setup - captured on March 28th, 1975 & sounding not unlike an airplane anding / taking off as realized by the programmers of an Atari 2600 console video game.

Sigubjörnsson is an interesting character; his "Kisum / Intrada" LP of trio clarinet, viola, & piano pieces was issued by the same pre-Caprice Expo Norr RIKS "Reportage" series as Bo Anders Persson's "Spela Själv" & Bengt Hambraeus' fantastic "Rota II b/w Tetragon" - yet other than a few compilation pieces, this is the only other issue of his work. Something a tough nut to crack actually - mainly due to its’ inherent “Nothingness” - but what I do find appealing is that despite being birthed from well within an “Academic” environ - the hallowed halls of UCSD's "Center for Music Experiment" - this is probably more zonked & “Automatic” -sounding than most private / bedroom-electronic LPs of the era - or of any time between 1975 and now. 

One thing’s for certain; this does a bang-up job of capturing a certain just-pre digital-age claustrophobia - think: "Wargames" - than any other record I’ve heard - and yes, that “one man against the world” spirit I’m often referencing is here in droves. One of the very few releases of Early Electronic / Computer music by an Icelandic composer; I’m surprised it’s taken Mr. P.C. C.P. this long to dig this one up! Fans of the second disc of the Pietro Grossi Creel Pone will be in familiar/alien territory, as will those of the psychedelic end of the Minimal / Synth spectrum, or any number of stoned, outsider 70s synth-jams.