ANTHONY MOORE secrets of blue bag LP 1972 avant cage

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Anthony Moore "Secrets of the Blue Bag - A story for John Cage" LP issued by Polydor (2310179) in Germany, 1972. ****** Rec:ex / Cov:vg+++ ****** Top rare second experimental LP by Anthony Moore. "Secrets of the Blue Bag", taking its name from an Chinese expression for the sky, is an early work dating from 1972.  This LP and "Pieces From The Cloudland Ballroom" are two great missing links in the incredible history of Uwe Nettlebeck's productions at Wümme, Germany. Slapp Happy founder Moore recorded "Pieces From The Cloudland Ballroom" a month after Faust cut their debut LP (fall 1971) and "Secrets Of The Blue Bag" a month before their second (with Slapp Happy's debut "Sort Of" following in May '72 and Tony Conrad/Faust's "Outside The Dream Syndicate" in October). Unlike Moore's other solo albums, which are of conventional songs, "Secrets of the Blue Bag" is entirely instrumental. The actual music involves the combining and recombining of the first five notes of the diatonic scale, inspired by Moore's discovery of the 13th Century hermeticist Raymond Lully's encription engine (a rotating array of concentric rings, one of the earliest mechanical ways of encoding information known). Its intrinsic minimalism brings to mind Philip Glass and the like, but in a much lighter, more relaxed vein. There does not seem to be much one could do with five notes, but there are actually 120 combinations you can generate from them. Moore works through them all here (although I admit I haven't counted), building from a simple repetition of the scale on a violin through to a small ensemble of strings, bassoon and human voice, cycling through the changes. The choice of instruments and relaxed playing imbues the piece with a pleasant Englishness and human feel, a vast distance away from the intensely cold and technological feel of Glass and the like. Anthony Moore has pursued a unique and fascinating course through modern music, first coming to notice as one third of the wayward avant-pop trio and Henry Cow fellow-travellers Slapp Happy. Along with fellow purveyors of music high strangeness, Peter Blegvad, also known for his mordantly strange cartooning, and Dagmar Krause, one of the finest Brecht interpreters currently working, he swam against the 70's prog-rock current with their quirky cabaret pop and off-centre wit. Semi-dormant since then, they still emerge periodically to startle with the occasional record or gig (most notably with their spoof exercise single "Everybody's Slimming, Even Men and Women" in the mid -80s). Throughout their career, Moore has been the groups main lyricist, producing songs of unusual sparkle and intelligence, a fact not lost on Pink Floyd, who in their dotage, drafted him in to pen song with them that stand head and shoulders above the usual self-indulgent Roger Waters whine-fest. Great LP dedicated to John Cage. ****** Cover would be graded ex if it was not for a 2 cm split on the spine. ****** Please wait to receive my invoice before sending the payment after the auction ends. Attention! Real postage costs are not USD 4 as all the items are located in Doha, Qatar (which has a very safe and professional post system). Postage costs registered up to 1 Kilo (generally 3 LPs): to Europe and Japan is USD 16,50 / to America and Oceania is USD 22,50. Postage costs registered up to 2 Kilos:  to Europe and Japan is USD 28,00 / to America and Oceania is USD 34,00. ****** 3 ebay auctions in 3 weeks. Next week (3rd week): sound art, fluxus, Cramps records, Milan Knizak, Terry Fox, Henning Christiansen… ****** Thank you for your kind attention and good luck with your bids.