PIERRE HENRY cortical art III LP 1973 avant electronic experimental schaffer

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54

Pierre Henry “Cortical Art III” LP issued by Philips (6510 015) in France, 1973. ****** Rec:ex / Cov:vg+++ ****** Offered here is the original LP edition of “Cortical Art III”,  the most advance evolution of Pierre Henry’s “Cortical Art” cycle. Recorded in public during the inaugural concert of the 8th International Congress of Electro-Encephalography and Clinical Neuropsychology at Marseille on 5th September 1973. Engineered by young electronic music wizard Bernard Bonnier and again utilizing Roger Lafosse's brain-wave induction systems. Lafosse had devised a machine which translated brain activity into electrical impulses, which Henry could then transpose into electronic sound. Where “Mise en Musique de Cortical Art” wowed us all with it’s full-on synth-noise grind in song-length segments, “Cortical Art III” slowly builds over two side-length performances from a whisper of nervous oscillator-gurgle into a storm of frenzied bleeps and a distorted hash of brainwaves and analogue filtering. In a way this trumps even the “Mise en Musique de Cortical Art” LP, although given you’re going to need a slightly longer attention-span for it to truly “work” (there are all sorts of references in the French liner notes to “Alpha” and “Beta” brain waves ) get out your bi-focals. What’s interesting to me is that this is actually a room recording of the performance. All of Henry / Bonnier’s knob-twiddling and button-pressing quite audible, as are the audience’s coughs and whispered comments to each other (or maybe i’m just imagining things) and yes the room erupts in riotous applause at the end. God bless those early 70s audiences! What a performance this must have been to witness, as this is one of the most over-the-top recordings of all time! This was live electronics, then, in effect a duet between brain and musical interpreter and mixer. The result is ferocious, a squall of electronic sound which makes no concessions to the professional crowd, unleashing a veritable brainstorm. It’s exciting stuff, particularly given its in the moment creation. You can imagine Henry wrestling with those encephalographic waves etching their patterns across his oscilloscope, trying to mould them into some coherent form. If this is the sound of a mind, then it would seem to be a rather turbulent and troubled one. Marvelously, the assembled neuropsychologists break into polite applause when the electronic storm finally subsides. ****** Record looks unplayed. Plays with minimal surface noise. ****** Some cover wear (see pictures): Signed on back cover. ****** 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 for the first LP is USD 22,50 for the whole world. ****** MORE ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL, ART RECORDS OFFERED SOON! Check in one week for more treasures to come! ****** Thank you for your kind attention and good luck with your bids.