Radiophonic Tape Compositions LP 1985 2MBSFM rare Australian electronic NM

	A$		300
	$		192

Radiophonic Tape Compositions LP 1985 2MBSFM rare Australian electronic NM

Original Australian pressing on 2MBS-FM

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 member's contemporaneous solo work. Think of it as the Fairlight "Creation du Monde" to the various Jellybean Benitez Publison-laced productions.

Peter Mumme's "Veronica Takes A Bath" opens with an assemblage of water sounds not too far removed from Knud Viktor's "Images" & "Ambiances"; 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, Peter Schaefer's "See" introduces 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 Robert Douglas' "Homage To Bessemer" offering the sort of carnival-esque chuff & wonky rhythmic etudes that one would more regularly associate with the Fairlight. Jon Rose' "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 Michael Hannan's "Callisto" close things out in fine form. (Keith Fullerton Whitman, notes on the reissue)

This LP documents an electroacoustic music competition organized in 1985 by Australian 2MBS FM radio, from St Leonards near Sydney, New South Wales. The prize winners were awarded various grants (see liner notes) and an inclusion in this disc. The LP is titled Radiophonic Tape Compositions, yet the works don’t exactly resort to radio art as such, being mostly electroacoustic pieces. They were certainly aired at the time during one of the avantgarde music shows the station maintained to this day. Australian electroacoustic music is an ancient tradition which goes back to Percy Grainger and Tristram Cary, and has been expertly documented in the Artefacts of Australian Experimental Music anthology

 Three of the compositions on this disc are entirely based on electronic sounds, either from the Fairlight CMI synthesizer (Robert Douglas and Michael Hannan) or from computer programming in the case of Peter Schaefer. Peter Mummé‘s Veronica… is an electroacoustic work using musique concrète sounds of water and children’s bathroom activities. The Jon Rose contribution is a cornucopia of noises, found sounds and any kind of sonic provocation, including the voice of William Burroughs.

01 Peter Mummé Veronica Takes A Bath (14:18)

02 Peter Schaefer See (10:11)

03 Robert Douglas Homage To Bessemer (13:07)

04 Jon Rose Colony: Survival in the Right Hemisphere (5:21)

05 Michael Hannan Callisto (5:58)

CONDITION:

SLEEVE: EX++ Unlaminated sleeve has very little wear, just slight beginnings of ring mark at top, especially on rear

RECORD: NM+ Played once