Dockstader: Apocalypse

Track Listings

1. Traveling Music

2. Luna Park

3. First Fragment

4. Second Fragment

5. Part One from Apocalypse

6. Part Two from Apocalypse

7. Part Three from Apocalypse

8. Part Four from Apocalypse

9. Drone

10. No. 1 from Four Telemetry Tapes

11. No. 2 from Four Telemetry Tapes

12. No. 3 from Four Telemetry Tapes

13. No. 4 from Four Telemetry Tapes

Editorial Reviews
The Washington Post
One of the giants in the field.

The Wire
These extraordinary recordings should ensure that Dockstader will be remembered as the innovative, visionary figure he undoubtedly was.

Album Description
The second CD from this electronic music master contains Tod Dockstader’s brooding, ominous Apocalypse, along with the piece famous for its haunting use of processed laughter, Luna Park, which a Fanfare critic called “one of the finest works of electronic music I’ve ever heard.” (He adds: “The rest of the disc is not a let-down.”) Also appearing for the first time on this CD are Two Fragments from Apocalypse and Four Telemetry Tapes, the latter being Dockstader’s last true organized sound pieces.

In addition to receiving extraordinary praise within the United States, Starkland’s two Dockstader CDs have won glowing affirmations around the world, from Canada’s Musicworks (“vital and fascinating”) to France’s Revue & Corrigée (“astonishing”) to England’s The Wire (“extraordinary”).

Dockstader’s music turns out to have a surprising relevance to music created decades later; he’s been described as “one of the godfather’s of Nurse With Wound, and a distant cousin of rap and techno” (Option). Craig Anderton writes that Dockstader was one of the few to master “the art of assembling tape-recorded sounds and painstakingly splicing, cutting, dubbing, manipulating and mixing to create final compositions,” then adds: “If you think that sounds similar to the procedures used to create today’s cutting-edge pop music, you’re right.”

Dockstader: Apocalypse

Tracks:

Valse Sentimentale - Clara Rockmore
Oraison - Ens D'Ondes De Montreal
Etude Aux Chemins De Fer - Pierre Schaeffer
Williams Mix - John Cage
Klangstudie II - Herbert Eimert/Robert Beyer
Low Speed - Otto Luening
Dripsody - Hugh Le Caine
Forbidden Planet: Main Title - Louis Barron/Bebe Barron
Elektronische Tanzste: Concertando Rubato - Oskar Sala
Poem Electronique - Edgard Varese
Sine Music (A Swarm Of Butterflies Encountered Over The Ocean) - Richard Maxfield
Apocalypse-Part 2 - Tod Dockstader
Kontakte - James Tenney/William Winant
Wireless Fant - Vladimir Ussachevsky
Philomel - Milton Babbitt
Spacecraft - MEV

Tracks:

Cindy Electronium - Raymond Scott
Pendulum Music - Sonic Youth
Bye Bye Butterfly - Pauline Oliveros
Projection Esemplastic For White Noise - Joji Yuasa
Silver Apples Of The Moon, Part 1 - Morton Subotnick
Rainforest Version 1 - David Tudor
Poppy Nogood - Terry Riley
Boat-Woman-Song - Holger Czukay
Music Promenade - Luc Ferrari
Vibrations Composees: Rosace 3 - Francois Bayle
Mutations - Jean-Claude Risset
Hibiki-Hana-Ma - Iannis Xenakis
Map Of 49's Dream The Two Systems Of Eleven Sets Of Galactic Intervals: Drift Study '31/69 c.... - La Monte Young

Tracks:

He Destroyed Her Image - Charles Dodge
Six Fants On A Poem By Thomas Campion: Her Song - Paul Lansky
Appalachian Grove - Laurie Spiegel
En Phase/Hors Phase - Bernard Parmegiani
On The Other Ocean - David Behrman
Stria - John Chowning
Living Sound, Patent Pending Music For Sound-Joined Rooms Series - Maryanne Amacher
Automatic Writing - Robert Ashley
Canti Illuminati - Alvin Curran
Music On A Long Thin Wire - Alvin Lucier
Melange - Klaus Schulze
Before And After Charm (La Notte) - Jon Hassell
Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills) - Brian Eno

Amazon.com

Opening with Clara Rockmore's reworking of Tchaikovsky with the theremin, and finishing with one of Brian Eno's ambient soundscapes, OHM artfully succeeds in its goal of giving a representative (as opposed to the impossible, comprehensive) overview of the first several decades of electronic music. Over 3 discs, 42 compositions, and 96 pages of notes and photos, OHM clearly illustrates the producers' and contributing writers' point that early electronic music is much of the foundation of contemporary music. Herein lies the connective tissue bridging musique concrète, 20th-century classical, electronic experimentation, and the theoretical avant-garde to psychedelia, ambient, dub, techno, electro, and synthpop and the globalization of sound. The groundbreaking uses of loops, sampling, drones, remixes, and cut-and-paste technology are put fully into context. The diversity of music included makes any sort of summation impossible, but that is also the point: electronic music is not really a genre, but an open field of endless possibility. From John Cage's famous "William's Mix" of tape snippets to Karkheinz Stockhausen's electronic orchestral compositions, from David Tudor and Holger Czukay's experiments in unrelated blendings of audio elements to David Behrman's supremely peaceful duet between computers and musicians, the aural renegades on OHM tread where none (save a few of their contemporaries) had gone before. The liner notes convey the incredible amount of hard work and experimentation it took to stitch together many of these pieces in the predigital era. Putting aside the inevitable quibbles about what's missing (much of it due to legal and/or logistical issues), a more complete collection of musical eggheads, eccentrics, and visionaries is hard to imagine. --Carl Hanni

Customer Reviews:

excellent but uncomplete.......2006-11-12

Althought most of the music here is an excellent collection of electronic music history, this 3 CDs lack of the important contribution given by the RAI phonology studios of Milan, Italy in the 50s
(which was bigger than Koln's WDR studios) with Bruno Maderna, Luciano Berio and Luigi Nono.
This is a big mistake. Milans studios were the biggest of europe and produced many important electroacoustic pieces.
If the collection aim to describe faithfully electronic music history, it should include this artists too.

To call it music may be a bit limiting. .......2006-10-24

Some of the tracks on here are "music". That is that they contain all the bits we're trained to experience as music -- melody, etc. Some are not, and the composers would be the first people to tell you that. A lot of these works are reactions to ingrained rules, so they're bound to be jarring.

A more successful way to approach such a broad and varied collection of audio experimentation is to think of it as curated sound. This isn't something to wash the dishes to, or to seduce someone to (although if you did manage to seduce someone with the recordings on this anthology, HOLD ON TO THAT PERSON, because they've got to be a keeper). These are unique sound textures that deserve a close, probably solitary listen, and I think if you're in the right frame of mind, it can be a very rewarding listen.

My main complaint is sequencing: each dicrete piece follows it's own internal logic, so there are more than a couple rough gear changes. However, since each piece is so different, and the collection is so varied, I'm not sure that you could totally escape that.

A worthwhile collection.......2006-01-11

The OHM collection contains some of those ground breaking electronic compositions that have shaped today's styles, from the early electronic instruments of Theremin and Martenot, through Pierre Schaeffer's Music Concrete tape music and the electronic music of Stockhausen and Subotnick, to the mainframe computer output of Risset and Chowning.

It is unfair to mark this collection down due to the production quality and 'musicality' of its contents, to do so would be to staggeringly miss the point of the development of electronic music through the 20th Century. What this collection shows is the ideas behind those at the cutting edge of the genre before many could even conceive of such output. That said it is hard going at points, as experimental music can be.

Highlights for me are no doubt Olivier Messiaen's 'Oraison' on CD 1, David Tudor's 'Rainforest Version 1' on CD 2 and on CD 3 David Behrman's 'On the Other Ocean' and Maryanne Amacher's 'Living sound Patent Pending'.

OhMyGodHowDreadful.......2005-08-15

Ok, this collection is supposed to be early works and, thus not expected to be very sophisticated or polished. But the OHM collection sounds like the first attempt of a spastic cat turned-loose on a Moog keyboard. When it is not boreing, this collection of random and dissonant sounds (I can't call it music) is without any redeeming qualities to make it worth while. Don't get me wrong, I am a long-time fan of Wendy (nie Walter) Carlos and some other real pioneers of electronic music. However, I find that the Ohm collection has no similar qualities and is a major disappointment.

Kid Stockhausen.......2003-01-17

This is required listening for anybody interested in the history of electronic music. Although implicitly aiming for the techno music audience, this audio history is overwhelmingly focused on the classical avant-garde of electro-acoustic composers. The closest you'll get to pop electronica is the Brian Eno track at the end of the third disc. No Kraftwerk, no Moroder, etc. Instead "OHM" manages to point to the continuities between, say, John Cage and artists currently working at the experimental edges of electronica (so-called IDM). It seems to be saying, "You think Kid 606 is visionary? Well check out this Stockhausen track from '59!"

Admittedly, some of the songs are much more interesting to think about than they are to listen to. Some of the early pieces that were made through thosuands of hours of pains-taking tape-splicing could be made today in an afternoon with a digital audio editor and a few effects plug-ins.

Tracks:

Traveling Music
Luna Park
First Fragment
Second Fragment
Part One from Apocalypse
Part Two from Apocalypse
Part Three from Apocalypse
Part Four from Apocalypse
Drone
No. 1 from Four Telemetry Tapes
No. 2 from Four Telemetry Tapes
No. 3 from Four Telemetry Tapes
No. 4 from Four Telemetry Tapes

Album Description

The second CD from this electronic music master contains Tod Dockstader's brooding, ominous Apocalypse, along with the piece famous for its haunting use of processed laughter, Luna Park, which a Fanfare critic called “one of the finest works of electronic music I've ever heard.” (He adds: “The rest of the disc is not a let-down.”) Also appearing for the first time on this CD are Two Fragments from Apocalypse and Four Telemetry Tapes, the latter being Dockstader's last true organized sound pieces.

In addition to receiving extraordinary praise within the United States, Starkland's two Dockstader CDs have won glowing affirmations around the world, from Canada's Musicworks (“vital and fascinating”) to France's Revue & Corrigée (“astonishing”) to England's The Wire (“extraordinary”).

Dockstader's music turns out to have a surprising relevance to music created decades later; he's been described as “one of the godfather's of Nurse With Wound, and a distant cousin of rap and techno” (Option). Craig Anderton writes that Dockstader was one of the few to master “the art of assembling tape-recorded sounds and painstakingly splicing, cutting, dubbing, manipulating and mixing to create final compositions,” then adds: “If you think that sounds similar to the procedures used to create today's cutting-edge pop music, you're right.”

Customer Reviews:

unmusic.......2005-09-23

bought with "Quatermass"...certainly the better of the two...for those unfamiliar, dockstader was of the 'musique concrete' ilk (google it if you have to), so what you're gonna find here are everyday and some obscure sounds married electronically and transmuted into surreal compositions that defy anyone to dance to them...one of those albums best heard alone and intent upon, more of a study of the history of the evolution of modern sound, if you dig...most interesting after reading about dockstader and the complex techniques he had to employ to create these works in the 60's (yes, the 60's)...a collector's joy

Sound Composition Master.......2005-07-28

This is a great listening experience for anyone willing to LISTEN to a recording in the foreground rather than in the background. Dokstader's composition require patience and stillness as well as personal cerebral silence. His work acts like an aural sculpture and that in itself is a remarkable achievement. Whatever genre titles have been thrown at this form of composition (Concrete music, Tape music, Electronic), it is a form of musical expression unique to our time. Dockstader pulls at the day to day sounds that surround us snaring bits here and there, blending and cutting sonic landscapes the exist only in the ether between transmission towers and the microscopic space between iron-coated plastic tape and an electro-magnetized surface.
A great and important work!

Average customer rating:

Enjoyable survey
Inventive

From A to Z

Manufacturer: Starkland
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000002GVD
Release Date: 1994-07-24

Tracks:

Luna Park [Excerpt] - Dockstader, Tod
Part Three from Apocalypse - Dockstader, Tod
Tango from Quatermass - Dockstader, Tod
Underground - Dresher, Paul
The Rider - Kasinskas, Joseph
Utamaro's Dreams [Excerpt] - Lukasik, Joseph
In Tymes of Olde - Z., Pamela
Obsession, Addiction and the Aristotelian Curve - Z., Pamela
Vers Les Anges - Amirkhanian, Charle
Garland Hirschi's Cows - Bimstein, Phillip K

Album Description

From A to Z offers ten enticing selections of compelling, engaging electroacoustic music. It's a specially priced compilation that's an excellent introduction to the Starkland label. The diverse music ranges from Tod Dockstader's powerful musique concrète to the digitally sampled bovine vocalizing in Phillip Kent Bimstein's udderly charming portrait of a Utah farmer.

The CD opens with three excerpts from Starkland's two Dockstader CDs (“Quatermass” and “Apocalypse”), both widely praised in over 25 highly positive reviews.

Bimstein's piece (from his “Garland Hirschi's Cows” Starkland CD) combines comments from both Utah farmer Garland Hirschi and his cows, in a delightfully mooving work that has triggered hundreds of calls to radio stations.

Paul Dresher's Underground (from his “Casa Vecchia” Starkland CD) uses a custom-built multi-track tape loop system that starts with a few simple synthesizer sounds and creates a lovely, layered, languidly flowing composite.

Joseph Kasinskas creates refreshingly straightforward, often ritualistic music. The Rider, for marimba, gongs and digital echo, is part of a large theater work, Demeter's Lament.

Techno whiz Joseph Lukasik syncs multiple synthesizers and samplers to create the richly atmospheric Utamaro's Dreams.

The “funny, inventive and talented” (Village Voice) Pamela Z blends extended vocal techniques and delay units with riveting, and sometimes humorous, results. This CD has her hauntingly personal In Tymes of Olde and the dark, harp-accompanied Obsession.

Charles Amirkhanian's Vers Les Anges (from his “Walking Tune” Starkland CD) merges sampled sounds, related to the extraordinary life of Nicholas Slonimsky, into a mysteriously evocative collage.

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable survey.......2002-03-21

Agree with previous reviewer. I hesitate to give 5 stars, because I'm not expert in the electronic music field, but this CD is an eye-opener. Some of the composers (Kasinskas, Lukasik, Pamela Z and Bimstein) were new to me. Pamela Z really deserves more exposure: Meredith Monk-like extended vocals, electronics and a good sense of humor. I'll also put in a good word for Joseph Lukasik's rather ambient ballet music "Utamaro's Dream" (excerpt).

Inventive.......2000-01-10

This compilation features 7 little-known, highly imaginative American composers. Phillip Kent Bimstein's "Garland Hirchi's Cows" combines comments from both the Utah farmer and his cows to create a wonderful, whimsical piece. Charles Amirkhanian uses sonic calliope, roulette wheel and chirping birds to form "Vers Les Anges." San Francisco performer Pamela Z works primarily with voice creating lush vocals textures. Using Tarzan howls, toucan squalks and MIDI controllers "In Tymes Of Old" she sings about the good old days. Paul Dresher layers loops and high-pitched sonics that cut through the dark clouds like sunbeams in "Underground." Tod Dockstader's electronic music reminds me of the "Fantastic Planet Soundtrack."

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We the People

1. Traveling Music
2. Luna Park
3. First Fragment
4. Second Fragment
5. Part One from Apocalypse
6. Part Two from Apocalypse
7. Part Three from Apocalypse
8. Part Four from Apocalypse
9. Drone
10. No. 1 from Four Telemetry Tapes
11. No. 2 from Four Telemetry Tapes
12. No. 3 from Four Telemetry Tapes
13. No. 4 from Four Telemetry Tapes