Phillip Bimstein: Garland Hirschi's Cows

Editorial Reviews
Stereophile
Outstanding in his field… brilliantly original...Here is a talent to watch. 4.5 Stars.

Alternative Press
Memorable and entertaining...4 Stars.

Album Description
Phillip Kent Bimstein offers five “alternative classical” works on his CD premiere. His music has been performed at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and on the NBC Movie of the Week. Bimstein formerly led the Chicago-based new wave band Phil ‘n’ the Blanks, whose three albums and six videos were college radio and MTV hits.

The delightful Garland Hirschi’s Cows describes a Utah farmer, his cows, and why they moo. Radio airplay of the work has generated hundreds of calls (especially after being heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, where they referred to the work as “cult classic”).

Dark Winds Rising, for string quartet and tape, presents the Kaibab Paiute tribe’s successful fight against the installation of a toxic waste incinerator on their native land. Employing a technique he calls “voice organics,” Bimstein uses sampled speech to develop rhythmic patterns, melodies, and sound effects such as mesa winds, industrial ratchets, a snake pit, and bird calls.

In The Door, Bimstein uses samples of his creaking studio door to create some funky brass instruments, a pulsating rhythm section, fragments of a merry-go-round’s music, and a mournful seal.

The Louie Louie Variations is a contemplative fantasy that deconstructs a classic rock chord progression, while the haunting Vox=Dominum, the most mysterious piece on the CD, deconstructs a variety of Persian sounds.

Stereophile remarks that Bimstein “has used digital sampling technology to tell wry and moving stories, and to elevate the mundane to the level of high art.” Schwann Opus finds that this “highly entertaining” CD is “a virtual breath of fresh air,” adding that “this is new music not just for the adventurous, but for everyone.”

Phillip Bimstein: Garland Hirschi's Cows

Phillip Bimstein: Garland Hirschi's Cows, Music, Phillip Kent Bimstein, Classical, Classical Composers, Modern Composition, Popular Music
Phillip Bimstein: Garland Hirschi's Cows
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Substantive electro-acoustic music that makes you smile.
  • Lively Livestock
 Phillip Bimstein: Garland Hirschi's Cows
Phillip Kent Bimstein
Manufacturer: Starkland
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General ModernGeneral Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
ClassicalClassical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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  4. Overlord (Criterion Collection)
  5. We All Love Ennio Morricone

ASIN: B000002GVF
Release Date: 1996-12-17

Tracks:

  1. Garland Hirschi's Cows: A Little Bit About My Cows - Bimstein, Phillip K
  2. Garland Hirschi's Cows: Pasturale - Bimstein, Phillip K
  3. Garland Hirschi's Cows: Moovement - Bimstein, Phillip K
  4. The Louie Louie Variations - Modern Mandolin Qua
  5. Dark Winds Rising: The Last Jake - Turtle Island Strin
  6. Dark Winds Rising: Walking Barefooted - Turtle Island Strin
  7. Dark Winds Rising: With the Earth - Turtle Island Strin
  8. Dark Winds Rising: Among All People - Turtle Island Strin
  9. The Door - Bimstein, Phillip K
  10. Vox=Dominum - Bimstein, Phillip K

Album Description

Phillip Kent Bimstein offers five “alternative classical” works on his CD premiere. His music has been performed at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and on the NBC Movie of the Week. Bimstein formerly led the Chicago-based new wave band Phil `n' the Blanks, whose three albums and six videos were college radio and MTV hits.

The delightful Garland Hirschi's Cows describes a Utah farmer, his cows, and why they moo. Radio airplay of the work has generated hundreds of calls (especially after being heard on NPR's All Things Considered, where they referred to the work as “cult classic”).

Dark Winds Rising, for string quartet and tape, presents the Kaibab Paiute tribe's successful fight against the installation of a toxic waste incinerator on their native land. Employing a technique he calls “voice organics,” Bimstein uses sampled speech to develop rhythmic patterns, melodies, and sound effects such as mesa winds, industrial ratchets, a snake pit, and bird calls.

In The Door, Bimstein uses samples of his creaking studio door to create some funky brass instruments, a pulsating rhythm section, fragments of a merry-go-round's music, and a mournful seal.

The Louie Louie Variations is a contemplative fantasy that deconstructs a classic rock chord progression, while the haunting Vox=Dominum, the most mysterious piece on the CD, deconstructs a variety of Persian sounds.

Stereophile remarks that Bimstein “has used digital sampling technology to tell wry and moving stories, and to elevate the mundane to the level of high art.” Schwann Opus finds that this “highly entertaining” CD is “a virtual breath of fresh air,” adding that “this is new music not just for the adventurous, but for everyone.”

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Substantive electro-acoustic music that makes you smile........2003-09-01

I'm a high school music teacher and I love using "Garland Hirschi's Cows" and "The Door" to expand my students' definition of music. These two compositions especially are entertaining enough to keep the class's attention while introducing some important concepts. I am invariably asked to play it again over the next several days as anyone who was absent returns and hears about it from enthusiastic friends. I've also had to buy it three times so far because, unlike the rest of my classical and jazz CD's, this one tends to walk away. . . You'll enjoy this. If it whets your appetite for something a bit more "serious," try Steve Reich's "Different Trains" with the Kronos Quartet. You may prefer it, but you'll still never forget the cows.

4 out of 5 stars Lively Livestock.......2000-01-10

Graduate of the Chicago Conservatory of Music, Phillip Bimstein formed the New Wave group, Phil 'n' the Blanks. Fascinated by language, Bimstein incorporates text into his music. In the title track, a Utah farmer talks about his cows, the history of butchery and why cows Moo. "The Louie Louie Variations" deconstructs the classic rock song into a contemplative fantasy with the help of the Modern Mandolin Quartet. Backed by the Turtle Island String Quartet, "Dark Winds Rising" records three generations of the Jake family. They speak of the sanctity of their ancestrial land vs. the toxic waste incinerator built nearby. "Vox=Dominum" is an atmospheric work that cuts up vocal love chants of the ancient Sufi poet Rumi. Another inventive recording from the Starkland label.
From A to Z
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Enjoyable survey
  • Inventive
 From A to Z

Manufacturer: Starkland
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

AmbientAmbient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
ElectronicaElectronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | New Age | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
CompilationsCompilations | Classical | Styles | Music
ClassicalClassical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000002GVD
Release Date: 1994-07-24

Tracks:

  1. Luna Park [Excerpt] - Dockstader, Tod
  2. Part Three from Apocalypse - Dockstader, Tod
  3. Tango from Quatermass - Dockstader, Tod
  4. Underground - Dresher, Paul
  5. The Rider - Kasinskas, Joseph
  6. Utamaro's Dreams [Excerpt] - Lukasik, Joseph
  7. In Tymes of Olde - Z., Pamela
  8. Obsession, Addiction and the Aristotelian Curve - Z., Pamela
  9. Vers Les Anges - Amirkhanian, Charle
  10. 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:

4 out of 5 stars 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).

4 out of 5 stars 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."

Track Listings:

  1. Piano Concerti 20 & 21
  2. Piano Concertos Nos 1&2; Village Fai [Import]
  3. PIAZZOLLA: Concerto for Bandoneon / Tangos / The Four Seasons / SACD Hybrid
  4. Playtime and Bedtime with Bach
  5. Premier Concours International de Voix d'Opera Placido Domingo: Paris 1993 [Live]
  6. Prokofieff: Lieutenant Kije; Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale
  7. Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 [Import]
  8. Richard Wagner: Orchestral Works
  9. Rossini - Bianca e Falliero / Larmore · Cullagh · Banks · D'Arcangelo · LPO · Parry (Complete Opera)
  10. Rossini: La gazetta

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

God in Three Persons

Klemperer Legacy - Wagner: Orchestra Music, Vol. 1 / Philharmonia Orchestra

Keep It Coming

From This Moment

Say What You Mean What You Say

Jam on Bass, Vol. 1

Master Series

Kleine Dreigroschenmusik

Names

No Limit

Marcy Playground

Homenaje a Juan Gabriel

La Mula Bronca

Christian Music christian-music-02

Astor Piazzolla: Concierto para Bandoneon / Tres Tangos