Richard Richard
She dwells within the iron realm of ruby flames and shadow to transfigure and illuminate the darkness... An interpretation of the Classical by synthesis. Recommended.
Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
The download version of "Wagner" contains a further 110 minutes of bonus material comprising the results of early but, subsequently, abandoned work on the concept, along with "Orchestral Elements" mixes of each of the four pieces which comprise the LP, and a soundscape comprising the field recordings used in the project.
"Wagner" is the sixth in an ongoing series of "classical" releases by Cloudland Blue Quartet, which aim to take pieces by various composers (previous albums have featured treatments of works by Satie, Cage, Beethoven, Schoenberg, Webern, Berg and Haydn) and warp them into something completely new, whilst retaining elements of the "DNA" of the original works.
"Wagner" was commenced in October 2021 with initial experiments involving recordings of the supersonic airliner Concorde, a recounting by drummer Tony Williams of how it came to be that he joined Miles Davis' band and samples of Williams' drumming.
While that line of work was abandoned, the pieces created at that point are available to downloaders of "Wagner" as bonuses.
The album was returned to in June 2022, with the concept being finalised by utilising short pieces from preludes from three of the four operas by Richard Wagner which comprise his cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" (WWV 86).
Each piece is slowed, manipulated and treated to leave only the barest element of Wagner's melodies and is then overlaid with field recordings, also slowed, manipulated and treated, of, variously, passing traffic, subway stations and subway train interiors, in order to create brand new soundscapes.
Further bonus tracks, featuring only the orchestral elements of each track are also provided to downloaders.
The final bonus track, "Station, Interior, Traffic Passing" is a further soundscape comprising an amalgam of all the field recordings used in the creation of the four pieces on the LP.
credits
released July 1, 2022
"Wagner" is the 37th soundscapes album from Cloudland Blue Quartet (Crispycat 2206 - 1 July 2022)
Credits
Samples, field recordings, treatments, cover (“Wagner", 22 October 2021) and production by David Reilly for Crispycat Recordings
Created at Crispycat Studio, Edinburgh, UK, 21, 22 October 2021 (Bonus Tracks 5-7); 26, 28 June (Tracks 1-4) and 1 July 2022 (Bonus Tracks 8-12)
Based on the preludes to "Das Rheingold", "Siegfried" (Acts 1 & 2) and "Götterdämmerung" (Act 2) by Richard Wagner
For best results, please listen on headphones, in the dark
Bonus Material (Download Only) (109:30)
Tracks 5-7 are early versions of "Rheingold", created as initial experiments for what would become "Wagner" and which feature alternative field recordings and samples of both the voice and the drumming of Anthony Williams. Tracks 8-11 are the orchestral elements of each piece with the treated field recordings removed. Track 12 is a new soundscapes which combines all the field recordings used in the final version of the LP.
A quartet in name only, initially influenced by Fripp & Eno's "No Pussyfooting" and The Velvet Underground's debut,
songwriter & soundscaper David Reilly started musicking in 1977 by creating drones using sellotape on the keys of his dad's Bontempi Organ. The subsequent junk shop purchases of an electric guitar & fuzzbox and the acquisition of an old Beatles songbook, led him into songwriting......more
It's not only the most focused album by BSC (from the ones I've listened) but, hands down, one of the best ambient works I've had the pleasure of listening in the last few months.
It sounds tense and menacing at parts; soothing and even narcotic at others. Always mysterious, organic and engaging.
100% recommended! Iker GS
Time and texture. They move seemingly somewhat independent of each other, but also quite cognizant of the other. Categorizing is difficult here and this listener counts that as a wonderful success. You need to wear your different ears here. Recommended! solemnland
Krautrock meets ambient in the full-length from Youth Team, a lone producer twiddling knobs in one of Scotland's most remote locales. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 5, 2021