John White / Gavin Bryars - "Machine Music" Vinyl, LP, Album, UK, 1978/1976 (Obscure Records)

Although no one will mistake Brian Eno as precisely as a pop star, yet, he is in a sense, but of course with that something extra, which is his interest in Experimental or new music.  In the mid-70s Eno started a record label, Obscure Records, to focus on modern music composers, most of them are British, and very much in Eno's social and music world.   One interesting album (of many fascinating titles) is  the John White and Gavin Bryars album "Machine Music."  

White is by design a minimalist composer, but I find labels too limiting and not very accurate in the sounds one hears.   On side one he has four pieces.  The opening cut is "Autumn Countdown Machine" which is a playful series of notes between a Bassoon, Double Bass, and Tuba that has a sound of various percussion instruments and a metronome underlining the main instrumentation.  To me, I can tell it's British because of its character.  It's a funny piece, but beautiful as well.  Perhaps it's that dynamics that gives this work such character.  "Son of Gothic Cord" is a piano piece played by White and Christopher Hobbs.  It reminds me of a bit of a Steve Reich piano work, but usually, his music is based on another culture, this I think is more numeral orientated or with a strict system in place.  It has an echo that fills the room. One thought but with four hands.  "Jew's Harp Machine" is sort of a super session with White, Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, and Christopher Hobbs (the Obscure house band!) all playing Jew's Harp, in a rhythmic fashion that has echo and delay (at least to my ears).  "Drinking and Hooting Machine" is a bottle blowing composition and it's eerie, and I can imagine this being heard over a rural countryside, with nothing but owls looking down on the musicians.  

On side two we have one composition by Gavin Bryars which is all guitars.  Played by Bryars, the great Derek Bailey, the amazing Fred Frith, and professional beginner Brian Eno, called "The Squirrel and the Ricketty Racketty Bridge."  A riff that reminds me a bit of White's first composition on the other side "Autumn Countdown Machine."   Four types of guitars that have separate and distinctive sounds that has a beautiful layered aural presence.  Not The Ventures or The Shadows mind you, but still a fresh piece of music.   

Obscure Records had only eight or nine releases but all of them are real gems, and it's excellent to re-hear them in 2019.   Eno should be applauded for presenting new music in such a fashion that's enticing and thrilling at the same time. 

Michael Nyman - "The Draughtsman's Contract" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1983 (DRG Records)

There are many great film composers and filmmaker match-up's that one can't possibly imagine one without the other.   On top of my list is the partnership between Peter Greenaway and British composer Michael Nyman.   The yin with the yang, who can easily be separated, but the combination of Greenaway's vivid narration/images with the addition of Nyman's hyper-version of baroque music is something to behold.  The other thing that makes my heart warm is the fact that Greenaway's films have a subversive talent of driving people mad who go see his movies.  Greenaway has two audiences - those who love his work, and those who can't stand his films.  With the additional twist of Nyman's relentless approach to form in the tight compositions by the composer, leaves one for gasping for air.   This is what I call art!

"The Draughtsman's Contract" is a film made by Greenaway, and it's an early collaboration between the filmmaker and Nyman.  Both have an interest in and vast knowledge of the past and use their medium for their works.  Nyman's music is a combination of minimalist strokes, but with a high sense of strong melody.  The rhythm of the work is just as important as the memorable melodies, and although the images by Greenaway really goes well with the composer's work, they also stand alone as music to listen to in a room with a well-stocked bar.

The one thing that stands out is that Nyman's work is very British.  I see him being very much influenced by Mozart, but equally the British composers such as Henry Purcell and William Byrd.  In a theatrical sense, he also belongs to William Shakespeare's theater, in that it can be bawdy and wonderfully entertaining.  What makes his music so unique is that he can have one foot in the minimalist camp, but the other is firmly placed in the world of Purcell and Byrd.  One of my favorite classical composers, and well worth to fall into the rabbit's hole for.  

Michael Nyman - "The Kiss and Other Movements" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1985 (Editions EG)

I discovered Michael Nyman when he made a recording of his composition "Decay Music" for Brian Eno's Obscure Records.  A few years later I really got into his music due to his soundtrack work for British filmmaker Peter Greenaway.   Before I purchased those recordings, "The Kiss and Other Movements" was the first album of his that wasn't part of someone else's series (Eno) or film (Greenaway).  Although I do believe some of the music here was used for Greenaway's short films.  Still, I have heard of speed metal, but Nyman struck me as speed classical.   Which is a stupid observation but without a doubt, his music was so different from anyone else's at the time.  Also to my ears, it was very British sounding.   Eccentric comes to mind, but then there is Nyman's great talent for melodies.  He writes melodies that I can sort of hum in the shower or bath. 

His work is majestic and builds up like one adding one block on top of another, and then there is the fear that the whole structure will topple down.   That's the thrill of hearing his tightly controlled, and performed musical pieces.  "The Kiss" is an album that is a great entrance to the Nyman aesthetic, and the mixture of strings, horns, and a very aggressive electric bass almost gives it a Who type of intensity.   Nyman is a brilliant composer, and over the years, I have purchased many of his albums on CD, mostly in Japan.  For some odd reason or another, at the time, it was easy to find Nyman's work in a big music store in Tokyo.   For those who are fans of "Music of Penguin Cafe" (another Eno Obscure Records release) will find Nyman as a suitable companion.   

Gavin Bryars ‎– "The Sinking Of The Titanic" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1978 (Obscure)

Probably the most 'reflective' album in my collection.  'The Sinking of the Titanic" is an aural documentary composed by the British composer Gavin Bryars.  The Titanic is such an iconic incident, that it has no meaning for me until I heard this album.   Extremely sad, and very moving, and basically one is living through the experience of a ship sinking, where one can hear traces of the ship's band playing as it disappears into the sea.   Also, there is a faint voice in the mix, that is a person who survived the Titanic's sinking. Which gives the whole record a sense of hope and beauty, even though it's heading toward the entrance of death. 

Side two is another composition by Bryars "Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet" that starts off with a recording a loop of a man singing a hymn with additional instrumentation added on as the piece progresses to a large orchestration.   For me, the work has an educational value that it seems to be a textbook study on arranging and how important that craft is to a music piece.  It's a pretty melody, but "The Sinking of the Titanic" is such a 'wow' piece of work, that makes it hard for me to turn the record over right away to hear "Jesus Blood.."   As a package, it's two albums in one disc.  

Speaking which, I can't overemphasize how important the label Obscure was when one purchased them in the 1970s.   Started by Brian Eno, it was a label devoted to experimental British composers, but of all sorts.   One can think of it as a school, but it covered a lot of musical ground within its limited releases at the time.  For me, in the late 1970s, it was a great introduction to new music being made in England, and it's one of the great projects that Eno brought to this world. 

Michael Nyman - "A Zed & Two Noughts" CD, Album, Original Soundtrack Recording, 1988 (That's Entertainment Records)

In the late 1980s, I became devoted to the films made by Peter Greenaway.  I loved his approach to his subject matters which were always questioning the process of nature and science, which leads to human sexuality as well as the structure of culture and politics.  That's a mouthful I know, but Greenaway is nothing else but a Maximalist.  His films are total overkill of images, sound, and thought.  The fun of seeing his films in a public movie theater were the people who walked out during the screening.  I have never been in an audience where so many hated what they were watching.  Even in the lobby after the film, strangers have come up to me to express their displeasure of viewing his works. I imagine being an artist, this is highly complementary to his films.  It's obvious that Greenaway is not for everyone, and nor is the music by Michael Nyman.   One of the great director/composer relationships ever.  Similar to Fellini/Nino Rota or David Lynch with Angelo Badalamenti.  When Nyman left Greenaway, I stopped watching his films. 

I discovered the soundtrack to "A Zed & Two Noughts" at "The Wave" record store (non-existent now) in Roppongi Tokyo.  For whatever reason, Nyman's entire catalog at the time was available at this store.   My first reaction when I heard this soundtrack album as well as seeing the film was that the music was speeded up to a ridiculous level.  After a few minutes in, I grew to love it.  Nyman is one of my favorite contemporary composers.  This particular soundtrack is stunning.   I never heard Harpiscord keyboard played as a speed metal piece or I should say, speed chamber music work.  At the same time his melodies are humingable.   He is also excellent in buildng up tension and then adding a sense of sweetness on top of it that floats in and out of the pace or beat.  Beautifully orchestrated, with layers of textures, and its music that looks back to Baroque chamber music but clearly contemporary in its scope.