Alwin Nikolais' "Choreosonic Music of the New Dance Theatre of Alwin Nikolais" LP, Vinyl, Album, 2013/1959, (Cacophonic)

Alwin Nikolais (1910-1993) started out by playing the organ in the silent films. When sound came in, he needed to expand his horizons, and he did so by studying scenic design, costuming, acting, puppetry, and music composition.   These field of interests led him to dance choreography where he could combine all his different mediums in one space.   He founded the Henry Street Playhouse in New York City in the 1950s, where he started to do multi-media presentations.  Nikolais wrote electronic music go with his performances, and here we have the aural results of sounds he made in the 1950s. 

In a similar situation as John Cage/David Tudor (and Eno), Nikolais' partner-in-crime David Berlin, operated and manipulated the sounds from the sound booth that looked over the stage.  Some of the music/noise were played by the dancers with such instruments as drums, bells, wood blocks, gongs, and rattles but all played through Nikolais/Berlin's electronic filters.  The music now is just as fresh as it must have been in 1959.  

When I was in the ARTBOOK store, I played this album, and I sold copies there and then.  By no means is it ambient, due to it being originally used as modern dance music - but a total pleasing listening experience, where the sound brings a sense of rhythm and dynamics.  It's interesting to note that Nikolais was the first person to purchase the first Moog analog synthesizer system.  Another electronic composer of great importance, yet I never heard of him till recently and when I bought this album "Choreosonic Music of the New Dance Theatre of Alwin Nikolais."

John Cage - "The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage" 2 x Vinyl, Booklet, Limited Edition, 1959 (Modern Silence)

Ground zero for John Cage recording.  This phenomenal album is the essential document of a great concert that took place at Town Hall New York City in 1958.    Produced by Cage's good friends Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and filmmaker Emile de Antonio.   This is, at the time, was Cage's celebration of 25 years of composing and making music.   With the help of the art community, a concert was placed, and at this event, Cage and others performed his "greatest hits."  This is not only a document of a concert but also an important cultural moment that took place in Manhattan. 

David Tudor, Merce Cunningham, and Cage's wife, Xenia, as well as the composer, performed pieces in front of a hostile audience.  At least their catcalls mixed in with the bravos are clearly in the mix.  This is a real live recording!   Listening to the album, I really feel its presence in front of me.  There are not that many live albums that have that affect for me.   The works here are legendary, and Cage at the height of his creativity.   Beautiful packaging; this album is priceless to me. 

John Cage - Christian Wolff "John Cage/Christian Wolff" (Reissued; Jeanne Dielman)

With respect to John Cage, his "Cartridge Music" (1960) is probably one of the most extreme noise pieces ever.   What one can do with a phonograph pick-up!   Without a doubt, this album is a lease breaker and is also brilliant and of course, fascinating.  Cage and his right-hand man, David Tudor, which I have to presume they are probably like the Bowie/Mick Ronson team.  Cage visualizes the piece, and Tudor makes it happen.   Tudor generally a pianist, but one who not only plays on the piano but also inside and outside the piano.  Here on this recording, he and Cage do a rave-up that must have been awesome to see as well as being so forward of a sound/presentation in 1960.  

The other side of the album is three pieces by Christian Wolff.  Compared to the Cage side, this is easy listening music, but, with an edge.   David Tudor plays on two of the pieces.  The first work is "Duo For Violinist and Pianist" (1961).  The violinist Kenji Kobayashi.  It's an interesting work because it's about the relationship between the two instrumentalists.   It seems that Wolff instructed the musicians to start when they want to start, and the other makes responds to that sound.  The silence between the two players is also significant. It's like having a deep conversation with someone, and there is silence due that the person is thinking what the other is saying.  "Duet for Horn and Piano is the same as the above, but with Howard Hillyer playing the horn.   "Summer for Spring Quartet" (1961) is with a string quartet.  

There is a sense of theater with both the Wolff and Cage piece.  It works on an aural level, but I imagine to hear these pieces live would be awesome.  The conceptual aspect is interesting as well.  This is music that thinks, and then acts on the concept created by Cage and Wolff.  The musicians have to be in tuned to the composer's sensibility as well as trusting their own ability at the same time.   

The album cover design mirrors the much later Beatles' "White Album." One wonders if Richard Hamilton (the designer of the Beatle album) was influenced by the Cage/Wolff cover.   This is very much a fantastic piece of vinyl.   The original album came out in 1961, and it's great to hear music that was made by the composer or they were around during the recordings.  Essential.