John Cale - "Helen of Troy" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2015/1975 (Wax Cathedral)

My favorite John Cale album from the Island Records era.  What I find appealing about his work, is more of his arrangement skills than his compositions.   For instance, I think Lou Reed is a better songwriter than Cale, but it's the talent of Cale to bring out the best in Lou Reed's songs.  That's the beauty of the early Velvet Underground recordings.  The same goes for his work with Tony Conrad as well.   This is not saying that Cale does not come up with wonderful songs, but for me, it's the way he puts the music together that I find his greatness.  

"Helen of Troy" is the third of the three Cale solo albums that were released on Island records, and it's the one where I feel he's working on a huge canvas for the first time on that label.  "Helen of Troy" is very a Cale sampler, and I mean that in a very good way.  You have the orchestrational Cale ("I Keep A Close Watch") and the gritty/electro "Engine" and the title song, but again, it is how the layers all the textures together that only a superb arranger can accomplish.  His version of The Modern Lovers (he produced their first and only album) of "Pablo Picasso" is pretty great.  That, and Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me To Do" are the perfect bar band sound that only can be placed in a saloon run by David Lynch.   

Cale is an artist of great taste and skill. The fact that he produced The Stooges, Nico, Squeeze, Patti Smith and The Modern Lovers shows that he was either in the right place at the right time, but more likely he had the brilliant touch to know what's important.  A very sophisticated taste, and "Helen of Troy" is nothing but, an album of great style, grace, anger, and brilliant arrangements.  "My Maria" is a perfect example of all of his skills placed in one song.  Here on this album, you have the grit to latter-day Beach Boys harmonies.  This is the best!

Tony Conrad - "Ten Years Alive On The Infinite Plain" 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, 2017 (Superior Viaduct)

A combination of Violin, something called the Long String Drone, and of course, the Bass Pulse is a blissful listening experience.  Ambient it's ain't because the music makes the listener pay full attention.  A good work to play loud, and a groove maker it is.   Tony Conrad had put together a multi-media presentation called "Ten Years Alive On The Infinite Plain" in 1972, and this is the recording of its soundtrack or music at the world famous Kitchen in New York City. 

I can't speak for the event because I wasn't there, but the music holds up significantly due to its length, and the skills of the three musicians on this specific piece.  Laurie Spiegel plays what I think is a bass guitar, but not sure.  The liner notes are not that clear what she's exactly playing.  Rhys Chatham plays the Long String Drone, an instrument made by Conrad.  It is a drone instrument, but it has a bass type of sound as well.  So the combination of the Bass Pulse and Chatham's playing of the Drone has a strong rhythmic foundation backing Conrad's cluster full of droning notes. 

As most things called Minimalism, this is actually a maximum piece of work.  Pure in mind, but complex in its structure and takes a physical stance playing this music.   Conrad had done performances of this piece using various instrumentation, but alas, those shows were not recorded (as far as I know), so the opening or premiere is what this album is.  The ultimate headphone laying on the floor with a pillow type of music. I love it. 

Angus MacLise "“New York Electronic, 1965” Vinyl, Sub Rosa

You have every album by The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, John Cale and even Moe Tucker, yet you haven’t yet purchased or heard Angus MacLise?  That’s a shame.  On the other hand, it’s not too late!   MacLise (1938-1979) was the first drummer for the Velvet Underground.   Not only the keeper of time/beats for that band, but also a composer, poet calligrapher, and occultist.   MacLise was an early member of the legendary Le Monte Young’s band, Theater of Eternal Music, which also had Marian Zazeela, Tony Conrad, Terry Riley, and future Velvet member, John Cale.  

MacLise is very much of a shadow figure in those days, due not only to being part of the Avant-Garde scene, but also according to Cale, he lived in his own time-zone, which he Cale commented as “living on the Angus calendar.” In other words, he wouldn’t show up for recordings or live gigs, and often disappeared for days.   The Velvets were offered a paying gig, and MacLise quit the band, claiming that was selling out.   And Moe Tucker replaced the drummer, and history was recorded.   

MacLise moved to Berkeley where he met and married Hetty McGee and they soon had a son, Ossian Kennard MacLise, who oddly enough was recognized as the reincarnation of a Tibetan Saint and became a Buddhist monk at the age of four.   This, of course, leads the family to Nepal.    Tragically, MacLise died in Katmandu at the age of 41.  A true adventurer on many accounts, and basically what we have left on this planet is various artworks, some writings, and the vinyl record album “New York Electronic, 1965.”  

1965 was the entrance for many amazing things happening in Manhattan.  The arts were exploding in different directions and in many mediums. Film, painting, poetry, literature was the ingredients put into the big bowl of soup.  Some artists took all the ingredients to make their own art, and MacLise was one of those artists who knew no wall or boundaries when it came to art making - or working in a laboratory of his own making - to record sounds.  With the assistance of John Cale and Tony Conrad, these insane artists came up with some pure magic.  The thing is, as you can gather, MacLise was not the most organized person on this boho planet Manhattan.  It took years for those who loved or in fascination with MacLise to find these tapes.   So, “Electronic, 1965” is very much an enjoyable document of a time, when things were really shaking in the creative landscape of New York City.

The essence of these recording, for me, is the adventure of exploring the unknown.  It has a relationship with what was happening in France, with respect to the Musique Concrete scene, but here, it is almost like a punk rock version of that world.  It’s music made by young men, who are enthralled with the world in front of them.   For me, listening to this album doesn’t represent 2016, but more of a beautiful snapshot of the past, when things were very new.  Artists like Jack Smith, Ron Rice were making independent 8mm/16mm films, and MacLise and company were supplying the soundtrack to these cinematic works.  

The sounds on this album are very organic.  Reels of tape speeding up/down, electronic blips, glass hitting against glass, percussion, feedback, gongs, ghost-like sounds, piano chords, string instruments, kitchen tools, various sci-fi sounds and what one would imagine would be the whole world of Angus MacLise.  At times, I imagine if one put their head under water, some of these sounds would be heard.  The echo and far-off aural delights that come and go on this album.  

Besides this album, there have been other recordings put out by various people.  Sub Rosa also put out a CD collection of his music, but now is out-of-print. Boo Hooray in New York City also have made vinyl editions of MacLise’s music.  He’s an important figure in New York underground world.  For one, he knew everyone who had the legendary touch during those years.  And he himself is a man of mystery.  We know when he was born and where he died, but the essence of him is very much like his music.  Hypnotic, ghost-like, and yet, a very positive presentation he left on this planet.   He rules the universe, even in death.  “New York Electronic, 1965, ” is a very essential recording.  Those who have an interest in the New York culture of the 60’s or have a deep interest in the avant-garde world of that time, must have this album.  Beyond that, for today, it is still as fresh as the sun arising.   

Tony Conrad/Faust "Outside the Dream Syndicate" (Caroline Records)

One of the remarkable albums that I own, is Tony Conrad and the German band Faust’s “Outside the Dream Syndicate.” Two separate pieces on the vinyl edition, a side one and a side two.  Both around 26 minutes long, and basically a long drone with a hypnotic drum and bass beat.

It’s a beautiful work as well as a great ‘groove’ music.  Tony Conrad was a composer, musician, filmmaker, video artist, and a man of great wit and charm.  His film “The Flicker” is the iconic minimalist work that still holds up on repeated viewings.  Like his film, Conrad took his aesthetics to sound/music, where he joined up with a young John Cale, LaMonte Young, Angus MacLise, and Marian Zazeela, in a music collective called “Theater of Eternal Music (pretty good description of their sound) better known sometimes as “The Dream Syndicate” (not to be confused to the 70s guitar-orientated band).

“Outside The Dream Syndicate” is very music that takes one to another plane or level.  Psychedelic of course, but also very level headed in its execution of sound, beat, and for me it is like a wave hitting the beach and then pulling back into the ocean.  Which makes it sound like a ‘new age’ ambient recording, but far from it.  It’s demanding music that one has to pay attention to.   Side one “"From the Side of Man and Womankind” is very structured, it is like holding energy in a tea cup and you got your hand covering the top.  You want to contain it in a small tight space.   Side two, "From the Side of the Machine, ” is more expansive and flowing.  There is more instrumentation on this track - specifically an electronic keyboard that backs Conrad’s violin, as a foundation, and the drums and bass adds a certain weightlessness.  A superb work, and clearly a classic album.