专辑简介

by Jason Ankeny

The four-disc Early Minimalism, Vol. 1 is probably the closest modern listeners will come to experiencing the visionary brilliance of the Theatre of Eternal Music at their peak -- with an official release of the ensemble's original mid-'60s recordings still nowhere in sight, Tony Conrad has instead assembled a number of latter-day experimentalists (including the always-intriguing Jim O'Rourke) in an attempt to recreate the group's groundbreaking explorations of sound. It's impossible to know to just what extent these new recordings (dating from between 1994 and 1996) have succeeded in recapturing the past, of course, but taken on its own terms this is compelling stuff -- minus LaMonte Young's blistering saxophone and Marian Zazeela's vocals, the emphasis is instead on Conrad's violin, which wails with starkly hypnotic power as it weaves through these difficult but rewarding live performances.

The four-disc Early Minimalism, Vol. 1 is probably the closest modern listeners will come to experiencing the visionary brilliance of the Theatre of Eternal Music at their peak -- with an official release of the ensemble's original mid-'60s recordings still nowhere in sight, Tony Conrad has instead assembled a number of latter-day experimentalists (including the always-intriguing Jim O'Rourke) in an attempt to recreate the group's groundbreaking explorations of sound. It's impossible to know to just what extent these new recordings (dating from between 1994 and 1996) have succeeded in recapturing the past, of course, but taken on its own terms this is compelling stuff -- minus LaMonte Young's blistering saxophone and Marian Zazeela's vocals, the emphasis is instead on Conrad's violin, which wails with starkly hypnotic power as it weaves through these difficult but rewarding live performances.