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DARK STAR available as... duration:
73'46" compilation 1.
Aspects Of Urban Decay 5'07"
Recorded at Dark Star & Tachyon Studios
(1983-1984). Alan & Steve Freeman: synths, keys, guitars,
collage, effects, loops, electronics, harmonica, voice. notes... Working as Holy
Atheist attempts at extreme sonic mutilation resulted in three cassette
releases that gained very mixed reviews in the independent press. Thankfully,
these barely listenable excursions will never be reissued! Later, attempting
a more cohesive music, whilst unemployed (and with all the time in the world)
explorations in sonic collage, electronics, etc., resulted in numerous
cassette releases under the name Vrije (a Dutch word meaning "Free
men") and experimental solo works under various guises. It was all a
self-taught learning curve in sonic exploration. Re-examination
and revaluation of recent work meant that a new start was needed, a new group
name and a new label name. Thus Vrije became Alto Stratus (the highest clouds
in the Earth's atmosphere, with Alto featuring the first two letters of Alan,
Stratus the first two letters of Steven) and the label became Dark Star
(inspired by John Carpenter's film of the same name, not from the Grateful
Dead track). From Autumn 1983 and through 1984 (being amongst Thatcher's
millions of unemployed without the hope of a job) a wealth of material was
recorded, some remarkable, some not so. Numerous cassettes were released,
although only the "classics" were kept available when another
revamp was undertaken in 1986 with the start of Audion Magazine and the
Auricle cassette label, which went on to release cassettes by other artists
like Conrad Schnitzler, Robert Rich, Günter Schickert, Asmus Tietchens, Djam
Karet, etc. The 1983-84
period of deleted Alto Stratus cassettes form the basis of this CD release. It
shows many aspects of sound exploration, developments on the Vrije
experiments largely using the Yamaha CS5 monophonic analogue synthesizer and
a cheap Casio keyboard along with primitive sound collage and home-made
cassette tape loops. One track "Tomorrow" was made without any
instruments whatsoever. This involved putting a microphone into a flexible
vacuum cleaner tube which was inserted at the other end into the drainage
pipe at the front of the house. The wind, traffic and unknowing public that
passed by all added to the sounds recorded, which was then reprocessed with
several layers of echo remodulation. Similar techniques were used on some
tracks on the cassette release "Svet Ozveny". The 7 tracks from
"Liquid Sky" compliment the bonus track "A Hole In The
Head" featured on the "Tachyon" CD release, adding up to all
the best material from that release. "Pôle" came from a session
recorded live as you hear it, entirely on synthesizers, now with added reverb
and effects for a richer palette of sound. Finally, the stochastic "A
Cat In Kew Gardens" only ever saw release on the compilation "1984
- The End Of All Songs" (DSC13) issued June 1985 (a collection of
recordings largely compiled from the "Gods" series of unreleased recordings,
now documented as the CD "Pantheon 1984"), it's a remarkably
intense improvisation and an excellent way to end the disc. Versions... |
DARK STAR
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