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Wada, Yoshi - Earth Horns with Electronic Drone

SKU 05-EM1081
Anything by Yoshi Wada is of interest to folks who dig 'the big drone' or minmalism of the 1970s and this previously unheard (unknown by me) work is no exception!

"Yoshi Wada and EM Records presents the first-ever, world-premiere release of Earth Horns With Electronic Drone, recorded live in 1974. Combining four of Wada's self-made "pipehorns" (made from plumbing materials, over three meters in length), with an electronic drone tuned to the electrical current of the performance space, this is a lost masterpiece of early minimalism, placing Wada rightfully in the pantheon with La Monte Young, Phill Niblock, Maryanne Amacher and Alvin Lucier. Recorded live in Syracuse, New York, this recording captures the room-filling complex overtones generated by the ever-shifting interplay of the breathing horns and the constant electronic drone. This is a music of ritual hypnotic power, its heavy low-end mass and sense of change within constancy engendering a meditative transcendency. Earth Horns With Electronic Drone is the fourth and ultimate release in Em Records' Yoshi Wada series, a must for all fans of minimalism, heavy drones, ritual, mystery and world-shaking transcendence. From an original performance of almost three hours, the CD features a 77-minute excerpt. From Earth horns to beyond the firmament: prepare to be elevated! Pipehorns constructed by Yoshi Wada; electronic equipment designed by Liz Phillips and Yoshi Wada; Electronics: Liz Phillips; Pipehorn Players: Jim Burton, Garrett List, Barbara Stewart and Yoshi Wada. 96khz/24bit digitally remastered, including a booklet with text in Japanese & English, and a reproduction circa-1975 Fluxus poster by George Maciunas."

"Wada's music must ultimately be considered part of the American minimalist music that developed around New York in the late '60 and in the '70s. It is relatively simple, has a meditative quality, follows modes, rather than the 12-note scale, and remains relatively static from the beginning of a piece to the end. On the other hand, Wada's music never moves in steady eighth notes, never repeats exactly, can't be played on Western classical instruments, and thus has little resemblance with much of the best known music of the minimalist group. I would say that Wada's closest colleagues are Phill Niblock, Maryanne Amacher, and Alvin Lucier, because it is these people who have dealt most directly with the phenomenon of sound itself. In this way, their music is perhaps more radical than that of many other experimental composers, probably more significant, and in Wada's case, at least, definitely more massive."-Tom Johnson


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