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Gilgamesh (1972–1975, 1977–1978) were a British jazz fusion band in the 1970s led by keyboardist Alan Gowen, part of the Canterbury scene.
History
The original basis of Gilgamesh was keyboardist Alan Gowen and drummer Mike Travis, the two working together on a band project with guitarist Rick Morcombe. The original Gilgamesh line-up consisted of Gowen, Travis, Morcombe, Jeff Clyne and Alan Wakeman on saxophone.[1]
Gilgamesh was formed at the peak of progressive rock era when ambitions met with sophisticated and maturity.
That characteristics matches their music well.
Though labeled as Cantebury band (and they definitely match that comparison when looking at the line-up), they
are actually closer to the jazz-rock/fusion area.
Music on that album is quite nuanced with proficient playing that is exploratory rather than rigorous, more
atmospheric than energetic. It is one of the less accessible "Canterbury" music which may be an advantage for
instrumental freaks and may put off folks looking for good compositions.
The first composition (over 10-minutes) is, in my opinion, the landmark of Gilgamesh, blending several advanced
motives to create an impressive instrumental suite.
Shorter pieces are less substantial but we still have two tracks well worth attention - number 5 and 7 (their names
are too long to write here ;-)). The 5th track evolves from a fine jazzy keyboard-guitar tandem into a "Hatfieldesque"
fiery upbeat piece.
The seventh track graces us with the female vocals again in the "Hatfield" way, but before that, I must again
highlight the excellent guitar leads supported by Rhodes. Really tight playing by all band members.I wanted to give it 3.5 stars but due to highly proficient playing, will round it up to 4.
Maurizio
Bianchi, referred to as the father of Italian electronic music, rarely
looks backward. When asked where to start exploring his extensive
discography, he recommends an album from his early period in the 1980s
and whatever release is his latest. This relentless push for novelty has
been at the core of his experimentalism for almost five decades.
Despite his long career, he remains in the vanguard. Bianchi’s early
work is a departure from traditional musical forms, using a textural and
process-oriented approach. His pieces explore psychological states,
using sound as a medium. He often discusses his music as a form of
resistance against the commodification of culture, seeking to maintain
an integrity that challenges both the listener and prevailing norms.
Bianchi’s intellectual and artistic independence is central to his
explorations of sound, technology, and their impact on emotion.
A similar form of unquiet exploration has defined the career of Raffaele Pezzella. In addition to music recorded under various pseudonyms, Pezzella publishes two or three releases per month across the four labels making up his Unexplained Sounds Network. Pezzella is curator in addition to sound engineer, artist, and label head, finding a wide variety of music from around the world that falls somewhere in the Venn diagram of ambient, acousmatic, post-industrial, sound art, and the outright weird. His Sound Mapping project consists of more thirty-five releases, a valuable document of modern sonic avant-garde from around the world. As Sonologyst, Pezzella integrates digital methods with analog instruments, producing abstract, dreamlike soundscapes haunted by phantoms of the mind. His work is deeply influenced by musique concrète, sound libraries of old documentaries, and he looks to figures such as Brian Eno, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, Jon Hassel and - of course - Bianchi as inspiration. His interdisciplinary approach also draws from literature (Lovecraft, Burroughs, Ballard), film (Tarkowskij, Cronenberg), philosophy (hauntology, nihilism), and science (particle physics).
While Bianchi and Pezzella differ in generation and sound, their artistic philosophies align - the urge to innovate and willingness to push against artificial boundaries of genre are manifested in restless manipulations of the raw fabric of sound. While from different eras, the Euclidean distance between Bianchi and Pezzella in musical space is quite small.
Forme is the first collaboration between this duo. It is not so much a combination of discrete contributions from Bianchi and Pezzella as a deep integration between two minds. There is no roadmap to where Bianchi ends and Pezzella begins - Forme is not a Frankenstein’s monster constructed on an ad-hoc basis from spare parts. Instead, their musical processes and philosophies merge to the point of being largely indivisible. The resulting seven tracks fit well into either’s oeuvre. The album includes electronics and hypnotic bassy oscillations, suggesting themes of psychological horror, societal breakdown, and dystopian futures. The compositions use dense, layered soundscapes that incorporate industrial noises, shifting sound walls, and detailed textures, evoking a range of sensations from cosmic expanses to the claustrophobic intensity of sleep paralysis.
Culturally and aesthetically important art asks you to think and feel differently. It can be challenging, difficult, and even frustrating. It does not spoonfeed its message and it may not provide any answers. But this type of art is the most worthwhile. While Forme may be challenging and difficult, when approached with a curious mind it is also intriguing and immensely enjoyable. The previous works of both Bianchi and Pezzella have consistently engaged with fundamental questions about the very nature and potential of music. Forme not only continues this exploration of music's essence and its boundless possibilities but also invites listeners to actively participate in these inquiries.
Mike Borella
In music, the definition of "form" describes a musical structure in two or more sections, with various characteristics in the articulation, melody, and rhythm of a composition. But when it intersects with experimentation, the form takes on a more autonomous and uncompromising characteristic, so that a connotation of such research is the meeting between tradition and innovation. This is intended to be "Forme," a work pervaded by investigative exploration of the unknown electro-modulatory. And the user of such emotional torrentiality will be able to receive an existential fulfillment that leads to formal irrationality.
Maurizio Bianchi
A similar form of unquiet exploration has defined the career of Raffaele Pezzella. In addition to music recorded under various pseudonyms, Pezzella publishes two or three releases per month across the four labels making up his Unexplained Sounds Network. Pezzella is curator in addition to sound engineer, artist, and label head, finding a wide variety of music from around the world that falls somewhere in the Venn diagram of ambient, acousmatic, post-industrial, sound art, and the outright weird. His Sound Mapping project consists of more thirty-five releases, a valuable document of modern sonic avant-garde from around the world. As Sonologyst, Pezzella integrates digital methods with analog instruments, producing abstract, dreamlike soundscapes haunted by phantoms of the mind. His work is deeply influenced by musique concrète, sound libraries of old documentaries, and he looks to figures such as Brian Eno, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, Jon Hassel and - of course - Bianchi as inspiration. His interdisciplinary approach also draws from literature (Lovecraft, Burroughs, Ballard), film (Tarkowskij, Cronenberg), philosophy (hauntology, nihilism), and science (particle physics).
While Bianchi and Pezzella differ in generation and sound, their artistic philosophies align - the urge to innovate and willingness to push against artificial boundaries of genre are manifested in restless manipulations of the raw fabric of sound. While from different eras, the Euclidean distance between Bianchi and Pezzella in musical space is quite small.
Forme is the first collaboration between this duo. It is not so much a combination of discrete contributions from Bianchi and Pezzella as a deep integration between two minds. There is no roadmap to where Bianchi ends and Pezzella begins - Forme is not a Frankenstein’s monster constructed on an ad-hoc basis from spare parts. Instead, their musical processes and philosophies merge to the point of being largely indivisible. The resulting seven tracks fit well into either’s oeuvre. The album includes electronics and hypnotic bassy oscillations, suggesting themes of psychological horror, societal breakdown, and dystopian futures. The compositions use dense, layered soundscapes that incorporate industrial noises, shifting sound walls, and detailed textures, evoking a range of sensations from cosmic expanses to the claustrophobic intensity of sleep paralysis.
Culturally and aesthetically important art asks you to think and feel differently. It can be challenging, difficult, and even frustrating. It does not spoonfeed its message and it may not provide any answers. But this type of art is the most worthwhile. While Forme may be challenging and difficult, when approached with a curious mind it is also intriguing and immensely enjoyable. The previous works of both Bianchi and Pezzella have consistently engaged with fundamental questions about the very nature and potential of music. Forme not only continues this exploration of music's essence and its boundless possibilities but also invites listeners to actively participate in these inquiries.
Mike Borella
In music, the definition of "form" describes a musical structure in two or more sections, with various characteristics in the articulation, melody, and rhythm of a composition. But when it intersects with experimentation, the form takes on a more autonomous and uncompromising characteristic, so that a connotation of such research is the meeting between tradition and innovation. This is intended to be "Forme," a work pervaded by investigative exploration of the unknown electro-modulatory. And the user of such emotional torrentiality will be able to receive an existential fulfillment that leads to formal irrationality.
Maurizio Bianchi
credits
released July 25, 2024
Our thanks to Raffaele Pezzella for providing us with a copy of this release.
REVIEWS
Vital Weekly
Does Maurizio Bianchi need an introduction? I hope this name is familiar, playing unsettling electronic music since the late 1970s. Raffaele Pezzella is from the next generation of likewise unsettling electronic musicians and works as Sonologyst. His work was also reviewed a lot. The two of them would one day work together, and it’s perhaps a mystery why this didn’t happen sooner. Whereas Bianchi’s influences may lie in very early industrial music and musique concrète, without any specific names, for Pezzella, it’s a lot more, Brian Eno, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, Jon Hassel and, no surprise, Bianchi, besides influences from films books, philosophy (hauntology, nihilism), and science (particle physics). “Forme” is a work pervaded by investigative exploration of the unknown electro-modulatory. And the user of such emotional torrentiality will be able to receive an existential fulfillment that leads to formal irrationality”, which is, I guess to say there isn’t much form here, but more of a flow of sounds, electronic in nature. Who does what on these seven tracks is unclear and hardly necessary. Whatever they do, it all blends well. There is a consistent flow in these pieces, rather than tight composing, almost as if mistakes were left in, creating odd shifts. Maybe I read too much into it, and is all of this carefully planned? I love this sort of rusty spaceship accident waiting to happen soundtrack; the leaky nuclear reactor minutes before combustion and we feel the burn slowly arriving. Enough metaphors to describe the music, and I am sure you’ll get my drift. Bianchi, in particular, produced a massive catalogue in his 40-plus career, and pinpointing the masterpieces was not easy. I couldn’t say if this is one of those, partly because I haven’t heard all of his output. I can say I enjoyed this one a lot! (FdW)
Avant Music News
avantmusicnews.com/2024/07/26/amn-reviews-m-b-maurizio-bianchi-sonologyst-forme-2024-unexplained-sounds-group
Ver Sacrum
www.versacrum.com/vs/2024/08/maurizio-bianchi-sonologyst-forme.html
This Is Darkness
The latest release on the wonderful Unexplained Sounds Group label is this delightful album from M.B. & Sonologyst in which playful electronic music is blended with dark ambient undertones. The end result is absolutely gorgeous and reminds me in places of early 19070’s Tangerine Dream. This is one of those albums that reveals something new with each and every listen, and deserves to be listened to as you lie back in a darkened room and lose yourself to the unfolding music. Stunning!
FreeForm Radio thanks Raffaele Pezzella for providing us with a copy of this release.
M.B. music credits.
Material composed at the beginning of the second decade of the third millennium, using digitized equipment mixed with outdoor soundscapes. Amorphous collages, compiled at the beginning of 2024.
Sonologyst music credits
Analog synths, processing, sampling, mix intersections, and mastering.
Special thanks to P.U.M.A. for contributing to the tracks "Forma Farraginosa" and "Forma Farraginosa Estesa". Also thanks to Monica Calanni Rindina for making M.B. and Sonologyst terrestrial forms interact on so many planes; and to Mikko Saarikoski for the electric guitar part in "Forma Siderale".
Published by ©Unexplained Sounds Group
Mastered by Raffaele Pezzella (Sonologyst)
Artwork (Policromie) by Maurizio Bianchi
Layout by Matteo Mariano
Cat. Num. USG098
© 2024. All rights reserved.
Our thanks to Raffaele Pezzella for providing us with a copy of this release.
REVIEWS
Vital Weekly
Does Maurizio Bianchi need an introduction? I hope this name is familiar, playing unsettling electronic music since the late 1970s. Raffaele Pezzella is from the next generation of likewise unsettling electronic musicians and works as Sonologyst. His work was also reviewed a lot. The two of them would one day work together, and it’s perhaps a mystery why this didn’t happen sooner. Whereas Bianchi’s influences may lie in very early industrial music and musique concrète, without any specific names, for Pezzella, it’s a lot more, Brian Eno, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, Jon Hassel and, no surprise, Bianchi, besides influences from films books, philosophy (hauntology, nihilism), and science (particle physics). “Forme” is a work pervaded by investigative exploration of the unknown electro-modulatory. And the user of such emotional torrentiality will be able to receive an existential fulfillment that leads to formal irrationality”, which is, I guess to say there isn’t much form here, but more of a flow of sounds, electronic in nature. Who does what on these seven tracks is unclear and hardly necessary. Whatever they do, it all blends well. There is a consistent flow in these pieces, rather than tight composing, almost as if mistakes were left in, creating odd shifts. Maybe I read too much into it, and is all of this carefully planned? I love this sort of rusty spaceship accident waiting to happen soundtrack; the leaky nuclear reactor minutes before combustion and we feel the burn slowly arriving. Enough metaphors to describe the music, and I am sure you’ll get my drift. Bianchi, in particular, produced a massive catalogue in his 40-plus career, and pinpointing the masterpieces was not easy. I couldn’t say if this is one of those, partly because I haven’t heard all of his output. I can say I enjoyed this one a lot! (FdW)
Avant Music News
avantmusicnews.com/2024/07/26/amn-reviews-m-b-maurizio-bianchi-sonologyst-forme-2024-unexplained-sounds-group
Ver Sacrum
www.versacrum.com/vs/2024/08/maurizio-bianchi-sonologyst-forme.html
This Is Darkness
The latest release on the wonderful Unexplained Sounds Group label is this delightful album from M.B. & Sonologyst in which playful electronic music is blended with dark ambient undertones. The end result is absolutely gorgeous and reminds me in places of early 19070’s Tangerine Dream. This is one of those albums that reveals something new with each and every listen, and deserves to be listened to as you lie back in a darkened room and lose yourself to the unfolding music. Stunning!
FreeForm Radio thanks Raffaele Pezzella for providing us with a copy of this release.
M.B. music credits.
Material composed at the beginning of the second decade of the third millennium, using digitized equipment mixed with outdoor soundscapes. Amorphous collages, compiled at the beginning of 2024.
Sonologyst music credits
Analog synths, processing, sampling, mix intersections, and mastering.
Special thanks to P.U.M.A. for contributing to the tracks "Forma Farraginosa" and "Forma Farraginosa Estesa". Also thanks to Monica Calanni Rindina for making M.B. and Sonologyst terrestrial forms interact on so many planes; and to Mikko Saarikoski for the electric guitar part in "Forma Siderale".
Published by ©Unexplained Sounds Group
Mastered by Raffaele Pezzella (Sonologyst)
Artwork (Policromie) by Maurizio Bianchi
Layout by Matteo Mariano
Cat. Num. USG098
© 2024. All rights reserved.
license
all rights reserved
tags
ROTHKO SPACES, VOLUME 2
American painter Mark Rothko famously said that “the only theme noble enough for art is tragedy.” This is what I told Markus when we met on April 22, 2024 at Castle Studios close to Dresden, Germany, and what he had in mind when he improvised the pieces that became the foundations for the 6 tracks on this album.
The original concept of the ‘Rothko Spaces’ project - realized in volume 1 with David Torn - was to combine electric guitar performances (played with a massive amount of feedback and distortion) with the sounds of a string orchestra. For volume 2 and the involvement of Markus, the guitar was of course going to be replaced by
touch guitar. Markus also took the feedback idea to the next level by setting up a sound system consisting of 5 cranked-up tube amps that made the whole tracking room a vibrating and unpredictable instrument with a sonic life of its own. There were microphones everywhere, including inside the grand piano (with the sustain pedal held down by a brick) and in the cellar (where you can hear the occasional car going by).
While Markus was recording his improvisations in the studio, I started to hear a choir in my head, so when I started working on the pieces in Zurich, I expanded the original concept to include voices and also some orchestral percussion. Thanks also to our friend Jon Durant, who contributed his signature ‘cloud guitar’ to some of the pieces.
Stephan Thelen, Bucharest, July 5th, 2024
—
Markus Reuter: Touch Guitars© AU8
Stephan Thelen: Orchestra and Choir Samples, Guitar, Arrangements
All tracks written by Reuter/Thelen, except ‘A Safe Haven’ and ‘No Way Out, Part 2’, written by Reuter/Thelen/Durant
Markus‘ touch guitar was recorded on April 22, 2024 at Castle Studios, Röhrsdorf, Germany Engineer: Arno Jordan
Mixed by Stephan Thelen, May/June 2024 in Zurich, Switzerland / Mastered by Alexandr Vatagin, June 2024 in Vienna, Austria / Dolby Atmos mix by Neeraj Khajanchi
—
Special thanks to Jon Durant for additional samples, cloud guitar on ‘A Safe Haven’ and inspiration for
the fugue-like theme on ‘No Way Out, Part 2’. His cloud guitar on ‘A Safe Haven’ was recorded on
April 26, 2024 at Dead Aunt Thelma‘s studio in Portland, Oregon.
FreeForm Radio thanks Markus Reuter for providing us with a copy of this release.
—
RELEASE DATE: September 6, 2024
https://iapetus.bandcamp.com https://www.markusreuter.com https://www.youtube.com/markusreuter
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