Paul R. Marcano & Andre Martin: Valley Flutes / As it IS split tape (Constellation Tatsu, 2015)

December 25, 2015 at 5:20 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Paul R. Marcano/Andre Martin: Valley Flutes / As it IS split tape

CTatsu reaches back in time for this one. Paul R. Marcano’s “Valley Flutes” was apparently recorded back in 1973, using several echo-covered flutes (recorders, actually) recorded at different speeds on a reel-to-reel deck. This is actually a 45-minute excerpt of a 4-hour session. Seems like a demanding listen, but of course, it’s meant to be played in the background while you sleep or do chores or study or whatever. Obviously there were other people doing this sort of thing before Eno popularized the concept of ambient music later in the ’70s, but it’s still fascinating to hear other early examples of this sort of thing. This piece is hissy, hypnotic, and does so much with just a few layers of the same instrument. There is a constant rhythm to it, and you can feel it flowing like a current. It is seriously stunning. Seems like kind of a landmark recording, actually. Andre Martin’s “As it IS” also takes up 45 minutes, and also seems to have a wavelike flow, but it’s more electronic and seems a lot darker and more nocturnal. If new age has a dark side, this seems like it. Eternal Bandcamp forever.

Leave a Comment »

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

The Answer Is In The Beat