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Alvin Curran // Drumming Up Trouble LP

Alvin Curran // Drumming Up Trouble LP

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This is the latest record released in September 2022 by influential experimental musician Alvin Curran.Below is a description of the label.

Black Truffle are excited to announce Drumming Up Trouble, the label's first ever unreleased material from Alvin Curran. Collecting material recorded between 2018 and 2021, and, as the title suggests, dating back to the early '80s, Drumming Up Trouble is the little-known so far of Curran's encyclopedic and omnivorous musical universe. It focuses on the missing side, experimenting with sampling and synthesizer percussion.As Curran's brilliant, gritty liner notes make clear, his fascination with drumming belongs to a radical investigation into the fundamental elements of music that have characterized his work since the early days of MEV. , as he said in a recent interview, aims to return "in some collective way to a non-existent starting point in the history of human music."Whatever music our ancestors played, he wrote, "drums were front row and center of the mix. Drums rule!"

In a typical Curran paradoxical approach, Drumming Up Trouble revisits the music's oldest dimensions with modern technology.On the first sideListen to some of Curran's most recent work, performed using sampling software and a full-size MIDI keyboard setup that he's refined since the 1980s.Two of the songs are mostly wild real-time improvisations, drawing on huge hip-hop sample banks.From polyrhythmic layers of drum machine snippets to wild cacophony of collided vocal samples, scratches and frantic pitch-shifts, these energetic and sometimes comical pieces are inspired by John Oswald's Plunderphonics and Tony Oxley Quartet's Pat Thomas and Matt. It occupies a space between Wand and the Kudoro/Grime thrust of Lisbon's Principe label.

The breadth of Curran's work is staggering, so it's hardly surprising to those familiar with his work that he's branched out in new directions.But no amount of familiarity with his work can prepare you for Side B's epic and bizarre "Field it More."This insane and infectious work is best described in the Maestro's own words.It features a James Brown-esque eight-bar funky minimal riff played over synths and out-of-tune pianos, synced with a prepaid patch from Roland's drum machine.A vaguely comparable reference to this rough homemade music, broken down into drum-machine funk, mad improvisations, stifling electronics, and ultimately huge, layered clusters, is Pekka Airaksinen's. Only the Buddha of the Golden Light.Ancient and modern, synthetic and human, hysterical and strict, Drumming up Trouble is 8%Curran.


Labels and other works Click here for more information. ///Click here to see more Black Truffle releases available at Tobira. 

----------------------------

Black Truffle:

"Black Truffle is thrilled to announce Drumming Up Trouble, the first release of previously unissued music by Alvin Curran on the label. Collecting works recorded between 2018-2021 and a side-long epic dating back to the early 80s, as the title suggests, Drumming Up Trouble focuses on a hitherto almost unknown aspect of Curran's encyclopaedic and omnivorous musical world: his experiments with sampled and synthesized percussion. As Curran's wonderful, wildly sweeping liner notes make clear, his fascination with drumming belongs to the radical investigation of music's fundamental elements that has marked his output since the beginnings of MEV, who aimed (as he says in a recent interview) to return 'in some collective way to a non-existent start time in the history of human music'. Whatever kind of music our proto- human ancestors played, he wrote, 'drums were front and center in the mix. Drums rule!'

In a paradox typical of Curran's approach, Drumming Up Trouble interrogates this most ancient dimension of music with contemporary technology. On the first side, we hear recent pieces performed using the sampling software and full-size MIDI keyboard setup Curran has refined since the 1980s. Two of them are wild real-time improvisations, primarily utilizing an enormous bank of hip-hop samples. Building from polyrhythmic layers of drum machine fragments to wild cacophonies of clashing vocal samples, scratching, and frantic pitch shifting, these energetic and at times hilarious pieces occupy a space somewhere between John Oswald's Plunderphonics, Pat Thomas and Matt Wand in the Tony Oxley Quartet, and the propulsive Kudoro/Grime fusion of Lisbon's Príncipe label. They are improvisations are accompanied by two austere, minimal compositions realized in collaboration with Angelo Maria Farro: 'End Zone' for orchestral bass drum and high oscillator, and 'Rollings', where a snare roll is gradually stretched and filtered by digital means into 'floating electronic gossamer'.

The incredible breadth of Curran's output makes it pretty unlikely that a listener familiar with his work would be surprised to find it branching out in a new direction. But no degree of familiarity with his work can really prepare for side B's epic and bizarre 'Field it More'. It's perhaps best to let the maestro describe this unhinged and infectious offering in his own words: 'It features an 8 bar funky minimal riff à la James Brown, played on synth and an-out-of-tune piano, synced to a pre-paid patch on the Roland drum machine. Over this is laid a heavily processed track of the voices of dancer Yoshiko Chuma and movie-maker Jacob Burckhardt discussing an upcoming performance of theirs at the Venice film festival, capped by a track of my playing an increasingly out of control blues over the top of all of the above'. Only Pekka Airaksinen's Buddhas of the Golden Light comes to mind as a reference point that might even vaguely compare to this wild home-brew of drum-machine funk, mad im provisation and squelching electronics, which eventually dissolved into a massive, layered cluster. Ancient and modern, synthetic and human, hysterical and rigorous, Drumming up Trouble is 100% Curran.
 "

Artist: Alvin Curran

Label: Black Truffle

This is the latest record released in September 2022 by influential experimental musician Alvin Curran.Below is a description of the label.

Black Truffle are excited to announce Drumming Up Trouble, the label's first ever unreleased material from Alvin Curran. Collecting material recorded between 2018 and 2021, and, as the title suggests, dating back to the early '80s, Drumming Up Trouble is the little-known so far of Curran's encyclopedic and omnivorous musical universe. It focuses on the missing side, experimenting with sampling and synthesizer percussion.As Curran's brilliant, gritty liner notes make clear, his fascination with drumming belongs to a radical investigation into the fundamental elements of music that have characterized his work since the early days of MEV. , as he said in a recent interview, aims to return "in some collective way to a non-existent starting point in the history of human music."Whatever music our ancestors played, he wrote, "drums were front row and center of the mix. Drums rule!"

In a typical Curran paradoxical approach, Drumming Up Trouble revisits the music's oldest dimensions with modern technology.On the first sideListen to some of Curran's most recent work, performed using sampling software and a full-size MIDI keyboard setup that he's refined since the 1980s.Two of the songs are mostly wild real-time improvisations, drawing on huge hip-hop sample banks.From polyrhythmic layers of drum machine snippets to wild cacophony of collided vocal samples, scratches and frantic pitch-shifts, these energetic and sometimes comical pieces are inspired by John Oswald's Plunderphonics and Tony Oxley Quartet's Pat Thomas and Matt. It occupies a space between Wand and the Kudoro/Grime thrust of Lisbon's Principe label.

The breadth of Curran's work is staggering, so it's hardly surprising to those familiar with his work that he's branched out in new directions.But no amount of familiarity with his work can prepare you for Side B's epic and bizarre "Field it More."This insane and infectious work is best described in the Maestro's own words.It features a James Brown-esque eight-bar funky minimal riff played over synths and out-of-tune pianos, synced with a prepaid patch from Roland's drum machine.A vaguely comparable reference to this rough homemade music, broken down into drum-machine funk, mad improvisations, stifling electronics, and ultimately huge, layered clusters, is Pekka Airaksinen's. Only the Buddha of the Golden Light.Ancient and modern, synthetic and human, hysterical and strict, Drumming up Trouble is 8%Curran.


Labels and other works Click here for more information. ///Click here to see more Black Truffle releases available at Tobira. 

----------------------------

Black Truffle:

"Black Truffle is thrilled to announce Drumming Up Trouble, the first release of previously unissued music by Alvin Curran on the label. Collecting works recorded between 2018-2021 and a side-long epic dating back to the early 80s, as the title suggests, Drumming Up Trouble focuses on a hitherto almost unknown aspect of Curran's encyclopaedic and omnivorous musical world: his experiments with sampled and synthesized percussion. As Curran's wonderful, wildly sweeping liner notes make clear, his fascination with drumming belongs to the radical investigation of music's fundamental elements that has marked his output since the beginnings of MEV, who aimed (as he says in a recent interview) to return 'in some collective way to a non-existent start time in the history of human music'. Whatever kind of music our proto- human ancestors played, he wrote, 'drums were front and center in the mix. Drums rule!'

In a paradox typical of Curran's approach, Drumming Up Trouble interrogates this most ancient dimension of music with contemporary technology. On the first side, we hear recent pieces performed using the sampling software and full-size MIDI keyboard setup Curran has refined since the 1980s. Two of them are wild real-time improvisations, primarily utilizing an enormous bank of hip-hop samples. Building from polyrhythmic layers of drum machine fragments to wild cacophonies of clashing vocal samples, scratching, and frantic pitch shifting, these energetic and at times hilarious pieces occupy a space somewhere between John Oswald's Plunderphonics, Pat Thomas and Matt Wand in the Tony Oxley Quartet, and the propulsive Kudoro/Grime fusion of Lisbon's Príncipe label. They are improvisations are accompanied by two austere, minimal compositions realized in collaboration with Angelo Maria Farro: 'End Zone' for orchestral bass drum and high oscillator, and 'Rollings', where a snare roll is gradually stretched and filtered by digital means into 'floating electronic gossamer'.

The incredible breadth of Curran's output makes it pretty unlikely that a listener familiar with his work would be surprised to find it branching out in a new direction. But no degree of familiarity with his work can really prepare for side B's epic and bizarre 'Field it More'. It's perhaps best to let the maestro describe this unhinged and infectious offering in his own words: 'It features an 8 bar funky minimal riff à la James Brown, played on synth and an-out-of-tune piano, synced to a pre-paid patch on the Roland drum machine. Over this is laid a heavily processed track of the voices of dancer Yoshiko Chuma and movie-maker Jacob Burckhardt discussing an upcoming performance of theirs at the Venice film festival, capped by a track of my playing an increasingly out of control blues over the top of all of the above'. Only Pekka Airaksinen's Buddhas of the Golden Light comes to mind as a reference point that might even vaguely compare to this wild home-brew of drum-machine funk, mad im provisation and squelching electronics, which eventually dissolved into a massive, layered cluster. Ancient and modern, synthetic and human, hysterical and rigorous, Drumming up Trouble is 100% Curran.
 "

Artist: Alvin Curran

Label: Black Truffle