In a way, Sounds Central’s approach to presenting music resembles the ideas of medieval European cartographers. Their mappae mundi did not claim to depict the world accurately, but rather sought to address topics that fascinated them, such as biblical stories, mythology or specific knowledge. As a DJ, Paul Paulun’s way of addressing musical phenomena is the mix. Mappa mundi with Noah’s ark and his sons (detail) by Simon Marmion (1459-1463) Accompanied by introductory texts and brief...
Reminiscent of a certain time or place, these tunes are for a chill-out zone. 49 minutes with memories and fantasies by Cluster & Eno, Geir Jenssen, Graeme Revell, Muslimgauze and others.
Trance is an important aspect in Angus MacLise’s sound works. The drummer, composer, poet and calligrapher was a link between Beat culture, New York City’s art scene in the Sixties and the hippies. 78 minutes with material by an originator who never released a record during his short life.
Whether conceptual or performance art, electronic music, counterculture, minimalism, drone sounds or Fluxus – New York City is a hotbed for all sorts of experiments during the Sixties. 54 minutes with Angus MacLise, Henry Flynt, La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela, Richard Maxfield and others.
Most artists involved in what critics would call no wave in 1978 shared a nihilistic mindset as they explored areas ranging from abrasive noise to mutant disco in New York City. 44-minute mix featuring tracks by Boris Policeband, Bush Tetras, Jill Kroesen, Konk and others.
In the 1980s, both old and new styles developed in Jamaica. Ragga evolved and electronic production tools found their way into studios, contributing to the establishment of the digital dancehall era. 37 minutes with Bunny Lie Lie, Charlie Chaplin, Don Carlos, Johnny Clarke and others.
Wearing eyeball helmets is the trademark of the Californian artist collective The Residents. Inspired by avantgarde and pop, the band anticipated the idea of audio piracy and developed groundbreaking multimedia projects. A 42-minute mix featuring some of the group's conceptual thematic compositions and deconstructions of Western pop music.
Equally at home in the art world and the artists’ pub, Ata Tak‘s proprietors run their label from a nice office in Düsseldorf. In the adjoining music studio, they pursue the idea of a global rebellion through sound – as Der Plan. 32 minutes with Holger Hiller, Minus Delta T, Picky Picnic, Wirtschaftswunder and others.
Quiet ambient music may have its roots in cybernetic spirituality or be played in hospitals. It can be cinematic or resemble a landscape, and vast quantities of graph paper may be used in its production. 61 minutes with Anthony Manning, Inoyama Land, Joanna Brouk, Laurie Spiegel and others.
Despite their gentle and surreal nature, these tracks were not necessarily composed with the idea of sleep in mind; however, their dark ambient textures are inspired by memories, sounds or discoveries. 51 minutes with Brian Eno, David Toop, Monolake, Thomas Köner and others.
An invented language, imitations of field recordings, or the idea of a visual work with sound allow these tracks to express something as yet unknown. 38 minutes with Buffy Sainte-Marie, Gazelle Twin & NYX, Glynis Jones, Valentina Goncharova and others.
With his label Obscure, Brian Eno began curating a series of experimental listening music in 1975. The participating artists left their previous approaches to music production behind, worked with new technologies, or engaged in challenging group situations. 71 minutes with Gavin Bryars, Harold Budd, Max Eastley, Michael Nyman and others.
The stoic, almost machine-like drumming of many West German music from the early 1970s became the trademark of a new sound – different from British pop or American rock and in no way related to the country's horrible Nazi past. 45 minutes with Cluster, Faust, Harmonia 76, Wolfgang Riechmann and others.
After years of increasing intensity on the dance floor, culminating in gabber, around 1992 it was time for friendlier climes. Fifty-five minutes from the advent of personal computers and the internet for everyone – with Acid Jesus, The Black Dog, Cylob, Like A Tim and others.
Driven by collaborations between producers, singers, and studio musicians in ever-changing constellations, the 1970s mark the transition from ska and rocksteady to a multitude of styles in Jamaica. 46 minutes with Keith Hudson, Norma White & Brentford Disco Set, Sound Dimension, Susan Cadogan and others.
It is a common misconception that DIY music productions are necessarily made without a budget. In fact, their most striking feature is that they aim to create unique listening experiences with the resources available. 36 minutes with works by Blancmange, Gregory Whitehead, Minus Delta T, People Like Us and others.
Free of artificial embellishments, well balanced, and designed with attention to detail, some Eighties' Japanese ambient music resembles the concept of the countries' traditional gardens. 51 minutes of music striving to enhance environments – with Haruomi Hosono, Inoyama Land, Masahiro Sugaya, Yasuaki Shimizu and others.
Thanks to a straightforwardness rooted in punk, new things and personalities get invented everywhere and at any time in the West-German music scene of the 1980s. 53 minutes with Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle, Ingrid Wiener & Chor, Martin Kippenberger, Santrra and others.
In the late 1960s, women composers began mixing different types of sound material. Their concept of intermedia art often had a connection to human life. 88 minutes with Christina Kubisch, Eliane Radigue, Frankie Mann, Ruth Anderson and others.
With the advent of the tape recorder, poetry reached a new dimension in the 1950s. Language was arranged in completely new ways. 37 minutes with Ernst Jandl, Henri Chopin, Neil Mills, Sten Hanson, and others.
For some, the piano is the instrument of instruments. Here are ten good reasons why. 40 minutes with works by Charlemagne Palestine, Graeme Revell, Henry Cowell, Johanna Magdalena Beyer and others.
Letters and numbers as material of expression. 40 minutes with inventions by Brion Gysin, Demetrio Stratos, Henri Chopin, Lawrence Weiner and others.
39 minutes of ideas being expressed with sound: made up trains, works with found sounds, or a collective approach in making music – realised by Amy Taubin, Angus & Hetty MacLise, Tom Recchion, Tuli Kupferberg and others.
