MAURICIO KAGEL ACUSTICA DOUBLE LP EXPERIMENTAL
$
109
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Description
Mauricio Kagel
~Acustica: For Experimental Sound Producers & Loud Speakers~
Deutsche Grammophon, 1971
Records: Very nice gloss; and close to M- (I will say EX+ just to be safe)
Sleeve: Some would say EX (I will say EX-/VG++ just to be safe)
Mauricio Kagel?s classic ?Acustica? was a breath of fresh air. As a paid-up member of the heady post-war European avant-garde scene, Kagel understood its absurdities as well as its aspirations.
Realising that the high seriousness of experimental performance could shade into high comedy, his ?instrumental theatre? works emphasise their own absurdity; in ?Acustica? he explores the nature of musical instruments, devising sound sources of his own and giving meticulous instructions for their construction and use.
Performed by members of Apartment House dressed as ?50s boffins, it was a painfully accurate parody of pseudo-scientific experimental performance. Seated behind a long table, the performers rubbed balloons, bowed violins with lengths of cane, and threw lengths of metal piping into a box.
A trombone with a length of hose attached lay on the cable-strewn stage like a challenge. These obscure experiments with bicycle-bells and wind-up toys had the air of arcane ritual, and the members of Apartment House set about their tasks with deadpan relish.
It would be easy to miss the level of skill involved: Kagel allows his performers to assemble his sounds in a sequence they find most effective, along with a pre-recorded tape, and this was a very satisfying realisation that produced some delicious moments.
Played absolutely straight, it never tipped over into farce, but remained poised on the border between discovery and lunacy.
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