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***Text of Light was formed in 1999 to perform improvised music during screenings of films by Stan Brakhage and other American avant-garde filmmakers from the 1950s and '60s. These should not be considered soundtracks for Brakhage's works, which are intended to be screened silently. Rather, the group uses the films as an element to stimulate improvisation, like an additional player, juxtaposing film and music in a real-time performance mixed-media collage. Earlier free improv experiments by the likes of AMM and Derek Bailey are brought into an intermedia environment where records and turntablism are especially crucial. By changing playback speed, using effects processing, scratching, skipping, and looping, the turntablist bridges the gap between the predetermination of film and the spontaneous composition of instrumentalists. The result is a new chapter in free improv and mixed media. On this CD the group, in various combinations, includes: Lee Ranaldo and Alan Licht on guitars and devices; Christian Marclay and DJ Olive on turntables; William Hooker on drums and percussion, and Ulrich Krieger of Zeitkratzer on sax and electronics. They headlined the Victoriaville Music Festival in 2002, perform frequently in New York City and other East Coast clubs and cinema venues, and toured Europe in late March 2003. |
