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Five Rhythm Works

by From Scratch (NZ)

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爆裂ミニマル・ポリリズム。スティーヴ・ライヒ、テリー・ライリー、テクノ・リスナーも必聴の打楽器アンサンブル、フロム・スクラッチの世界初ベスト選。

フロム・スクラッチはコーネリアス・カーデューのスクラッチ・オーケストラから発展し、1970年代半ば、フィル・ダドソンによりニュージーランドで組織されたグループで、兵器のようなイカつい外見の自作打楽器で実験音楽リスナーに知られる。鈴木昭男をはじめ日本の音楽家と交流があり、3度の来日公演も経験。彼らはスコアをもとに極めてシステマチックに演奏し、3~4組の打楽器で、4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11拍子のミニマルな複合リズムを叩き出すが、スティーヴ・ライヒ、テリー・ライリーとは似て非なるアプローチで、ウェスタンとアフリカンが混在するようなライブ感のあるポリリズムを探求。しかし出てくる音は高尚さなど漂わせないプリミティブなもので、妙に俗物的なチューブ打楽器の音色、ヒューマン演奏のズレ感覚が混ざって強烈な存在感を放つ。現音リスナーに独占されるのはもったいない、テクノ/ニューウェーブ/ダンスミュージックにもシェアされるべき作品。

本セレクションでは荒々しい初期の「Out In」と「Drumwheel」から1パートずつ、完成形と評される『Gung Ho 1,2,3D』から2パートを収録。目玉は今回発掘した未発表初録音「Passage」(1975年)で、スカスカの演奏が逆に新鮮な侘び寂び感を生み、ポリネシア産の室内楽とでもいえそうな世界を聞かせる。

リマスターには全てオリジナル・マスターを使用し、格段に向上した音質に注目。

credits

released April 9, 2018

Beginning in 1974, based in New Zealand, the sound-performance group From Scratch used an evolving array of percussion instruments to create a distinctive rhythmic music, texturally rich and tonally sumptuous, making use of found and repurposed objects as well as custom-made percussion instruments. And while the music has a sophisticated, fluid and intelligent polyrhythmic drive, pitched percussion features prominently, using microtunings and just intonation in tightly structured pieces which evolve and mutate, making use of intricate interlocking of melodic and rhythmic elements. Given their Pacific identity, one can find similarities with a number of Asian Pacific musics; their music will appeal to open-eared listeners interested in such musics, and it will also intrigue admirers of the early work of Steve Reich and Terry Riley. Formed by Phil Dadson on his return to New Zealand following his late-60s involvement in the U.K. with Cornelius Cardew's Scratch Orchestra, Auckland's From Scratch embraced an egalitarian ethic, focusing on co-operation, integration, and the union of opposites. These principles are clearly heard in the music here, with all the players interlocking, with the music exploring and exploding the polarities of melody/rhythm, local/global, group/individual, minimal/maximal. These four tracks, ranging from 1974 to 1982 are propulsive and yet serene, percussive and yet sweetly tonal, and toe-tappingly alert, an immersive and distinctive soundworld. All tracks here are newly remastered from the original master tapes; "Passage" was their first recording and is previously unissued.

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EM Records Osaka Prefecture, Japan

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