Xenakis, Iannis – “Electronic Music ” – [Emf]

Xenakis was a fascinating Greek pioneer and
transplanted protege of Parisian Pierre’s
(Schaeffer and Henry). His career began
in engineering/sciences, but WWII and fate
took an eye from him, and left him with
an exceptionally peculiar ear. Percussion
composition is how I first heard of Xenakis,
he built instruments for his pieces. His math
side led him toward rule-generated pieces
which connected well to tape and later
computer sound constructions. This release
scans a few of his experiments from ’57-’92!!
Ear tricks like ever-rising Shepherd tones,
with bursts of sound, and to me still a very
percussive nature. Cavernous and a metallic.
None of the whimsy of Cage. Gravity and the
acceleration of objects. Follow this to
“Kraanerg” and hear how X crossed electronic
tapestry with organic orchestra. -Thurston Hunger