Mnemonists - Gyromancy
SKU
RERMN2
"The Mnemonists were a legendary group of composers and artists from Fort Collins, Colorado, who went on to call themselves Biota. They created drifting hypnotic sound collages out of pre-industrial loops, processed ambient sound, rock 'n' roll guitar, and fragments of half forgotten memory. Their work was highly visual, and always accompanied by beautiful line drawings and painted art works; the total meaning is forged from the combination of sonic and visual information. Gyromancy stands as a classic early noise album, somewhere between the work of AMM, Faust and Brian Eno. What makes it stand out is the subtlety of the work: The process begins with the recording of played acoustic and electric instruments that are later re-processed and electrically altered...the Mnemonists were the one group most apt to embrace the latest technology, and to put it to good use to create "anti-music". But the outcome is so beautifully flowing and amazingly profound that their radical methods create positive change in a sonically transparent way. This disk is presented in a visually stunning manner as well, including gorgeous reproductions of the group's paintings, bringing the Mnemonists penchant for "artisanship-as-a-whole" full circle."
“The pre Biota Mnemonist Orchestra was a dark, meticulous, inspired ensemble and this is a Rolls Royce of a recording. Their method was a slow, painstaking assembly from materials processed to the point of complete unrecogniseability,, though still derived from acoustic sources: piano, cello, electric guitar, double bass, viola, sitar, hapsichord, shawm, bagpipes, clarinet, crumhorn, curtal, cornetto, trombone, voice, metronome, bassdrum, bodhran and side drum, in this case.
The original LP was recorded in 1983, as two long pieces (one per side) and explores density, microtonal shifts, klangfarben, time, abstraction, noise, structure, intensity, dynamics - Varese's concept of Organised Sound can properly be applied to such work which is both composed and organic and works with shifting masses and dynamic tension.
Constantly mysterious, constantly engaging, eventually hypnotic, this release also collects together two other very rare Mnemonist pieces: Nailed and Tic, which were released only in a limited edition as a 7" single with the now mythical Recommended Xmas Magazine in 1984.
The whole CD has been re-mastered by the band to fix frequencies and dynamics previously inaccessible to vinyl, and comes beautifully packaged with the Mnemonists trademark visual art gallery.”-Chris Cutler