Charlemagne Palestine - Godbear
1. The Lower Depths
2. Strumming Music
3. Timbral Assault
A solo pianist of a different stripe! Original 70s minimalist Charlemagne Palestine used to play exhaustively long concerts when he first appeared on the experimental Soho loft scene. I was lucky enough to catch him in 1978 performing his signature "Strumming Music." I remember that he prefaced that hynoptic piece with a lush Debussy-like prelude of cascading figures over which he chanted in a keening soprano voice. What a sound! Over the years he sort of lost interest in playing music, devoting more time to his visual art and other obsessive pursuits like skywriting! Produced in the 90s, GODBEAR is Charlemagne's Greatest Hits, containing truncated versions of "Strumming Music" and "The Lower Depths" but still excellently recorded by Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo. @320.