Wednesday 6 February 2008

Curved Air- Vivaldi


Curved Air
Named after a piece of music by composer Terry Riley, "A Rainbow in Curved Air."
Einstein, and the concept of curved space, were probably involved too. This piece of music was on the first album, Air Conditioning.
It was also the second album ever to be released as a picture disc. I bought one in 1970......... still have it, somewhere, I think.
HA! damn thing won't fit into the slot in my CD-DVD drive........
Just think, to today's student youth, these things are as baffling and archaic as Edison's phonograph's wax rolls were to me.
Yet, come the collapse of our electric world, I could still, with a pointy bristle, and a cone of leaves, get music out of the old vinyl. Try that with your ipods, kids, when there's no electricity, and no more lithium batteries..........

The video on this is really crummy. I'd recommend closing your eyes.
I'm willing to bet my regular visitors will be underwhelmed.

But I like it.

2 comments:

  1. I think that this is a very cool post, S. I have seen this kind of thing before and it is fascinating how music is visual too. Some musicians such as Helene Grimaud talk about seeing colors when they play.

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  2. A good point.
    Their light shows and psychedelia were seen as a vital part of the experience. I think every self respecting progressive band then had the old oil bubble gels, projecting coruscating amoebic colours onto the wall behind them.
    Those, of course were the days when you could go see Pink Floyd in the University refectory, with the tables all piled at the side of the hall. And they were REALLY big on the colour slides, they had THREE (!!) projectors running and the whole room was a twirling paisley cosmos.....

    The Curved Air picture disc has bands of colours on the other side, and both sides were quite hypnotic.. add a dimly lit room, strange souns and a little chemical disruption to the brain and....

    Oh Princess Haiku, you'll have me drowning in multicoloured nostalgia!

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