Richard Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, avant-garde, and experimental music.
Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. He was also a member of the groups Art Bears, Massacre, and Skeleton Crew. He has collaborated with a number of prominent musicians, including Robert Wyatt, Derek Bailey, the Residents, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn, Brian Eno, Mike Patton, Lars Hollmer, Bill Laswell, Iva Bittová, Jad Fair, Kramer, the ARTE Quartett, and Bob Ostertag. He has also composed several long works, including Traffic Continues and Freedom in Fragments. Frith produces most of his own music, and has also produced many albums by other musicians, including Curlew, the Muffins, Etron Fou Leloublan, and Orthotonics.
Harold Montgomory Budd was an American music composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles and raised in the Mojave Desert, he became a respected composer in the minimal music and avant-garde scene of Southern California in the late 1960s, and later became better known for his work with figures such as Brian Eno and Robin Guthrie. Budd developed what he called a "soft pedal" technique for playing piano, with use of slow playing and prominent sustain.
Discreet Music is the fourth studio album by Brian Eno, and the first released under his full name. The album is a minimalist work, with the titular A-side consisting of one 30-minute piece featuring synthesizer and tape delay. The B-side features three variations on Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel, performed by the Cockpit Ensemble and conducted by Gavin Bryars.
When Fallen Angels Fly is the seventh studio album by American country music artist Patty Loveless, released on August 23, 1994. It reached #8 on the Top Country Albums charts and was certified Platinum for shipments of over 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. All four of its singles — "I Try to Think About Elvis," "You Don't Even Know Who I Am," "Here I Am," and "Halfway Down" — reached the Top Ten on the Hot Country Songs charts. "Old Weakness " was also recorded by Greg Holland on his 1997 album Exception to the Rule and Delbert McClinton on his 1997 album One of the Fortunate Few. Both "Old Weakness" and "Over My Shoulder" were also recorded in 2002 by Tanya Tucker on her album Tanya.
Icebreaker is a UK-based new music ensemble founded by James Poke and John Godfrey. They interpret new music, specialising in a post-minimal and "totalist" repertoire. Icebreaker always play amplified and have a reputation for playing, by classical standards, "seriously loud". They have expanded their repertoire to include non-classical material, particularly in their version of the Brian Eno album Apollo, a project based on the music of Kraftwerk, and music by Scott Walker.
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet is a 1971 composition by Gavin Bryars based on a loop of an unknown homeless man singing a brief improvised stanza. The loop was the singer's recollection of the chorus of a gospel hymn, by James M Black, published in 1911. Rich harmonies, comprising string and brass, are gradually overlaid over the stanza. The piece was first recorded for use in a documentary which chronicles street life in and around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo, in London. When later listening to the recordings, Bryars noticed the clip was in tune with his piano and that it conveniently looped into 13 bars. For the first LP recording, he was limited to a duration of 25 minutes; later he completed a 60-minute version of the piece for cassette tape; and with the advent of the CD, a 74-minute version. It was shortlisted for the 1993 Mercury Prize.
John White was an English experimental composer and musical performer. He invented the early British form of minimalism known as systems music, with his early Machines.
The Pavilion of Dreams is the second album from minimalist composer Harold Budd. It was produced by Brian Eno. Billed as "an extended cycle of works begun in 1972," it was recorded in 1976 but not released until 1978 on Eno's label Obscure Records. It was later re-released on Editions EG in 1981.
Christopher Hobbs is an English experimental composer, best known as a pioneer of British systems music.
Captain Morgan's Revenge is the debut studio album by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm, released in 2008 by Napalm Records.
American Standard is an early ensemble work by noted American composer John Adams. The work is named for American Standard Brand appliances although Adams says that the title also reflects that the constituent movements are "indigenous musical forms" of the United States.
Cobra is a double album featuring a live and studio performance of John Zorn's improvisational game piece, Cobra recorded in 1985 and 1986 and released on the Hathut label in 1987. Subsequent recordings of the piece were released on Knitting Factory, Avant and Zorn's own label Tzadik Records, ) in 2002.
Doctor Ox's Experiment is an opera in two acts by Gavin Bryars. It has an English-language libretto by Blake Morrison after the novella of the same name by Jules Verne. It was first performed on 15 June 1998 at the London Coliseum by English National Opera (ENO) who co-commissioned the opera with BBC Television.
The Sinking of the Titanic is a work by British minimalist composer Gavin Bryars. Inspired by the story that the band on the RMS Titanic continued to perform as the ship sank in 1912, it imagines how the music performed by the band would reverberate through the water some time after they ceased performing. Composed between 1969 and 1972, the work is now considered one of the classics of British classical experimental music.
Ensemble Pieces is a 1975 album featuring contemporary classical music by Christopher Hobbs, John Adams and Gavin Bryars.
New and Rediscovered Musical Instruments is a 1975 album by Max Eastley and David Toop. The album was the fourth release on Brian Eno's Obscure Records.
Voices and Instruments is a 1976 album by saxophonist Jan Steele and composer John Cage. The album was the fifth release on Brian Eno's Obscure Records.
Irma is a 1969 experimental opera by artist Tom Phillips, Fred Orton and Gavin Bryars.
Solo Guitar is a solo album by guitarist Derek Bailey which was recorded in London in February 1971 and became the second release by Incus. A revised version of this album with alternative improvisations was released as Solo in 1978. In 1995 a CD version incorporating improvisations from the original and revised LPs was released. In 2017 Honest Jon's issued a 45 RPM double LP edition that added one more track on side D, a 1972 improvisation at York University.
