Ergo Phizmiz & Elvis Herod "Stardust Memories"

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.... two abominations of the human race unite in a tender, starlit embrace in the comforting, tender folds of Soundart Radio, and throw together a tender, lunar broth mouth-bab. 

* Edited  from a 3 hour live studio session, for two voices of two abominations, and two record players, "Stardust Memories" is a smooth, tender journey into the smooth, tender hearts of two smooth, tender, starlit abominations.

The cover art of this album, featuring a pre-rap Daniel Radcliffe and two smiling hounds, was designed especially by Stefan Sagmeister. Thanks Stef.


* To be read in the voice of Don La Fontaine


Dedicated to Simon Lilleker (who works down the works), with tenderness, and a smooth, glossy exterior.

Cinemacollages Volume 2

New sound collages on the history of cinema, comprising:

Neurotic Fantasia on Orson Welles' "The Trial" using elements of Welles' deeply strange Kafka adaptation to create a nightmare-game of estrangement and disconnectedness.

Zeman's Magic Composites using fragments of Karel Zeman's "The Fabulous Baron Munchausen" and "A Deadly Invention".

Bouncing Balls for Piotr Kamler takes tiny fragments of Kamler's "Couer de Secours" and "Le Labyrinthe".

Like this? Why not also dip into "Cinemacollages Volume 1"?

ULTRAORGAN

New Ergo Phizmiz electronic album - "Music For Your Party" - Free download

We present for your delectation a new mini-album, 27 minutes of rhythmic electronic sample music and sound-collage by Ergo Phizmiz.



It is intended, as the title implies, for parties and right royal knees-ups, but can be listened to at your discretion (or indiscretion) in any chosen environment or context.

* (Any of the rare breed of Ergothusiasts may be interested to know this is the first of Ergo's works produced entirely using the taking, juxtaposition and processing of samples in a timeline since 2007, back in the heady days of Phuj Phactory & 1000 Year Mix. Goodness gracious. It must be something they put in the water....)

NOW - put on your dancing shoes, buy a few bottles, and have a party.

Created Bridport, March 2012, at the kitchen table.

Cover photograph by Martha Moopette, of Ergo Phizmiz, in the aftermath of a party appropriate to listening to this album, dressing up as a chauffeur in Zombina's house. And why not, eh?

Sampled on this album are: Art Shaw, Augustus Pablo, Die Todliche Doris, Anton Webern, Pete Um, Delia Derbyshire, Bohislav Martinu, Der Plan, Anthology of Dutch Electronic Music, Kosmos, Klaus Nomi, Puaj-Ahem's Glitchy Bitchy, Kraftwerk, Erik Satie, Moondog, Arnold Schoenberg, The Cheeky Girls, Claudio Monteverdi, Daphne Oram, Sounds to Come, Little Richard, various bits and pieces from Youtube....amen....

This album is dedicated to the simply gorgeous Elvis Herod, may he rot like an abandoned vegetable languishing in the early morning of yesterday's market....

Four 12" single-press vinyl for sale ..... as limited as they come, grab 'em!

The first four installments of six, unique vinyl records. There is one copy of each up for grabs, so be quick. Each of the records comes in one-off, handmade artwork of wallpaper, wrapping paper, paint, craft paper, and marker pen, lovingly handcrafted by Ergo Phizmiz.

Due to the single-press nature of each vinyl, we are selling them for £30 a piece, plus £5 shipping. You want one? Yes..... so e-mail me on ergophizmiz at gmail dot com and Paypal details will be forwarded.....

1) "Before I Acquired My Tardis" - 12" single-press vinyl with handmade artwork - THIS RECORD HAS NOW FOUND A HAPPY HOME
Experiments in ambient and drone music, made using voice, instruments and computers, exploring relationships between space, time, and depth in composition, before I acquired my Tardis. Recorded in Lincoln, UK, 2002-2004.

2) "Why Not Sneeze, Achilles?" - 12" single-press vinyl with handmade artwork - THIS RECORD HAS NOW FOUND A HAPPY HOMECuttings and layer from 'The Faust Cycle', starring Marcel Duchamp and Helen of Troy. The Duchamp side is constructed of his speech 'The Creative Act' cut with easy-listening records, toy instruments, and electronics. The Helen of Troy side is constructed from Hungarian folksongs and musique-concrete. Recorded in Devon, 2006.

3) "Best Heard in a Ballroom" - 12" single-press vinyl with handmade artwork THIS RECORD HAS NOW FOUND A HAPPY HOMEElements and experiments from sample compositions, made principally using ballroom and British dance-band music. Recorded on the Isle of Wight and in Normandy, France, 2005-2007. Very fractured and deconstructed sample music, abrupt silences, jaggedy relationships, some of the seeds of the musical constructions I'd make much later in pieces like The Third Policeman.

4) "Balromulus Machinus" - 12" single-press vinyl with handmade artwork - THIS RECORD HAS NOW FOUND A HAPPY HOMESampling experiments recorded between 2005-2007, the innards of a ballroom machine. Similar in tone to record (3), but more jagged, sounds cut at right-angles to their partners.

New podcast - Hallucination Duets: 1

I have become interested recently in the idea of double-doses of information by the fragmentation and simultaneous presentation of two originals.



That's to say, what the Hallucination Duets are, are two different pieces of music sat on-top of each other, each split into equal fragments of a few milliseconds and playing alternately.



 We can hear both, but not quite enough of either but too much of one to hear the other.


I wonder whether it becomes a piece of music itself, or if actually we are hearing two pieces simultaneously without the usual juxtaposition of overlaying anything. Everything is in isolation.


I'm curious if this was applied to "Moonraker" and "The Man With the Golden Gun", would we be able to watch two Roger Moore Bond films in the time it takes to watch one?



Hallucinatory Duetting today comes from ...


Delia Derbyshire vs Art Shaw
Jack Hylton & his Orchestra vs JH Squire's Instrumental Octette
Maria Callas vs Maria Callas
King Tubby vs the Poet Musicians of Turkey
Musique des Vallees Scandinave vs Tala'i, Musavi and Kiana
Robert Ashley vs Polynesian Polyphonies

The Posthuman Dadamix

Ergo Phizmiz has created a Posthuman Dadamix, based on ideas and themes from Andrei Codrescu's "Posthuman Dada Guide".

The mix is presented by the lovely Discrepant, where you can stream and download it.

"M: 1000 Year Mix" - 2010 Remaster

"M: 1000 Year Mix" was composed between 2005-2006. The only Ergo Phizmiz composition created entirely out of samples (excluding works like "Cinemacollages", which he doesn't consider his own compositions in the same way), the work is a hunt for dialogues between the music of diverse times and cultures, from 1000-2000 AD. Not a "mix" in the conventional understanding of the word, samples are treated as raw material to be spliced, reshaped and assimilated, creating new melodies and progressions from tiny fragments of this raw material, exploring the interior of how music works, and how music transforms across geography and the passing of time.



Part One is an exploration of Tonality and Atonality in music. Part Two is on the subject of Noise and Ambience. Part Three is a play with the developments of Technology and their relation to music. Part Four is about the usage of the human voice. Part five about Rhythm. Part six is the final amalgamation, or, if you like, the party at the end.

"M: 1000 Year Mix" is not a piece that professes to give any clear answers to any overriding questions about music. It is, like all of Ergo Phizmiz's works, "playing" music, or "playing with music", exploring with a wink and a cheeky, perhaps slightly lascivious grin the internal mechanisms of how music works.

Like the majority of Ergo Phizmiz's works, it was generally ignored by the mainstream media, though not for the want of press-releases and promos! However, as has become habitual the forward thinking magnificence that is the blogosphere came through, and amongst a myriad other bloggings across the web, the piece was described in this way:

"Imagine a playlist of music spanning a complete millenium, mashed-up and masterfully mixed together so that the listener slides backward and forward through time, almost like a non-linear evolutionary chart of the sonic experience. Those who like a bit of experimentation in their music may find this composition as genius as I did. Kerouac had his "On the Road," Michaelangelo had his "David," and Phizmiz has his "M: 1000." Every artist has his masterpiece." - Jots From The Flipside, 2006

This was supposed to be the beginning of a projected long line of sample-driven works from Ergo. What happened instead was this piece wore out his capacity to create entirely sample based music, and he had no option but to return to other forms of composition.

Remastered June 2010 by Ergo Phizmiz. Cover photograph taken by Simon Perry (ventnorblog.com), at the 2006 "M: 1000 Year Mix" exhibition.

Watch People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz Live at King's Place

From Peoplelikeus.org, here is the entirety of the PLU & Ergo Phizmiz live show, from King's Place "Art of Sampling" festival, November 2008.

Please give the above a moment to load into your browser, and if you cannot see the play button below the image, try hitting your spacebar.

Download the video here.

Turkey Party

Ergo Phizmiz presents dessications of all your favourite Yuletide hits.

An album cut from the Christmas specials of Phuj Phactory on WFMU (2006), and Sticky White Glue on Resonance FM (2003).

Download it free, at the WFMU Free Music Archive.