With Halana magazine (1995-1999), Chris Rice established a bridge between (early and post-) Minimalist musicians and the nascent, international drone and improv scene. Part of the charm of the magazine lied in the curiosity for and unprejudiced attitude towards lesser known musicians, as well as unreleased material by legendary composers (Bertoia, Palestine, Fahey, Haino, etc). Along ND magazine, published by Daniel Plunkett, 1982-95, Halana opened the ears of many readers including this writer. See my post of Halana #1 here. Issue #3 was released late 1997 (the website says 1998, but the magazine states ’97 on several pages).
♫ It seems the CD’s track-listing was conceived as an initiation ceremony: the Bernhard Günter piece is nearly 95% digital silence, the closest thing to nothingness ; the Charlemagne Palestine is a static, continuous organ drone, an excerpt from Schlingen Bangen. After the listener’s ears have been thoroughly cleaned up and being thus initiated to the potentialities of sound, the music can bloom in multi-colored directions. John Fahey contributes a poem to the magazine (titled Fish) and a home-made guitar improvisation that really starts from scratch and slowly build to an epic dimension – not unlike the poem. The David Grubbs‘s track dates from the period of his first solo albums (1996-98) after he left Bastro, Red Crayola and Gastr Del Sol. It’s a gorgeous harmonium improvisation based on simple chords and inspired by Gurdjieff’ and The Mother’s own music. During the 1990s, PSF released several Motoharu Yoshizawa CDs, reissues from the three 1970s solo LPs or new works. The death of bass player Yoshisawa in 1998 put an end to a promising revival (tribute articles were collected in Halana #4, 1999). This issue of Halana features an interview with him and a solo performance on his home-made 5-string bass. His precise playing and extended technique (including electronic treatments) create rich and varied sonorities, somewhere between standard improvisation and electroacoustic experiments. Alan Licht‘s article Top Ten Obscure Minimal LPs was published in Halana #1, and #3 has an addendum of sorts titled Minimalism: The Next Ten including Yoshi Wada, Eliane Radigue, Anthony Moore and Zoltan Jeney, among others. His track The Shvitz is a dense, guitar drone thing, possibly related to the Jonathan Berman documentary film on a Jewish steam bath.
01 Bernhard Günter Un Lieu Pareil A Un Point Effacé (Part 1) (15:27)
02 Charlemagne Palestine Schlingen Bangen (Excerpt) (9:08)
03 John Fahey Untitled (7:53)
04 David Grubbs The Alley Of The Shadow Of Rats (8:34)
05 Motoharu Yoshizawa Untitled (15:56)
06 Alan Licht The Shvitz (7:01)
Total time 60:00
CD released with Halana magazine vol.1, issue 3, USA, 1997
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I remember this!
Looks great!
Sounds great too!
Thanks Continuo.