Ellen Band – 90% Post Consumer Sound
Everyone’s heard of the Edgar Broughton Band, the Magic Band, the Michael Yonkers Band, the Band of Gypsies and just “The Band,” but what about this here Ellen Band? Is it a person or a group? And if it is a group, is it a big band or a power trio? Hmmm, let me see…there’s no “The” in front of Ellen, so it must be a person. Yeah, that’s it! I’ve figured it out! Ellen Band is really Ellen Woman!
A Toronto native, Ellen Woman, I mean Rubber Band, I mean Ellen Band attended York University in the 1970s, where a thriving new music scene–not to mention teachers like Pauline Oliveros and David Rosenboom–inspired her to become a sound artist. In subsequent years, she attended the University of California, San Diego and Tufts University in Boston; and is now a visiting artist teaching sound art and electronic music at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Massachusetts College of Art, both in Boston.
Containing five pieces spanning from 1976 to 1998, 90% Post Consumer Sound was released in 2001 by New York experimental label XI Records. Ellen’s approach to composition in these tracks involves layering unaltered real-world recordings into massed longform minimal pieces, transforming “mundane” everyday sounds into clouds of sheer sonic transcendence. In “Railroad Gamelan,” numerous layers of train engines, blaring horns, crossing signals and car traffic build up into a thick metallic stew; while “Swinging Sings” mercilessly tosses the squeaking swing sets of your youth into the depths of a dusty cavern filled with crying bats.
True to its name, “Radiatore” splays out a steamy concoction of dripping water and whistling, crispy static; while a menacing flock of Alfred Hitchcock-like birds attack in the raucous “Closet Bird.” Finally, separating the boys from the men, or perhaps the girls from the women, “Minimally Tough” closes out the disc with a concert hall full of mute, leather-clad Hell’s Angels doing aerobics. Die-hard fans of field recordings take note: 90% Post Consumer Sound by Ellen Band is right up your alley. I’d be willing to bet my wedding band on it. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Label: XI Records Catalog Number: XI 124 Format: CD Packaging: Jewel case Tracks: 5 Total Time: 60:50 Country: United States Released: 2001 More: Discogs, Forced Exposure, Last FM, Official
Text ©2009 Arcane Candy
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