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7/19/2020

Big City Orchestra – Nereids (2011)


  • Electro-acoustic
  • Avant-garde
  • Drone
  • Experimentalism
  • Abstract
  • Spoken word
  • Industrial
  • Micronoise
  • Acousmatic music
  • Microtonal
  • Electronic
  • Experimental electronica
  • Psychedelic
  • Minimalism
  • Musique concrète

Comment: Big City Orchestra is a combo from Los Angeles, USA which needs no longer introduction to a dedicated old school industrial music fan. Having been active since the first day of 1979 the combo's core consists of a few constant members and many other artists have provided their contributions to this weird and wonderful sonic universe. It can be considered a universe because of being highly prolific similarly to other (old school) industrial acts like Zoviet France, and Ashtray Navigations. It does mean permanent and uncompromising shifts between drone music, more or less noisy explorations, every kind of electronic variations (including the sheer aesthetics of electronic pioneers like Raymond Scott, Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire), and playing with iterative patterns up to a very psychedelic, even magical rate (reminds of Angus Maclise's trancey experiments). This time their soundscape is supported by court jester of hippie music, Daevid Allen. Additionally to his guitar sounds (prominently at enchanting Thirteeb) one can hear those loosely grooving spaced-out synthesised loops here and there being so characteristic to the soundscape of Gong. Speaking about the aforementioned remarkable psychedelic rate the embarking track Special Alert is the best example of it being relied upon shimmering repetitive organ drones full of lysergic magic as if Silver Apples were produced by Philip Glass. All the soundscape of the track used to grow wider and then again a bit get restrained within its borders. There is also a track called Dirty Sheen which speaks of a lack of authority, lack of God which ultimately will produce chaos and thereafter inevitable violence according to silly will of the human being. These overcoming and inspiring foursome tracks are a part of the discography of Nostalgie De La Boue, a really great imprint run by Tristan Koreya.