***The album that launched Richard Branson's Virgin Records and is virtually synonymous with The Exorcist, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells has been revisited by the composer himself over the years in hopes of rectifying problems that still trouble him to this day-- elastic timing, dodgy playing, poor edits, changes in tone, background tape noise. Needless to say, such defects are tools of the trade for countless modern recording artists, especially at the bottom of the food chain. In this no-instruments interpretation of Oldfield's epic instrumental performed by Glands of External Secretion (side one) and Decaer Pinga (side two), deficiency is the cornerstone. By intentionally limiting themselves to prerecorded tapes, field recordings, electronic devices and effects, out-of-context musical passages, and anything else that did not require a musical instrument to be played - both bands interpret their respective halves of this legendary opus with methods that seem to run counter to the spirit of the original, yet paradoxically force it to shine through.or example, the instrument announcements by The Bonzo Dog Band's Viv Stanshall on side one have been replaced by Barbara Manning's recitation of some of the adhesives used in the album's making, captured via low-powered international telecommunication device. Likewise, Decaer Pinga recreate side two's Piltdown caveman segment by appropriating electronic beats and multi-octave vocalizations. A no-instruments cover version of Mike Oldfield's early '70s epic Guests include Vibracathedral Orchestra's Neil Campbell, The Double U's Matt Hall, and Dave Cross of Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble Limited edition 300 copies, vinyl...
LP $12.00
09/16/2003