▄▄ [ INFORMATION ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ ARTIST: Philip Blackburn █
█ TITLE: Ghostly Psalms █
█ LABEL: Innova █
█ GENRE: Avantgarde █
█ BITRATE: 223kbps avg █
█ PLAYTIME: 1h 03min total █
█ RELEASE DATE: 2012-00-00 █
█ RIP DATE: 2012-04-14 █
█ URL: █
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▄▄ [ TRACKLIST ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ 01. Duluth Harbor Serenade 8:06 █
█ 02. Ghostly Psalms- Jungle Litany 13:20 █
█ 03. Ghostly Psalms- Draw On, Sweet Night 2:11 █
█ 04. Ghostly Psalms- Roots Of A Magic Square 4:55 █
█ 05. Ghostly Psalms- The Shadow Of My Shadow 4:56 █
█ 06. Ghostly Psalms- Non Judgement Day Is Nigh 4:01 █
█ 07. Ghostly Psalms- Now, More Or Less Than Ever 4:26 █
█ 08. Ghostly Psalms- Beyond And Above 3:51 █
█ 09. Ghostly Psalms- Scratch I-Ching 6:48 █
█ 10. Ghostly Psalms- Hymn To The Solar System 5:53 █
█ 11. Gospel Jihad 5:10 █
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▄▄ [ NOTES ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ Some say that an artistÆs output is necessarily autobiographical. This █
█ set of three substantial works by UK-Minnesotan Philip Blackburn does █
█ nothing to disprove that; they have his visionary DNA all over them. █
█ They show his deep concern for space, people, and ideas discovering each █
█ other through sounding and listening in the moment of performance. And █
█ what performances they are! From a city-wide organized industrial █
█ soundscape to a virtuoso Cambridge choir, from a brainwave-generated █
█ laptop solo to Ellen FullmanÆs 80-foot long string instrument with █
█ cloistered nuns blowing on organ pipes, these live events are as █
█ audacious as they are unrepeatable: Community-based experimental music █
█ at its most raw and refined, fun and profound. █
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█ BlackburnÆs Duluth Harbor Serenade is a giant soundscape composition for █
█ the entire sounding bodies of the busy port city on Lake Superior: █
█ bridge alarms, steam train whistles, boat and fog horns, bells, brakes, █
█ and sirens, not to mention a flash-mob band of dozens of local █
█ performers parading around with loud outdoor instruments. The site █
█ ultra-specific performance was heard over several miles, coordinated to █
█ celebrate the unique sonic signature of the place and re-orchestrate its █
█ elements into new textures and combinations. █
█ █
█ Ghostly Psalms, a 50-minute live performance for large chorus, organ, █
█ and unusual instruments, is equally grand in scope, psychologically if █
█ not geographically. It transports the listener through stages of a █
█ dream, one that Blackburn had in 1982 that sprang from his days as a █
█ Cambridge chorister. Ruined abbeys, watery/windy streams of █
█ consciousness, and planetary motions feature prominently. The music is █
█ immersive and dense, intimate and cosmic, from vulnerably exposed solos █
█ to intensely orgasmic clusters. ItÆs as much a trip as a journey. Once █
█ again, it fills space, only this time in your head. █
█ █
█ Psychodrama is central to Gospel Jihad too; an a cappella work for two █
█ rival choirs, one distant and tranquil, the other spitting fire and █
█ brimstone based on beloved (yet vicious) gospel hymn texts. (BlackburnÆs █
█ ancestors include hymn writers George Stebbins and Isaac Watts, so he █
█ felt his contribution to the tradition should offer another █
█ perspective.) The unresolved musical standoff (with choreography █
█ viewable on the Youtube version), stunningly performed by the Choir of █
█ Clare College, Cambridge, brings the disc to an end with an unearthly █
█ yelp. █
█ █
█ Philip Blackburn studied composition with Kenneth Gaburo and has roots █
█ in the Oliveros, Partch, Brant, Ives, Ligeti experimental tradition (not █
█ to mention English Tudor music). After producing nearly 400 albums for █
█ the innova label, this is the first disc devoted to his own music. His █
█ work as an environmental sound artist has made plants, sewer-, and █
█ eco-systems audible, and has animated harbors, science museums, █
█ childrenÆs festivals, parks, parking lots, and deserts with extra █
█ opportunities for community listening. █
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