Electronic Music From York / ICES '72

strangely unCreeled as yet...  a holy grail for electronic / tape collectors, this 1973 triple LP box of pieces made at the University of York Electronic Music Studio ..  so I had a bash at virtually reconstructing it in its entirey, using the riches of the internet - and didn't get very far

A1	–Andrew Bentley	Moan No luck
A2	–Martin Gellhorn	Compression ICES '72 No luck
B1	–John Cardale	Dionysus No luck
B2	–Richard Orton (2) No Luck	Kiss
C1	–Richard Orton (2)	For The Time Being No luck
C2	–Richard Orton (2)	Clock Farm No luck however I do have a copy of this
D1	–Martin Wesley-Smith	Media Music No luck, but did find this other work of his
D2	–Richard Pickett	Light Black No luck at all
E	–Trevor Wishart	Machine Part 1
F1	–Trevor Wishart	Machine Part 2
F2	–Trevor Wishart	Machine Part 3 the whole of Machine at the Other Minds archive

so that is in fact - Wishart aside - a complete bust if you've got one, do us a burn will ya? HOWEVER bits and bobs from Electronic Music from York are said to be part of this long mix (int two parts) called Epsilonia Mix: Trevor Wishart and Friends.  It's an excellent listen (includes things from Trev's Journey Into Space, Red Bird,  Mouth Music, Sing Circle, Beach Singularity, etc + stuff from another incredibly  rare release from York Electronic Studios, the more song-oriented  All Day - York Pop Music Project.  But be warned: nothing is identified or in discernible sequence so who knows  how much or which components of the elusive triple LP are in here. in my search for properly tagged and identified Electronic Music From York tuneage  i did find a few other  Wishart odds 'n' sods that i'm not sure  i've got (i have nearly everything that's available on compact disc and a few files besides)

oh and here is an extensive obituary of Richard Orton


Andrew Bentley, Martin Gelhorn, John Cardale, Richard Pickett and Martin Wesley-Smith are, however, so obscure that they don't even have entries in Ian Helliwell's Tape Leaders book  
(Wishart and Orton do)

Wesley-Smith seems to have left the most traceable spoor of compositions behind him






Martin Gellhorn's piece "Compression ICES '72" is partly named after this event - International Carnival of Experimental Sound aka "ICES 72", an avant-garde music festival held at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London, England, 13-26 August 1972,




poster design is by Gee Vaucher - later of Crass!




Oh, for a time machine!


The festival is discussed here at Other Minds

"Charles Amirkhanian talks to Harvey Matusow about the International Carnival of Experimental Sounds (ICES ‘72), an avant-garde music festival, based on the theme of myth, magic, madness and mysticism, that was held in August 1972 in London. Featuring 46 concerts in 14 days, including marathon performances in an refurbished railroad roundhouse, a music train to Edinburgh, films, happenings, and performances by avant-garde artists, dancers, and musicians from around the world, ICES ‘72 could be considered as a spiritual progenitor of such extravagances as Burning Man. That it was the brain child of Matusow, (with help from John LIfton and the editors of “Source Magazine”), is of little surprise as the man was part clown, part con man, and full time promoter of all things weird and wonderful. Once known as the “most hated man in America” for his role in informing, or misinforming, on Communists, including Pete Seeger, during the McCarthy Era, Matusow was a consummate show man and artistic visionary. In this interview he describes the Carnival, and introduces a number of recordings from it, including two works featuring the electronic music of Takehisa Kosugi as well as a sort of classical muddley by the Portsmouth Sinfonia. The Sinfonia was formed by group of students at Portsmouth School of Art in Portsmouth, England, however, unlike most student orchestras this one required that all the participants either be untrained or at least playing an instrument with which they were unfamiliar, all with very predictable results. A further description of ICES ‘72 and a recording of many of the pieces performed at the Festival can be found at http://www.pogus.com/ICES01.html."


a thorough account of the event and its participant performers by Dave Thompson


1972 Rolling Stone piece on Harvey Matusow, ICES organiser - and former McCarthy-ite!