Various

Featuring: Terry Fox, Takehisa Kosugi, Yoshi Wada, Joe Jones, Paul Panhuysen, Christina Kubisch

* Original 1992 edition, long out of print. Tri-fold Digipak with 38-page booklet + original concert program extra booklet * This disc documents the proceedings of the Echo: Images Of Sound festival’s 2nd edition that took place in Het Apolohuis and Activiteitcentrum 2B galleries in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, from May 1st until June 14th, 1987. A Fluxus sound and visual artist, Paul Panhuysen (b.1934) founded Het Apolohuis in 1982, an artist-run gallery focusing on sound art that Panhuysen directed with wife Hélène until its closing in 1997 (see official website). This disc alone is evidence of Panhuysen’s pioneering flair, since artists featured here weren’t widely circulated circa 1987 and became stars only 20 years later wiht CD reissues and retrospective exhibitions the wolrd over. Most tracks, but not all, were recorded during festival performances. Several performances pertain to a kind of poetic, urban gamelan with found objects, often with exquisite results (Joe Jones, Richard Lerman).

Most impressive is the Taj Mahal Travellers founding member Takehisa Kosugi track, for amplified violin, ruler and voice. The (long) piece is very intense, making full use of delay and reverb pedals to enhance the physical properties of sounds in a semi-primitive improvisation. Sound installations and sound sculptures were a major trend of the festival, lavishly documented in the booklet with amazing photos (included with d/l link). Whether you are familiar with sound art or not, this disc will take you by surprise, be it for the contributions’ high quality or the fascinating musical soundworld emerging from the compilation.