Klaus Ager

Creel-pro of this mid-70s Aulos lp, with Klaus Ager’s three-part “Sondern die Sterne sind's” - recorded in the “Computer Music” studio at EMS Stockholm from 1974-1976 as well as the Electronic Studio at Salzburg’s “Hochschule Mozarteum” - slowly unfolding over the A-side & two shorter chamber pieces, “I Remember a Bird” for clarinet, trombone, guitar, piano, percussion, and tape & “Metaboles i” for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano on the other. Rising from a whisper, the first movement of “Sondern” slowly builds from a sustained bell-sound - with cymbal harmonics interjected into the electronically-created syntax - into fairly head-compressing mid-range drone. This recedes & the gorgeous second movement kicks in, rife with more enharmonic relationships between the tones beating slowly in & out of phase before a slightly crispy wave of analogue tones ushers in & brings a subtle, bubbling rhythm. Finally, sparse, feedback-oriented “Ringing” synthesized bird-song takes a few minutes to clear the air before a big, pulsating wall of screaming high-res filter smear & augmented pulse-wave stasis bring in a big ‘ol miasma of electronic drone. This whole piece has the energy of Gunner Møller Pedersen & Roland Kayn’s extended work, albeit edited down for a more palatable, session-able length; it’s a great slab of electronic drone-sound that seems to have slipped through the cracks un-checked - kudos to Mr. P.C. C.P. for the unearth.