Alan Licht's minimal Top Ten
Alan Licht's revelatory lists of rare and obscure minimalism releases.
See all*2022 stock* "These two need no introduction, but "Cambridge 1969," which takes up all of side one, is a completely unheralded classic. For twenty minutes Yoko vibratoes her way around a single note while Lennon provides terrifying power-drone feedback accompaniment. This is the ultimate punk/metal take on La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela's Black Album (which, considering Ono & Young's history together, might be both figurative and literal). Towards the end John Stevens and John Tchichai chime in for some free jazz/minimal crossover a la Hermann Nitsch. On side two there's "Radio Play," nanosecond snippets of radio played at regular intervals--almost Bernard Gunterish heard in 1997. It's hard to imagine how betrayed Beatlemaniacs must have felt at the time or since--it's far more blasphemous than Metal Machine Music, but Lou didn't have a non-caucasian female collaborator for his fans to blame it on. I maintain that this album is a must for any outside music listener." Alan Licht
The front cover photo of John and Yoko was taken in Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital in Hammersmith, London, where Yoko had a miscarriage. The back cover photo was taken outside the Marylebone court by the Daily Mirror as J&Y were leaving the court on 28 Nov 1968.
