SUSSAN DEYHIM & RICHARD HOROWITZ "Desert Equations: Azax Attra" (1986)

MTM Vol. 08

The collaboration between electronic/world music fusionist Richard Horowitz and the incredible Iranian vocalist Sussan Deyhim is one of the cult classics of Made To Measure series. Written for the opera performance "Azax Attra", which premiered in 1985 in NY and toured internationally.
A landmark in both musicians career and very influential for the evolution of world fusion genre...

Posted here by request

Desert Equations
(8 tracks, approx 41 min)

DANIEL SCHELL & KARO "The Secret of Bwlch" (BEL,1990)

A fine example of Made to Measure aesthetics... a contemporary encounter of classical, minimal, euro-jazz and medieval folk with pictures of global travelling... a non-rock extension of Schell`s work with COS... a cinematic imagination...
The post-modern art stimulated by the "fused worlds" that irrationally visit us in our dreams.

Secret Of Bwlch

DANIEL SCHELL & KARO "If Windows They Have" (BEL,1986)

MTM vol.13 - IF WINDOWS THEY HAVE, 1986

-"4 Karos..." announced Dr Freudenthal.
He displayed his cards triumphantly on the green baize. A beautiful run of diamonds.
-"How lucky you are" said Lucy. "You won for the whole evening...there must be some trick!!!"
-"There is a trick!"
He took a small machine out of his pocket...hit some keys...a funy assembly of DNA-like modules appeared on the liquid display...they were connected one to another, as if they were made to measure...
-"So, that`s the automatic Karo-Machine...!"said Wolfgang.
-"I am sure there is a little man inside..." whispered Lucy.
They all laughed... until Dr Freudenthal begun in a deep voice:
-"The traveller goes from the direction of Mount Original, to see the sea... He meets a primitive tribe, the KAROS. They transform the light of the sun into music... They speak the lingua cosmica... out of 1 Karo they produce 4 Karos, 36 Karos..."
They were all staring at him, bemused.
-"Was the traveller a Celt?" he continued, "or a Tunisian? Whatever...He decided he would code their secret into one single object...he then would hide this treasure, and bury it in the sands, at low low tide..."
''But the sea is vast and quick; so quick that it pursues the traveller. Can he reach the white cliffs in time?"
-Excuse me, Doctor, but this is very important: can you play this mini-rosetta stone on your radio...?"
-I guess not, Wolfgang...we get so much noise from saturn, these days...3,2 (1)...*, 2 (6)... .*1,2 (5)/$%+.88.... ...zzzzzzzzzyykkrrrrr....
They were listening with rapt attention: was this an intelligent message?
-"You can be sure of one thing: these people have no reason to waste their energy through the windows..."
-"If windows they have..."

DANIEL SCHELL - chapman stick
PIERRE NARCISSE - percussion
CLAUDINE STEENACKERS - cello
JEAN-LUC PLOUVIER - keyboards, shortwaves
DIRK DESCHEEMAEKER - clerinet
TRAN THI THU VAN & JEANNOT GILLIS - violins

(composed by Daniel Schell except track 5 by Pascale Son & Daniel Schell,
cover painting "SYLVIE" by Angel Vergara Santiago,
text reproduced from the back cover of vinyl edition)

IF WINDOWS THEY HAVE
a vinyl rip by LFDJ (256kb/s)

MADE TO MEASURE volume one

Self-defined as "a collection of aural garments that have or could have been commissioned as soundtracks", belgian MADE TO MEASURE series (branch of Crammed Disc label) have excursioned since 1984 "into the vast soundscape delimited by ambient / neoclassical / chamber / travelogue / trance / meditative musics"

Their diverse list of avant artists includes among others: HECTOR ZAZOU, STEVEN BROWN, BENJAMIN LEW, AKSAK MABOUL, JOHN LURIE, MINIMAL COMPACT, YASUAKI SHIMIZU, BRION GYSIN, DAVID CUNNINGHAM...

Check other LFDJ pages for MADE TO MEASURE works...and listen to the debut MTM release here...

Made To Measure vol. 1
MINIMAL COMPACT - BENJAMIN LEW - AKSAK MABOUL - TUXEDOMOON
(69mb)

SAMY BIRNBACH & BENJAMIN LEW "When God Was Famous" (BEL, 1989)

in the green morning, before

love was destiny,

the sun was king

and god was famous

D SCHWARTZ

BENJAMIN LEW (electronics), SAMMY BIRNBACH (vocals), MICHEL BERCKMANS (oboe, bassoon), ANNELI DRECKER (back. vocals), PETER PRINCIPLE (guitar), AURELIA BOVEN (cello), GILES MARTIN (engineering, production)

tracklist

01.pourquoi que vis [BORIS VIAN]
02.kommt [GOTTFRIED BENN]
03.the wheel [W.B. YEATS]
04.an upbraiding [THOMAS HARDY]
05.men with coats thrashing [MALCOLM LOWRY]
06.response [BOB KAUFMAN]
07.what is to be given [DELMORE SCHWARTZ]
08.ravenna 1 [HERMANN HESSE]
09.hotels [GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE]
10.mandorla [PAUL CELAN]
11.plis [PAUL ELUARD]
12.in the green morning, now ,once more [DELMORE SCHWARTZ]
13.little birds sit on your shoulders [KENNETH PATCHEN]

when god was famous (42mb)

HECTOR ZAZOU "Reivax Au Bongo" (FRA, 1986)

With threads thrown in separate time-labyrinths and differently directed pathlines Hector Zazou draws the maps of his imagination. He makes up countries (BONGO) and puts characters (REIVAX) acting, following uncertain indications, running after illusions, magnetized by the plot of the dreams. Music is the five oceans sea that surrounds these imaginary scenes, while photographer XAVIER LAMBOURS gives them the life of light...
Unjustly low acclaimed among Zazou`s amazing works, and personally speaking perhaps my favourite, REIVAX AU BONGO returned in my ears after long absence, via digital, just recently. It is, with no second thought, a gem to share with others immediately.

REIVAX AU BONGO (59mb)

BENJAMIN LEW "Nebka" (BEL, 1988)

Benjamin Lew, Belgian electronic-ambient, new age composer, known for collaborations with Tuxedomoon`s Steven Brown, released this gem in 1988 with Marc Hollander on percussion / clarinette, Blaine Reininger on violin, Claudine Steenackers on cello, (Steven Brown on clarinette in starting track) and Gilles Martin engineer & co producer. Nebka, is a work of high clarity, that marks the boundaries deletion among genres, ... and one of the best and most characteristic releases of Made to Measure series. Third world rhythms, exotic colours, jazz phrases, minimalism... invade playfully the romantic moods of european heart. An avant soundtrack for shores beyond vision & artlands... that any dreamy listener would gracefully depart to.

NEBKA (55mb)

HECTOR ZAZOU "geographies " (FRA,1982/1989)

Hector Zazou is a french-algerian post modern composer. His art knows no limits among forms, genres. Melting unpredictably the most contradicted elements, sometimes in the same song, he creates music much superior than any sum of avant, electronics, pop, french folk, ethnic, ambient, soundtrack, post classical, vocal music you can imagine. The sounds in Zazou works loose their usual meaning and are refracted towards new directions through always modern view prisms.

Geographies is one of Zazou`s best works; my favourite together with "Reivax au Bongo" (1984). Released from Crammed Disc (Made to Measure as vol. 5). Consists of two parts: "geographies" & "13 proverbes africains" (for vocal quartet). Highly experimental and contemporary - a map of secular sonic pleasures that sometimes reach the heights of a metaphysical chill.

GEOGRAPHIES (64mb)