APPEARANCE/MUSIC FOR SOLO PERFORMER: COMPOSITIONS BY TOSHI ICHIYANAGI AND ALVIN LUCIER, FEATURING JOHN CAGE AND DAVID TUDOR by JOHN CAGE/LOWELL CROSS/TOSHI ICHIYANAGI/ALVIN LUCIER/DAVID TUDOR

Specs: Wrapped in shrink + insert for UK /JP liner notes

Beyond Rare! These historical recordings of a 1967 concert at Hope College in Michigan involving John Cage, Toshi Ichiyanagi and David Tudor, performing compositions by Ichiyanagi and Alvin Lucier, were recently discovered in an archive in Japan. The Lucier piece, "Music for Solo Performer”, was the first musical composition to utilize human brainwaves; this 1967 performance, released here for the first time, is an early realization of the piece, featuring Tudor, Ichiyanagi and Lowell Cross, using alpha waves to activate a wide range of percussion instruments. This proto-industrial version is heavily influenced by the amplified performance techniques pioneered by Cage and Tudor in the 1960s; quite different from the 1982 Lucier/Pauline Oliveros realization on Lovely Music. Ichiyanagi’s 1967 composition “Appearance” combines live electronics with acoustic instruments and adds Cage to the list of performers. This is the same piece which was released in 2006 by Omega Point, but the source tape used here is believed to be the master tape, resulting in a significant improvement in audio quality. These are historically significant and musically fascinating recordings, available on LP and CD. The release includes liner notes by Ibe Osamu of Omega Point, who explains how the tape was discovered, as well as liner notes by sound artist Minoru Sato, a researcher of Lucier's work who was in contact with the composer during his lifetime. Ichiyanagi contributes a note about “Appearance”.

Toshi Ichiyanagi "Appearance" for three instruments, two oscillators, two ring modulators (1967) [20ʼ31"]

Alvin Lucier "Music for Solo Performer" (1965) [14ʼ40”]