The Avant Garde Project is an effort to make available some of my favorite pieces of experimental music from the late 20th century. The extremist intellectual climate of that time gave birth to some of the wildest and most challenging sound combinations yet produced by human artistry. The pieces selected for this project were released on LP but have never been released on CD, and so they are effectively inaccessible to the vast majority of music listeners today. Using an analog rig and pre-amplification that is near state-of-the-art, I am able to extract the sound from the grooves with almost none of the surface noise and tracking distortion normally associated with LPs. I am hoping you will find this material as fascinating and beautiful as I do. My hard disk is absurdly small, and so I am seriously limited as to how many torrents I can host at one time. If you find any value in your downloads, I ask you please to seed them yourself for as long as possible, so they will continue to be available to other people. In just the first few days, the first AGP torrent (featuring the electroacoustic music of Josef Anton Riedl) has been downloaded over 100 times--check it out if you haven't already. ========================== The second AGP torrent comprises the four parts of Mauricio Kagel's Acustica, for experimental sound-producers and loudspeakers. This piece features some of the most astonishing timbres I have ever heard. As far as I can glean from reading the record notes, the first two parts are live performances by five musicians (recorded at Studio Rhenus, Godorf bei Köln, on January 28-31, 1971) and the second two parts are electroacoustic compositions produced in 1969. The live performances use a crazy collection of homemade instruments (see the included notes for details), some purely acoustic and others incorporating loud-speakers, tone generators, or cassette recorders. The two electroacoustic sides are well worth listening to, but I particularly recommend the tremendously complex sounds on the first two sides. They have a texture somewhat like electronic music, but with more timbral detail owing to the acoustic sound sources. Personally, I find these sides awe-inspiring. If you are instead horrified by what strikes you as unspeakable cacophony, we will have to agree to disagree. A short biography of Kagel from the Universal Edition website: "Mauricio (Raúl) Kagel was born in Buenos Aires on 24 December 1931 into a polyglot Argentine- Jewish family with strongly leftist political views. He studied theory, singing, conducting, piano, cello and organ with private teachers, but as a composer was self-taught. At the University of Buenos Aires, where Jorge Luis Borges was among his lecturers, Kagel studied philosophy and literature. In 1949 he became artistic advisor to the Agrupación Nueva Música of Buenos Aires; he began composing in 1950, seeking musical ideas that opposed the neoclassical style dictated by the Perón government. After an unsuccessful attempt to establish an electronic studio, in 1955 he became chorus director and rehearsal accompanist at the Teatro Colón and editor on cinema and photography for the journal nueva visión. In 1957 Kagel traveled to Germany on a DAAD student grant, settled in Cologne, and became immediately and permanently involved in the contemporary music network as a member of the so-called "second generation" of Darmstadt composers. "In Germany he participated in the Darmstadt summer courses (from 1958), where he later lectured (1960–66, 1972–76), and conducted the Rheinland Chamber Orchestra in contemporary music concerts (1957–61). Between 1961 and 1965, he also made several concert and lecture tours in the USA. In 1969 he was named director of the Institute of New Music at the Rheinische Musikschule in Cologne and, as Stockhausen’s successor, of the Cologne courses in new music (until 1975); in 1974 he became professor of new music theater at the Musikhochschule in Cologne. Kagel was one of the founders of the Ensemble for New Music in Cologne and has worked at the electronic studios in Cologne, Berlin, and Utrecht. He continues to conduct many of his works and directs and produces all of his own films and radio plays." Equipment used for A/D conversion: Lyra Helikon phono cartridge, Linn LP12/Lingo turntable, Linn Ittok tonearm, AudioQuest LeoPard tonearm cable, PS Audio PS2 preamplifier, Kimber PBJ interconnect, M-Audio Audiophile USB A/D converter. 01 - Acustica, first part [23:46] 02 - Acustica, second part [19:53] 03 - Acustica, third part [17:44] 04 - Acustica, fourth part [17:22] NOTE: To the best of my knowledge, these recordings are currently out of print. If you know otherwise, please let me know ASAP, as I do not wish to deprive any artists of their much-deserved royalties (however paltry).