Disquiet

Over at ubu.com, the Internet archive of the avant-garde, a landmark 1985 album has recently been added. Ubu.com hosts all manner of freely downloadable content, including a growing catalog of MP3s and other sound files. In 1985, Wergo Records released the two-LP set Sound Sculptures, which presented audio recordings of numerous artist-created instruments, including work by Siegfried Fink, Hans-Karsten Raecke, Wolfgang Roscher, Klaus Hinrich Stahmer, Wilfried Jentzsch, Klaus Ager, Herbert Försch-Tenge, Anestis Logothetis, Christoph Wünsch and Peter Vogel. One highlight, among many, is Vogel’s “Kleines Fünfstimmiges Minimal Music Object” (MP3), a bit of lo-bit, video-game-sounding experimental electronic music that builds layers of blips and oscillations. It’s refreshing to hear this music from when it was entirely new and evolving, rather than a retro flashback. Get the full set at ubu.com.

By Marc Weidenbaum