CHARLIE MORROW / STEN HANSON / CARLES SANTOS - The Heavyweight Sound Fight DLP
A real avant-garde curio and fascinating historical document capturing experimental pioneers Charlie Morrow, Sten Hanson, and Carles Santos having a soundclash in 1981, NYC, held inside a boxing gym and replete with hoots of laughter and applause from the crowd plus reflections by Charlie Morrow that's almost a new piece in its own right.
A precedent of sorts to, erm, Armand van Helden vs Fatboy Slimâs 1999 bout, âThe Heavyweight Sound Fightâ takes pride of place among iDEALâs hall of oddities with one of the zaniest recordings by three international leaders of the avant-garde. Adapting all the pomp and ceremony of a boxing match to ludicrous ends - including a flier depicting each artist with their dukes up - they produced what sounds like a great night out for NYCâs experimental cognoscenti with Charlie Morrow (USA) vs Carles santos (Spain) each backed by a band - Soho Baroque Opera Company with the assistance of the New Wilderness Foundation - while Swedenâs Sten Hanson acts as referee, and Armand Schwerner takes the role of announcer in thick, nasal New York brogue. Itâs brilliantly daft and subversive but accomplished in a witty way that maybe escapes too many solemnly po-faced avant-garde conceptualists nowadays, and  remains a strange outlier in the history of NYC avant garde and beyond.Â
âOperating as an aural window into an happening that occurred more than 40 years ago, âThe Heavyweight Sound Fightâ unveils a different context of experimental music than is not often encountered today. Running across the albumâs four sides, within all the seriousness of art and technique, is the unmistakable presence of humor, play, and the absurd. The audience canât help but laugh and cheer as the announcer - effecting a deep New York accent and nodding toward notable attendees like Allison Knowles, Dick Higgins, and Jackson Mac Low - takes an active role in the fight, each artist delivering an array of vocalizations - from extended technique utterances to rants - against the next, with the bands weighing in and engaging in their own battles, ranging from big band dirges and marches, to outright experimental electronic madness. It's a trully raucous affair that brings that radicalism carried by its sounds into entirely new zones.
According to Marrow, he was deemed âwinnerâ in an âoff-scriptâ move by the judges, and Santos never spoke to him again, continuing the wild and wonderful mystery and humor of the performance into the present day. Who knows what Santos, who sadly passed away in 2017, would say."
A real avant-garde curio and fascinating historical document capturing experimental pioneers Charlie Morrow, Sten Hanson, and Carles Santos having a soundclash in 1981, NYC, held inside a boxing gym and replete with hoots of laughter and applause from the crowd plus reflections by Charlie Morrow that's almost a new piece in its own right.
A precedent of sorts to, erm, Armand van Helden vs Fatboy Slimâs 1999 bout, âThe Heavyweight Sound Fightâ takes pride of place among iDEALâs hall of oddities with one of the zaniest recordings by three international leaders of the avant-garde. Adapting all the pomp and ceremony of a boxing match to ludicrous ends - including a flier depicting each artist with their dukes up - they produced what sounds like a great night out for NYCâs experimental cognoscenti with Charlie Morrow (USA) vs Carles santos (Spain) each backed by a band - Soho Baroque Opera Company with the assistance of the New Wilderness Foundation - while Swedenâs Sten Hanson acts as referee, and Armand Schwerner takes the role of announcer in thick, nasal New York brogue. Itâs brilliantly daft and subversive but accomplished in a witty way that maybe escapes too many solemnly po-faced avant-garde conceptualists nowadays, and  remains a strange outlier in the history of NYC avant garde and beyond.Â
âOperating as an aural window into an happening that occurred more than 40 years ago, âThe Heavyweight Sound Fightâ unveils a different context of experimental music than is not often encountered today. Running across the albumâs four sides, within all the seriousness of art and technique, is the unmistakable presence of humor, play, and the absurd. The audience canât help but laugh and cheer as the announcer - effecting a deep New York accent and nodding toward notable attendees like Allison Knowles, Dick Higgins, and Jackson Mac Low - takes an active role in the fight, each artist delivering an array of vocalizations - from extended technique utterances to rants - against the next, with the bands weighing in and engaging in their own battles, ranging from big band dirges and marches, to outright experimental electronic madness. It's a trully raucous affair that brings that radicalism carried by its sounds into entirely new zones.
According to Marrow, he was deemed âwinnerâ in an âoff-scriptâ move by the judges, and Santos never spoke to him again, continuing the wild and wonderful mystery and humor of the performance into the present day. Who knows what Santos, who sadly passed away in 2017, would say."
Original: $46.31
-70%$46.31
$13.89Description
A real avant-garde curio and fascinating historical document capturing experimental pioneers Charlie Morrow, Sten Hanson, and Carles Santos having a soundclash in 1981, NYC, held inside a boxing gym and replete with hoots of laughter and applause from the crowd plus reflections by Charlie Morrow that's almost a new piece in its own right.
A precedent of sorts to, erm, Armand van Helden vs Fatboy Slimâs 1999 bout, âThe Heavyweight Sound Fightâ takes pride of place among iDEALâs hall of oddities with one of the zaniest recordings by three international leaders of the avant-garde. Adapting all the pomp and ceremony of a boxing match to ludicrous ends - including a flier depicting each artist with their dukes up - they produced what sounds like a great night out for NYCâs experimental cognoscenti with Charlie Morrow (USA) vs Carles santos (Spain) each backed by a band - Soho Baroque Opera Company with the assistance of the New Wilderness Foundation - while Swedenâs Sten Hanson acts as referee, and Armand Schwerner takes the role of announcer in thick, nasal New York brogue. Itâs brilliantly daft and subversive but accomplished in a witty way that maybe escapes too many solemnly po-faced avant-garde conceptualists nowadays, and  remains a strange outlier in the history of NYC avant garde and beyond.Â
âOperating as an aural window into an happening that occurred more than 40 years ago, âThe Heavyweight Sound Fightâ unveils a different context of experimental music than is not often encountered today. Running across the albumâs four sides, within all the seriousness of art and technique, is the unmistakable presence of humor, play, and the absurd. The audience canât help but laugh and cheer as the announcer - effecting a deep New York accent and nodding toward notable attendees like Allison Knowles, Dick Higgins, and Jackson Mac Low - takes an active role in the fight, each artist delivering an array of vocalizations - from extended technique utterances to rants - against the next, with the bands weighing in and engaging in their own battles, ranging from big band dirges and marches, to outright experimental electronic madness. It's a trully raucous affair that brings that radicalism carried by its sounds into entirely new zones.
According to Marrow, he was deemed âwinnerâ in an âoff-scriptâ move by the judges, and Santos never spoke to him again, continuing the wild and wonderful mystery and humor of the performance into the present day. Who knows what Santos, who sadly passed away in 2017, would say."
