Patterns of Plants

so I decided to look through a rack full of albums from the Tzadik label, which is John Zorn's label, having put out material from Kayo Dot, Wadada Leo Smith, among others. I love the little summaries included along each CD so you can have some kind of idea of what you're buying. I made a blind buy of this because I felt like it:



Here's something from a review I found explaining the idea:

Quote :

Algorithmic music has a long history, and can roughly be defined as music produced through the use of rigid, deterministic procedures - the opposite of improvisation. This allows for a great deal of music to be considered at least partially algorithmic, such as 17th and 18th century counterpoint, 20th century dodecaphonism and serialism, and more generally any genre requiring a certain compositional scheme. The artistic maverick John Cage frequently used algorithmic methods, including in determining the rhythms for the recently blogged about "Sonatas and Interludes", but Cage was also largely concerned with free creative impulse. Iannis Xenakis worked with concepts from areas as diverse as pure mathematics, physics, game theory, chance, and architecture in composing his influential sound works.

Mamoru Fujieda (1955 -) generates beautiful, otherworldly music from an even less likely source: living plants. Fujieda attached sensitive electrodes to the leaves of various plants, measuring their subtlely changing electric potentials. This data was then translated by the composer's algorithms into six collections of music, each in a different tuning system, written for traditional Asian and Western Medieval instruments. Patterns of Plants was released on Tzadik Records in 1997, featuring a live chamber ensemble performing the pieces. In 2008 this was followed by Patterns of Plants II, containing five new collections with different instrumentation, notably including violin. On both albums, the music is startlingly emotive and accessible, whether or not consideration is given to how it was made. In fact, most listeners would probably never suspect this was not "composed" by a human being in the ordinary sense of the word, a fact which is very easy to forget while listening. Fujieda's blind processes resulted in something starkly beautiful, balanced, organic, and very close to the human heart.

The second one is the album I got, very interesting album. It is definitely more minimalist than the first one, it just has violin, kotos, and sho (traditional Japanese instruments). Especially something cool to have as I've been reading a bit more on frequency science, sound science..ironic since I have no clue what hz I am ever in or what literal vibes my own music may put out, but eh. As with Cage, I am still fully interested in immeasurable output that is also forged by full creative impulse regardless of the numbers involved. This would also work for someone who just might want something interesting like one of those housewife music sound CD's you can get from Target, except intelligent.

from the first album:

I don't have much to say about this, aside that is sounds like interesting music. I might check them out.... I just replied because I could not stand seeing the zero. I've felt that pain before

thank you bruv, are there any other fans of generally experimental music around?

I like a lot of experimental stuff, but it has to be somewhat cohesive for me to really get into it.

A lot of experimental stuff is just noise, and I'm not into that.

I also am not into any jazzy stuff. Maudlin of the Well is not my cup of tea, though I can see the talent.

I have a wide array of tastes, but I generally like stuff with hooks in it. Be it metal or pop. Anything hook-laden is what I get into.

This is pretty cool actually. I like it. Patterns of Plants you say? Weird name. But yeah - I like the oriental feel they have.

the Maudlin reference seems slightly random, but I'll bite. I'm not sure if you mean jazzy because there are horns.... the nature of them sometimes evokes something like light jazz does once in a while, but as someone who knows each of the 4 albums back to front and also a great deal about jazz I can tell you there is actually very little jazz in their music. Re: hooks, you do enjoy a lot of extreme metal, and the very best extreme metal merely patterns itself after the classical ethos of composition, building in memorable movements and referring to a previous theme in a subtle manner, typically for the purpose of going somewhere new. This is what motW does. However, motW is not about anthems to be felt in *that* specific way the same way much metal is. Which there's nothing wrong with. It's just important to note in order to understand the band. Their music requires something more akin to taking a still meditation or journey throughout the albums, which are truly things that work best as ALBUMS, and not strings of songs. The 'Bath' and 'Leaving Your Body Map' albums are beautifully arrange sets of music that also partially revolve around a certain central concept of the idea of the 'astral library'. Although both were composed in a natural flow, 'Bath' collects those closest to the conscious mind, and 'Leaving Your Body Map' collects those composed within a different frame of mind..and culminating in some writing done completely 'out of the body'. Moreso than the emotional doom/death/indie perspective the band glides through, this composing concept hallmarks their experimental tendancies. Although it's strictly a method of how things were arranged; the lyrical references are few.

If you were to try them out again I would suggest 'Leaving Your Body Map' in it's entirety, when you have absolutely nothing to do except sit, feel, and absorb, and no expectations except for those things.

I mentioned Maudlin because you had said in another thread you liked them, and knowing they are experimental, I name dropped them here.



I could see how it would seem random though. Sorry.

I had two Maudlin albums at one point, but quickly parted with them. Just not my cup I guess.

I see what you are saying about the extreme metal. A lot of that doesn't have hooks, and I can explain.

It's because of the overall 'atmosphere' for me. The feel of the music that I dig in that stuff. Know what I mean? I guess that makes up for the lost hooks you could say.

Yep. But you can still recall the songs, right? That's the best part, with only atmosphere, you have a nature sounds album. I find it to usually be easy, unless the band is..just horrible at writing and throws death metal sound for the sake of death metal sound at you (see: most 'brutal' death metal bands).

I would describe the atmosphere found in the motW album as...meditative..otherworldly...and wonderfully bittersweet. To put it as least 'emo' as possible, heh.

The band's later incarnation, Kayo Dot, also put out a phenomenal album on the same label as Fujieda's 'Plants..'...Tzadik has a huge array of experimental stuff ranging from noise to different jazz to chamber rock and so on.. the next thing I'm going to be checking out from the label is this:




"Composer Mario Diaz de León is a talented young composer who has
studied with Maryanne Amacher and George Lewis. His work focuses on
acoustic/electronic hybrids that often fuse the two elements into
unified meta-instruments. Often structured as walls and gestures of
shimmering sound, his work is influenced by contemporary composers
Scelsi, Ligeti, Dumitrescu and Radulescu as well as a wide range of
electronic music, free improvisation, black/drone/doom metal and
American noise bands like Metalux and Sejayno. Hypnotic and
ritualistic, the music relates to altered consciousness and the
movement between vision states."

That sounds pretty promising.

Metallic Blaze wrote:

I like a lot of experimental stuff, but it has to be somewhat cohesive for me to really get into it.

A lot of experimental stuff is just noise, and I'm not into that.

I also am not into any jazzy stuff. Maudlin of the Well is not my cup of tea, though I can see the talent.

I have a wide array of tastes, but I generally like stuff with hooks in it. Be it metal or pop. Anything hook-laden is what I get into.

This is pretty cool actually. I like it. Patterns of Plants you say? Weird name. But yeah - I like the oriental feel they have.

I agree with you here, I like experimental music too but only if it is cohesive. For example, I bout the Polymorphic Spree (sp ?) a few years ago, and enjoyed the first half of the album. Interesting band... made up of like 100 people! But, the last track goes for 30 minutes and is nothing but cocophony for me. Usually, I only listen to the first half.

Neuropete wrote:

Metallic Blaze wrote:

I like a lot of experimental stuff, but it has to be somewhat cohesive for me to really get into it.

A lot of experimental stuff is just noise, and I'm not into that.

I also am not into any jazzy stuff. Maudlin of the Well is not my cup of tea, though I can see the talent.

I have a wide array of tastes, but I generally like stuff with hooks in it. Be it metal or pop. Anything hook-laden is what I get into.

This is pretty cool actually. I like it. Patterns of Plants you say? Weird name. But yeah - I like the oriental feel they have.

I agree with you here, I like experimental music too but only if it is cohesive. For example, I bout the Polymorphic Spree (sp ?) a few years ago, and enjoyed the first half of the album. Interesting band... made up of like 100 people! But, the last track goes for 30 minutes and is nothing but cocophony for me. Usually, I only listen to the first half.

That's the same reason I don't like Current 93 or Einsterzende Neubauten. Both bands are very groundbreaking and experimental - but are just not cohesive enough to sink your teeth into.