Julius Eastman – Femenine 2LP

Description

Double-LP version, black vinyl in gatefold sleeve — on vinyl for the first time, in a revelatory new remaster byJim O’Rourke. In 2016, Finnish label frozen reeds published the premire release ofJulius Eastman‘sFemenine, for chamber ensemble. Laying unheard for decades prior, the release documented a 1974 performance by theS.E.M. Ensemblewith the composer himself on piano. Lauded in Pitchfork (awarded “Best New Music”), The New Yorker, and The New York Times, the first release ofFemenineserved as the catalyst that propelled Eastman’s music into the mainstream. Articles on Eastman’s music and its immediate disruptive impact on the classical canon began to appear in every major news organ in the English-speaking world and beyond. His music began to be programmed in major concerts and festivals, several of these entirely themed around his life and work. New recordings sprang up from a fresh generation of musicians engaging with his ideas and interpreting them for a modern audience hungry to hear more. But the raw, emotionally cascading spirit of the original performance continues to inspire listeners. Joyous, insistent, and immersive,Femeninebathes the listener in surges of tonal color from intertwining winds, piano, violin, pitched percussion, synthesizer, and — uniquely — the composer’s own invention of mechanized sleigh bells, which provide the 72-minute piece with its characteristic pulse.Femeninewas recorded live bySteve Cellum— co-producer ofArthur Russell‘sWorld of Echo— and the new vinyl reissue has been remastered from the original high-definition tape transfer byJim O’Rourkeat his Steamroom studio in the Japanese mountains. Illuminating sleeve notes are provided by composer and authorMary Jane Leach, key figure of the Eastman revival and co-editor of theGay Guerrillacollection of essays on his life and music. Gatefold. “Eastman’s stated aim withFemeninewas to please listeners, saying of the piece that ‘the end sounds like the angels opening up heaven . . . should we say euphoria?” –Mary Jane Leach