HAMILTON, TOM - Pieces For Kohn/Formal & Informal Music
Kvist Records presents this 2CD release, reissuing out-of-print works originally released on the artists own Somnath label. Although Tom Hamiltons more recent CDs (London Fix, Off-Hour Wait State, and Shadow Machine) are well known to fans of electronic music and reviewers alike, his earlier LP recordings became known as underground classics to the collectors of independent music from that era. This 2CD set was made from the original master tapes, and brings to light some of the best work of Hamiltons highly prolific St. Louis years, starting decades before he became involved with musical life in downtown New York. In the 1970s, Hamilton was working in semi-isolation, though connected to a burgeoning arts scene in St. Louis, and developing his idiosyncratic techniques with the ARP and Serge modular analog synthesizers of that era. The first CD, Pieces For Kohn, is comprised of four multi-layered electronic pieces, musical responses to four paintings by artist Bill Kohn. The second CD, Formal & Informal Music, contains the title piece Formal & Informal Music (1980), and Crimson Sterling (1973) -- both featuring improvisations by JD Parran, woodwinds, Rich ODonnell, percussion, and Hamilton on analog synthesizers. The music on these CDs establish some of Hamiltons most prominent style characteristics: clouds of fast pitches hinting at pointillistic and kinetic imagery; suggestions of tonality without real resolution; and highly-charged rhythms contributing to intricate textures -- sometimes existing on their own, sometimes offering accompaniment to improvising soloists. - Kvist. Includes a 20-page booklet with liner notes by Hamilton and historic photos.
After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.
This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).
Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.
Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.
Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
