MUSIC OF TRANSPARENT MEANS - Music of Transparent Means
"Limited restock. The first ever vinyl release from the archives of Music of Transparent Means, the constantly evolving minimalist ensemble of up to 21 players active in Adelaide, Australia from 2002-2007. Long celebrated by a tiny circle of initiates and hardcore minimalism aficionados, Music of Transparent Means shaped the sound of its native city to its most euphoric and immersive state with a series of terrifically intense concerts of original compositions. After its leader Alex Carpenter was lured to New York in 2007, the surviving artifacts -- coveted CDr editions handmade by Carpenter himself -- were circulated only among the most trusting fans. De la Catessen Records presents "Chord From The Second Delphic Hymn" alongside Music of Transparent Means' anthem "Emerging Like An Infant From The House Of Truth", recorded live at an evening performance at De la Catessen Gallery in 2007. Lovers of the music of La Monte Young, Phill Niblock, Tony Conrad, and Arnold Dreyblatt will discover much on this album to rejoice.
Alex Carpenter is an Australian-born artist and researcher living in New York City. His large-scale minimalist orchestra Music of Transparent Means won notoriety in the early 2000s for its experimental live marathons, with as many as 21 players and as few as one.
"Joyous sensory over-stimulation (...) a kind of blissful, obliterated exhaustion (...) the music is, quite simply, a head-fucking blast to listen to and swim through" --Jon Dale.
"Staggering... one of the records of the year" --Shame File Music.
"'Chord from the Second Delphic Hymn' shimmers and undulates clangorously like some freshly awakened metallic beast... textures chime like an orchestra of dulcimers... controlled thunder... a kind of inner euphoria... the result both a mutating organism and volcanic forcefield" --Textura" - De La Catessen.
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.
