From The Ether

from the ether

Editorial Reviews
Dan Greenhaus, PhantasyTour.com, January 2004
Tom's lyrics are excellent as usual. From the Ether is an album that fans will be thoroughly pleased with.

Product Description
Phish lyricist Tom Marshall is back with a new band featuring Spin Doctor's guitarist, Anthony Krizan. Keyboardist Chris Metaxas and Tom wrote all the tunes on this very upbeat, Beatlesy album. You can hear Tom's Phishy roots on many of these cuts, particularly Distortion and Mesmer -- but the Beatles are predominant throughout. Isolate has a touch of "I Am the Walrus", and Sometimes has a Pink Floyd-type sound. Listen carefully for the wide variety of influences from this mature songwriting team. You'll find a lot...perhaps even some Steely Dan..

From The Ether

From The Ether,Amfibian,Furry Thug,Phish lyricist Tom Marshall and his band provide fifteen great songs on this upbeat, Beatlesy album. Released in early 2004, this album has been eagerly embraced by Phish fans and normal people alike.,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

From The Ether
Music from the Ether: Original Works for Theremin
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • good (but not great) vibrations...
  • The theremin continues!
  • Too weird
  • Sensitive and expressionistic
  • Theremin as an instrument, not a curiosity
 Music from the Ether: Original Works for Theremin
Joshua Pierce , Elizabeth Parcells , Carol Eaton Elowe , and Kristen Fox
Manufacturer: Mode
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by GraingerAll Works by Grainger | Grainger, Percy Aldridge | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
All Works by MartinuAll Works by Martinu | Martinu, Bohuslav | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
ElectronicElectronic | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music | Computer
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. The Art Of The Theremin
  2. Lost Theremin Album
  3. Theremin - An Electronic Odyssey
  4. Waves in the Ether: The Magical World of the Theremin
  5. Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman and the Theremin

ASIN: B00000J8RP
Release Date: 1999-06-22

Tracks:

  1. Joseph Schillinger: Melody
  2. Joseph Schillinger: Mouvement lectrique et pathtique
  3. Friedrich Wilckens: Dance in the Moon
  4. Percy Grainger: Free Music #1 for four theremins
  5. Bohuslav Martinu: Fantasia
  6. Isidor Achron: Improvisation
  7. Lydia Kavina: Suite - 1. Andante
  8. Lydia Kavina: Suite - 2. Moderato
  9. Lydia Kavina: Suite - 3. Lento
  10. Lydia Kavina: In Whims of the Wind
  11. Jorge Antunes: Mixolydia Jorge Antunes
  12. Vladimir Komarov: Voice of Theremin

Amazon.com

The theremin may be one of the oddest instruments ever invented: the electronic device's high-pitched sound resembles no other--and you never even touch it to play it. It's become familiar from that novel Beach Boys solo on "Good Vibrations" and the occasional sci-fi score sound bite, but it's seldom thought of as the serious instrument its inventor Leon Theremin wanted it to be. This recording, like the must-have Clara Rockmore disc, The Art of the Theremin, attempts to change that. Lydia Kavina might very well be the best thereminist playing today; she's the inventor's last protégée (as well as being the granddaughter of his cousin) and her range on the instrument is unparalleled. Here, she tackles the body of work made specifically for the instrument from the likes of Joseph Schillinger, Bohuslav Martinu, Percy Grainger, Isidor Achron, and a handful of contemporary composers. Grainger's "Free Music #1" for four theremins eerily defies the bounds of written composition (Kavina plays all four theremin roles); Kavina's own Suite is an impressive showpiece of the instrument's range; and Vladimir Komarov's tape-and-theremin piece "Voice of Theremin" is built entirely of passages from the instrument and the voice of Theremin himself, all processed through a computer with stunning results. Martinu's Fantasia for Theremin, Oboe, Piano, and Strings is the disc's real charm: a 14-minute composition with plenty of oboe-theremin interplay and lovely string passages from the Portland String Quartet. For the classical fan who has everything, this disc may be the perfect gift. --Jason Verlinde

Album Description

As her hands dance around the instrument's antennas, Lydia Kavina proves the theremin is no mere producer of Hollywood sound effects. Russian theremin virtuoso Kavina presents the first release EVER dedicated solely to original compositions for the instrument - spanning the "golden age" of the theremin from its invention in the 1920s to contemporary works. One of the first attempts to unite music and scientific technology in the 20th century, the theremin is considered to be the ancestor of modern electronic musical instruments. Its evolution from scientific curiosity (discussed in scientific journals and manufactured by RCA) to virtuoso classical instrument (played by Clara Rockmore in Carnegie Hall) to "instrument of the future" (according to Cage, Varse, Grainger and others) to Hollywood sound effect (played in soundtracks to Spellbound, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Lost Weekend, etc.) to rock-and-roll instrument (used by The Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Phish, Portishead and others) has been well documented. This disc is full of discoveries, including Martinu's Fantasia, and Percy Grainger's graphically notated Free Music #1 (1935) for 4 theremins, along with other "period" works by Schillinger (known for his writings on music and as a guru to composers from Gershwin to Earle Brown) and Isidor Achron (the accompanist to Heifetz). Modern works are represented by Kavina herself, Brazilian Jorge Antunes (with electronic tape) and Russian Vladimir Komarov, whose work also incorporates the inventor's voice and a rendition of Glinka's infamous The Lark, which Theremin had performed for Lenin to demonstrate the instrument. Lydia Kavina is the world's leading thereminist today. The granddaughter of Leon Theremin's first cousin, she was the inventor's last protŽgŽe. She began studying the instrument with him at the age of nine, and was concertizing by age fourteen. Since then, Kavina has given over 500 performances. She has also appeared in Howard Shore's soundtracks to eXistenZ and the Oscar-winning movie Ed Wood, and has performed in the Tom Waits/Robert Wilson collaborations Alice and The Black Rider. Kavina now serves on the lecture staff of The Glinka Museum and is affiliated with the Theremin Center, both in Moscow.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars good (but not great) vibrations..........2005-11-20

ah yes, the theremin... that weird sound in "Good Vibrations"... and much, much more: here we have a collection of "serious" compositions for this enigmatic electronic instrument dating from 1929-1996, performed by the (of course) mysteriously beautiful Lydia Kavina (described as "today's leading thereminist"... though many would argue that Geoff Brady is equally deserving of that title and just as mysteriously beautiful.) These pieces are presented chronologically and are all for theremin accompanied by other instruments (piano, string quartet & oboe, magnetic tape, or other theremins... no "solos" for some reason...)

The music is either pleasantly ethereal, engagingly eerie, maddeningly tedious, or just plain ridiculous (the more recent theremin+tape works often sound exactly like one of those "Halloween Sound Effects" albums.) Basically, the shorter the better is the general rule here... keep it under three minutes or you're in trouble (this will help with radio play too...) The real appeal is hearing the pieces you never knew existed for this instrument by Martinu and especially Percy Grainger (is there another composer more underrated than Percy Grainger? You just gotta love Percy Grainger!) The bonus is a couple of nice enough (short) things from other obscure 1930s composers (Schillinger, Wilckens, & Achron -- sounds like a law firm...) The problem is the more recent material, which is all totally disposable and/or annoying as hell (but I guess it fills up the CD.)

Basically, while this disc is essential for theremin-o-philes (yes, they are everywhere) and interesting enough for the curious, at the end of the day you will have to admit that nothing here can ever measure up to the greatness of "Good Vibrations."

5 out of 5 stars The theremin continues!.......2004-05-19

The music world is not exactly teeming with theremin virtuosi. Quite simply, the theremin is one of the most difficult of all electronic instruments to master. Imagine an instrument which is played in thin air. The thereminist has no contact with a keyboard or a fingerboard. This instrument is played by moving one's hands close to or away from two antennae. One antenna controls pitch. The other controls volume. It is a terribly unforgiving instrument. It demands that the player be able to remain perfectly still, apart from his or her hands. Slight movements of the body can and will affect pitch.

Lydia Kavina is a master of the theremin. Very few have ever mastered it on her level. She was taught by the inventor of the theremin himself, the late Leon Theremin (Lev Termen). Since the death of Clara Rockmore, it is good to see someone continuing on in promoting this most magical and difficult of instruments.

This recording offers many treats for the listener. Chief among them is the Martinu Fantasy. For those who admire Martinu's work, this CD offers a recording of a rarely heard work of Martinu's.

2 out of 5 stars Too weird.......2003-02-25

Despite Ms.Kavina's obvious mastery of the theremin I found the bulk of the cd to be too contemporary, abstract, and just plain weird for my taste. Call it avant garde if you will. None of the pieces left any memorable impression upon me and for much of the cd the music just sounds improvised and played more like musical gymnastics than melodic tunes. Not that that is a necessity in music by any means, but that style personally turns me off and to blunt just bores me. I wasn't even able to sit through the entire cd in one sitting. I also find the tone of Kavina's theremin to be too pure and sterile, more like a synthesizer than the "classic" theremin tone, a drastic contrast to the richness and warmth of Clara Rockmore's RCA instrument. If you're looking for a cd to start your collecion of theremin music I whole heartedly recommend passing one this one and getting the Clara Rockmore, or even the Samuel Hoffman cds, first and perhaps return to this one should you desire a little more theremin variety.

3 out of 5 stars Sensitive and expressionistic.......2002-12-11

Unlike Clara Rockmore's "The Art of the Theramin", this is an album written exclusively for the theramin instrument.

The theramin has great dynamic and soprano range. In some of the pieces, the theramin is set against a human soprano. To exhillarating effect.

The theramin presages the Moog synthesizer.

If you had ONE theramin album, it would not be this one.

Choose the Clara Rockmore version, instead.

5 out of 5 stars Theremin as an instrument, not a curiosity.......2002-04-30

This is a great album. I particularly like Lydia Kavina's original compositions, where the Theremin is clearly the ideal instrument.

Kavina's use of the Theremin is much more effective than Clara Rockmore's. While Rockmore's recordings show skill and ability, I cannot imagine anyone saying "yes, the Theremin is the ideal instrument" for the music on Rockmore's album. Speaking as an electronic musician who loves to explore the frontiers of music, I feel that under Rockmore the Theremin's appeal was more for its curiosity than for its appropriateness to the music.

With Lydia Kavina we have a different situation entirely. The music is ideal for the Theremin, and many of the compositions (particularly Kavina's) have real emotional power. I cannot imagine these pieces played with any other instrument (besides a synthesizer programmed to sound like a theremin).

Lydia Kavina is exploring a new musical space, appropriate to the Theremin. This album gives a fine sampling of that space, hopefully hinting at more to come.
Things Heard Unheard
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Things Heard Unheard
    Brian Willson , Yuko Fujiyama , and Dominic Duval
    Manufacturer: Deep Listening
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music
    ASIN: B000A8LGZK
    Release Date: 2005-07-04

    Tracks:

    1. Yuko I
    2. Birds in The Temple
    3. Fractals
    4. Tibet
    5. To Remember
    6. Solo
    7. Yuko II
    8. Constellations
    9. Bamboo
    10. Bit by Bit

    Product Description

    THINGS HEARD UNHEARD is the first recording by Brian Willson as a leader. This recording is a combination of completely free improvisation—no guidelines whatsoever other than listening—and composed pieces, nothing written, but discussion of the nature of the work to be performed. Influenced by free jazz of the 60’s, world music, and contemporary, Willson fuses these elements into a diverse amalgam of improvised music–some pieces are classic free piano, bass and drums, evidence of the strong Cecil Taylor influence abounds, others are evocative of Eastern culture utilizing sounds and instruments particular to Tibet, Japan and China, evoking images of Buddhist ritual. Brian had played with Yuko and Dom individually and they enjoyed a long friendship collectively, but this was the first musical meeting of this trio of gifted musicians. The recording is a culmination of years of performing for Brian Willson–he has traveled from rock and roll to jazz to club dates to oldies bands to Broadway shows to contemporary music. He is an accomplished performer in both the jazz and classical worlds, and an ardent improviser. After touring the world as percussionist and musical director with several Broadway shows he has dedicated his musical pursuits to jazz drumming, improvisation, conducting contemporary music, and performing and touring as Assistant Conductor with the Brooklyn College Percussion Ensemble. He recently recorded a series of duets with Pauline Oliveros, AS IT IS and a DVD of improvised music called JUST PLAYIN’, to be broadcast on CUNY TV. He is co-leader of a straight ahead jazz quartet, The Salim Washington–Brian Willson Quartet. Mr. Willson began improvising circa 1977 after hearing Sun Ra and his Arkestra in Chicago.
    From The Ether
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		From The Ether
      Amfibian
      Manufacturer: Furry Thug
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
      Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
      RockRock | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
      Similar Items:
      1. Amfibian Tales

      ASIN: B0002ABU4S
      Release Date: 2004-06-15

      Tracks:

      1. Atlantis
      2. 13 Days
      3. Sometimes
      4. Blood On The Cactus
      5. Isolate
      6. Lambertville
      7. Augustine
      8. Reason
      9. Storm
      10. Enough
      11. Distortion
      12. Petunia
      13. Mesmer
      14. Cadillac
      15. Health

      Album Description

      Phish lyricist Tom Marshall is back with a new band featuring Spin Doctor's guitarist, Anthony Krizan. Keyboardist Chris Metaxas and Tom wrote all the tunes on this very upbeat, Beatlesy album. You can hear Tom's Phishy roots on many of these cuts, particularly Distortion and Mesmer -- but the Beatles are predominant throughout. Isolate has a touch of "I Am the Walrus", and Sometimes has a Pink Floyd-type sound. Listen carefully for the wide variety of influences from this mature songwriting team. You'll find a lot...perhaps even some Steely Dan..
      Songs From the Ether
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Songs From the Ether
        Libby Kirkpatrick
        Manufacturer: Heart Music
        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD

        GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
        Traditional FolkTraditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
        GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
        Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
        GeneralGeneral | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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        1. Goodnight Venus

        ASIN: B00006JSBL
        Release Date: 2003-02-25

        Tracks:

        1. Crying
        2. Liar
        3. Proprioception
        4. Thunder
        5. Down
        6. Jupiter
        7. I'm Not Waiting
        8. Dark Angel
        9. Alone
        10. Falling Still
        11. Universe
        12. Something Like This
        13. What Is That?
        Open Spaces
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          		Open Spaces

          Manufacturer: Rick Jamison
          ProductGroup: Music
          Binding: Audio CD

          GeneralGeneral | Country | Styles | Music
          GeneralGeneral | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music
          ASIN: B000CAG10G
          Release Date: 2004-06-22

          Tracks:

          1. Wind River Breakdown
          2. Where Peaceful Waters Flow
          3. Hilltop Rambler
          4. Morning in Marin
          5. Time Again to Go
          6. Copper Moon
          7. A New Path
          8. Cattle in the Cane
          9. Freight Train Boogie
          10. Old Joe Clark
          11. Higher Ground
          12. Sonora Pass
          Out Of The Ether
          Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
          • Great Halloween atmosphere
          		 Out Of The Ether

          Manufacturer: Lame Duck Digital
          ProductGroup: Music
          Binding: Audio CD

          GeneralGeneral | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
          ElectronicaElectronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
          GeneralGeneral | New Age | Styles | Music
          GeneralGeneral | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
          ASIN: B000BPYKGO
          Release Date: 2004-10-01

          Tracks:

          1. The Tomb (0:49)
          2. Outer Darkness (9:14)
          3. Blue Crypt (4:58)
          4. The Lost (9:05)
          5. Undertow (7:13)
          6. The Chasm of the Soul (8:27)
          7. Possession (6:21)
          8. Torment (6:17)

          Product Description

          From the depths of Hell let Virgil, master of the ethermuse, lead you on a sonic journey into and out of the abyss. Eight ambient tracks take you on a 53 minute journey into the darkness of the pit and "Out of the Ether". Fans of haunt music, this is your album!!

          Customer Reviews:

          5 out of 5 stars Great Halloween atmosphere.......2006-12-01

          I'm a big fan of Halloween and the music that goes along with it. This disc is an excellent collection of dark, moody, atmospheric instrumentals that just sets the mood brilliantly for any "dark-themed" gathering or season.

          Virgil has several discs out but this one is one of my favorites.
          Awaken from Slumber Through Saint Johns Light
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            		Awaken from Slumber Through Saint Johns Light
            Donald W. Gill
            Manufacturer: Musicosophy Tonal Theatre
            ProductGroup: Music
            Binding: Audio CD

            GeneralGeneral | New Age | Styles | Music
            ASIN: B000CA8SWA
            Release Date: 2005-08-16

            Tracks:

            1. Awaken from Slumber Through Saint Johns Light
            In the Ether
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              		In the Ether
              Resdeus
              Manufacturer: resDeus
              ProductGroup: Music
              Binding: Audio CD

              Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
              ASIN: B000CADHK8
              Release Date: 2004-05-18

              Tracks:

              1. I Want to Be
              2. Eleven
              3. If I Ask
              4. On the Outside Looking In
              5. Out of My Skin
              Year of Evolution
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                		Year of Evolution

                Manufacturer: Tug Ether
                ProductGroup: Music
                Binding: Audio CD

                Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
                ASIN: B000CA3PYQ
                Release Date: 2003-05-20
                26,000
                Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
                • Igloo Magazine's REVIEW
                		 26,000
                Frozen Rabbit
                Manufacturer: Dehausset Records
                ProductGroup: Music
                Binding: Audio CD

                GeneralGeneral | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
                ElectronicaElectronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
                ASIN: B000BYQ31U
                Release Date: 2005-05-03

                Customer Reviews:

                4 out of 5 stars Igloo Magazine's REVIEW.......2005-12-03

                Review by: Mark Teppo at [...]
                (04.21.05) Frozen Rabbit is the dark ambient drone collaboration between Phil Western and Tim Hill, veterans of the Vancouver, B. C., music scene. Western's (Skinny Puppy, Download, Plateau and others) and Hill's (Living with Mould Orchestra) previous collaborations were more dance floor friendly -- little beat missives meant to get your butt wiggling on the lighted tiles. Frozen Rabbit is a straight shot in the opposite direction -- a beeline made for the ambient horizon, beats and bass stripped away as extraneous noises in the pursuit of endless sustain, infinite reverb and a shimmering wall of hazy sound. 26,000 is a record that changes slowly like tides eating away at limestone cliffs yet the intensity of its movement is ferocious.

                "Never Say Forever" hesitates on the cusp of eruption, a white light moment that is full of potential and yet never quite reaches critical mass. Tones build against a groaning background of slumbering drones and, for seven and a half minutes, you are left hanging, waiting for that next instant of time when the Big Bang, the White Light, the sundering of Time and Space -- any of these things! -- occurs. It never does and the energy drains away into the spectral chorus and cross-fading notes of floating stringed instruments of "Isolate Now." A human voice sings in the round in "26,000," a recursive vocal loop that goes Ouroboros-like for its own tail. "Cold Morning" bristles like an ice haze scouring across a frozen tundra.

                26,000 is a ritual record, an experiment in psychedelic ambience where throat singers and ghostly porn stars are bent to the same task, where drones are warped and bent out of shape, where the glacial change of tonality and texture are the norm and where your breath is ultimately meant to be suspended, caught between the last exhalation of one "OHM" and the slow lung expansion of the next iteration of the cycle. I keep waiting for something to happen in 26,000 and maybe that's the whole feverish point of the record: something might happen. It's a model of restraint, a coiled serpent of sound that never strikes. But that doesn't mean it isn't dangerous.

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