Edward M. ZAJDA Electronic Music LP 1968 Ars Nova
$
173
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Description
Edward M. Zajda
ZAJDA - LP
"edward m. zajda: independent electronic music composer"
LABEL: ARS NOVA, USA, 1968
SELECTION #: AN-1006
CONDITION: Disc is Mint - a few paper sleeve marks
Cover is a strong VG+ some light rubwear; two small (3/8") corner bends.
TRACK LISTING:
1. STUDY NO. 10
2. IN MARCH FOR ANN
3. POINTS
1. MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION
2. STUDY NO. 3
from Outer Space Gamelan blog: (Keith Fullerton Whitman...) "He had rave reviews for the mysterious Edward M. Zajda, a composer from Chicago who appears to have issued this one (and only) gem on his Ars Nova/Ars Antiqua Recordings label, and also does a mean Buddy Holly impression in a pinch. The LP sleeve provides lots of info, mainly about the music and not so much about Zajda himself but it does dial up a nice little auto-bio wherein he references friends Bob (Bob!) Ashley, Bill Ribbens and Gordon Mumma. Then he goes on to detail the five pieces on the album: the brief "Study No. 3" which is apparently one of Zajda's earliest attempts, the remarkably-titled "Magnificent Desolation" which owes much to the moon-landing (hence the repeated "eagle has landed" transmissions near the beginning), "Study No. 10" which uses electronically-generated sounds as well as actual recorded sound sources ("I'll leave it to the listener to identify them"), "Points" being a composition for the Moog synthesizer and "In March for Ann", dedicated to Ann Waterman and described as a "bleak sort of piece". Whew. Zajda's descriptions just about render mine irrelevant. I will say that the absolute best one is, of course, "Magnificent Desolation", a real whopper at 17-minutes and laced with the kind of cosmic drones one would expect a moon-landing-influenced piece to bear. Zajda hits on all kinds of effects that present-day explorers My Cat is an Alien must've dieted on as youngsters. Throw in a bizarre, repeated syllable from the introduction to a female vocal pop song (maybe?) and tons more unrecognizable near-lyrical blurts and you have a truly bizarre and interesting opus. The opener "Study No. 10" is pretty great too, with Zajda incessantly flirting with electronic beeps and scrapes until a barrage of thumping noises and cut-up vocals floods through...reminds me a lot of the late 80's/early 90's musique actuelle stuff. Of course the best is saved for last; that being a series of dull, throbbing drones that almost sound like bass chords dragged across a concrete floor. The other tracks aren't any less interesting, they just feature a rather active style of knob-turning and button-pushing that it would be fruitless to describe. Safe to say though that Eddy Z has an itchy trigger figure, nearing an almost Aphex Twinian-level of analog glitchery and unintentional beat haven..."
