# The outer limits



## Clancy (Mar 14, 2009)

I thought it might be nice to have a discussion thread devoted to bringing to the forum's attention the more unknown out-there musicians and groups of the past and present who "did their own thing"; either inspiring others or plowing a lonely furrow, guided only by their own artistic vision.

So the challenge of this thread is to introduce a musician or group to our ears, so we can get people listening to some new sounds. I have a few contributions to get the ball rolling, but I'm sure many people browsing this forum have a few musical discoveries to throw into the mix. 

I'm thinking to keep this manageable we need a few rules, the following seem reasonable:

1) no jazz, no metal (been there, done that!).
2) this isn't the place for your own/ your mates band.
3) nobody too generic or well known.
4) include some detail, and ideally some samples.


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## Clancy (Mar 14, 2009)

Right, first up we have John Fahey.



> One of acoustic music's true innovators and eccentrics, John Fahey was a crucial figure in expanding the boundaries of the acoustic guitar over the last few decades. His music was so eclectic that it's arguable whether he should be defined as a "folk" artist. In a career that saw him issue several dozen albums, he drew from blues, Native American music, Indian ragas, experimental dissonance, and pop. His good friend Dr. Demento has noted that Fahey "was the first to demonstrate that the finger-picking techniques of traditional country and blues steel-string guitar could be used to express a world of non-traditional musical ideas -- harmonies and melodies you'd associate with Bartok, Charles Ives, or maybe the music of India." The more meditative aspects of his work foreshadowed new age music, yet Fahey played with a fierce imagination and versatility that outshone any of the guitarists in that category. His idiosyncrasy may have limited him to a cult following, but it also ensured that his work continues to sound fresh.
> 
> Fahey was a colorful figure from the time he became an accomplished guitarist in his teens. Already a collector of rare early blues and country music, he made his first album in 1959, ascribing part of it to the pseudonymous "Blind Joe Death." Only 95 copies of the LP were pressed, making it a coveted collector's item today. (In the 1960s, Fahey would re-record the material for wider circulation.) In college, he wrote a thesis on Charley Patton (an exotic subject at the time). Yet Fahey did not perform publicly for money until the mid-'60s, after his third album.
> 
> ...


John Fahey plays "Red Pony"

"When the Catfish is in Bloom"

"Hope Slumbers Eternal"

"Beverly"

"Dance of the Invisible Inhabitants of Bladensburg"

I'll stop there since I could carry on forever, his music gives me goosebumps every time. I couldn't really find any of his raga or very soundscapey stuff (though Hope Slumbers Eternal has some brilliant hypnotic textures going on), but I assure you I have albums where he goes some very strange places!


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

I will add Jon Leifs to this discussion.

From Wikipedia:

_Jón Leifs (born May 1, 1899 in Sólheimar, died July 30, 1968 in Reykjavík) was an Icelandic composer. He left Iceland in 1916 to study in Germany at the Leipzig Conservatory. He graduated in 1921 having studied piano, and then devoted his time to conducting and composing. He became successful as a conductor, and also as a writer.

He married Jewish pianist, Annie Riethof. They had two daughters, Snót and Líf, and lived in Wernigerode and subsequently in Baden-Baden. His family was harassed by the Nazis. In 1944 he moved to Sweden, and in 1945 he moved back to Iceland. After returning to Iceland he eventually divorced his wife. One of his daughters, Líf, drowned in a swimming accident off the coast of Sweden, and he wrote his string quartet Vita et Mors in her memory.

Most of his works are about Icelandic natural phenomena. In the piece Hekla he depicts the eruption of the volcano Hekla which he witnessed. In the Saga Symphony he musically portrays five characters of famous Icelandic sagas. His last work, Consolation, Intermezzo for string orchestra was written as he was dying. He died of lung cancer in Reykjavík in 1968.

Leifs and his wife are the subjects of the film Tears of Stone / Tár úr steini (1995), directed by the Icelandic director Hilmar Oddsson._

Leifs music defies an easy and standard description of his style. Though he was influenced by Icelandic folk music, that influence is has more to do with harmony and rhythm more than anything. A common facet of Icelandic folk harmony are parallel 5ths, which is found throughout Leif's oeuvre. Also, Icelandic folk music is known for its oddly unpredictable rhythms, which is also a Leifs staple.

Leifs usually employs large orchestras an batteries of unusual percussion (anvils, chains, wooden stumps) and sometimes ancient lurs, which are brass instruments from the days of the Vikings. He bases much of his music on Nordic mythology and also the natural features of Iceland, such as geysirs, waterfalls and volcanoes.

Speaking of volcanoes, perhaps his best know work is Helka. In it, he seeks to re-create, through sound, his impressions of the eruption he witnessed from this Icelandic volcano in the 1940s:






Also check out his haunting Requiem:


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## Clancy (Mar 14, 2009)

Excellent post Tapkaara, thanks for that. "Hekla" made surprisingly good work-out music, oddly enough..going for that "explosive" muscle power, amirite? 
Also, I forgot to include composers in my initial post - iconoclastic composers are of course worthy additions to this thread. I have some more musicians/composers/etc to add but will do them later since I really need to get some sleep now...


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Tapkaara said:


> I will add Jon Leifs to this discussion.
> 
> From Wikipedia:
> 
> ...


Leifs is a very good composer. Another one of those who just lived in obscurity. The guy composed some very powerful music.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I'll definitely be adding Jon Leifs to my want list and the John Fahey is interesting too. I wish it were not so hard for me to get excited about acoustic guitar. I often have trouble with that -- I'm not sure why.

I think some of the forumites _might _enjoy the great Belgian band Univers Zero. This sample is borderline jazzy, but it was among the more harmonious I could find!






From Wikipedia:

_Univers Zero are an instrumental Belgian band known for playing dark music heavily influenced by 20th century chamber music. The band was formed in 1974 by drummer Daniel Denis. For a time they were part of a musical movement called Rock in Opposition (RIO) which strove to create dense challenging music, a direct contrast to the disco and punk music being produced in the late 1970s. Obvious early influences were Bartók and Stravinsky however the band also cited less well known composers such as Albert Huybrechts, who was also Belgian._

Here's an American group in a similar vein that is also way out there - Birdsongs of the Mesozoic"





_
The music of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is almost entirely instrumental, and incorporates many different musical elements; critic Rick Anderson writes, "Very few bands have ever managed to straddle the worlds of modern classical music and rock as successfully as this one did." [1] In his liner notes for their Beat of the Mesozoic EP, Boston rock critic Eric Van dubbed them "the world's hardest-rocking chamber music quartet." Another memorable description came from Jim Sullivan of the Boston Globe: "classical-punk-jazz-car-wreck music."_

I have plenty more of this type stuff, but that's enough to send a lot of folks running back to Mozart -- including me after a time.


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## Clancy (Mar 14, 2009)

Iva Bittova:

I can't really find a description that does this Czech artist justice, so I'll just have to have a crack at it. She manages to combine being a one-off vocalist & violinist with a musical style deeply rooted in her homeland. She is far from being everyone's cup of tea, but if you like contemporary vocal music or eastern european folk, do give her a listen - it's very rewarding music.

Iva Bittova performing "Sto Let"[Hundred Years]

"Uspavanka"

"Sirka v louži" with Vladimir Vaclavek

Fred Frith/ Iva Bittová/ Pavel Fajt "Morning Song"


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

I have personally seen Hekla, it really is an imposing omen of doom, very impressive!

I would add the composer Reicha, Im not quite sure how well known he is around here. He was a lifelong friend of Beethoven most famous for his wood-wind quintets, he wrote many (many) of these. The reason Ive included him in this discussion of people who did their own thing is because he was one of the first composers to use a lot of time signature changes (classical period obviously). I dont just mean halve the bar length to add a tiny bit of music - I mean serious time changes everywhere and some rather odd ones too. At least he manages to make the music sound fluent enough to disguise the changes unless you were really paying attention.

Examples:

(actually there arent really any good ones on youtube)


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