Mnemonists
Musique Actuelle 1990
*2023 stock* 'This rare live appearance of the reclusive Biota collective was recorded in 1990 at Montreal Musiques Actuelles in Quebec, Canada. Although the performance has its moments, overall it serves as a reminder that Biota, at their best, were and are a studio creation that owe much of their magic to the electro-acoustic alchemy of founding members Mark Derbyshire and especially William Sharp. The group makes a valiant attempt to capture the dense, disorienting studio processing in the li…
Gyromancy
Mnemonists eventually evolved into the incredible Biota band. Before they did they released a series of LPs, including the art work that surrounds and informs their approach to improvisation. As Mnemonists their work is darker and more ominous than that of Biota, but the process was still the same: post-processing live improvisation to construct larger works that stood on their own two feet as compositional pieces. Think AMM, Organum, Faust; Mnemonists embraced their strategies but created somet…
Horde
The 1981 electro-acoustic electronic classic by the group that morphed into Biota. Their 3rd album & their first true classic, which is a high-water mark of churning sonic storms. The first release by the Mnemonists to be reissued on CD & one of their finest works overall. Based in Fort Collins, CO, the Mnemonists gave modern American experimental music a good name in the early 80s as they dug themselves out of the trenches of post-industrial alignment. Ultra-detailed processing, beautiful graph…