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10.08.2007, 01:05 PM

ANGUS MACLISE: MASTER OF SYNTHESIS
by René van der Voort

There is a story that when the Velvet Underground got an offer for their first paid gig, Angus MacLise reacted by saying: "You mean we start when they tell us to and we have to end when they tell us to? I can't work that way." After which he left.
It might be a myth but it shows a glimpse of the person he was, a true free spirit and a highly individual multitalented artist. Appearing in and out of a set of creative environments, never staying long enough to get noticed by a broader public. A well kept secret whose genius was only recently revealed, in part, through a string of excellent CD's on the Quakebasket/Siltbreeze label.
However, as early as 1988, Fierce Records (an independent label dealing mostly in loonies like Sky Saxon and Charles Manson) released a single by Angus. The Trance 7" was wrapped in a fantasy package, included were a chocolate bar, incense, rolling paper and an order form for fake memorabilia. On the record was an excerpt of Angus' comment on an Indian ceremony. Sadly Fierce blew it all by stating in an interview with Strange Things Magazine: "He used to record a lot of stuff but unfortunately most of it was quite boring. Our record is everything you want to listen to."
How wrong can you be?
Most people first heard of Angus MacLise because of his connection with the Velvet Underground. Further investigation reveals that he also has been a founding member of the Theatre of Eternal Music, worked in multimedia and the Fluxus movement, designed his own calligraphy, was a mystical poet, an actor, publisher, bookshop owner and world traveller.
MacLise was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on March 4, 1938. At school he developed an interest in music, especially percussion and took lessons in Latin drumming. He studied jazz technique, medieval European dance music and free form percussion.
During his schooldays he befriended the poet Piero Heliczer with whom he moved to Paris in the late fifties to establish the Dead Language Press. They published Angus' early poetry: Imprimatur 1281 and Straight Farthest Blood Towards.
The composer LaMonte Young found a copy of the letter and was immediately fascinated by the quality of the carefully constructed poetry. A well-directed stream of consciousness with surrealistic overtones.
When Angus returned to the States he was invited to play in the LaMonte Young Trio besides working at a number of Fluxus events with Yoko Ono, Composer Henry Flynt and "chance" poet Jackson MacLow.
In 1962 the Dead Language Press (now located in New York) issued a new publication by Angus, the calendar poem Year. It provided new names to each of the 365 days, a work of fiction that offered a different way of thinking about everyday life and was used by some artists to date their work.
He participated in the upcoming underground film scene. Cheap 8 mm material became available and made it easier for aspiring young filmmakers to shoot their often drug-induced exotic dream movies using friends as actors.
Angus appeared in many films, most notably the ones by Piero Heliczer. Autumn Feast, for which he also helped with the soundtrack, Venus in Furs with music by the embryonic Velvet Underground and Joan of Arc, which Cahiers du Cinema called: "The homemade movie of the Superstars." Ira Cohen, Gerard Malanga, Rene Ricard, Jack Smith, Charles Henri Ford, Tuli Kupferberg and many others all took part in this fantasy that combined the revolution in the Arts at the time with the issues of the Vietnam war.
Besides acting Angus worked on soundtracks for Jerry Jofen, who had the unhappy habit of destroying most of his creations as soon as they were finished, and made the score for Chumlum by Ron Rice. His hypnotic improvisations on the cembalum, that seemed to go on forever, formed the perfect backdrop for the Arabian nights vision of a psychedelic palace brothel in the movie. The cembalum, a stringed instrument to be played with sticks, was also used for some of his later scores of films by Gerard Malanga, Don Snyder and Jonas Mekas with whom he worked in 1966 on the movie Notes on the Circus. By accident the music was erased so we will never know what it sounded like.
For awhile Angus played live with LaMonte Young in front of the screenings at the Filmmakers Cinematheque but most of the time they held endless rehearsals at their Lower East Side apartment. The group took off when next door neighbour (and future partner of LaMonte) Marian Zazeela joined on vocals bringing in Billy Linich (later Billy Name, of Warhol/Factory fame) on guitar.
Angus organised a successful series of concerts at the 10-4 Gallery in Manhattan. Using light projections they played a slow interpretation of Indian drone music with a mastery of natural harmonics and just intonation at an ear crushing volume. Among the enthusiastic onlookers was violinist Tony Conrad who was asked to join the group now called the Theatre of Eternal Music. When Linich left he was replaced by the young Welsh musician John Cale, a classically trained viola player and Xenakis scholar.
With his amplified viola he added an extra dimension to the sustained meditative drones on saxophone, strings and hand drums.

Find the rest here: http://www.blastitude.com/13/ETERNITY/angus_maclise.htm
http://www.greengroceries.net/

10.08.2007, 01:05 PM	#181
sarramkrop Posts: n/a	ANGUS MACLISE: MASTER OF SYNTHESIS by René van der Voort There is a story that when the Velvet Underground got an offer for their first paid gig, Angus MacLise reacted by saying: "You mean we start when they tell us to and we have to end when they tell us to? I can't work that way." After which he left. It might be a myth but it shows a glimpse of the person he was, a true free spirit and a highly individual multitalented artist. Appearing in and out of a set of creative environments, never staying long enough to get noticed by a broader public. A well kept secret whose genius was only recently revealed, in part, through a string of excellent CD's on the Quakebasket/Siltbreeze label. However, as early as 1988, Fierce Records (an independent label dealing mostly in loonies like Sky Saxon and Charles Manson) released a single by Angus. The Trance 7" was wrapped in a fantasy package, included were a chocolate bar, incense, rolling paper and an order form for fake memorabilia. On the record was an excerpt of Angus' comment on an Indian ceremony. Sadly Fierce blew it all by stating in an interview with Strange Things Magazine: "He used to record a lot of stuff but unfortunately most of it was quite boring. Our record is everything you want to listen to." How wrong can you be? Most people first heard of Angus MacLise because of his connection with the Velvet Underground. Further investigation reveals that he also has been a founding member of the Theatre of Eternal Music, worked in multimedia and the Fluxus movement, designed his own calligraphy, was a mystical poet, an actor, publisher, bookshop owner and world traveller. MacLise was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on March 4, 1938. At school he developed an interest in music, especially percussion and took lessons in Latin drumming. He studied jazz technique, medieval European dance music and free form percussion. During his schooldays he befriended the poet Piero Heliczer with whom he moved to Paris in the late fifties to establish the Dead Language Press. They published Angus' early poetry: Imprimatur 1281 and Straight Farthest Blood Towards. The composer LaMonte Young found a copy of the letter and was immediately fascinated by the quality of the carefully constructed poetry. A well-directed stream of consciousness with surrealistic overtones. When Angus returned to the States he was invited to play in the LaMonte Young Trio besides working at a number of Fluxus events with Yoko Ono, Composer Henry Flynt and "chance" poet Jackson MacLow. In 1962 the Dead Language Press (now located in New York) issued a new publication by Angus, the calendar poem Year. It provided new names to each of the 365 days, a work of fiction that offered a different way of thinking about everyday life and was used by some artists to date their work. He participated in the upcoming underground film scene. Cheap 8 mm material became available and made it easier for aspiring young filmmakers to shoot their often drug-induced exotic dream movies using friends as actors. Angus appeared in many films, most notably the ones by Piero Heliczer. Autumn Feast, for which he also helped with the soundtrack, Venus in Furs with music by the embryonic Velvet Underground and Joan of Arc, which Cahiers du Cinema called: "The homemade movie of the Superstars." Ira Cohen, Gerard Malanga, Rene Ricard, Jack Smith, Charles Henri Ford, Tuli Kupferberg and many others all took part in this fantasy that combined the revolution in the Arts at the time with the issues of the Vietnam war. Besides acting Angus worked on soundtracks for Jerry Jofen, who had the unhappy habit of destroying most of his creations as soon as they were finished, and made the score for Chumlum by Ron Rice. His hypnotic improvisations on the cembalum, that seemed to go on forever, formed the perfect backdrop for the Arabian nights vision of a psychedelic palace brothel in the movie. The cembalum, a stringed instrument to be played with sticks, was also used for some of his later scores of films by Gerard Malanga, Don Snyder and Jonas Mekas with whom he worked in 1966 on the movie Notes on the Circus. By accident the music was erased so we will never know what it sounded like. For awhile Angus played live with LaMonte Young in front of the screenings at the Filmmakers Cinematheque but most of the time they held endless rehearsals at their Lower East Side apartment. The group took off when next door neighbour (and future partner of LaMonte) Marian Zazeela joined on vocals bringing in Billy Linich (later Billy Name, of Warhol/Factory fame) on guitar. Angus organised a successful series of concerts at the 10-4 Gallery in Manhattan. Using light projections they played a slow interpretation of Indian drone music with a mastery of natural harmonics and just intonation at an ear crushing volume. Among the enthusiastic onlookers was violinist Tony Conrad who was asked to join the group now called the Theatre of Eternal Music. When Linich left he was replaced by the young Welsh musician John Cale, a classically trained viola player and Xenakis scholar. With his amplified viola he added an extra dimension to the sustained meditative drones on saxophone, strings and hand drums. Find the rest here: http://www.blastitude.com/13/ETERNITY/angus_maclise.htm http://www.greengroceries.net/
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