The Well​-​Tuned Piano in the Magenta Lights cover

The Well​-​Tuned Piano in the Magenta Lights

Released

La Monte Young’s evening-length piano improvisation creates a bewitching sense of alternative space. This effect is accomplished through Young’s otherworldly piano tuning, which privileges a set of harmonies far removed from those typically available on a modern piano. Despite the arcane tuning and forbidding length, the surface of the piece is surprisingly easy to inhabit. Young’s musical ideas are consistently lucid, and the piece maintains a fantastical sense of adventure. So many foreshadowings of the of the ’60s musical culture to come can be heard here: Steve Reich’s pulses, John Cale’s viola drones, quests for transcendence.

Sean Wood

Recommended by

Suggestions
G2, 44+/x2 cover

G2, 44+/x2

Phill Niblock
Away with You cover

Away with You

Mary Halvorson Octet
Litanies of Satan cover

Litanies of Satan

Diamanda Galás
Santuerio cover

Santuerio

Marilyn Crispell
The Psyche cover

The Psyche

Revolutionary Ensemble
Lovers cover

Lovers

Nels Cline
Code Girl cover

Code Girl

Mary Halvorson
Linda Catlin Smith: Dark Flower cover

Linda Catlin Smith: Dark Flower

Thin Edge New Music Collective
Les Stances à Sophie cover

Les Stances à Sophie

Art Ensemble of Chicago
Instrumentals cover

Instrumentals

Arthur Russell