Trilogie de la Mort (Trilogy on Death) cover

Trilogie de la Mort (Trilogy on Death)

Released

“Trilogy on Death” sounds like the title of a late ’60s European horror movie, or maybe a set of dungeon synth cassettes, but these three works, each running between 50 and 60 minutes and created between 1985 and 1993 using Radigue’s beloved ARP 2500 synthesizer, are neither terrifying nor particularly morbid or gloomy. In fact, they shimmer with life. As so often with Radigue’s music, transitions are present but they’re so gradual that you never feel like anything has changed; it seems as though the music has always been hissing and humming in exactly this way, and the high-pitched wavering tones that preceded the current staticky low-end rumble are like something you dreamed the night before. An overtly melodic passage can be heard partway through “Kaema,” but only through one speaker, and it’s muffled, like something your neighbor is listening to, not you.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
Pathways & Passages cover

Pathways & Passages

Cosmic Vibrations, Dwight Trible
Wisdom of Elders cover

Wisdom of Elders

Shabaka & the Ancestors
World Construct cover

World Construct

Matthew Shipp Trio
Birth & Rebirth cover

Birth & Rebirth

Max Roach, Anthony Braxton
Fanfare for the Warriors cover

Fanfare for the Warriors

Art Ensemble of Chicago
The Melodic Line cover

The Melodic Line

Vincent Courtois, Reverso, Frank Woeste, Ryan Keberle
Halo cover

Halo

Bill Laswell, Andy Hawkins, Azonic
Private Parts cover

Private Parts

Robert Ashley
Way of the Cairns cover

Way of the Cairns

Patrick Cornelius
Kulma cover

Kulma

Pan Sonic
Songs of Milarepa cover

Songs of Milarepa

Éliane Radigue