Eliane Radigue — Chry-ptus

The idea of electronic pieces on multiple speakers is excellent in the case of liveperformances and installations, but to translate these things to the homesituation often is slightly troublesome.

This double-cd offers Chry-ptus I and Chry-ptus II on two separate discs, with the intention to play simultaniously on two stereosets. In 1971 three versions of this piece were performed at the New York Cultural Center on the Buchla Synthesizer as her debut. With variations of amplitude, location modulation and synchronisation. With these parameters the listener with proper equipment is free to emulate. Personally I don't have two stereos, but I've concocted a compromise for myself by mixing the two into a stereo mix, one slightly towards the left, the other to the right. I might remix once more after digesting the two versions I did a bit, but the differences almost very subtle. The piece is about 24 minutes and consists of a soothing and mysterious drone, with uneven cyclical events to subtly hint at rhythm, slowly shapeshifting by plays with interference between the frequencies. Over the course the tone changes from subdued and low to more vibrant and high. There's lots of detail in the sound to enjoy.

The pieces are quite enjoyable separately (half of the piece is definitely better than half as good) but for those without such equipment the cd provides two stereo versions as well, one realised by Radigue herself in 2001 in Paris, as well as one (on disc 2) by electronic artist Giuseppe Ielasi in 2006 in Milano. Painter Paul Jenkins who did the artwork also wrote a poem on the occasion of Eliane Radigue's first performance in New York, which can be found in the booklet. All in all an excellent package (limited to 1000 copies) for a beautiful piece, rich and subtle as we've grown accustomed to by the grand old lady of drone.