Robert Ashley — Automatic Writing
The fortysix minute piece was Ashley’s first attempt at a new type of storytelling music for new media. A concept that he later developed into his Operas for television. On Automatic writing there are four characters. Two are vocal and two are instrumental. The structure and atmosphere of the work bridges gaps between a whole array of genres and styles being developed at the time. Minimalism, ambient, synthesizer music, all inform, and are informed by Automatic writing. The first of the four characters in the Opera is the close miked male voice. The voice (mostly recorded by Ashley himself) utters only random involuntary speech, this is also further mutated by the use of electronics. There is also a female French translation of the male voice, this is the second character. The two other characters are composed of an electric organ and a polymoog synthesizer. The instrumental parts are intentionally mixed so low that it sounds as if they were playing in another room. The prominent sounds being the weird male and female voices. The inherent theory behind Automatic writing is more than a little abstract. Ashley has commented that in this work the characters are represented by sounds and that the sounds themselves conjure the images of the characters in the minds of those who listen. Thus an actual narrative is not necessary. The listener forms the narrative themselves through what Ashley describes as the sounds “Magical Function”. Although this may seem a bit odd the truth is Automatic Writing has a presence that is for me unique in electronic music. It melds with the environment and is never anything but engaging and ethereal. Steve Stapleton (Of Nurse with wound) who produced his own version of the piece described it as the only music he could listen to while taking LSD that wouldn’t send him paranoid and insane. Although Stapleton’s versions lacks the structural theory of the original , the inherent soothing nature of the sounds is universal. Ashley produced many other wonderful Operas but this remains the most rewarding.
The Lovely Music CD of Automatic Writing also comes with two other works, both employing text speak. The first Purposeful lady slow afternoon is a very unnerving piece that is basically a monologue of a woman describing a sexual experience. It’s not exactly explicit, but the implied menace and violence is at times very uncomfortable. The backing music is again minimal, using bells, static and grinding, groaning noises. The second track She was a visitor has the title repeated over and over by a male voice while a mass of dark foreboding drones, and processed voices mass all around. Dark stuff all round.