Label: The state51 Conspiracy

なんと米実験界の重鎮David Tudorの音源が収録されています。。。2023年激重要物件!!1969年の秋、モーグ・モジュラーシステム及びテープ マシンを持ち込んだ米実験界の重鎮David Tudorのサポートもと、インドのデザイン学校NID内に設立されたインド初の電子音楽スタジオ。本作は1969年から1972年に掛けこのスタジオで録音された、初期インドの電子音楽の発掘アーカイブを纏めた激ヤバな2LP作。1940年代にニューヨークでジョン・ケージに師事していたGita Sarabhai、初めてモーグ・シンセサイザーで作曲をした若き建築学生(当時僅か19歳)Jinraj Joshipuraなど、西洋とインドの前衛文化が融合した興味深い初期楽曲が網羅されており、なんとそのコレクションの中から発見されたというDavid Tudorの初出音源も収録!!2LP仕様ですが、DサイドはNIDの関係者であるShreya Auroraのエッチングを施した大変カッコイイ仕様となっています。お見逃しなく。





Beautifully made double vinyl LP of this unique and important release featuring the earliest electronic music ever made in India.

The black and white sleeve and inners feature archive photos of the composers at the NID and comes within a poly outer printed on both sides.

The first 3 sides contain the music, the 4th features an etching created by Shreya Aurora, a recent graduate from the National Institute of Design where these recordings were created 60 years ago.

The NID Tapes’ presents a collection of early Indian electronic music uncovered at the archives of the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. Recorded between 1969-1972 the compilation chronicles electronic works from the previously unknown Indian composers Gita Sarabhai, I.S. Mathur, Atul Desai, S.C. Sharma and Jinraj Joshipura who worked at the nation’s first electronic music studio founded at the NID during the utopian years following India’s independence - a radical period of visionary experimentation and artistic free-thought.

The studio was founded with support from the New York composer David Tudor who personally set up a Moog modular system and tape machine in the autumn of 1969, and The NID Tapes also includes an excerpt from Tudor’s work discovered amongst the collection of tapes. The release developed from a long-term research project by the British artist and electronic musician Paul Purgas who travelled to Ahmedabad over many years to explore the origins of electronic music in India. This resulted in the discovery of the electronic music archive at the NID and its eventual restoration and digitising, which featured in the acclaimed BBC radio documentary Electronic India.

The compilation presents excerpts from the 27 reels of archive tape spanning the three years of the studio's operational history, showcasing work from the pioneering electronic composers which included the musician and poet Atul Desai, NID teachers and technicians I.S. Mathur and S.C. Sharma, Gita Sarabhai who had previously studied with John Cage in New York in the 1940's and the young architecture student Jinraj Joshipura who was just 19 years old at the time of first composing with the Moog synthesiser. The audio showcases their various visions for electronic music production, exploring analogue synthesis, tape collages, voice experiments and field recordings revealing a meeting point of Western and Indian avant-garde traditions, and offering a unique insight into South Asia’s post-colonial sonic imaginary. The vinyl and digital is a collaborative release by Strange Attractor Press and State51 and has been mastered by Hari Shankar Kishore (HVAD) with design for the release and a vinyl etching created by Shreya Aurora a recent graduate from the National Institute of Design.

Launching at the same time through Strange Attractor Press will also be a book titled ‘Subcontinental Synthesis: Electronic Music at the National Institute of Design, India 1969–1972’. Edited by Paul Purgas this collection of critical essays will reflect on the larger cultural and political dialogues surrounding the studio and will feature an audio CD of The NID Tapes as well as written contributions by Geeta Dayal, You Nakai, Rahila Haque and Jinraj Joshipura - the last surviving composer from the NID.