The recent passing of experimental sonic pioneer Pauline Oliveros this past November has us once again questioning the nature of music and sound, as well as the role of instruments and musicians in the creation process. With that said, this amazing new 2xLP compilation I Said No Doctors!, due out January 18th via Dymaxion Groove, really grabbed us. Though Oliveros is not included in the collection, the project does feature a host of current and past innovators challenging notions of conventional instrumentation.
Look for the double album to contain work from artists like David Grubbs (Gastr del Sol, Bastro, Squirrel Bait, The Red Crayola), playing an alligator-clip prepared guitar on “Awkward Silences I Have Known“, Dan Deacon, using a MIDI-triggered acoustic grand piano on “Opal Toad Segment“, and Jad Fair, playing a prepared guitar in which the neck attaches to the body using a system of rubber bands on “Big Boots“–to name just a few of the artists on the upcoming release. The record will also feature a track called “The Mist” from Silver Apples’ Simeon Coxe. Dymaxion Groove founder Tom Tolleson, who can also be found on the album playing a prepared Fender Jazzmaster on the cut “Kosciuszko“, had this to say about Coxe via Tiny Mix Tapes:
“I’ve been a fan of Silver Apples for years and saw Simeon Coxe play live in the 90s. Watching him play the oscillators of the instrument…how strange the thing sounded…really floored me. He describes it as “a work in progress. A changing array of oscillators and sampled oscillator sounds run through triggers and an ever-changing array of effects circuits and pedals.” He adjusts it to each tour based on the material he’s performing. I found out Simeon lives in the same small town as my uncle and I reached out to him to see if he’d join the record. As otherworldly as The Simeon instrument is, its namesake is a really down-to-earth great guy”.
The Simeon is definitely an instrument to behold, and in the video for “The Mist” above, you can watch as he plays his rigged collection of bench oscillators, sound filters, telegraph keys and radio parts. The result is a resonant soup of drone and filtered rhythms narrated by Coxe in a hushed whisper as he muses on the coming mist and fog. Much like Oliveros, the musician has long been an innovator, and while their particular projects reside in quite different realms, Coxe’s inclusion on I Said No Doctors! is important because his electronic work helped pave new routes of music-making for rock-n-roll. Likewise, the musicians included here have sought wildly inventive methods for interfacing their instruments, even when they play more standard versions like piano and guitar, and the result promises to be a thrilling celebration of music and sound ripe for your next deep listening.
