"Blue" Gene Tyranny

http://www.oodiscs.com/oo64.html (good bio)
http://www.lovely.com/artists/a-tyranny.html (love the Kyle Gann & Laurie Anderson comments)
http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0351,gann,49532,22.html (early 60's, involved in ONCE Festival under his real name Robert Sheff)
http://www.i94bar.com/ints/primemovers.html (Tyranny was in a rock band with Iggy Pop called the Prime Movers in the late 60's)

active in music for 20 years before his debut -- goes a long way towards explaining why there's so much going on with that record

http://www.disquiet.com/downstream-past5.html#d20060221-bgt

That's a real good book, sir.
I used to have a copy, too - until a friend borrowed it, sometime in the last century.

new packaging for the reissue looks nice, though I will always be fond of the original. too bad it isn't being reissued by Lovely, although Lovely doesn't seem to be doing much beyond keeping pace with the new Ashley operas by this point.

Yeah, I wish Lovely would reissue more of their back catalogue. Particularly some Ashley we've discussed before, and also Tom Johnson's Nine Bells, and probably other things slipping my mind.

looks like i'll have to hunt down that out of the blue.

theres also a great interview with him in that 'talking music' book by william duckworth. which i highly reccommend.

http://www.glasspages.org/talking.html

http://www.archive.org/details/BobSheffOTG

if you like Ashley (and the chord sequences & keyboard playing Tyranny contributed to Private Parts, Perfect Lives, The Bar, Music Word Fire & Atalanta, Yellow Man With Heart With Wings i.e. most of Ashley's best records), then you need Out of the Blue for side two alone, and "Next Time Might be Your Time"... should have been a hit

The Intermediary & Free Delivery are the best examples of his solo piano playing, with brief stretches of abstract electronic sound showing up at utterly unexpected moments. He doesn't veer from Thelonius Monk to Charles Ives & maybe Gershwin as much as sound like all American styles at once -- bizarre combination of post-Cage new music and the best lounge piano player you've ever heard, total chaos and then a chord comes out of nowhere that's inexplicably moving.

the final track on Free Delivery, "Sunrise or Sunset in Texas", you really just kind of have to hear it, it's profound.

Country Boy Country Dog: How to Discover Music in the Sounds of Your Daily Life -- two tracks of primitive, spaced out, muted electronic drones recorded at Mills College during the 70's, a fragmented collage of 60's field recordings made in kitchens, backyards, neighborhoods, daily life, and two beautiful sweeping pieces of chamber music. Really, really love this record.

Go, Blue is a live record of a concert -- a student orchestra playing arrangements from his unreleased opera "The Driver's Son". Room recording. I think it needs a better performance and I'm not 100% on some of the synth sounds, but there's some great piano playing and this must have been a great concert. Hearing some of Tyranny's scored melodies played by an ensemble is interesting in context with his improvised piano playing. Worth hunting down once you get OOTB / FD / CBCD.

a few years ago he put out another solo piano record, Take Your Time. this one could throw some people -- it throws me -- all the chaos and confusing flurries are gone, leaving just the sentimental moments. I miss the surprises, but there's a nice 10 minute improv on the themes from side two of Out of the Blue.

just out last year was Formations, with Philip Krumm -- flat out noise record. hissy field recordings of microwave noises recorded at the South Pole mixed in with a brutal, ring-modulated & overdriven recording of Tyranny at the piano playing Krumm's score -- the two recordings were made in 1968, but I think they were overlaid recently. It's good, the sounds themselves remind me of Mimaroglu (that ring-mod) but the pacing reminds me more of late 80's Asmus Tietchens. http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3004

short version: Out of the Blue / Free Delivery / Country Boy Country Dog, & everything with Robert Ashley

http://www.lovely.com/covers/4529501061.jpg

Yet another reason to buy a record player.

CBCD has roots in a cassette-only release which I seem to have lost, but I remember it as being a lot different, more raw use of field recordings, less modern production overall. It was released by Fun Music, which also released music by Phil Perkins among others. I think it'd be nearly impossible to find any of the label's non-vinyl releases around, but the internets make many unlikely things possible.

There was also a compilation, I think produced by Peter Gordon, called Music from Antarctica, that includes a solo track called The World's Greatest Piano Player". I wold have forgotten about this disc if not for a recent entry on Brian Olewnick's blog Just Outside:

Most of the Lovely LPs were some kind of licensing deals; the rights for the old releases belong to the original composer/performer. Any re-issues on or off the label would be based on newly negotiated deals.

& for what it's worth, Tom Johnson's Nine Bells came out on India Navigation. Cause Phill Niblock has subsequently released the tracks that were on his discs from India Navigation, I assume these LPs were also licensing deals. It would be great to have a CD of Nine Bells, but hey...

& here (if I've got the links to work right this time) is the URL for Brian's blog post:
Just Outside

"Blue is very close with Lovely, but some time ago Mimi Johnson let Blue know that OOTB would remain out of print. I can't imagine why exactly, but business is business and sometimes things just don't go the way they should. Mimi has been aware of the reissue from the beginning, as Blue has recently done tours out of the country with Robert Ashley with Mimi accompanying. Blue has been doing some recording of his work recently and for all I know that's intended for a new Lovely release, but for the past couple of years they've almost soley concentrated on Robert Ashley works."

the packaging is great, full lyric sheet. remastering is very bright and sparkly, it sounds good, I'm glad I also have the vinyl.

the CD sounds a lot more bright than the LP at first, but over time it's really grown on me as being more rich, too. there is virtually no bass on the LP, and on the CD it's very present. i'm curious about how people who aren't familiar with the LP react to it.

Blue's next two lps following Out of the Blue (unseenworlds.net) are going to be made into digital re-issues by Lovely shortly (see the note in the "catalog" section of their website lovely.com). I look forward especially to hearing The Intermediaryin digital sound! What a killer piano and electronics record...

just got Out of the Blue from Other Music's digital store. Amazing.

Looking closer, it looks like Peter Gordon's Star Jaws is also up for digital reissue. It's *sort of* the sister record to Out of the Blue in that it was recorded around the same time and has most of the same players. But whereas one might compare Tyranny's record to an Eno, Gordon's is more like a Lou Reed. I hope they do more than just the one's they advertise on their site. I'm guessing the mp3s will be up on iTunes.

fixed links (i hope) and added the digital store mentioned above:

http://www.lovely.com (see the "catalog" section)
http://www.unseenworlds.net (have to browse releases), http://digital.othermusic.com/view/4363

I love the John Bischoff piece on Tyranny's Just For The Record. & I love The Intermediary. And I'm depressed about digital-only releases of these records.

Yeah, I hear that, despite being excited to some degree. If I'm not mistaken, I think they would fit on a single disc...

From Tommy @ Unseen Worlds re: OOTB and Lovely:

"Blue is very close with Lovely, but some time ago Mimi Johnson let Blue know that OOTB would remain out of print. I can't imagine why exactly, but business is business and sometimes things just don't go the way they should. Mimi has been aware of the reissue from the beginning, as Blue has recently done tours out of the country with Robert Ashley with Mimi accompanying. Blue has been doing some recording of his work recently and for all I know that's intended for a new Lovely release, but for the past couple of years they've almost soley concentrated on Robert Ashley works."

-- Dominique (dleone), Friday, 26 January 2007 03:31 (5 months ago) Link

does anyone know the author of the spoken word parts of "a letter from home"? is it by tyranny himself or is it a letter from a friend as milton says?

I always thought it was Tyranny's friend but the 2007 liner notes in the CD make it clear Tyranny wrote the text himself

Saw on FE that the new album is out on Mutable (Tom Buckner's label, I think) The Somewhere Songs/The Invention Of Memory

I'm on the fence about The Somewhere Songs / The Invention of Memory. it's been years of trying but I'm still ambivalent about Thomas Buckner's singing voice, when he's just a member of an Ashley chorus it can be all right but when he's a soloist I lose focus.

I'd forgotten just how amazing The Intermediary is and it's hard to believe it's only making it to CD this month. (It's not the pop music of Out of the Blue, it's a monster 36 minute piano solo recorded at 4 in the morning in 1980 with occasional ghost electronics done on an Apple II mixed in two years later.)

http://www.lovely.com/specials/specials.html

The Intermediary is SOOOOOO GOOOD!!!!!! He'll occasionally just hit these chords that make me shiver/come in my pants.

Someone noted it above (slightly) but I was still a little surprised to see him come up in the Iggy Pop bio I'm reading now, "Open Up And Bleed."

it comes on like a greeting card but before you know it

new album

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6879

New one is seriously great. The electronic setting for the piano on the last track makes me wish it lasted six times as long as it does, though "George Fox Searches" really is the center of gravity for the whole album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISzW6gC8yGU&feature=plcp

I bought a copy of Take Your Time last week. Enjoying that a lot.

http://unseenworlds.net/images/UW07_Web.jpg

love this.

who has a copy of Out of the Blue I can buy?

http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?release_id=787878&ev=rb
http://www.unseenworlds.net/UW01/

I've been listening to this LP a lot lately- anybody know if "Phil Harmonic" is just an alter ego for Blue, or if it's somebody else's cool art name?

http://www.discogs.com/Blue-Gene-Tyranny-Just-For-The-Record/release/788632

"Phil" is Kenneth Werner, played with Sonic Arts Union & Mills grad circa early 70's, has a disc on the Lovely Little Records comp: http://continuo.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/various-lovely-little-records/

The Tyranny disc on that comp is a bizarre electronic setting of a Harvey Milk speech on one side and a tape cut-up collage of media reports on the riots in SF the day he was shot. Its good.

His new album, definitely in my top 5 of new records that came out this year.

I LOVE BLUE GENE.

Out of the Blue is on Spotify...but only the first side. Some bullshit.

great b side

have you heard it yet?

I downloaded a rip of it a few years ago, so yeah, I've heard it. Haven't listened in a while, though.

i'm always interested in milton parker started threads, stealthily the coolest taste on ilm

Out of the Blue is on Spotify...but only the first side. Some bullshit.

i'm always interested in milton parker started threads, stealthily the coolest taste on ilm

i've become a song monogamist with 'next time might be your time'

OUT OF THE BLUE IS A HEROIC ENDEAVOR.

yeah, that's one of my favorite albums lately. i even listen to the lengthy spoken-word piece over and over again.

Steve Bartek from Oingo Boingo plays guitar on Out of the Blue.

Pretty much 'next time might be your time'.

https://vimeo.com/133241147

whoa!

v talented ashtray imo

haven't heard yet but posting this for later: http://wnyu.org/2016-08-24_termiteterrace

was just personally recommended this by max tundra. it is...excellent, and near-impossible to figure out

this = out of the blue, obv

OUT OF THE BLUE IS A HEROIC ENDEAVOR.

― scott seward, Saturday, November 28, 2015 4:31 AM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the Steve Reinke video "Squeezing Sorrow From An Ashtray", has mysteriously been made private since I posted it two years ago, but it's also turned up at the link below, and of course the ashtray music is Tyranny's "Sunrise or Sunset in Texas"

http://www.desorg.org/titols/021-squeezing-sorrow-from-an-ashtray-the-100-videos/

Why doesn't Next Time Might Be Your Time win every single 'best song ever' poll?

like, the guy released one, ONE 70s pop song, just one, because he only needed one

omg the 'trust in rock' 1976 concert has just been released!!

https://unseenworlds.bandcamp.com/album/trust-in-rock

Will have to get on that. I was marinating in detours yesterday & felt very good for it. george fox searches is magnificent

holy shit i had no idea this existed and it's blowing my mind. for years i've been like "damn i wish there were more songs like next time might be your time," and without warning is EXACTLY that, plus the sickest minimalist prog jam

On The Other Hand is going to some fairly excellent places too :)

Man the second half of this is amazing too! All the Kathy Acker stuff is killer

Alas

Rest in Power “Blue” Gene Tyranny. 1945-2020. https://t.co/TShbUCwCyV pic.twitter.com/ocstaRtGMS

— Unseen Worlds (@Unseen_Worlds) December 12, 2020

RIP

:(

RIP. I just happened to receive Country Boy Country Dog in the post yesterday. A sad coincidence. I will be playing Take Your Time and that in his honour.

RIP, just discovered and fell in love with “without warning” this year

Next Time Might Be Your Time on repeat all day

Why doesn't Next Time Might Be Your Time win every single 'best song ever' poll?

― imago, Monday, November 19, 2018 4:18 AM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

It's a really hard song to stop listening to.

This one hurts! First 2020 death to get to me - miss you already, Blue. Gonna spin Out of the Blue and maybe revisit Robert Ashley’s Perfect Lives to pay respect to the world’s greatest piano player!

i listened to Out Of The Blue in full earlier after hearing this, NTMBYT just loaded with unspeakable amounts of pathos

Yeah huh NTMBYT really might be one of the best songs of the 70’s

Raising a glass ("we don't serve fine wine in half pints, Buddy") in memory of "Blue" while watching the boogie woogie piano lessons: http://ubuvideo.memoryoftheworld.org/Ashley-Robert_Perfect-Lives_4_The-Bar-Differences.mp4

thanks for sharing that.

what a week. friend MCS just texted me 'why god hate piano players'. I still have my Budd CDs on the listening table. they go mysteriously well with the Tyranny stack; it actually took a lot of courage to write music this shamelessly pretty

I hear Tyranny finalized track choices for a six disc set of mostly live recordings still in the pipeline.

going backwards chronological. 'The Intermediary' hit really really hard today.

RIP. We're not attached or separate in space.

Of course he was five when out of the blue he started to speak Polish and recall his past lives.

Never listened to this record until yesterday.

Said leave all that history behind

Missed this and just noticed with the six back to back tracks on Jesse Dorris' Polyglot this morning - RIP

https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/blue-gene-tyranny-1945-2020
which links to
https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/35016/page/37

The recording of "Leading a Double Life" on "Trust in Rock" is one of the most frustrating recordings I've ever listened to. It has all the potential to be as great as the version on "Out of the Blue" but it's underrehearsed or something - you can hear the singer struggling to keep time with the band. But in spite of the frustration I keep listening because it's such a moving song nonetheless.

That said, the "Trust in Rock" version of "Next Time Might Be Your Time" is so good that all is forgiven.

RIP Blue "Gene". "Out of the Blue" is up there in the pantheon.

And "Private Parts", a contender for my favourite recording of anything by anyone, couldn't have existed without him.

Unseen Worlds has just announced a six CD box set

https://unseenworlds.bandcamp.com/album/degrees-of-freedom-found

ah ned this is great thank you for writing it

https://thequietus.com/articles/30056-blue-gene-tyranny-review

stuffed to overflowing, and kind of impossible to climb on top of -- each of Tyranny's albums is just as schizophrenic, you never knew exactly what you were you going to get but whenever he put out something new you knew it'd be 'an album' with a through-line. and this... schizoid, total compilation resetting the clock with a new totally different thing every 5-15 minutes. all the mid-length compositions or one-offs that would have disrupted the flow of any single disc album, well here's six discs worth of them. it takes some focus and parsing, but like all his stuff the best instants hit you without warning

the main thing is finally getting a full performance of his opera, 'The Driver's Son', the one everyone always mentioned as his best thing, and which of course he'd never released (except in excerpts, without the vocals). Tyranny's so integral to Ashley's best operas, so if you've ever wondered why he never seemed to follow up 'A Letter From Home' with something on a larger scale, well this is it. I sure wish there could have been a studio version -- this version's compiled from two live performances in a very self-conscious way (I've heard the work was very different on different nights, so in a way the splice makes a kind of sense beyond presenting an 'ideal' version). it's totally trance inducing music with a stream of consciousness anti-narrative over the top with the occasional completely impossible sentence, the opera is the thing at the center of this box

Can’t read right now but looks great, thanks.

it is indeed a fine write-up. will tackle the full release at some point soon :)

ah ned this is great thank you for writing it

You're most welcome of course. I was taking a bit of a leap writing about areas where my familiarity is less than others, but I'm glad to know via your comments and others I've heard it read well.

*bump*

i've got this set sitting on my desk but haven't found the right headspace to dig in. beautiful box design tho!