(Soundtrack, Experimental, New Age) Kat Epple & Bob Stohl (Emerald Web) - Sanctus Spiritus - 2013, MP3, 320 kbps

Очередная драгоценная находка от известного винилового коллекционера Andy Votel'a: компилятивное саундскейп-полотно, потрясающие творения супружеской пары Кэт Эппл и Боба Стола из далёкой Флориды 1978 года - космические нью-эйдж пьесы для Планетария, эмбиент-озвучки для лекций Карла Сагана и теплые прог-спейс саундтреки; пионеры diy-электроники, одни из первых новаторов, совместивших в домашней студии звучание акустических и электронных инструментов - Arp 2600, Mini Moog, EML Synkey, Roland RS202 String Ensemble и Electro-Harmonix Vocoder, а также целый набор различных деревянных духовых инструментов (включая гибридную флейту-синтезатор, Lyricon I изобретенную композитором Биллом Бернарди, и создавших уникальные, мечтательно-релаксивные симфонии и газообразные пасторали.

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Another precious find from Andy Votel’s impeccable Dead-Cert imprint, Kat Epple & Bob Stohl made music for Carl Sagan, composed sound pieces for Planetariums and scored nature documentaries in the early 80’s. Most of their recordings were only ever released on private edition tape, with this selection hand-picked by Andy Votel, remastered and cut by Matt Colton and available on vinyl for the first time ever. Operating in Florida from 1978 until Bob’s untimely passing in 1989 at the age of 34, the husband/wife duo were among the first to blend synthesisers and acoustic instrumentation in a home studio equipped with a variety of early synths and instruments. As lovers and collaborators, the couple created a rich and vivid parallel dimension of new age music borne from the ‘70s prog scene and probably best referred to as “Space Music”. Throughout their unfortunately curtailed career the couple earned a noble crust creating music and mood-pieces for nature programmes, most notably for the legendary Sagan, under the Emerald Web aegis (expect to hear more of this on Finders Keepers later on this year) while continuing to issue numerous tapes to friends and fellow musicians. Following contact with Kat Epple - who still plays concerts at venues ranging from MoMA to Ground Zero - Dead-Cert were made privy to Kat and Bob’s private tapes, drawing for five pieces ranging from brooding deep space scapes to shimmering, gaseous sonics and impressionistic sound murals streaked with progressive traits and an alien, yet pastoral nature. Recorded using an Arp 2600, Mini Moog, EML Synkey, Roland RS202 String Ensemble and Electro-Harmonix Vocoder, plus a range of woodwind (both Kat and Bob were trained flautists, making colourful use of Bill Bernardi’s innovative Lyricon I, a hybrid flute/synthesiser) with some guitar assists here and there by friend and co-composer, Barry Cleveland. Their music is rich and unapolagetically tethered to the Space-Age iconography of their age, the result being a warm and often highly unusual hybrid of Kosmische and Prog signatures, quite distinct from the more austere variants more recently associated with the era.

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Extant in Florida from 1978 until Bob’s untimely passing in 1989 at the age of 34, the husband/wife duo were among the first to DIY blend synthesisers and acoustic instrumentation in a studio equipped with Arp 2600, Mini Moog, EML Synkey, Roland RS202 String Ensemble and Electro-Harmonix Vocoder (audio processor), plus a range of woodwind – both Kat and Bob were trained flautists, making colourful use of Bill Bernardi’s innovative Lyricon I, a hybrid flute/synthesiser – with some guitar assists here and there by friend and co-composer, Barry Cleveland.
As lovers and collaborators, the couple created a rich and vivid parallel dimension of new age music borne from the ‘70s prog scene and probably best referred to as “Space Music”. Throughout their unfortunately curtailed career the couple earned a noble crust creating music and mood-pieces for planetariums and nature programmes, most notably for the legendary Carl Sagan, under the Emerald Web aegis (expect to hear more of this on Finders Keepers later on this year) while continuing to issue numerous tapes to friends and fellow musicians. Following contact with Kat Epple – who still plays concerts at venues ranging from MoMA to Ground Zero – Dead-Cert were made privy to Kat and Bob’s private tapes circa 1980-1982, drawing for five pieces ranging from brooding deep space scapes to shimmering, gaseous sonics and impressionistic sound murals streaked with progressive traits and an alien, yet pastoral nature.