Photek/Denis Smalley Fusion & Stupid Pierre Henry Assumption

Here's a fun game you can all play at home. Select 'Chanson De Geste' by Denis Smalley (it's on the Pulses Of Time album, in case you forgot, and I'm sure that's unlikely considering your almost autistic ability to recall every single file stored on the computer - hah-hah) - then find 'Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu' by Photek - start the Smalley track, then Photek - voila! They start in a virtually identical fashion. I wondered if Rupert Parkes sampled Smalley, or was even aware of it...more likely they both decided to explore the powerful sonorities of Japanese (?) percussion.

Now I've found an edited version of the Smalley track on Soundcloud which unfortunately leaves out the beginning section, the pertinent part, but I've included it because some of the similarity remains in what's here. Besides which, if you don't have the album, I urge you to find it now, and hope that this post goes some way towards promoting it.

Note: I'm not above promoting contemporary music, despite the largely 'classic' (or simply 'old', if you prefer) content here, so if you make the kind of noise you think I might like feel free to contact the email address on the sidebar.

I inadvertently used the Two Tracks Technique this morning (the sounds being mightier than the sword, unless you've actually been cornered by a gang of ne'er-do-wells, in which case I recommend unsheathing the sword). Or rather, I should say that it was a classic case of mistaken identity when, having cued up the new 12" by Dusk & Blackdown. I then checked out a Pierre Henry album on Boomkat. As you may know, when you load albums onto their player the last one you loaded continues playing. 'Oh Pierre!' I thought. 'You were well and truly ahead of your time - unbelievable!' It took me a full three seconds to realise that Dusk & Blackdown's High Road EP had resumed playing. That's how dumb I am. Only for three seconds, though. Pierre Henry impresses me far more than Dusk & Blackdown, but I was spending my time constructively at Work, rather than working.