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Terry Riley/John Cale, The Church of Anthrax
03/15/07 | by Mr. Moderator
The other day a Townsperson mentioned something to the effect of "the tracks from Church of Anthrax that I could find," making me imagine this friend rooting through the Web in search of .mp3s. It occurred to me that this Terry Riley/John Cale collaboration is out of print, so for a limited time I've posted .mp3s of the album's 5 tracks. I think it's worth hearing (for those of you who can deal with non-rock, mostly instrumental stuff, that is). You can read a bit about the album here and here. The tracks can no longer be downloaded here. Sorry. Go find this album!
16 comments
Comment from: BigSteve [Member] 
Something wrong here ... the files are not available.
03/14/07 @ 11:40
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
"They've got it now, Robbie."
All should be in order!
All should be in order!
03/14/07 @ 11:45
Comment from: BigSteve [Member]
Yes, Jim, thanks for this. It's one of those lost albums I've always wanted to replace. You must like the last track, which sounds like an aborted dry run for Gun.
My memory is that Riley was unhappy about the drums, having had no idea Cale was intending to overdub them onto their improvisations. Once Riley dissociated himself from the project, I guess Cale felt it was ok to add that song that sounds like a Vintage Violence outtake.
And btw I recommend that Stainless Steel Gamelan (a good description) CD mentioned in the wikipedia article. The source tape is not high quality, but the hiss and limited dynamic and frequency range somehow add something instead of detracting.
My memory is that Riley was unhappy about the drums, having had no idea Cale was intending to overdub them onto their improvisations. Once Riley dissociated himself from the project, I guess Cale felt it was ok to add that song that sounds like a Vintage Violence outtake.
And btw I recommend that Stainless Steel Gamelan (a good description) CD mentioned in the wikipedia article. The source tape is not high quality, but the hiss and limited dynamic and frequency range somehow add something instead of detracting.
03/14/07 @ 13:06
Comment from: scottrodgers [Member]
Nice to see this album get some props. I've always liked it, and it was well worth the $.99 I spent on it 14 or so years ago.
03/14/07 @ 13:28
Comment from: markwallace1322 [Visitor]
I'm not able to open these files, or copy them. Don't know why.
Mark
Mark
03/14/07 @ 14:32
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Mark, I don't know what could be happening for you. You should be able to simply click on the links and have them load, or you should be able to right click and Save As. Try again in a little bit and see what happens. If worse comes to worse, I'll send you a copy or, if our schedules match up, hand deliver it next time I'm out your way.
03/14/07 @ 14:40
Comment from: markwallace1322 [Visitor]
I'm downloading them now, actually. For some reason they're going really really slowly, but they're going. Thanks!
03/14/07 @ 14:43
Comment from: markwallace1322 [Visitor]
I'm listening to these tracks right now with much enjoyment. It's somewhat reminiscent of that Eno/Fripp Air Structures disk in its trancey intensity. I wonder if Mr. Mod has a theory about the role of repetition in music of this kind.
03/14/07 @ 18:44
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
I'll see if I can work up a theory about the role of repetition in music that's not so transparently tied to my own ODD. Later tonight I've got another all-emcompassing theory to put forth. Stay tuned!
03/14/07 @ 21:20
Comment from: general slocum [Member]
Thanks, RTH! As it turns out, I had three out of the five. Right up my alley it is, too. Noisy, but not formless, grounded, yet out there. Good stuff. Seems like an odd thing to be out of print. Not that it's chart material, I realize, but it seems like a music nerdy hit, which usually gets you a small label reissue, anyhow.
03/14/07 @ 23:09
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
I forget what label that one's on, but I've got a friend whose brother-in-law runs a large reissue label. About 7 or 8 years ago, when Paris 1919 was still out of print, he and his partner tried to buy the rights to reissue the album. They figured it was just sitting there and it only had a limited rock nerd appeal. They offered money that they felt was market value, based on numerous other rock nerd-oriented reissues they'd licensed, but Warner Bros. wanted some outrageous sum to allow them to reissue the album. Their feeling was it was better to sit on their back catalog than "give it away." I don't know if that's the case with this album, but I was reminded of this story.
03/14/07 @ 23:17
Comment from: dbuskirk [Member]
I was completely unaware of this record, what a gem. Am I the only one who thinks "Ides of March" sounds like a Beatles fragment?
03/16/07 @ 15:43
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
I can't believe I own an album you've never heard of, Dan. This is going down in my diary. Glad you dig it. I know what you mean about "Ides of March" - it's got a White Album sound.
03/16/07 @ 18:18
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