The NID Tapes: Electronic Music from India 1969-1972 (Vinyl)
Availability: In stock
£29.00
Availability: In stock
2 x LP, black vinyl.
The NID Tapes’ presents a collection of early Indian electronic music uncovered at the archives of the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. Recorded between 1969-1972 the compilation chronicles electronic works from the previously unknown Indian composers Gita Sarabhai, I.S. Mathur, Atul Desai, S.C. Shama and Jinraj Joshipura who worked at the nation’s first electronic music studio founded at the NID during the utopian years following India’s independence – a radical period of visionary experimentation and artistic freethought.
The studio was founded with support from the New York composer David Tudor who personally set up a Moog modular system and tape machine in the autumn of 1969, and The NID Tapes also includes an excerpt from Tudor’s work discovered amongst the collection of tapes. The release developed from a long-term research project by the British artist and electronic musician Paul Purgas who travelled to Ahmedabad over many years to explore the origins of electronic music in India. This resulted in the discovery of the electronic music archive at the NID and its eventual restoration and digitising, which featured in the acclaimed BBC radio documentary Electronic India.
The compilation presents excerpts from the 27 reels of archive tape spanning the three years of the studio’s operational history, showcasing work from the pioneering electronic composers which included the musician and poet Atul Desai, NID teachers and technicians I.S. Mathur and S.C. Shama, Gita Sarabhai who had previously studied with John Cage in New York in the 1940’s and the young architecture student Jinraj Joshipura who was just 19 years old at the time of first composing with the Moog synthesiser. The audio showcases their various visions for electronic music production, exploring analogue synthesis, tape collages, voice experiments and field recordings revealing a meeting point of Western and Indian avant-garde traditions, and offering a unique insight into South Asia’s post-colonial sonic imaginary. The vinyl and digital is a collaborative release by Strange Attractor Press and The state51 Conspiracy and has been mastered by Hari Shankar Kishore (HVAD) with design for the release and a vinyl etching created by Shreya Aurora a recent graduate from the National Institute of Design.
Launching at the same time through Strange Attractor Press will be a book titled ‘Subcontinental Synthesis: Electronic Music at the National Institute of Design, India 1969–1972’. Edited by Paul Purgas this collection of critical essays will reflect on the larger cultural and political dialogues surrounding the studio as well as written contributions by Geeta Dayal, You Nakai, Rahila Haque and Jinraj Joshipura the last surviving composer from the NID.
You may also like...
- Quick ViewAdd to basket
A Dense Swarm of Ancient Stars (CD)
£12.00I Monster
I Monster’s third album, released in 2009 – playful psychedelic electronic new wave pop.
- Quick ViewAdd to basket
Opel (Vinyl)
£20.99Syd Barrett
Vital compilation of lost material and alternative takes. 180g vinyl re-issue.
- Quick ViewAdd to basket
An Elpee and Two Epees (CD)
£11.99Ivor Cutler
CD compilation featuring the LP ‘Who Tore Your Trousers’ and the EP’s ‘Ivor Cutler of Y’hup’ and ‘Get Away From The Wall’.
A Hello To A Goodbye (Vinyl)
£22.00Original price was: £22.00.£15.00Current price is: £15.00.Yves Malone
Limited edition splatter vinyl – 300 copies only.
The Thetford Beast (Vinyl)
£18.00Concretism
“…comes with the dark edges we’ve come to expect from Concretism….”
- Quick ViewAdd to basket
The Seasons (CD)
£5.99BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Full of unexpected metaphors, pagan oddness, folk cadences and insane noises. Does it get any better?