This music wasessentially the foundation of American minimalism (and influential uponthe subsequently influential Velvet Underground) and has until now gonelargely unheard and unreleased due to credit/ownership conflicts.Recorded live at Young and Zazeela's NYC loft on April 25th, 1965, "Dayof Niagra" is a single 31 minute piece that is unfortunately presentedhere in poor sound quality due to it being derived from amulti-generation tape. This is one reason Young was opposed to it'srelease by Table of the Elements. Cale and Conrad dominate with thecontinuos dueling drones of their respective viola and violin, so muchso that Maclise's hand percussion and Young and Zazeela's vocals areinaudible or inconsequential. The sound is tinny, dissonant and gratingwith a few recorder drop outs and it all comes to a mysteriously butmercifully abrupt end. The result, at least on this disc, is neitherdreamy or mesmerizing or even very interesting. The insert offers onlya very brief group bio and a few quotes from Cale and Conrad, which isvery disappointing considering all that could and should be said.Despite the intriguing and pioneering concepts being explored and thewelcome attempt to document a bit of musical history, one has to wonderif releasing inferior quality packages such as this one does anyone anygood. Hopefully Young will present better quality recordings for futurerelease so myself and others may make a more informed judgment on thismusic ...samples:
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