It is interesting but not genius. It is IMO more worthy of a place on TWA than passed over tunes like Circles, Not Guilty or Child of Nature. I would have liked to see Junk make the cut, but would sooner have it replace Piggies than this one.
Good call. I love Cage and like that one, but I find 'Revolution No. 9' more musically cohesive and directed, whereas 'Fontana Mix' is more aleatory sound art surrounding some singing. But yes, hard to think John and Yoko hadn't heard that one.
It's an experiment, and it probably opened at least a few people's imaginations to Musique Concrete and other peculiar diversions.
Your comparison is correct. Fontana Mix has no singing on its own BTW, but the Aria was sometimes performed along with it.
In my opinion it's even more derivative of Rozart Mix. There are a lot of things in "Revolution No. 9" that are basically a recreation of Rozart Mix without being a direct lift from it.
That is my take. I was 12 when I bought the album. I played all 4 sides equally. Usually non stop 1 thru 4. No. 9 is a menagerie to a 12 yr old. Least it was to me.
“This “score” consists only of correspondence between Cage and Alvin Lucier concerning preparations for the Brandeis University concert, mentioned above. The tapes to be used may contain any material and may vary in length (up to around 45 feet). If a loop breaks, it should be fixed or replaced by another. A performance of the piece starts with the audience entering, and ends when the last member of the audience has left.” John Cage website
Right. So it could sound all sorts of different ways, but this particular recording of it was well-known in avant-garde circles in the mid 60s. Yoko certainly would have been familiar with it, and through her, she would have made John familiar with it.
They prolly should have done a triple disc album. Would have sold very well and then George might have left Apple Jam for a extra disc at the 50th anniversary. There might have been more appreciation for it. The White Album would have been rock's first triple album.
Heard this before. Just as weird and creepy backwards. I'm reminded of a Calgary radio station which had this contest where they played a bit of a hit song backwards and you were supposed to guess what song it was. They always sounded like a buncha garble and people almost never guessed what the song was but The Beatles songs they played backwards always sounded like...The Beatles.
