Robert Ashley's Ashtray

Started by Mandryka, March 07, 2024, 10:57:18 AM

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Mandryka

March 07, 2024, 10:57:18 AM
Really enjoying Concrete -- like Luc Ferrari on acid, and you don't have to understand French to get hooked.

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

T. D.

#1
March 09, 2024, 09:50:50 AM
Many thanks for posting this.
I hadn't heard it (and scarcely had heard of it).

Mandryka

#2
March 09, 2024, 10:32:40 AM Last Edit: March 09, 2024, 10:58:23 AM by Mandryka
I knew you'd like it @T. D. - Perfect Lives is on YouTube with the films


Where's his accent from? South? Deep South?
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

AnotherSpin

#3
March 09, 2024, 10:54:03 AM
I like Robert Ashley's operas. Listened quite a lot of those some years ago.

T. D.

#4
March 09, 2024, 11:10:17 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on March 09, 2024, 10:32:40 AMI knew you'd like it @T. D. - Perfect Lives is on YouTube with the films


Where's his accent from? South? Deep South?

As far as I can tell, Ashley basically lived in Michigan (born Ann Arbor, attended U of M there) and later NYC.
I think his accent is more or less "Midwestern", although he developed / played up a certain delivery which sounds a bit more rural / "down home" and is immediately recognizable.

Weirdly, though I'm an enormous Perfect Lives fan and have listened many many times, that video has never really grabbed me.  :-\

T. D.

#5
June 23, 2025, 06:54:30 PM
I have to be in a certain frame of mind to listen to a lot of Ashley's vocals, but have been there recently.

I've been rereading Gann's Robert Ashley book and have finally begun to assimilate (to some extent...Atalanta is extremely difficult to decipher and I'm going to have to study the libretto) the Atalanta / Perfect Lives / Now Eleanor's Idea trilogy.

Finally purchased eL/Aficionado and Foreign Experiences to complete the Improvement / el/Aficionado / Foreign Experiences / Now Eleanor's Idea tetralogy. Those two are the next project.

There's a fair amount of old non-vocal Ashley music, plus a couple of pieces by frequent collaborator Robert Sheff (= Blue Gene Tyranny) in this weird set:


I'm still pissed about having missed a semi-local live production of Perfect Lives in 2013...in those days I didn't follow Internet listings carefully enough.

AnotherSpin

#6
June 23, 2025, 08:49:42 PM
Quote from: T. D. on June 23, 2025, 06:54:30 PMI have to be in a certain frame of mind to listen to a lot of Ashley's vocals, but have been there recently.

[..]



That's the thing with Robert Ashley — you need to be in a certain frame of mind to start listening, but once you do, it's hard to stop :)
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