The Well​-​Tuned Piano in the Magenta Lights cover

The Well​-​Tuned Piano in the Magenta Lights

Released

La Monte Young’s evening-length piano improvisation creates a bewitching sense of alternative space. This effect is accomplished through Young’s otherworldly piano tuning, which privileges a set of harmonies far removed from those typically available on a modern piano. Despite the arcane tuning and forbidding length, the surface of the piece is surprisingly easy to inhabit. Young’s musical ideas are consistently lucid, and the piece maintains a fantastical sense of adventure. So many foreshadowings of the of the ’60s musical culture to come can be heard here: Steve Reich’s pulses, John Cale’s viola drones, quests for transcendence.

Sean Wood

Recommended by

Suggestions
Aida cover

Aida

Derek Bailey
For Olim cover

For Olim

Cecil Taylor
Instrumentals cover

Instrumentals

Arthur Russell
Real Enemies cover

Real Enemies

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society
Lovers cover

Lovers

Nels Cline
Graphics cover

Graphics

Joe McPhee
Hidros One cover

Hidros One

Mats Gustafsson