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More
recently, looking around my house through deposits of audio cassettes
which I very much for a long time did not listen, I have come across a
box of tapes of an American electronic-improvisation collective under
the name of LLAMA. These tapes were sent to me a very long time ago,
probably in 1991 or 1992. During that time I was actively corresponding
with foreign musicians. I do not remember precisely, but I think the
first correspondence address was from the group TYPHUS. But that
is already unimportant, the main thing is that the tapes arrived. And
so, having received this box of tapes, I there and then was glad to
hear how wonderfully they turned out! The next day I tried to find more
information about LLAMA on the Internet and, to my surprise, I found
only one mention about this group at:
http://members.iquest.net/~twilight/studio.html
Unfortunately
there was neither an address, or an e-mail listed. Further searches on
the Internet have led only to a pair of ancient reviews written by Dick
Metcalf, aka "Rotcod Zzaj". With Dick Metcalf I too once
corresponded and tapes were also traded in the past.
http://home.comcast.net/~rotcod/
As
on a page its e-mail has been specified, I have there and then written
to it and have asked if it is possible to contact LLAMA. He
answered me and has given me the email address of Keith Meiere. Keith
answered me at once and expressed an interest in sending me eight CD's
of LLAMA music! As indemnification, I too have sent to America some
experimental music from the Results CD archive. Such here the mutually
advantageous exchange has turned out.
Below
I bring the old publication from the third volume of "Results" (May
1993), and further information which to me was sent from Keith Meiere
together with the 8 CD Compilation of LLAMA recording sessions.
Andrei Turusinov
- Arkhangelsk, Russia (November 2003)
http://rezultat.atknet.ru/
LLAMA
circa 1993
Left
To Right: David Cook, Walter Wright, Keith Meiere, Debi Sellers [ Not
pictured: Billy Romanowski ]
LLAMA
Cafe
Amsterdam 11 August 1991 90 min
Cafe Amsterdam 12 August 1991-90 min
Public Tattoos
July 1991-90 min
State Of The Union February 1992-90 min
These
four tapes were sent to me by the founder of LLAMA, Walter Wright. The
group uses various electronics and a synthesizer, sampler device under
the name of "Mirage". However, it has been well told in a interview
with Elliot Sharpom, published in magazine "Spring" one year ago. In a
sense this band is also as such - a Mirage. This group LLAMA is
little-known even in narrow circles of the American electronic
underground and, certainly, it is possible to assert with full
confidence, that in Russia it is not known by anyone. It is necessary
to hope only, that this modest note will cause even a small
creative interest in LLAMA.
In
the American city of Indianapolis, at least the letter has come from
there, LLAMA periodically perform in a cafe with the name "Amsterdam".
A skeleton group is made with three members: Walter Wright with the
Mirage and other electronics, Debi Sellers - a vocalist, poet and
percussionist, David Cook - Keyboardist. Except for various invited
musicians, they number no more than one on each tape, i.e. LLAMA the
trio is represented obviously as a quartet. Two tapes have notes
written down describing these performances. The first time I listened
to these recordings, nothing was understood. To all, this appeared non
conventional and unexpected. The music presented itself as
simultaneously executed east ethnic music, industrial, post-punk,
fragments of classical, minimalism and repetitive, jazz, fate, plus
modern electronics and infinite improvisation. I do not know precisely
how long the original tape was, but during the recording, one of the
tapes is not present from the beginning to the end. And in this mix,
not one gram of heterogeneity is present - it is perceived as a
continuous, viscous musical stream in which all the set forth above
components exist naturally and organically, I do not present as this
such can be, but facts are facts - I paid the price for letting
these tapes sit on the shelf for so long.
Initial
sensations after listening to the music of LLAMA was of great
confusion. After several repeated playings of these tapes by LLAMA, it
was necessary to pull out from granaries, old melodies and a plate of
Indian ragami (well, that then for 1.45 has bought), to hear once again
Throbbing Gristle and Einsturzende Neubauten and to recollect music by
Arnold Shyonberga, Phillip Glass and The Sex Pistols. And to make sure
once again with ingenuity and humor, The Residents. I do not want to
assert, that LLAMA draws their influences from such music, and being
fair, I will absolutely deny this fact.
Most
likely it is necessary to allocate a new direction of total
improvisation and thus to mean, that the concept of improvisation in
this case means itself not only general spontaneous nihilism on keys
but also improvisation in chosen styles. It must have been very
difficult to perform music in this way.
Remembering
the "wish" of Mr. Kolomyjtseva to not be concerned with " commercialism
" to foreign production and to be more objective, before I composed
this review I once again listened to the LLAMA tapes. I received
powerful pleasure after listening once again to LLAMA and it was only
ratified in the realization of such experiments. The last tapes I
received which are in the "Results" library only confirm such an
opinion: the tapes sent to "Results" by other American groups [Big City
Orchestra and Skidrow Systems] follow similar musical stylings,
but with a few differences.
Walter
Wright has sent four more 90-minute tapes of his solo improvisations
which have been written down, apparently, before the formation of LLAMA
in 1987-88 and refer to the title as "Living In Dreamtime". Here,
certainly, all is a little bit easier, is not present the total range
and richness of totality, but the general direction of a continuity is
also observed. It allows to assume that the basic postulates " LLAMA's
total range of tones " have been incorporated within. The use of the
"Mirage" by Walter has a completely unique sound and possesses a
special character - here there is nothing general with the habitual
electronic murmur, inherently familiar to people who recognize the
electronic music of the same genre' of Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel
Jarre or Klaus Schulze. Not looking on the general density of such a
musical fabric, it has constant factor of a pulsation and reminds me of
exercises with percussive instruments such as the water drum, combined
in the choosy cyclic constructions and bewitching meditative
influences, even more so. This music personally to me helps to focus
the ideas in a set direction, achieving more concrete results of
reflections, though most likely, a plan of the composers' intended
purpose.
And
still it would be desirable to tell about one thing: the valid attitude
towards creativity. It is a characteristic feature of the foreign
majority (but not everything, by the way). In fact, it is much more
pleasant to take a normal tape for which the recording satisfies an
average normal quality, and not trying to think what this all could
mean, considering the torn crumpled box with the flourish scratched by
a pencil and (the most important!) disgusting quality. If authors
do not respect the potential listener, it is possible to speak about
what respect is had for the music! And so, LLAMA exudes such
negligence, thank God! And their music speaks about much negligence!!
Andrei Turusinov
- Arkhangelsk, Russia (1993)
http://rezultat.atknet.ru/
LLAMA - Notes About
Recording Sessions And Live Performances
Llama executed
improvisational music following in the tracks of Dadaism in the
beginnings of the 20th century « Art which has no meaning ». All studio
recording sessions and live concerts were played uninterrupted
and the musicians played literally, anything that came to their
mind at the present time. The group never rehearsed, which is quite
obvious. All sessions are recorded live as they happened, i.e. no
subsequent studio processing, overdubs or mixing has been introduced
onto the final tapes. Basically all recording sessions were in length
45 minutes, i.e. is equal to one side of a 90-minute cassette tape.
LLAMA
"Lopsided Opera"
©1991
by Llama
1.
Lopsided Opera [46`10]
2. Never Understood It Before Today [23`48]
duration:
70`01
Produced
By LLAMA
Recording Engineer: Walter Wright
Tape Mastering: Walter Wright
CD Mastering: Keith Meiere
Photography & Cover Art: Keith Meiere
Track 1 Recorded On November 17, 1991
Track 2 Recorded On October 20, 1991
Debi
Sellers – vocals, percussion, DPB-10 pitch bender
Walter Wright – Ensoniq EPS sampler, percussion, DDS-10 digital delay
David Cook – Yamaha FB-01, Casio 2000, Alesis Quadraverb
Keith Meiere – Roland S-50 sampler, electric guitar, ART SGE Mach II
On
the first track, Debi Sellers says unusual enough texts. Some days
prior to this performance she watched a new series of a fantastic TV
series show called "Star Trek: The Next Generation", where there were
performers of Klingon opera singing extraordinarily terrible songs.
This viewing has inspired Debi for such unusual lyrics.
LLAMA
"The Third Secret of Fatima"
©1992
by Llama
1.
The Third Secret of Fatima [22’04]
2. Mid-Summer Blinking Fireflys Are Your Stories [37’47]
3. Some Unseen Force (UFO) [11’01]
duration:
70’51
Produced
By LLAMA
Recording Engineer: Walter Wright
Tape Mastering: Walter Wright
CD Mastering: Keith Meiere
Photography & Cover Art: Keith Meiere
Recorded At Cookware Studios On January 25, 1992
Debi
Sellers – vocals, percussion, DPB-10 pitch bender
Walter Wright – Ensoniq EPS sampler, percussion, DDS-10 digital delay
David Cook – Yamaha FB-01, Casio 2000, Alesis Quadraverb
Keith Meiere – Roland S-50 sampler , electric guitar, ART SGE Mach II
On
January, 25, 1992, Walter, Debi, Mary Ann Kearns (the band's road
manager) and Keith have loaded all musical equipment into a minivan and
were traveling to the northern state of Michigan to record a
performance on video in the television studios of Grand Rapids
Television (GRTV). David Cook could not go, therefore he remained in
the studio (Cookware Studios) to do work for some of his clients. While
LLAMA traveled in the minivan to Michigan, the weather suddenly
deteriorated and there was a very strong snow storm which brought down
tremendous amounts continuously. By the moment when they had almost
approached the border of the states of Indiana and Michigan, the road
had been covered with such a thick layer of a snow that the minivan
went literally on the bottom of the snow and the wheels did not provide
normal coupling with the road. On the general advice of others in the
minivan, excluding Walter, the minivan turned back and returned home to
Indiana and Cookware Studios. When in some hours the minivan had
arrived back at the studio, LLAMA found David sleeping on the couch and
by the sounds he was making was having problems with his breathing.
After being awoken and revived, the band started to place apparatus in
the studio for a recording session, and everyone was excitedly ready to
play music. After a while David had felt much better and decided to
join in with the rest of the band. On the third track it is possible to
hear David's sampled voice saying, « I'm suffocating, I'm
suffocating » In reference to his problems with his breathing earlier
in the day. Debi sang that evening completely improbable texts which
have struck literally, all creativity imaginable. As a whole, it is one
of the most successful studio recordings for LLAMA since all musicians
were well prepared and anticipating for the (unfortunately missed)
television studio recording session.
LLAMA
"Llandromeda"
©1992
by Llama
1.
Llandromeda part 1 [45’42]
2. Llandromeda part 2 [20’07]
duration:
65’52
Produced
By LLAMA
Recording Engineer: Walter Wright
Tape Mastering: Walter Wright
CD Mastering: Keith Meiere
Photography & Cover Art: Keith Meiere
Recorded At Cookware Studios On April 26, 1992
Apollo 13 Communication Graciously Provided By NASA
Debi
Sellers – vocals, percussion, DPB-10 pitch bender
Walter Wright – Ensoniq EPS sampler, percussion, DDS-10 digital delay
David Cook – Yamaha FB-01, Casio 2000, Alesis Quadraverb
Keith Meiere – Roland S-50, electric guitar, ART SGE Mach II
Billy Romanowski – electric guitar, Alesis microverb
This
CD is characteristic first of all by the remarkable skills Billy
Romanowski has on the electric guitar and it is reminding the listener
with signals of the beacon blinking from far open spaces of the
universe. This session was recorded immediately after a densely
proportioned breakfast eaten at Cafe' Shelly, located next to the
Cookware Studios, and you can hear Billy's sampled voice saying the
phrase « biiiiiiiig breakfast » and is repeatedly reproduced throughout
the session.
LLAMA
"Live at DePauw University, April
Fool’s Day, 1993"
©1993
by Llama
1.
When Life Took A Turn For The Twilight Zone [32’17]
(with introduction by professor David Herrold)
2. You’ve Always Known How [44’19]
duration:
76’38
Llama
gives special thanks to professor David Herrold for organizing this
event
Produced
By LLAMA
Recording Engineer: Walter Wright
Tape Mastering: Keith Meiere
CD Mastering: Keith Meiere
Photography & Cover Art: Keith Meiere
Road Manager: Mary Ann Kearns
Recorded Live At The Watson Forum Multi Media Center, DePauw University.
Debi
Sellers – vocals, percussion, effects
Walter Wright – samplers, percussion, effects
Keith Meiere – keyboards, effects
David Cook – keyboards, effects
Llama
has been invited to perform in the new multimedia center at the
University of DePauw. Professor David Herrold managing the faculty of
Art at the University invited LLAMA to perform. Earlier professor
Herrold exposed his works in the 911 Gallery of art where he has
previously heard a performance by LLAMA. He liked the electronic
improvisations of the group and consequently decided to arrange a
performance by LLAMA at the University and even to organize a payment.
The performance is referred to as « Improvisational, Electronic,
Computer Assisted Music and Video ». For this evening Walter Wright has
prepared the Amiga computer with the special adaptations which
transform sounds into visual sensations on a huge projector screen.
Thus, the sound improvisation of the group manipulated by a computer,
and video was projected in real time for the screen located on a stage.
The most interesting tool, on which that evening Walter performed, the
20-foot round steel drum which actually was originally a big tray for
development of non-standard sized photos. The said device for creation
of cacophonous sounds is perfectly audible at the beginning of the
first track, a terrible sound from when the performance that evening
had started! David, with sounds from the keyboard, never sounded better
with complex chords and transitions being simply amazing. The last 17
minutes of the second track have turned out simply phenomenal with
David's talents!
LLAMA
"Tashkabob In Lebanon, Ohio"
©1994
by Llama
1.
Tashkabob In Lebanon, Ohio [22’16]
2. Up, Up To The Sky [7’12]
3. U or You or Ewe? (Tunnel Mine Variation) [44’03]
duration:
73’34
Produced
By LLAMA
Recording Engineer: Walter Wright
Tape Mastering: Walter Wright
CD Mastering: Keith Meiere
Photography & Cover Art: Keith Meiere
Track 1 Recorded On December 13, 1992
Track 2 Recorded On August 6, 1994
Track 3 Recorded On September 11, 1994
Debi
Sellers – vocals, percussion, DPB-10 pitch bender
Walter Wright – Ensoniq EPS sampler, percussion, DDS-10 digital delay
David Cook – Yamaha FB-01, Casio 2000, Alesis Quadraverb
Keith Meiere – Roland S-50, electric guitar, ART SGE Mach II
Photos
for the insert of this CD are made inside the tunnel mines in the
southern part of the state of Indiana, there the group has dragged all
the equipment for recording, electronic and acoustic tools to record
something unique. Though use of acoustic instruments for LLAMA in
general is unusual enough, this time they have taken with themselves:
viola, trumpet, pipes, flute, drums, road flares, metal, and wooden
percussion. Some of these sounds taken in the mine, were sampled and
reproduced by Walter Wright on the EPS sampler and these performances
are appearing on this CD intermixed with the recording session. Also,
photos made in the same tunnel mines were used for cover and insert art
of two other CD's, "Lopsided Opera" and "The Third Secret of Fatima".
LLAMA
"Quatrain"
©1993 by Llama
1.
Quatrain [8`50]
2. Dream In Peace [11`53]
3. Quatrain II [13`59]
4. Onomatopoeia [9`55]
5. Quatrain III [9`45]
6. Random Marcescent Equanimity [11`05]
duration:
65`32
Produced
By LLAMA
Recording Engineer: Walter Wright
Tape Mastering: Walter Wright
CD Mastering: Keith Meiere
Photography & Cover Art: Keith Meiere
All Tracks Recorded On September 12, 1993 [Except For Track 2 Recorded
On August 5, 1992]
Debi
Sellers – vocals, percussion, DPB-10 pitch bender
Walter Wright – Ensoniq EPS sampler, percussion, DDS-10 digital delay
David Cook – Yamaha FB-01, Casio 2000, Alesis Quadraverb
Billy Romanowski – Roland AX1, NEXT, bass, Alesis microverb
Keith Meiere – Roland S-50, electric guitar, ART SGE Mach II
This
CD is broken into several tracks or "Quatrians", as taken from the
named works of Nostradamus. The reasoning for this name was that these
studio sessions were constantly interrupted for one reason or another:
Someone showing up and knocking on the door, someone entering
unexpectedly in the studio (it was necessary to say "Hello!"),
equipment malfunctions, and so on and so forth.
LLAMA
"Dadadada"
©1991 by Llama
1.
Null and Voidified [18`41]
2. Dadadada [46`40]
duration:
65`22
Produced
By LLAMA
Recording Engineer: Walter Wright
Tape Mastering: Walter Wright
CD Mastering: Keith Meiere
Photography & Cover Art: Keith Meiere
Recorded Live At Café Amsterdam On March 24, 1991
Debi
Sellers – vocals, percussion
Walter Wright – Ensoniq EPS sampler, percussion, flute, DDS-10 digital
delay
David Cook – Yamaha FB-01, Casio 2000, Alesis Quadraverb
Billy Romanowski – bass guitar, Alesis microverb
This
recording was made at Café Amsterdam where there have been made the
majority of concert recordings by LLAMA since the group performed there
on a regular basis, in the morning on every Sunday. Café Amsterdam is a
small night club located near a shop which is called Dharma Emporium.
On this recording, Debi is inspired by a recent journey to North
Carolina and tells a story about the difference in the standards of
living of small towns located on opposite sides of a river. On one
side, the rich people, on the other side, the poor people. In general
when something good happens to one person, something bad happens to
another person. Here, Debi reflects on the different, adjoining
situations.
THE
ROLLING BEETLES
"Stellar I Belong"
©1991
by The Rolling Beetles
1.
Soviet Union (The Aliens Have Landed) [35’10]
2. Stellar I Belong [17’36]
I. The Geese Are Flying South Again
II. Subsonics Increasing Exponentially
3. Bad Dreams That You Don’t Wake Up From [23’07]
duration:
75’53
Produced
By LLAMA
Recording Engineer: David Cook
Tape Mastering: David Cook
CD Mastering: Keith Meiere
Photography & Cover Art: Keith Meiere
Tracks 1 & 3 Recorded On August 25, 1991
Track 2 Recorded On August 18, 1991
Debi
Sellers – vocals, percussion, effects
Keith Meiere – keyboards, effects
David Cook – keyboards, effects
Billy Romanowski – guitar, keyboards
* Special appearance on track 2 by David Clough of «The Toxic Reasons»
playing bass guitar
When
Llama did not gather all group members for a performance, the group
subscribed under a second name of The Rolling Beetles. For example, on
this recording there is no Walter Wright. On the first track Debi reads
the text of news about the disintegration of the USSR which was
occurring at the same time of the actual recording session, August
25th, 1991! In the second track, David Clough took part as a guest
playing bass guitar. David Clough is the bass guitarist from the rather
well known and popular band in Europe and America, The Toxic Reasons.
Stay tuned for more special guest appearances on other LLAMA CD's yet
to be released. One guest musician for a recording session was James
Wooley of "Nine Inch Nails"!
LLAMA
circa 1993
Left
To Right: Keith Meiere, Walter Wright, Debi Sellers, David Cook [ Not
pictured: Billy Romanowski ]
For
posterity, you can see how the above text originally appeared in the
Russian language by clicking on:
"RESULTS - Experimental Music In Russia"
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19 ñåíòÿáðÿ 2003
Âëàäèìèð ÒÓÐÎÂ: «Îñåíü - è â Àðõàíãåëüñêå ñíîâà ïàõíåò äæàçîì!»
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19 ìàÿ 2003 Àëåêñåé
ÇÀÅ è Âëàä ÀÔÀÍÀÑΠ"Êîãäà íà÷èíàåòñÿ ïñèõèàòðèÿ" (2001)
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27 ìàðòà 2003 Ôåíîìåí
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14 ìàðòà 2003 Àëåêñåé
ÇÀÅÂ è ãðóïïà «Óìåð» «Ðûáüè ãëàçà» (1992)
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14 ìàðòà 2003 Àëåêñåé
ÇÀÅÂ è ãðóïïà «Óìåð» «Ìóíäà Ãàíäà» (1991)
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