bob ostertag - getting a head

||| An underground classic of tape manipulation from before the days of samplers |||

.:: Before there was sampling, there was analog tape…

Originally released 21 years ago as an LP, the 1,000-copy run quickly disappeared into the abyss of the collectors item.

Best known for his work with computers, here a young Ostertag plays an instrument consisting of a highly unstable and peculiar recording system, which uses helium balloons to hold up tape loops between three tape recorders made to malfunction in a variety of ways.

The record marks one of the first, and to this day one of the only, times that tape manipulation techniques developed by the first generation of electronic composers for use in the studio were adapted for liver performance and improvisation. Ostertag uses this rather sculptural and bizarre contraption to manipulate the brilliant guitar playing of Fred Frith, and the elusive percussion work of Charles K. Noyes.



.:: "One Side one of Getting A Head, the sounds move in short, almost breathless little impulses, always lively and alert. You know that Frith and Ostertag are listening to each other with strong, even crazed concentration (sometimes with manic glee too), never just fooling around or digging deeper ruts.

Side Two is peaceful. The search for new sounds moves much more slowly, evolving in long, supple arcs made of smaller, more weirdly twisted parts; and in between there's enough time between the beginning of one event and the end of the next to enjoy some curiosity about what might be coming next. The high, insistently lyrical final episode is especially lovely.
-- Gregory Sandow, Village Voice, January 7, 1981

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