RIP Maryanne Amacher..

[snailed]

I know I saw this yesterday, but it really didn't register for me until today. very saf, and a big loss. I hope more of her work becomes available as a result, however hard it would be to recreate much of her work in a normal home listening setting.

[William Hutson]

http://sethnehil.blogspot.com/2009/10/m ... -viva.html

[vonbingen]

The compilation referenced above is called Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music. It's been released by Ellipsis Arts as a 3-CD set in 2000. There's a 2005 reissue including a bonus DVD :

Creepy, I borrowed that from the library a few months ago, didn't ever see that track. Going to find it on my computer now.

[snailed]

http://sethnehil.blogspot.com/2009/10/m ... -viva.html

great article by mr. nehil there... it's scary to think of those tapes being lost somehow.

thanks, bill.

[Jesse]

Late, better than never:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/arts/ ... r.html?hpw

[jon abbey]

great reminiscence by Alvin Curran in today's Times:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/20 ... /?emc=eta1

[Dan Warburton]

That's a great obit; thanks for the link Jon. He writes really well.

[Dohol]

Beautiful.

[anastasia vronski]

I didn't know Maryanne Amacher before this thread and hope to be abble to listen to her music more .
As much as I can judge English writing I don't like it and I find it full of clichés but I want to focus on one only which is not only a cliché.
As it is in a RIP thread I hope people will not be shocked by what I have to say about this writing .In 8th paragraph the man begins with a great acknoledgment of a woman artist but he cannot finish his paragraph without insulting all the other women :
''Does this explain why she had so few devoted women friends? Why men approached her as one approaches an oracle?''
Are they too silly to see talent ? are they mean or jaleous ? Happily men are here to know better... if Marianne had no women friends ther might be another reason or no real reason
Men who put women on pedestal (oracle) are a big hindrance to every women . He could read Simone De Beauvoir Second Sex about the role of women on pedestal. .

Edited one time for spellling

[RFKorp]

As it is in a RIP thread I hope people will not be shocked by what I have to say about this writing .In 8th paragraph the man begins with a great acknoledgment of a woman artist but he cannot finish his paragraph without insulting all the other women :
''Does this explain why she had so few devoted women friends? Why men approached her as one approaches an oracle?''
Are they too silly to see talent ? are they mean or jaleous ? Happily men are here to know better... if Marianne had no women friends ther might be another reason or no real reason

I believe your inexperience with English is the problem here, not Alvin Curran.

His point in your quotation has nothing to do with her talent or how other women perceived it and everything to do with her personality. And implicitly, the lingering socio-sexual expectations/roles that continue to permeate society (and presumably did, even moreso than now, in the 60s and 70s when the text indicates they worked most together).

As I read the paragraph, he is only speculating that Maryanne's behavior, drawing from both highly "feminine" and highly "masculine" tendencies, did not easily attract or form close bonds with other women who had grown up trying to exclusively cultivate their femininity.

Does that makes sense to you Anastasia?

[skrobek]

Sorry, but the answers to Anastasia's post are a bit slight ('you don't speak English' or 'you're a feminist')

On a side-note, I thought this article was a terrible piece of writing, with flashes of sub-gonzo journalism and never missing an occasion of self-glorification by the author. An assemblage of clichés with a few touching passages that gave access to M.A's personality.

Amongst the clichés and I was especially disgusted by the question asked by the author, which boils down to: was it because she was so great that she had no women friends ?

So yeah, she mixed intense 'feminity' with 'macho crescendos' (which is more bullshit really) and other women couldn't stand it. Of course, women (even amongst the hippie community ???!!!!) wanted to be nice pretty dolls and couln't stand the presence of a powerful woman, on par with the men. Alvin Curran cannot explain this lack of female friends but by saying that M.A., an exceptional woman, an exception, was seen as a danger by all the other would-be Barbie dolls.

I say that's bullshit. Many women who hd grown up in those time were trying to destroy the

socio-sexual expectations/roles that continue to permeate society

so if she didn't make female friends that probably has nothing to do with that.

[grisha]

Of course, women (even amongst the hippie community ???!!!!) wanted to be nice pretty dolls and couln't stand the presence of a powerful woman, on par with the men.

ever read "Please Kill Me" (The Stooghes part, specifically)?

also, i don't really agree with your interpretation. Richard's answer was rather correct, and not slight in any way.

[Dan Warburton]

Sorry, but the answers to Anastasia's post are a bit slight ('you don't speak English' or 'you're a feminist')

Well, since she admits she's never actually heard any of Amacher's music, and can't even spell her name correctly, I thought her observations on somebody else's obituary deserved a slight response. I disagree with you on this article, Julien, and look forward to discussing the matter over numerous drinks on Thursday night. You can bring any unwanted Boulez albums with you.

[William Hutson]

On a side-note, I thought this article was a terrible piece of writing, with flashes of sub-gonzo journalism and never missing an occasion of self-glorification by the author. An assemblage of clichés with a few touching passages that gave access to M.A's personality.

that's a much more strongly-worded version of how i felt when reading this. i was, however, grateful for all the stories about Amacher's process and personality. i took the embarrassing bits about gender and race as tacky, but well-meaning, artifacts of the 1970's.

[faster]

I agree with Hutson, but it's pretty clear that readers may have differing levels of tolerance for those "artifacts of the 70's."

And I, for one, don't think a comparison to Andrea Dworkin is an insult.

[skrobek]

ever read "Please Kill Me" (The Stooghes part, specifically)?

Yes. I'd like to know what connection you make with the subject-matter, but since you can't spell Stooges correctly I'm afraid this is going to be slight, haha.

Richard's answer was rather correct, and not slight in any way.

Agreed, it was not slight. However, not correct in my opinion.

well-meaning, artifacts of the 1970's

Again, agreed in general. Problem is it was written in 2009. Just reacting to the 'beautiful' and 'so well-written' side of things.

As you can't spell IRCAM yourself, that's just what I'd expect you to say

Haha ! It's IrMcam, goddamMit ! I'm not discussing anything with anyone who doesn't even know what IrMcam is

I agree with Hutson, but it's pretty clear that readers may have differing levels of tolerance for those "artifacts of the 70's."

And I, for one, don't think a comparison to Andrea Dworkin is an insult.

I agree with Joe Foster. Must be the Christmas spirit.

[Dohol]

"artifacts of the 70's."


I guess you had to have been there..


I for one, enjoyed Mr Curran's memoir and appreciated the glimpse into who Ms Amacher was rather than just focusing on what she had accomplished.

Curran's prose was indeed a bit..uh.."gonzo" but so what....

[jcg]

Haha ! It's IrMcam, goddamMit ! I'm not discussing anything with anyone who doesn't even know what IrMcam is

About IRM Cam: this widget provides a view of the action at the Illinois Railway Museum from four different cameras situated around the property. http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboar ... rmcam.html

Yeah I know this isn't helping the discussion...

In defense of Alvin Curran's text, I'd say there aren't many people even mentioning the life and work of M.A., except maybe an old interview by Frank Oteri somewhere. So more documentation is certainly welcome. The online archive project (that I was pretty excited about) doesn't seem to be very active, that's disappointing...

I guess we'll have to wait for Al Margolis to unearth some rare material and put it out on the mighty Pogus label (currently enjoying the César Bolaños 2-CD set but definitely eager to hear an Amacher retrospective box in the future!).

[grisha]

ever read "Please Kill Me" (The Stooghes part, specifically)?

Yes. I'd like to know what connection you make with the subject-matter, but since you can't spell Stooges correctly I'm afraid this is going to be slight, haha.

that's what in english is called "a typo". pay attention, the "g" is near the "h" on the keyboard. your pun is a bit misplaced, btw. it was Dan referring to your spelling, not me. grow up.

and specifically, i was referring to Kathy Asheton's descriptions of gender roles at the "revolutionary" community, referring to the words in your post that i highlighted in bold.

that's way off topic, isn't it, though. as for the article itself, i rather agree with William and Joe, but it's better than i expected from the man, and it's heartfelt and well-meaning, various interpretations aside.

[RFKorp]

better than i expected from the man,

yeah, I was rather tempted to respond in the first place with something like "Curran's music is still stuck in the 70s, so why should we expect any different from his gender politics!"