Outside the Dream Syndicate
Encyclopedia
Outside the Dream Syndicate is a 1973 collaboration album by United States
avant-garde
filmmaker Tony Conrad
and German
krautrock
group Faust
. The album marks Conrad's first and only musical release for many years, and remains his best known musical work. It is considered a classic of minimalist
and drone music
.
The original LP contained two 26-minute pieces. The album was digitally remaster
ed in 1993 and released on CD by Table of the Elements
with an additional 20-minute previously unreleased bonus track.
, a United States
experimental
and drone music
group.
In New York City
Conrad was approached by a filmmaker from Hamburg
in Germany who said that he knew a producer in Hamburg who would be interested in Conrad's music. Conrad flew to Hamburg where he met Uwe Nettelbeck
, Faust's producer. Nettelbeck took Conrad to an old schoolhouse where Faust had been recording, and invited him to make a record with the band, "outside" Conrad's group, the Dream Syndicate (and hence the title of the album).
In 1995, Conrad and Faust reunited to play a 50-minute live version of the piece "From the Side of Man and Womankind"; the concert was eventually released in 2005 as the album Outside the Dream Syndicate Alive.
Side B
Sound
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
filmmaker Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
group Faust
Faust (band)
Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...
. The album marks Conrad's first and only musical release for many years, and remains his best known musical work. It is considered a classic of minimalist
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
and drone music
Drone music
Drone music is a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone-clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmonic variations throughout each piece compared to other musics...
.
The original LP contained two 26-minute pieces. The album was digitally remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed in 1993 and released on CD by Table of the Elements
Table of the Elements
Table of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many of the great avant garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, for instance — as well as...
with an additional 20-minute previously unreleased bonus track.
Background
In the mid-1960s Tony Conrad was a member of The Dream SyndicateTheatre of Eternal Music
The Theatre of Eternal Music, sometimes later known as The Dream Syndicate, was a mid 1960s musical group formed by La Monte Young, that focused on experimental drone music. It featured the performances of La Monte Young, John Cale, Angus MacLise, Terry Jennings, Marian Zazeela, Tony Conrad, Billy...
, a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
and drone music
Drone music
Drone music is a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone-clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmonic variations throughout each piece compared to other musics...
group.
In New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Conrad was approached by a filmmaker from Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in Germany who said that he knew a producer in Hamburg who would be interested in Conrad's music. Conrad flew to Hamburg where he met Uwe Nettelbeck
Uwe Nettelbeck
Uwe Nettelbeck was a German record producer, journalist and film critic. He was best known as the creator and producer of the German krautrock band, Faust, and changed the face of German rock music in the early 1970s...
, Faust's producer. Nettelbeck took Conrad to an old schoolhouse where Faust had been recording, and invited him to make a record with the band, "outside" Conrad's group, the Dream Syndicate (and hence the title of the album).
In 1995, Conrad and Faust reunited to play a 50-minute live version of the piece "From the Side of Man and Womankind"; the concert was eventually released in 2005 as the album Outside the Dream Syndicate Alive.
1973 LP release
Side A- "From the Side of Man and Womankind" (ConradTony ConradTony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
) – 27:16
Side B
- "From the Side of the Machine" (ConradTony ConradTony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
) – 26:20
1993 CD release
- "From the Side of Man and Womankind" (ConradTony ConradTony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
) – 27:16 - "From the Side of the Machine" (ConradTony ConradTony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
) – 26:20 - "From the Side of Woman and Mankind (ConradTony ConradTony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
) – 20:04
Personnel
- Tony ConradTony ConradTony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
– viola - Werner "Zappi" Diermaier – drums
- Jean-Hervé Péron – bass guitar
- Rudolf Sosna – guitar and keyboards
Sound
- Kurt Graupner – engineer
- Uwe NettelbeckUwe NettelbeckUwe Nettelbeck was a German record producer, journalist and film critic. He was best known as the creator and producer of the German krautrock band, Faust, and changed the face of German rock music in the early 1970s...
– producer
External links
- Outside the Dream Syndicate. The Faust pages..