Mixtape #30 : Prime Numbers

by 5:4

For the new 5:4 mixtape, i’m not so much exploring a theme as a conceit. Mathematics has been a recurring feature of both my compositional and recreational activities lately, so for this new mixtape i’ve compiled a selection of music the titles of which incorporate the first 21 prime numbers. It was, i should say, quite a challenge, but the result is, i think, a highly stimulating mixture of exquisite non-sequiturs and unexpected aural connections. The mix is in part characterised by the presence of line, from a host of oblique angles, including jazz (Tartar Lamb II), avant-garde (John Zorn), math rock (Three Trapped Tigers), neo-Wendy Carlos retrosynthtronics (Laibach), indeterminacy (Kenneth Kirschner), counterpoint in extremis (Conlon Nancarrow), bassline-driven electronica (Last Step), post-romantic ecclesiastical dreaminess (Marcel Dupré) and lo-fi intimacy (Kid Koala). Elsewhere texture predominates, either with a harmonic underpinning (Ochre, Celer, Nine Inch Nails (but only just), Dick Mills, V/Vm) or from a percussive/glitch/noise perspective (At Jennie Richie, Ryoji Ikeda, Paul D. Miller, Bass Communion, @c).

90 minutes of blatant numerical arbitrariness; here’s the tracklisting in full:

At Jennie Richie – Vaudeview Two (from Vaudeview Over for Blackened Tea and Hashishans)
Tartar Lamb II – Polyimage of Known Exits: 3rd Movement [excerpt] (from Polyimage of Known Exits)
John Zorn – Five (from Chimeras)
Three Trapped Tigers – 7 (from EP2)
Ochre – Eleven (from A Midsummer Nice Dream)
Laibach – Contrapunctus 13 – Canon Alla Duodecima In Contrapunto Alla Quinta (from Laibachkunstderfuge)
Celer – 17 (from D’entre les Morts)
Ryoji Ikeda – supercodex 19 (from supercodex)
Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky (That Subliminal Kid) – FTP>Bundle / Conduit 23 (from An Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music, Vol.1)
Kenneth Kirschner – July 29, 2011 (from kennethkirschner.com)
BC:[LULL] – from 31 minutes (from Bass Communion (remixed))
Nine Inch Nails – 37 Ghosts (from Ghosts I-IV)
Conlon Nancarrow – Study for Player Piano No. 41b (from Studies for Player Piano)
Dick Mills – 43 (from Essential Hi Tech Sound Effects)
Grúpat and Jennifer Walshe – Bulletin M – The Bulletin M Book of Songtags (edit #47a) [excerpt] (from Songtags)
V/Vm – the death of rave 053 (from the death of rave (the source))
Karlheinz Stockhausen – Klangbombe 59 (from Oktophonie)
Last Step – 61 Disco (from 1961)
Marcel Dupré – 79 Chorales, Op. 28 – No. 67. Our Father In Heaven (from Marcel Dupré – Organ Works Vol. 5)
Kid Koala – birthday (page 71) (from Space Cadet Picture Disc 1)
@c – 73 [excerpt] (from Mus*****c)

(For those curious about the artwork, you can read about it here.)



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[…] the autumn 5:4 mixtape, i’ve returned to the same world of numbers that led to the Prime Numbers mix, and upped the ante a bit. This time, i’ve used the Fibonacci series as the basis for the […]

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