The Electronic Spirit of Erik Satie (MP3s)

[ 39 MP3 files after the jump ]

What do you get when you combine Erik Satie with a bunch of stoned hippies, a chamber orchestra, and a Moog? It is hard to tell what would happen today, but in the 70s this resulted in the album "The Electronic Spirit of Erik Satie, featuring The Moog Synthesizer with The Camarata Contemporary Chamber Orchestra", released in 1972 on Deram, a Decca subsidiary. Like Daniel Steven Crafts' Soap Opera Suite/Snake Oil Symphony, this is an album I discovered at my old radio station WCBN, and long after I had left Ann Arbor I realized that I just could not live without it. Of course it is out of print, but thanks to eBay I now own a copy, so I don't have to go back to Michigan to steal it.

Here are some excerpts from the liner notes, without comment:

Notes Relating to the Title: "The Electronic Spirit of Erik Satie" (Music Mystically Inspired)

Satie was convinced that he was a spirit working under the direct guidance of some medieval cleric whose fanatical piety he had inherited from beyond the grave.

This producer is convinced that he is also a spirit working under the direct guidance of Erik Satie, whose eccentricities and mysticisms have guided him throughout the making of this LP.

Further Proof:
A.) The arranger felt the actual presence of Satie in the room with him while he was scoring. (Erik's spirit would hover around the room and, at times, reach over his shoulder and guide his pencil along the score page, shouting directions in his ear "B flat not B natural, you dummy!") His worst moment was when he added bars to Satie's barless music... (the arranger in this case cannot recall having scored any of the pieces in the LP.)
B.) The presence and guidance of Satie's spirit was never more felt than in the programming and playing of the Moog synthesizer. All the wave forms, modulation mixes, oscillations and permutations have never been duplicated since, and the Moog player, who was entirely unfamiliar with the instrument at the time, has no recollection of having done the album whatsoever!!!!!!!

I mentioned stoned hippies, didn't I? Anyway, let's face the music after the jump.

If you don't want to download 39 MP3 files by hand, here are all of them in two convenient ZIP archives: Side I | Side II. But don't listen without reading the annotations!

Side I
Chapitres Tournes En Tous (Chapters Turned Every Which Way)
I Celle qui parle trop (The Woman Who Talks Too Much) [MP3]
...let me talk...listen to me!...(The husband is impatient)...I want a hat of massive wood...Madame Chose has an umbrella made of bones...Mademoiselle Machin married a man who is as dry as a "Cuckoo"...listen to me, then...the Concierge has a pain in his ribs...(the husband is dying of exhaustion!!!)
II Le porteur de grosses pierres (Sisyphus, Carrier of Heavy Stones) [MP3]
...difficult little steps...dragging the legs...he feels that the stone is going to escape him...it's going to fall!...that's it!...it falls!
III Regrets des Enfermés (Jonas et Latude) (Lamentation of a Closed Mind) [MP3]
...they are sitting in the shadow...reflecting...several centuries separate them...Jonas says: I am the Latitude Sailor...and Latitude says: I am a French Jonas.
Croquis Et Agaceries D'un Bonhomme En Bois (Sketches and Exasperations Of A Big Boob Made Of Wood)
I Tyrolienne Turque [MP3]
Play this precautiously...a little warm...very Turkish...stern...more Turkish...stern again...this time medium warm...(was Mozart really Turkish?)
II Danse Maigre (à la maniére de des Messieurs) (A "Skinny" Dance in the manner of a "Skinny Gentleman") [MP3]
III Españana [MP3]
...A la Chabrier...like in Seville...a la Bizet...the beautiful Carmen and the Barber of Seville...(No Castenets, please)...a la Debussy...Puerta de Vino...isn't it Alçade?...Plaza Clichy (Cliche Square)...Rue de Madrid...(I SAID, NO CASTENETS, PLEASE!!!!!!!!)
Reverie De L'enfance De Pantagruel (Childhood Dream of Pantagruel) [MP3]
Jeux De Gargantua (Forbidden Games of Gargantua) [MP3]
Preludes Flasques (Pour un chien) (Flabby Preludes (For a Dog))
I Voix D'intérieur (Voices Within) [MP3]
II Chanson Canine (Duet for Two Dogs) [MP3]
III Avec Camaraderie (With Friendship) [MP3]
Les Trois Valses Distinguées Du Précieux Dégôuté (Three Distinguished Waltzes of a Disgusted "Dandy")
I Sa Taille (His Figure From the Waist Up) [MP3]
...He hums a tune of the 15th century...he then gives himself a compliment full of measure...who will dare to say that he is not the most beautiful...isn't his heart tender?...he takes himself by the hips...it is ravishing for him!...what will the beautiful Marquis say?...she will fight, but she will be vanquished...yes, Madame...isn't it written?...
II Son Binocle (His Eyepiece) [MP3]
...He cleans it every day...it's an eyepiece of silver with glasses in burnt gold...it has been given to him by a beautiful lady...those are beautiful souvenirs...but...a great sorrow reigns over our friend...he has lost the case of his eyepiece!!!!!!!!!
III Ses Jambes (His Legs) [MP3]
...He is very, very proud of them...they only dance choice dances...they are beautiful flat legs...in the evening, they are dressed in black...(he wants to carry them under his arm)...and here they are, very indignant...often he embraces them and he puts them around his neck...how good he is for them!...adamantly, he refuses to buy legholders...a Prison, he says...

Side II
Cinq Grimaces (Five Grins or Mona Lisa's Moustache)
I Preambule [MP3]
II Coquecigrue [MP3]
III Chasse [MP3]
IV Fanfaronnade [MP3]
V Pour sortie [MP3]
Sports & Divertissements (Sports & Amusements)
La Balançoire (The Seesaw) [MP3]
La Chasse (The Hunt) [MP3]
Comédie Italianne (The Italian Comedy) [MP3]
Le Réveil de la Mariée (The Arrival of the Bride) [MP3]
Colin-Maillard (Blindman's Bluff) [MP3]
La Pêche (Fishing) [MP3]
Yachting (Yachting) [MP3]
Le Bain de Mer (Bath in the Sea) [MP3]
Le Carnaval (The Carnival) [MP3]
Le Golf (Golf) [MP3]
La Pieure (The Octopus) [MP3]
Les Courses (The Races) [MP3]
Les Quatre-Coins (The Game of the Cat and the Four Mice) [MP3]
Le Pique-Nique (The Picnic) [MP3]
Le Water-Chute (The Water Slide) [MP3]
Le Tango (The Tango) [MP3]
Le Traîneau (The Sleigh Ride) [MP3]
Le Flirt (The Flirt) [MP3]
Le Feu D'artifice (The Fireworks) [MP3]
Le Tennis (Tennis) [MP3]

Let me close this post with the closing words from the liner notes of the album:

I wish to express my special thanks and admiration to Monsieur William L. Robinson, Chef d'Engineer, Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, California, for his valuable technical assistance, along with the many arduous hours he put in on my behalf in the study of Yoga and other Transcendental mediums used to communicate with me during the reduction of his album
Metaphysically yours,
ERIK SATIE
Sept. 1972

Comments

[andrewTee]

Dude, that was volume 2 if you can believe it. I heard the first album (The Velvet Gentleman, 1968) by Camerata CCO first and loved that, was never as fond of the followup, too choppy and uneven. The first album has all the hits like Trois Gymnopedies and that song for the dessicated embryos.

Link to an old eBay auction with picture of the cover and a track listing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MUSIC-OF-ERIK-SATIE-VELVET-GENTLEMAN-1968-STEREO-LP_W0QQitemZ230131987648QQcmdZViewItem

[Lukas]

Actually, I think it is volume 3. The sleeve notes mention two other albums, The Velvet Gentleman (Deram DES 18036), and Through a Looking Glass (Deram DES 18052). They don't seem to be on eBay or Soulseek right now, but if I can find them, I'll post them, too. I know, I am a sucker for stoned hippies with Moogs.

[MDCLXVI]

"stoned hippies" hence the 4:20 posting.

[lydia]

Through A Looking Glass is an album of orchestral arrangement of his piano pieces. I used to listen to my mother's copy of it as a kid.

[Vic Perry]

Hmmm, given that Erik Satie is my hero, I shouldn't be enjoying this. But I do. It doesn't sound like stoned hippies though. It sounds like Satie scoring Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade. Which would be worth getting stoned for.

[scoot]

I am eternally grateful--I've been looking for replacement copies of my old "Velvet Gentleman" album (I had a two-lp version I found in some out-of-the-way place long ago), but until now record store and Internet searches have been fruitless. Now I look forward to the music and these generous notes!

[milton parker]

thanks so much for transferring this -- can't believe it's not on CD yet, it's an amazing album. you really can believe that they channeled the man for this, he's there.

definitely the best of the three Camerata Satie albums, though the other two are worth hearing if you like this one. the extra production & modernized sound effects on the version of "Parade" are scary fun.

[Dale Houstman]

Man, I bought this as an LP way back when. Still have it. I had heard some Satie on the radio and went searching for the music in some record stores (like dinosaurs with vinyl disks), and was very surprised to discover how different it all sounded on this record. But it is a good listen still. So many of the Satie collections appear to dissolve his frenetic humor in sincere appreciation of his music, and this record is about the only one that truly captures his Dada heart. Thanks for the posting...

[jorge stretcher]

magnifico. já conhecia pois tinha gravado em cassete.

[Geoff Davis]

Hi all, I have recorded some electronic Satie pieces. They are online at

http://www.recotist.com

under the name Emperors. Also there is a video for one at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKKlBR-5R1Y

[Lorraine Liyanage]

Thanks for the info, I really enjoyed reading this article. Satie is one of my favourite composers and I love playing his music!

[Larry Shackley]

I remember getting the first of these Satie albums as a Christmas present. I only knew the "Gymnopedies" at that time, so I was blown away by "Parade." I didn't realize that Satie had actually called for all those sound effects; I assumed they had been added by the "stoned hippies." I eventually bought the two sequels, which I also enjoyed but not as much. If you ever track down the others in this series and post them, I would love to know about it! Thanks for the MP3s.

[Bill Davis]

Thanks for this. I actually prefer "The Velvet Gentleman"; no annoying talking. When I bought "Electronic Spirit" the first thing I did was edit out the dialogue, keeping only the music on a homemade cassette. My first exposure to this series was an 8-track tape, of all things, of "Velvet Gentleman." I used to make out with my girlfriend while it played on the cheap stereo, circa 1976. Later picked it up on LP (special order) before it went out of print. I still have it. One of these days, I'll actually convert it to CD or MP3s - it has minimal ticks, pops and other surface noises. I know, because seeing this blog post lit a fire under my butt to go dig it out and listen to it.

[Peter Schaffter]

Wow! Finally got it again! Thanks a billion.

I used to have all three Camerata albums. All three were wonderfully true to the spirit of Satie--so much so that when I later attacked the music myself, I had a hard time capturing the magic of the LPs. (And that's saying something; Satie wrote incredibly well for the piano.)

I'm particularly fond of the first two. I actually prefer the Camerata arrangement of the 1st Gymn. on "Looking Glass" to Debussy's, and Parade was terrific. When the Moog was introduced on "Velvet", the thing that impressed me was how appropriate the choice of timbres for the pieces it was used on. Ditto for "Electronic Spirit". Quite unlike the total disregard Tomita showed for the colours of Debussy's music on that awful album, "Snowflakes Are Dancing".

[g-bro]

This Satie stuff is great! Long live stoned hippies!
I'd heard and fallen for the Velvet Gentlemen back in 1971 when I went to college, so this is a real treat. But the real reason I had to write is that I got sidetracked on the "Guitar Face" page.
(my fave: http://blog.wfmu.org/photos/guitar_face/face14.html)
But conspicuously absent is my all-time favourite guitar-face, found on a Muddy Waters album (King Bee?). I'll have to scan/submit it... look for it soon here http://papamint.com/other/muddyguitarface.jpg
cheers
gareth