Ussachevsky: Suites from “No Exit” and “Line...

Ussachevsky: Suites from “No Exit” and “Line of Apogee.” Vladimir Ussachevsky, electronic tape. New World 80389-2 (compact disc). The late Vladimir Ussachevsky was there at the starting gate for tape music in this country--and these experimental film scores from 1962 and 1967 are ghostly souvenirs of those patch-it-yourself days before the portable synthesizer conquered the world. Ussachevsky manipulates electronic and real-world sounds into lonely, passing choruses, desolate windstorms, distant tolling chimes and other haunted textures. The sound quality is primitive compared to today’s digitally synthesized tapes, but the emotional content is amazingly strong.