K. Leimer ‎– A Period Of Review (CD)

Label: Rvng Intl. – ReRVNG03
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 12 May 2014
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient, Early, Experimental

"For the third installment in RVNG Intl.’s archival series, the tape is wound back to 1970s Seattle, home place of ambient music savant K. Leimer. A Period of Review (Original Recordings: 1975 – 1983) unearths unreleased portions of Leimer’s vast archives and highlights the work of a self-taught visionary whose use of generative compositions ferried his music to infinite resonance. 

The underground music scene of Seattle-Olympia in late 70s was small but seeded. The vestiges of prog rock pompously pummeled the few clubs and record shops before punk and New Wave became the rage. Leimer sought to support a growing community of experimental composers by launching the Palace of Lights record label in 1979 with his wife Dorothy Cross (this was years prior to the birth of regional titans K Records and Sub Pop).

Palace of Lights took philosophical and logistical cues from the flourishing DIY cassette culture, but demonstrated a different elegance in its music and design. A testament to his independent and uncompromising spirit, all of Leimer’s recorded work would be released in varying formats and editions on Palace of Lights from ‘79 to ‘83.

A Period of Review focuses on unheard material outside of the work Leimer offered on Palace of Lights, though even that music could be considered relatively “unheard.” The thirty tracks of A Period of Review may have remained a mystery on moldy reels until now, but Leimer’s entire catalog of generative music remains pristine in its absolute power.

The pieces of A Period of Review draw on many influences of the time, articulating gestures that embrace coolly composed stoicism, saturated fields of percolating beats, stark razed spaces and grave and gently developed glimpses of beauty. Overall, a genuine diversity of expression underscoring just how much range Leimer had at his disposal.

A Period of Review is a rewarding step into the canopied, unheard world of K. Leimer and necessarily grand in scope. With its hypnotic, arcadian terraces and nearly narcotic glacial beauty, A Period of Review has a rightful place in the canon of pioneering ambient music."

Tracklist
1        Ceylon    2:52
2        My Timid Desires    3:56
3        From A Common Center    2:20
4        Explanation Of Terms    0:17
5        From One To Ten    1:58
6        Entr'acte    3:08
7        Bump In The Night    0:16
8        (Aka Accident)    2:18
9        Facing East    2:10
10        At Daybreak    1:31
11        A Spiritual Life    3:16
12        Honey To Ashes    3:04
13        Stop It!    3:30
14        Two Voices    2:00
15        Lonely Boy    3:48
16        Practical Demonstration    0:52
17        Commercial    0:08
18        Gisella    3:15
19        Archie's Dub    3:32
20        Ikumi    2:12
21        Reassurances    1:00
22        Assemble And Diffuse    4:30
23        Eno's Aviary    2:00
24        Almost Chinese    2:04
25        Agfa / Lupa    0:52
26        The Phonic Chasm (Excerpt)    4:31
27        Acquiescence    5:06
28        Malaise    6:26
29        All Sad Days    2:34
30        Porcelain    2:11