A New Barebones CD Series
Raw, Improvised, Unedited, Natural, Pure
Volume One:
The Girl With The Whooping Cough
The Girl With The Whooping Cough consists of four pieces which were recorded in preparation for performances held in Florida in honor of Hal McGee's 50th Birthday, January, 2008. All pieces feature Goff III playing Hello Kitty Stratocaster, a Panasonic microcassette recorder, a variety of guitar preparations, and a variety of sound effects. The dates of the recordings are:
1 January 11, 2008
2 January 13, 2008
3 January 14, 2008
4 January 15, 2008
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear the full January 15th improvisation:
Volume Two:
Wake Up America
Wake Up America consists of five pieces which were recorded in preparation for performances held in Lawrence, Kansas, in March, 2008. Pieces 1, 2, 4, and 5 feature Goff playing Reflector Stratocaster, Micromoog, a variety of guitar preparations, and a variety of sound effects. Pieces 4 and 5 also include live uses of cassette and microcassette tape recorders. Piece 3 features Goff playing bowed electric bass, a Barbie Violin, and a variety of sound effects. The dates of the recordings are:
1 February 8, 2008
2 February 8, 2008
3 February 3, 2008
4 February 14, 2008
5 February 15, 2008
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear:
Track #2 (Micromoog/Stratocaster Improvisation February 8th, #2)
and Track #3 (Barbie Violin/Bowed Electric Bass February 3rd)
Track #2 (Micromoog/Stratocaster Improvisation February 8th, #2)
and Track #3 (Barbie Violin/Bowed Electric Bass February 3rd)
Volume Three:
We Deliver Free Freely
We Deliver Free Freely was recorded all in one session on February 21st, 2008. Goff plays Reflector Stratocaster, Micromoog, a variety of guitar preparations, a variety of sound effects, and a couple of prerecorded cassettes and microcassettes. Goff improvises and incorporates themes from pieces that he used to play with -ING and Disism into this set, described below:
1 Improvisation
2 Improvisation, including:
Variations on The Aquarium (originally created by -ING in 1980),
Variations on It Doesn't Matter (written by Goff in 1981, performed by Disism in 1987)
3 Improvisation, including:
Variations on Ours (written by Goff in 1980),
Variations on Asbestos I Can (composed by
Disism in 1987)
4 Variations on Red Finger Aspect (composed by Disism in 1987)
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear:
Track #3 (Improvisation, including:
Variations on Ours and Variations on Asbestos I Can)
Track #3 (Improvisation, including:
Variations on Ours and Variations on Asbestos I Can)
Volume Four:
The Prince Of Magicians
The Prince Of Magicians consists of one 51 minute improvisation, which was recorded while Goff was stricken by a particularly powerful influenza virus on March 2nd, 2008. Goff plays Reflector Stratocaster, Micromoog, a variety of guitar preparations, and a variety of sound effects. This improvisation ebbs and flows around bits of a 1963 college lecture about viscosity, which Goff input through a hand held cassette recorder and manipulated during the performance.
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear the full 51 minute presentation:
Volume Five:
We Must Have Order!
We Must Have Order! is the spawn of a particularly disturbing encounter with a local artocrat whose dismissive attitude put Goff into a rather inspired mood. Unlike the previous volumes of the Uncooked series, this one was recorded through a stereo microphone rather than through direct line inputs. A Vox Pathfinder amplifier served up the sounds, and its sixty cycle hums can be heard in this recording along with Goff kicking foot pedals, pressing buttons and twiddling knobs, giving this two CD set all the charm of a lofi audience bootleg. The two CD set constitutes the entire session, recorded March 7th, 2008.
Goff plays Reflector Stratocaster, Micromoog, a variety of guitar preparations, a variety of sound effects, and two hand held cassette recorders. Goff also incorporates a few themes from the old Taped Rugs catalog into the session as is described here:
CD ONE:
Improvisation/It Doesn't Matter (1981)/The Aquarium (1980)
CD TWO:
1 Louie Louie (Richard Berry)
2 Rosie Notes (1981)
3 Ours (1980)
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear
the entire sixty-five minutes of CD ONE:
Volume Six:
Bread And Sugar
Bread And Sugar is a distillate of five pieces culled from over three hours of recordings created on March 24th, 2008. Goff plays Reflector Stratocaster, Micromoog, a variety of guitar preparations, a variety of sound effects, a few sonic toys, and a couple of prerecorded cassettes and microcassettes. Goff improvises and incorporates themes from pieces that he used to play with -ING and Disism into this set, described below:
1 Improvisation, featuring Zizzle Zoundz and Micromoog
2 Improvisation, variations on Asbestos I Can (originally composed by Disism in 1987)
3 Improvisation
4 Improvisation, variations on Rosie Notes (originally composed by Goff/-ING in 1981)
5 Improvisation, including variations on The Aquarium (originally created by -ING in 1980)
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear:
Track #1 (Improvisation, featuring Zizzle Zoundz and Micromoog)
Track #3 (Improvisation)
Track #4 (Improvisation, variations on Rosie Notes)
Track #1 (Improvisation, featuring Zizzle Zoundz and Micromoog)
Track #3 (Improvisation)
Track #4 (Improvisation, variations on Rosie Notes)
Volume Seven:
Journee De Paris
Journee De Paris consists purely of acoustic guitar recordings. Four pieces were recorded on November 9th, 2007 to help channel some of the pain caused by the demise of Griddlebone, a cat to whom Goff had close emotional ties. Griddlebone was brutally murdered by a neighbor's dog on Goff's back porch in late October, 2007. These unamplified guitar improvisations were recorded digitally through microphones.
Four more improvisations, recorded on April 1st, 2008, were created during the first-ever recording session in which Goff played acoustic guitar through a loop duplicator. Another four improvisations, recorded on April 2nd, 2008, were created during the second such session. In both of these April sessions the sounds were routed through a guitar pick up, the loop duplicator, and a volume/wah wah pedal, before feeding into a line-in type digital recorder. The arrangement of the pieces on this CD was the one that made the most sonic sense to Goff.
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear
a half hour presentation of six tracks from the CD:
Volume Eight:
The Golf Parade
The Golf Parade consists of three segments recorded on April 7th, 2008 in preparation for a live performance. Goff plays Reflector Stratocaster, Micromoog, a variety of guitar preparations, a variety of sound effects, a few sonic toys, and a couple of prerecorded cassettes and microcassettes. Goff improvises and incorporates themes from pieces that he used to play with -ING into this set, described below:
1 Improvisation, featuring Zizzle Zoundz and
Micromoog
2 Improvisation, including variations on The
Aquarium (originally composed by -ING in 1980)
3 Improvisation, including variations on Louie
Louie (Richard Berry)
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear:
Track #3 (Improvisation, including:
Variations on Louie Louie)
Volume Nine:
Somnolency
Somnolency was recorded all in one session on April 15th, 2008. Goff plays Hello Kitty Stratocaster, Micromoog, a variety of guitar preparations, a variety of sound effects, a few sonic toys, and random edits from a cassette recording about mastering the grunt snort and wheeze. Goff improvises and incorporates themes from pieces that he used to play with -ING and Disism into this set, described below:
1 Improvisation, featuring Zizzle Zoundz and Micromoog
2 Variations on Ours (originally composed by Goff in 1980)
3 Improvisation, ending in variations on Rosie Notes (originally composed by Goff/-ING in 1981)
4 Variations on Red Finger Aspect (originally composed by Disism in 1987)
5 Variations on The Aquarium (originally created by -ING in 1980)
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear:
Track #4 (Variations on Red Finger Aspect)
and Track #5 (Variations on The Aquarium)
Track #4 (Variations on Red Finger Aspect)
and Track #5 (Variations on The Aquarium)
Volume Ten:
Explosion Of Pedigreed Bunk
Explosion Of Pedigreed Bunk consists solely of one sixty-eight minute improvisation, which was recorded on October 20th, 2008, while preparing for a "Day Of The Dead" performance with the River Cow Orchestra. Goff plays Hello Kitty Stratocaster, a variety of guitar preparations, and a Zizzle Zoundz. He incorporates several commercially-produced Halloween cassettes into the session as well as a few scary-sounding children's toys, which are amplified through the pickups of his guitar.
When played at a low volume during Halloween activities, this recording provides a "Trick Or Treat" atmosphere/soundscape which some find pleasantly disturbing...
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear the entire improvisation:
Volume Eleven:
Breezes To Breathe
Breezes To Breathe consists of two improvised performances recorded on April 21st, 2008. Goff played three keyboards, each routed through a loop duplicator:
A modified Casio KA-20 (digital)
An Optimus MD-1150 (digital)
A Micromoog (analog)
Both recordings are anchored by rhythmic loops generated by the "Voice Ooh" and "Voice Bass Ooh" sounds of the Optimus keyboard. Years of listening to recordings made by the performance art group, "The Residents," had an obvious effect on Goff's improvisations.
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear both recordings:
Volume Twelve:
Spare Our Trees
Goff moved his home and recording operations from Lawrence to Kansas City in July, 2008. Spare Our Trees contrasts two recordings made in Lawrence on April 30th, 2008, with two recordings made in Kansas City on August 11th, 2008. On the Lawrence recordings, Goff improvises using only an acoustic guitar played through a loop duplicator. On the Kansas City recordings, Goff plays a Reflector Stratocaster, a variety of guitar preparations, a Micromoog synthesizer, a Zizzle Zoundz, samples from an old radio broadcast of The Maltese Falcon, various battery-powered toys, and a variety of sound effects.
While each piece presented here differs from the others in various ways, the contents of this CD are not meant to imply any generalities about Goff's approaches to improvisation either in Lawrence nor in Kansas City. Goff simply considered them to be compatible with one another when listened to as a whole.
1 April 30th, 2008
2 August 11th, 2008
3 April 30th, 2008
4 August 11th, 2008
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear all four recordings:
Volume Thirteen:
Made To Measure
Made To Measure consists of new and unique interpretations of three of the oldest compositions in the Taped Rugs catalog.
1 "Ours"
The original version dates from 1980. It incorporated electronic guitar played through Frippertronic-style tape loops, overdubbed with voices and tubular bells. It was released on the first cassette produced by Taped Rugs Productions: Might As Well Beyond Venus.
This version, recorded April 30th, 2008, was created with an acoustic guitar played through a loop duplicator.
2 "Whirring During" and "The Dance"
The original versions of these pieces were created in 1981 at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco. They were composed of tape loop recordings of various sounds which were split into bits, edited together, then overdubbed with vocals and a wide variety of instruments. Several different people were involved in this original composition process. The pieces were later interpreted by -ING for on-stage performances.
This interpretation, recorded March 21st, 2008, combines ideas from both pieces, executed with electronic guitar, Micromoog synthesizer, a loop duplicator, and a megaphone directed at the guitar pickups.
3 "Improvisation" and "The Aquarium"
"The Aquarium" is the oldest -ING composition. The original recording was improvised through a Frippertronic-style tape loop system by Goff (electronic guitar) and Steve Schaer (ARP synthesizer) in 1980, and an edit from the recording appeared on Might As Well Beyond Venus. Interpretations of "The Aquarium" were regularly included in -ING performances in later years.
This interpretation, recorded February 15th, 2008, was executed with electronic guitar, Micromoog synthesizer, a loop duplicator, and some prerecorded commercial cassette tapes. The piece is preceded by a long improvisation, which actually is the way the original "Aquarium" was created. While several versions of "The Aquarium" appear in the Taped Rugs Uncooked series of CD presentations, this one predates all the others, and was, in fact, the first recreation of the piece in over 20 years.
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear all three recordings:
Volume Fourteen:
A Thrilling And True Representation
A Thrilling And True Representation is to date the most unaltered presentation in the Taped Rugs Uncooked series. A stereo microphone captured Goff running non-stop through a 72-minute rehearsal. From the outset of the recording, Goff is heard commenting to himself. Throughout the CD, his comments punctuate the sounds of him kicking foot pedals, pressing buttons, twiddling knobs, etc., as he makes his way through his set. He executed this rehearsal with a Zizzle Zoundz, a Micromoog synthesizer, a Hello Kitty Stratocaster, some prerecorded cassettes, and variety of effects, sound toys, and preparations.
No direct lines from the instruments were incorporated into this recording, and while this reduced the resulting sound quality somewhat, it also produced a very accurate recreation of what it sounded like to be sitting in the Taped Rugs studio while the recording was being made. In essence, you, the listener, are there. The set consists of:
Improvisation
"Ours" (Goff)
"The Aquarium" (-ING)
"Red Finger Aspect" (Disism)
Improvisation
"Louie Louie" (Richard Berry)
Improvisation
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear the full recording:
Volume Fifteen:
The Power Of Your Inner Ear
The Power Of Your Inner Ear is a 53-minute improvisation that takes the listener on a journey through a number of sound environments. In preparation for a River Cow Orchestra performance, Goff explored the sonic universe with a Reflector Stratocaster, various guitar preparations, a looped harmonica, a music box, a large number of battery-powered sound toys, several prerecorded cassette tapes, and a variety of sound effects. Blends of sounds and moods shift from spacey to rhythmic to noisy to calming to scary to funny to psychedelic.
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear the full recording:
Volume Sixteen:
Fertilizer That Sweetens The Soil
Fertilizer That Sweetens The Soil is the first DVD video collection to be included in the Taped Rugs "Uncooked" series. All the pieces in this collection were performed by Charles Rice Goff III alone and alive at the �Beyond The Door� vintage clothing shop in Lawrence, Kansas, on April 26th, 2008. The performances were videotaped by Barry Barnes through a single camera mounted on a tripod.
The videos presented here are basically unaltered, keeping with the general theme of the "Uncooked" series. The overall presentation puts the viewer squarely in the middle of the action as Goff sculpts sounds and ideas for an unlikely audience. Curious customers wander in and out of the performance space (even occasionally bumping the camera). Traditional and non traditional instruments, toys, effects, and preparations make up the palette from which Goff paints the air with a dadaist�s flair. The pieces presented here are:
1 Improvisation (Zizzle Zoundz, Moog, Tape, Hello Kitty Stratocaster)
2 Red Finger Aspect (original Disism composition, first published 1987)
3 Improvisation, Including Variations On The Aquarium (original �ING composition from 1980)
4 Improvisation (Hello Kitty Stratocaster/Micromoog)
Click the play arrow on the player below to watch and hear all four videos:
Volume Seventeen:
Keep Our Home Front Strong
Keep Our Home Front Strong is the second DVD video collection in the Taped Rugs "Uncooked" series of productions. The performances documented here were executed by Charles Rice Goff III alone and alive in the Taped Rugs studio in Kansas City, Kansas, USA. A single camera mounted on a tripod captured material from two improvisation sessions:
1) January 8th, 2009
2) January 16th, 2009
The videos of these performances are basically unaltered, keeping with the general theme of the "Uncooked" series. Goff sets the atmosphere with some brief introductions, then dives into the abysses of the great sonic universe with gusto. Viewers are able to see how sounds are generated, manipulated, maintained, and symphonized. Electronic guitar, various guitar preparations, Micromoog synthesizer, modified toys, various sound effects, a pedal loop duplicator, and some prerecorded cassettes make up the backbone of these untraditional presentations.
Click the play arrow on the player below to watch and hear both videos:
Volume Eighteen:
Travel While You Sleep
Travel While You Sleep is the third video presentation in the "Uncooked" series. The performances documented here were executed by Charles Rice Goff III alone and alive in the Taped Rugs studio in Kansas City, Kansas, USA, on January 9th, 2009. A single camera mounted on a tripod captured the materials presented here.
All verbal introductions have been removed from these presentations, leaving the viewer to observe Goff�s sonic sculpting processes in their purest forms. Otherwise, the videos of these performances are basically unaltered, keeping with the general theme of the "Uncooked" series. Sounds are generated, manipulated, maintained, and symphonized with electronic guitar, various guitar preparations, Micromoog synthesizer, modified toys, various sound effects, a pedal loop duplicator, and some prerecorded cassettes.
Travel While You Sleep features four performances:
1 It Doesn�t Matter (original Disism composition, first published in 1987)
2 The Aquarium (original �ING composition, created in 1980)
3 Ours (original Goff composition, created in 1980)
4 Improvisation
Click the play arrow on the player below to watch and hear all four videos:
Volume Nineteen:
Lead A Balanced Life
Lead A Balanced Life is Volume Nineteen of the Taped Rugs "Uncooked" series of productions and is the sixteenth audio presentation in the series. All sounds on this CD release were recorded by Charles Rice Goff III alone and alive in the Taped Rugs studio in Kansas City, Kansas, USA.
Goff recorded the two long improvisations of Lead A Balanced Life in the immediate wake of resigning his membership in the River Cow Orchestra, after approximately one year of service with the band. Both pieces exhibit a focused introspection combined with the Dadaesque humor that Goff so often expresses by inserting snippets from random pre-recorded cassette tapes and talking toys into his live performances.
Goff also employed a Micro Moog synthesizer, a Reflector Stratocaster, various guitar preparations, a variety of sound effects, and a loop duplicator to achieve the dense atmospheric soundscapes of these improvisations.
The pieces presented here are from the dates:
1) September 3rd, 2009
2) September 2nd, 2009
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear both recordings:
Volume Twenty:
Phosferine For Extra Vitality
Goff recorded the six improvisations of Phosferine For Extra Vitality during the week preceding a recording session with Michael F. LaGrega. Throughout the week, Goff familiarized himself with the configuration of electronic sonic generators that he planned to use in the LaGrega session. In the process, Goff created several improvised recordings, each possessing its own rhythms, randomnesses, atmospheres, and attitudes. The best audio bits realized during the week were saved and compiled for this release.
The audio tools employed during these sessions include:
A Micromoog analog synthesizer, an Optimus MD-1150 digital synthesizer, a K-Mart portable phonograph, several phonograph albums (both physically modified and unmodified), an Ibanez DM 1000 digital delay, a Yamaha FX 500 effects unit, and a Boss RC 20X Loop Station loop duplicator.
This compilation of improvisations is presented in the following order:
1) September 28th, 2009
2) September 29th, 2009 (A)
3) September 29th, 2009 (B �The Flail�)
4) September 29th, 2009 (C)
5) September 29th, 2009 (D)
6) September 25th, 2009
Click the play arrow on the player below to hear all six recordings:
