Selten Gehörte Musik – Abschöpfsymphonie [USED 4LP BOX]

gargantuan, rarer than the teeth of hen 4lp monstrosity from the legendary selten gehörte musik, 'abschöpfsymphonie' (skim symphony). eight sides of elite muck-racking and unfettered daftness breaking into incidental ecstatics.

it is quite difficult to parse the logic (none) of selten gehörte musik, much less the appeal (immense, but only to a select few). a brand name for a troupe of artists who momentarily decided to engage in 'music' making, here the collective -- incidentally on what was the last release in its lifetime -- is in its most extended form, live in munich in may '79 featuring the core of dieter roth, gerhard rühm & oswald wiener alongside fellow quacks hermann nitsch, heinz cibulka, hansjörg mayer, attersee, andré thomkins & dieter's son björn (not the other son karl from the record with janky folk songs & clapping).

what unfolds is here is four hours of clatter, guided by the fundamental dictum of total acceptance of whatever the moment produces. while such a principle is often utilised to incendiary effect in improvised settings, in opposition stands 'abschöpfsymphonie', aggressively quotidian & often entirely barren, a symphony of squawking toys, cranked gears & disemboweled schläger slop excreted onto dissonant piano ramblings, extremely crappy cr78 presets gone haywire & slooped bass meandering.

how, then, does this amount to accidental rapture? everything herein is aggressively opposed, giving the impression of the players being fundamentally disinterested in anything resembling structure or collective musicality, yet this beast crests from basically nought into these gorgeous moments of euphoria coalescing from nothing & just as quickly dissipating back into it. it really is just monumental, in the sense of being totally ostentatious, fully questionable & never anything less than bafflingly engaging.

Edition Hansjòrg Mayer, 1979