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A really well-titled collection – given that it features the most important steps in the long musical journey of Pierre Henry – easily one of the most important electronic musicians of the 20th Century! The package offers a heck of a lot of amazing music for the price – and is very heavy on Henry's crucial 60s recordings – including both his funky analogue grooves, and his much more abstract sonic compositions! Much of this material has been issued over the years, but never in a package this complete – and the depth of the sounds here is stunning – a set that should be given as a textbook to anyone who ever thinks about making any sort of electronic music. Works include "Messe De Liverpool (1967)", "Pierres Reflechies (1982)", "Coexistence (1958)", "Mouvement Rhythm Etude (1970)", "La Noire A Soixante/Granulometrie (1967)", "Variations Pour Une Porte Et Un Soupir (1963)", "Le Voyage (1962)", "Futuristie (1975)", "Messe Pour Le Temps Present (1967)", "Le Xeme Remix (1998)", "Envol (2010)", "L'Art De La Fugu Odyssee (2011)", "Pulsations (2007)", and the previously unreleased "Le Fil De La Vie", which features cool shakuhachi!

An amazing collection of experimental sounds from the European scene of the postwar years – key electronic and musique concrete recordings from some of the most important composers of the 20th Century! The package is a great introduction to this important stretch in music – and features recordings that are every bit as mindblowing now as they were over 50 years ago – really revolutionary sounds and tones that went onto have an undeniable impact on modern music, yet which still sound even more amazing here in the original source recordings. Includes "Poeme Electronique" by Edgard Varese, "Voile D'Orphee" by Pierre Henre, "Diamorphoses" and "Concret PH" by Iannis Xenakis, "Studie Nr 1" and "Gesang Der Junglinge" by Karlheinz Stockhausen, and "Cinq Etudes De Bruits" by Pierre Schaeffer.

A long-overdue tribute to the legendary Moondog – one of the true visionaries of American music in the 20th Century! Moondog got his starts as a blind musician working the streets of New York at the end of the 40s, but he did so (as you'll note on the cover photo) with a range of unusual instruments of his own invention, and in a minimal, rhythmic style that linked together primitivism with higher musical ideals. Moondog's often been called "the father of minimalism" – and while his experiments of the 50s prefaced the work of Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and others, his work was also much more personal, and had an earthy intensity that's still tremendously powerful even decades later! This collection is one of the first to dip into the earliest of Moondog's recordings – his recordings for the Mars, SRC, Brunswick, and Moondog labels – which are presented here alongside selected tracks from his albums for Epic and Prestige, also of similar vintage. Nearly all the tracks here offer a very primitive blend of percussion that's sometimes mixed with unusual woodwind or stringed instruments – nearly all of Moondog's own invention – and the package also features some great notes on his long career, plus some photos that are as gripping as the music itself! Titles include "Down Is Up", "Big Cat", "Bumbo", "Rimshot", "Rabbit Hop", "Instrumental Round", "Be A Hobo", "Dog Trot", "Oasis", "2 W 46th Street", and "Why Spend The Dark Night With You".

Avant vocal work from Demetrio Stratos – a performer whose style has roots in older Dada voice experiments of the early 20th Century, but which really pushes into bolder, wilder territory too! Demetrio never sings, but instead gets sounds from his voice that are almost instrument-like or sound-effects at times – recorded here with overdubbing and a bit of added synthesizer from Paolo Tofani – in ways that are magically weird and wonderful. A few points have the voice taking on some slightly familiar qualities, but most sounds are relatively abstract, although still quite beautiful. Titles include "Segmenti" in four parts on side one, plus "Mirologhi 1 & 2", and "Metrodora".