Spectrum: New American Music, part 2 (Avant Garde Project 173) torrent

The Avant Garde Project is a series of 20th-century classical, experimental, and electroacoustic torrents digitized from LPs whose music has in most cases never been released on CD, and so is effectively inaccessible to the vast majority of music listeners today. This is wild stuff, so check it out if you\'ve never heard this sort of music before. The analog rig used to extract the sound from the grooves is near state-of-the-art, producing almost none of the tracking distortion or surface noise normally associated with LPs.

AGP1-157 are available for direct download in the archive at the AGP mirror site:

AGP163-168 will hopefully be available soon at a location to be named later.

AGP169-172 are available at http://thepiratebay.se/user/human2011

NOTE: All of the AGP installments since 163 are 24-bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files. The extra bits of quantization reveal more realistic detail using a 24-bit DAC and good audio equipment. To burn these tracks to CD, you will first have to convert them to 16-bit files. This is easily done using the converter tool in Foobar2000 or other software.

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AGP173 is the second of two devoted to a remarkable set of five LPs released by Nonesuch Records in 1968 and 1974, entitled Spectrum: New American Music, and featuring some of the best contemporary American composers of the time. One CD has since been released with selections from volumes II, IV, and V, but the rest of the tracks have regrettably never been reissued. The CD reissue is now out-of-print and used copies sell for rather too much on Amazon, but the tracks can be purchased directly from Nonesuch as mp3 downloads:

http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/spectrum-new-american-music

This installment includes all of the tracks from volumes II, IV, and V that were not included in the CD reissue. There are a few moments of brief tracking distortion in the loudest vocal passages in track 09, but otherwise the LPs transcribed for this installment are in excellent condition, with only the light surface noise inevitable in Nonesuch LPs of that era, much of which has been neutralized with the lightest possible de-clicking. The installment includes a PDF with scans of the liner notes from all five LPs, with complete information on composers, compositions, and performers.

Equipment used for A/D conversion: Linn Akiva phono cartridge, Linn LP12/Lingo turntable, Linn Ekos SE tonearm, Audioquest LeoPard tonearm cable, PS Audio PS2 preamplifier, Kimber PBJ interconnect, M-Audio Audiophile USB A/D converter.

06 - Stefan Wolpe, Chamber Piece No. 1 [8:34]
07 - George Rochberg, Blake Songs [10:24]
08 - Jeff Jones, Ambience [16:12]
09 - T. J. Anderson, Variations on a Theme by M. B. Tolson [13:58]

NOTE: To the best of my knowledge, these recordings are not currently available commercially. If you know otherwise, please let me know ASAP, as I do not wish any artists to be deprived of the royalties that they so richly deserve.