In 1998, Pogus Productions reissued
Robert Rutman's LP
1939 with a 20-minute bonus track. This album features duos and trios with Carsten Tiedemann and Danny Orlansky. Musicians use various combinations (announced by the track titles) of buzz chimes, bow chimes, tabla, chant, and a single-string steel cello. The instrumentation doesn't vary within a piece. The music is meditative soundscape with drone-like qualities. With the exception of "Tabla and Buzz Chime" in which the presence of percussion brings a feeling of ritualistic dance, all pieces are made of long sustained sounds evoking oriental shrines. Some sound textures are beautiful and the album reaches an artistic peak on "Steel Cello and Bow Chime." "Song of the Steel Cello," the added piece for this CD edition, suffers from a drop in sound quality and is a lot less peaceful; the screeching sound of the two steel cellos quickly gets irritating. But apart from this last track,
1939 offers strange and mesmerizing sounds worthy of attention. ~ François Couture