Prima Materia - La Coda Della Tigre

Superior Viaduct need to be considered near-superhuman at this point. Their journey into 20th Century avant garde history seems to know no limit, and sure enough they've found another mind-expanding gem in this reissue of Prima Materia's sole album, first released in 1977. PM were a four piece (i think) vocal ensemble led by Roberto Laneri, notable for incorporating no instruments into their sound - everything you hear here comes from the human voice, a somewhat unbelievable achievement given the subtly shifting tonality they achieve. There are more famous examples of this kind of compositional approach, notably Bjork's Medulla, and i did also just experience something similar with Antonina Nowacka's astonishing performance at OTO last month, though La Coda Della Tigre does still feel like an entirely radical achievement. There's some obvious kinship with Robert Ashely, given his obsession with the human voice, though the results are much more drone-like than what Ashley was aiming for, something like Tony Conrad or Alvin Curran's Canti Illuminati. It was the latter, in fact, who recorded the 45 minute long piece, and issued it via the Ananda label he shared with Laneri and Giacinto Scelsi. That certainly provides context for the work, but not really precedent - i think you've got to be pretty visionary to realise something as singular and unwavering as this, an almost monastic undertaking that reflects the historical religious significance of choral music.