Finders Keepers once again delve deep into the Suzanne Ciani archives to present a first vinyl pressing of the previously unreleased Flowers of Evil. Recorded in 1969 (which makes this its 50th anniversary for those crunching the numbers), the 14-minute long title track takes a section of Baudelaire's Elevation as its starting point and expands outwards in a way that would later become more obviously typical of Ciani's gently explorative work on the Buchla synthesiser. Which is to say, as it was composed and recorded relatively early in Ciani's creative life means there's a clear historical significance to this work in how it displays characteristics and impulses that would feature more frequently and in longer form in later recordings.
That this was not originally intended for official release tells you something of its private nature - you've the sense of an artist testing the outer reaches of their abilities, a learning of technological capabilities and how they might be best utilised to express grander ideas (both her own and those of Baudelaire). If you've even half an interest in her work and the creative trajectory of electronic music (of which Ciani is integral) i'd consider this a must, an argument also bolstered by the inclusion of three additional unreleased pieces from the same period. A+ image for the artwork, too.
