Sundaze (37)

Hello, another Sundaze coming up, at the center of attention, a prolific musician/producer, Bill Laswell, whose diverse output includes some great ambient works aswell. Under the pseudonym Divination he released Light In Extension with 2 tracks added to the solo Divination, Ambient Dub albums vol 1 & 2 of the year before. Extended forays into the spaciest, most psychedelic regions of ambient music, marked by the hypnotic drone of the subterranean basses.

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Bill Laswell (Feb12, 1955 in Salem, Illinois) , he ranks among the most prolific of musicians, being involved in hundreds of recordings with many musicians from all over the world. Laswell's music draws upon many different genres, most notably funk, various world music, jazz, dub and ambient styles. He has also played or produced music from the noisier end of the rock spectrum, like hardcore punk and metal.

Though starting out as a guitar player, he soon switched to bass. Laswell got his earliest professional experience as a bassist with funk groups in and around Detroit, Michigan as well as Ann Arbor. He often would see shows in Detroit that put together acts such as Iggy and the Stooges (he would work with Pop througout his career starting in the mid ‘80s), MC5 and Funkadelic (many of whose members are part of his stable of musicians). Seeing these differing styles of music in his frequent trips to Detroit, as well as being rooted in the African-American music that he grew up immersed in have clearly had an influence on Laswell’s music. His exposure to jazz - John Coltrane, Albert Ayler and particularly Miles Davis’ electric experiments have also clearly had an impact on his thinking. Laswell’s refusal to pigeon-hole himself, his music, or even the people he works with is arguably his greatest asset as a musician and producer.

In the late 1970’s Laswell made the move to New York city, immersing himself in the thriving New york scene. He moved into famed producer Giorgio Gomelsky’s loft and became part of a group of musicians that would eventually become the first (and only even remotely consistant) incarnation of Material. Aside from Laswell’s first known recording on one side of a Michael Blaise and the Cheaters 7” called Scoring Power in 1978, Laswell and Material became the backing bank for Daevid Allen and New York Gong, appearing on some recordings and embarking on a small tour. Material, primarily consisting of Laswell, keyboardist Michael Beinhorn and drummer Fred Maher, also cut a number of 12” releases for Red Records and others. They were usually supplimented by guitarists, notably either Cliff Cultreri and occasionally Robert Quine. Living in the East Village also put Laswell at the center of a group of musicians both up and coming such as John Zorn and established, such as Fred Frith and Brian Eno. His persistance in asking Eno to work with him paid off in the form of contributions to Eno and David Byrne’s seminal album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts as well as Eno’s own On Land. Brian Eno also contributed a song to the Material album, One Down.

Within a few years of moving to New York, Laswell soon founded a recording studio with producer/engineer Martin Bisi (of later indie rock renown) and hooked up with Jean Karakos and his fledgling label Celluloid Records. Under the Material moniker (now also a production unit consisting of Laswell and Beinhorn – Maher being long gone - and by 1984 consisting solely of Laswell) Laswell became sort of the de facto house producer for Celluloid until the sale of the label in the later ‘80s. During this fruitful time in the early to mid 80s, Laswell was able to record some of his Material excusions (which ran the gambit from proto-jazz/funk to pop and R&B, as well as projects such as Massacre, with Fred Frith and Fred Maher.

His association with Celluloid allowed some of his first forays into this so-called ‘collision music’, and forays into world music. Recordings with The Golden Palominos and production on albums by Shango, Toure Kunda and Fela Kuti all appeard on the label. Celluloid also released a slew of 12” devoted to Hip-Hip, becoming a pre-cursor to the popularity the form enjoyed starting in the mid 80s. Fab 5 Freddy, Phase II and Afrika Bambaataa all appeared on the label. Criminally forgotten, Laswell also put together the very successful 12” World Destruction which paired PiL’s John Lydon with Afrika Bambaataa – years before the Run DMC/Aerosmith collaboration broke down the rock/hip-hop barrier. 1982 also saw Laswell’s solo debut, Baselines...to be continued


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Divination - Light In Extension 1 and 2 (94 ^ 253mb)

Bill Laswell uses the pseudonym Divination for some of his more psychotic endeavors in experimental ambience -- with the emphasis on the "mental." . Light In Extension, Vol. 1 features Laswell with Liu Sola, Jeff Bova, Nicky Skopelitis, Buckethead, and Robert Musso. They have created some outrageous and cutting-edge soundscapes. Using atmospheres, experimental sounds, dub rhythms, and ska backbeats, they have ventured into unknown territory.

For Light In Extension, Vol. 2, the changed Divination lineup is Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, Mick Harris, and Jeff Bova. Laswell manages again to construct this unearthly soundscape of deep atmospheres full of gray washes and dark minimalism.



Divination - Light In Extension Vol. 1 ( ^ 247mb)

1 - Divination One (3:44)
2 - Seven Heavens (12:18)
3 - Errata (4:24)
4 - Delta (5:58)
5 - Tian Zhen (4:22)
6 - Agrippa (6:53)
7 - Godspeed (8:20)
8 - Ain Soph Aour (5:48)
9 - Najm-Al-Din (9:06)


Divination - Light In Extension Vol. 2 ( ^ 296mb)

1 - Dead Slow (4:05)
2 - Baraka (15:08)
3 - Silent Fields (4:05)
4 - Evil Eye (14:28)
5 - Dream Light (9:59)
6 - Journeys (13:31)
7 - The Last Words Of Hassan I Sabbath (10:29)

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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !