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LP + 7"
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LPS 217LP
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2019 reissue. Originally released in 1978. "Edition of 500. First ever vinyl edition of the amazing Music By Xolotl, originally issued only on cassette by Unity Records in 1978. Painter and musician Bernard Xolotl was born in France in 1951. As a teen, he was introduced to electronic music through the works of musique concrete composers like Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer, although he found the early recordings of Pink Floyd to be more inspirational. During the summer of 1970 while stopping in Belgium, he found a vast Library with rare books on pre-Colombian history, mythology, and Art, and after deep insights into this cosmogony, he took the name 'Xolotl' by which he has been known ever since. After moving to California, he was introduced to the Serge Modular Synthesizer through Eliane Radigue and registered for classes in all the colleges of the Bay where there was an Electronic Music Department so that he could use their various electronic instruments. At first, he often plugged in his electric guitar into these monsters rather than use the rather rigid sequencers, but through tape recorders and the delay techniques used by Terry Riley, he was able to quickly combine these 'sound producing devices' to create his own music. He eventually released his first 'official' album named simply Music by Xolotl in 1977. Originally issued only in cassette, Wah Wah offers the chance of listening to these works on vinyl format for the first time ever on an LP + bonus 7" edition to fit all the sounds from the cassette."
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CD
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BB 314CD
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Bureau B presents a reissue of Bernard Xolotl's fifth album Last Wave, originally released only on cassette in 1982. This is French electronic music from California. He named himself after the Aztec god of lightning and death; his music is influenced by the Berlin school of electronic music. As a teen, Xolotl (b. 1951) was introduced to electronic music through the works of Musique Concrete composers like Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer, although he found the early recordings of Pink Floyd to be more inspirational. During the early 1970s, Xolotl began creating music of his own, working in studios across Europe and the US before settling in California in 1974, where he built his own studio. Between 1978 and 1981, he recorded four solo cassette albums. On Last Wave, Xolotl expanded his musical palette with new instruments such as the Yamaha CS60 and the PPG. Includes previously unissued bonus track.
Xolotl on the process of Last Wave: "The first Last Wave I started while still living in San Francisco, a simple and longish piece which could be used as a background for the concerts I was giving with Daniel Kobialka and Richard Horowitz. However, after I moved to the residential suburb of Marin to build up my studio, I kept adding tracks to it so it just became part of my next album. This was going to have more instruments; I got to do everything myself, playing and recording one track at a time. But mixing there was still out of the question; I had to wait for the right opportunity to use a San Francisco studio with the best reverb and acoustics. This took several years in the end and was the last album I didn't mix at home. It was also the last 'analog' album and the 'last' of many other 'things' which made the title very significant in my life."
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LP
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BB 314LP
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2023 restock; LP version. Bureau B presents a reissue of Bernard Xolotl's fifth album Last Wave, originally released only on cassette in 1982. This is French electronic music from California. He named himself after the Aztec god of lightning and death; his music is influenced by the Berlin school of electronic music. As a teen, Xolotl (b. 1951) was introduced to electronic music through the works of Musique Concrete composers like Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer, although he found the early recordings of Pink Floyd to be more inspirational. During the early 1970s, Xolotl began creating music of his own, working in studios across Europe and the US before settling in California in 1974, where he built his own studio. Between 1978 and 1981, he recorded four solo cassette albums. On Last Wave, Xolotl expanded his musical palette with new instruments such as the Yamaha CS60 and the PPG. Includes previously unissued bonus track.
Xolotl on the process of Last Wave: "The first Last Wave I started while still living in San Francisco, a simple and longish piece which could be used as a background for the concerts I was giving with Daniel Kobialka and Richard Horowitz. However, after I moved to the residential suburb of Marin to build up my studio, I kept adding tracks to it so it just became part of my next album. This was going to have more instruments; I got to do everything myself, playing and recording one track at a time. But mixing there was still out of the question; I had to wait for the right opportunity to use a San Francisco studio with the best reverb and acoustics. This took several years in the end and was the last album I didn't mix at home. It was also the last 'analog' album and the 'last' of many other 'things' which made the title very significant in my life."
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CD
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SPA 14992
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"Amerindian artist Bernard Xolotl is an international painter and musician. In the late 60s he left France for Germany and Switzerland. He was then working with Terry Riley, Tony Conrad, La Monte Young...in Switzerland were Timothy Leary...Manuel Gottsching (Ash Ra Temple), Lutz Ulbrich (Agitation Free)...it was an incredible moment, when all this dream team was about to lead the incredible Cosmic Jokers project...Bernard Xolotl left Europe some months later for San Francisco, performing and recording his music in his incredible home studio. From his label Syntasy he released many tapes from his recordings and artwork. 20 years later he reappears for some days on our European continent...his music is wonderful and it is now rereleased on Spalax." Recorded using various keyboards and guitar, synthesizers, Roland and Korg vocoders, Tibetan percussion, etc., Xolotl has produced masterful cosmic space music. Perhaps not as deep as Klaus Schulz's greatest works, but in a similar vein. More obscure than you would expect.
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