1975 by C. Spencer Yeh

Intransitive Recordings is extra-proud to present 1975, the debut solo album of tightly-coiled, crackling electronic ambience by C. Spencer Yeh. While “debut” may seem a strange word to use to describe an album by a guy with such a deep discography, Yeh explains that 1975 is like nothing anyone has heard from him before. “One thing is I really wanted to focus on a certain feeling of stasis. So much of what else I do just kinda pushes and pushes forward. 1975 is more vertical than horizontal, even though one can’t escape the horizontal completely.” Taking a confident step away from his familiar work as an improvising violinist and vocalist, from the mythology of his rock/noise band Burning Star Core, and from his recent forays into pop music, the omnivorous Yeh here reveals himself to be a composer of unsettling electro-acoustic miniatures.

Yeh approached his source material with a desire to be transparent, even literal, and to avoid straightforward narrative. The literal is there in the deceptively matter-of-fact track titles — “Drone”, “Voice”, “Shrinkwrap from Solo Saxophone CD”, “Two Guitars” — but knowing which sound source is buried beneath these tones does little to remove 1975‘s sense of enveloping mystery. This is sensual abstract music with a light touch, a confident minimalism that only reveals its unsettling depth, sharp corners, and playful malevolence with repeat listens.

For fans of Eliane Radigue, Hecker, Pita, or Kevin Drumm.

Born in Taiwan, and now based in Brooklyn NY, C. Spencer Yeh is the one constant of the “band” Burning Star Core, whose other members have included Mike Shiflet and Trevor Tremaine & Robert Beatty of Hair Police. He has collaborated with a staggeringly diverse range of artists, including John Wiese, Tony Conrad, New Humans w/ Vito Aconcci, Aaron Dilloway, Okkyung Lee, Evan Parker, Yellow Swans, Greg Kelley, Paul Flaherty, Don Deitrich (of Borbetomagus), and Chris Corsano (to name just a few).

Praise for 1975:

“1975 wins by imperceptibly softening into a cozy, alien hang suite, its innate insolvency an asset for those Beats By Dre headphone moments when traditional ambient is too contiguous, hard noise is too brutal, and you’re feening for a diffuse sound that’s less Tazer-shock intense than low-impact cerebral massage. In other words, if you can’t identify which song you’re listening to most points on 1975—and if you can barely muster the will to check—that’s pretty much as it should be.” – The Village Voice

“Like his great “In The Blink Of An Eye” 7″ which came out earlier this year, C. Spencer Yeh’s new album is an exercise in retrospection. But whereas that single looked back to 1970s pop and rock – specifically, mid-70s Bowie and Neil Young –1975 (the year Spencer was born) takes its inspiration from the same period’s American avant garde. 1975 constantly seems to be alluding to something, and challenging you to puzzle it out. It’s the high-minded correlative of reference-heavy Hypnagogic pop.” – The Wire

“This new album is indicative of Spencer Yeh‘s constant push forward. You’ll never hear the same thing from him, always developing and evolving.” – Mika Tajima

“1975 is unlike the noisy cacophony of Burning Star Core, unlike his previous violin improvisations, and far from his recent foray into pop music on De Stijl. The record achieves a new sensual sense of ambience unheard on Yeh’s other projects while still maintaining some recognizable trademark elements. Of course, the album features some incredible tracks of Yeh’s signature voice manipulations.” – Tiny Mix Tapes

“Each song makes up an atmosphere that really, until today, I had not heard from more ‘minimalist’ music. It is also different from the platitudes that one may find in that sort of work. Not monotonous, and at the end leaves a very pleasant taste.” – Wrong End of the Telescope

“Unexpected and extremely original… 1975 is exceptionally accessible, which could well serve as an introduction to new and experimental music. Intelligent and powerful. Recommended!” – Improv Sphere

“No beating around the bush, no poetic titles or some such, but a fine exploration in sound. No mystery, just a great CD.” – Vital Weekly

Former label for experimental-type music. Foolishly founded by Howard Stelzer in 1997, mismanaged for more years than necessary, and finally put out of its misery in 2012. This page exists to keep some titles available.