black truffle is honored to present a new issue of annea lockwoodÆs classic 1970 tape piece tiger balm, unavailable on vinyl for over thirty years, accompanied by two exquisite unreleased works for percussion and voice. created while lockwood was living in the uk, the side-long tiger balm is a singular work within the cannon of tape music. inspired by research into the ritual function of music, the piece explores the possibility of evoking ancient communal memories through sound. breaking entirely with the dynamic language of the musique concrÞte tradition, lockwood uses a select palette of mainly unprocessed sonic elements chosen for their mysterious and erotic characteristics (a purring cat, a heartbeat, gongs, slowed down jaw harp, a tiger, a womanÆs breath, a plane passing overhead), presenting at most two sounds at once. as one sound flows organically into the next, their shared characteristics are highlighted, opening a space of dream logic and mysterious associations between nature and culture, the ancient and the modern. the b-side presents two pieces for percussion recorded here for the first time. amazonia dreaming (1987), performed by dominic donato, uses unaccompanied snare drum and voice to evoke the nocturnal soundscape of the amazon rainforest. unorthodox techniques and materials (marbles, chopsticks, a plastic jar lid) transform the snare into a resonant field of sensual textures.
