Charles Goff III & Chris Phinney - Maestros Of The Magnetic Age

Charles Goff III & Chris Phinney's new double CD set Maestros Of The Magnetic age is a collaborative effort of original sonics recorded in the 1980's & then digitally maniupulated in 2005. 13 tracks spanning two discs of some extreme cutting edge electronics.

Disc One
On this disc, Goff digitally manipulates and adds to original sonics recorded by Phinney on analog tape in the 1980's. The project was executed in August, 2005.

Track Listing/order : Disc One
1 - Argument
2 - Temple Without Pews
3 - Prophecy Of The UnDamned
4 - Said In Seance
5 - Occasionally Breaking Glass
6 - Fog In The Headlights
7 - Psycho Pswing
8 - Phactory Pharm

Temple Without Pews - 4:06

Occasionally Breaking Glass - 19:38

Fog In The Headlights - 5:35

Phactory Pharm - 9:15

Disc Two
On this disc, Phinney digitally manipulates and adds to original sonics recorded by Goff on analog tape in the 1980's. The project was executed in August, 2005.

Track Listing/order : Disc Two
1 - Patrolling Space
2 - Sliders Way Inside
3 - Desert Blues
4 - Tell It Goodbye
5 - Get Ready

Sliders Way Inside - 14:20

Desert Blues - 22:20

Get Ready - 3:20

Reviews:

CHARLES GOFF III & CHRIS PHINNEY: Maestros of the Magnetic Age 1 (CD on Taped Rugs Productions)

This release from 2005 features 63 minutes of menacing tuneage.

On this disc, Goff digitally manipulates and adds to music recorded by Phinney back in the Eighties.

Expect a scary ride here. These electronics are gritty and forceful, like a pack of winged wolves circling a hapless flock of sheep. Densely layered so as to leave no pause to catch your breath, the textures evoke disturbing nuances with their shrill punctuations and eerie structure. Moans and laments are spliced into the seething mix, lending even more foreboding sentiments to the already unsettling harmonics. Other instruments (like guitar, metallic impacts, looping vocal samples) come and go, mired in the toothy morass.

Grinding pulsations cascade with determination. Waves of dark tonalities collide, generating fresh apprehension with each merger. Whirling cybernetics descend from ominous thunderheads--be careful lest you get cut by their razor sharp blades.

While presenting in a musique concrete style, this music actually possesses a more melodic fashion than most abstract noise compositions. Hints of melodies wander into the mix as if lost, where they remain, happy to have found a home--haunted though that abode may seem to outsiders.

Review by Matt Howarth

CHRIS PHINNEY & CHARLES GOFF III: Maestros of the Magnetic Age 2 (CD on Harsh Reality Music)

This release from 2005 features 51 minutes of celestial tuneage.

On this disc, Phinney digitally manipulates and adds to music recorded by Goff back in the Eighties. This time, the music is more varied, taking a shriller posture and injecting a dash more melody to the drone.

The first track is brief. Its electronics are piercing and extremely spacey. Frequent radio samples float in the background.

During the second, much longer piece, effects tortured from a guitar provide a foreground melody, while a hoarse wind of synthetic generation worries the mix, causing the electronics to shudder and spin remarkably fast.

The third track is an epic 22 minutes long. Here, things step into gloomier mode. Dark tonalities hover like an impending storm. Treated voices whine in a melancholy manner, while effects dog the theme, ripping out chunks and entering the flow.

The fourth track is compressed in length to 6 minutes. In direct converse, the music adopts an elongated fashion stretching notes out into yearning streams of haunting resonance. Clumping beats and faint voices wander through the piece, while a guitar adds subliminal depth deep in the mix.

The CD ends with another short track, wherein the sounds display a nasty attitude as they clash and duel for supremacy.

Review by Matt Howarth

Maestros of the Magnetic Age- Chris Phinney/Charles Goff III (CD Harsh Reality Music)

On this two CDR package recorded in August 2005 Charles Goff III teams up with Chris Phinney. On disc one Phinney manipulates and adds stuff to recordings Goff made in the 1980's. And with a great result! The first two tracks, "Patrolling Space" (do I have to say more?), and "Sliders Way Inside" are highly synth-dominated songs mixed with the special strange dada-esque and funny voices and guitar sounds that are so typical for Goff III. Voices taken from broadcast or movies are mixed with heavy synth leads. Track 3, "Desert Blues" (length 22 minutes) is built around voice recordings and has a special alienating effect. As if during a close encounter the alien really starts to speak. During listening to the former Beach Boy Brian Wilson came to my mind. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Goff is a great fan of his music. But this track gets very unpleasant as it draws near the end; noisy sounds collide with the voices we hear. The last track, "Get Ready", starts with a drone but rapidly other sounds come and go. I cannot always tell who did which sounds, Phinney or Goff, but Phinney surely did a great mix. On the second disc the roles are changed and it's now Goff who manipulates and adds sounds to a source tape Phinney recorded also in the 1980's. A couple of songs stay in the same pattern as on disc one. But especially the tracks "Temple Without Pews" and "Occasionally Breaking Glass" are remarkable pieces of sound art. Again the synths play an important role but they are not in the foreground. The typical Goff additions are voices and samples and they flow easily into the warm and dense analogue synth sounds. The music breathes a relaxed atmosphere. Just lay back and let it flow over you. With a track like the 19-minute "ccasionally Breaking Glass" this is no problem. I find this release to be one of the best ever by Phinney or Goff. (PH) Info: http://www.harshrealitymusic.com/

Review from Rigodon # 4

CHARLES GOFF III/CHRIS PHINNEY - MAESTROS OF THE MAGNETIC AGE (2xCDR
by Taped Rugs/Harsh Reality Music)
Both Chris Phinney and Charles Goff III aren't the new kids on the
block, as they have been active inside experimental music since
twenty or more years. Phinney used to run the Harsh Reality Music
cassette label and worked under the moniker Mental Anguish and Goff
III has been active as Goff III mainly. On this double CDR release
they do a very 80s trick: Phinney re-works sonic material of Goff in
the 80s on analog tape and Goff does the same thing with Phinney's
material from the 80s. Chris Phinney is a man of spacious musics,
feeding the sounds of Goff through an endless line of analogue synths
and many sound effects. We don't know what the input of Goff was
here, but it's a nice cosmic trip Phinney takes us on.
On a similar trip is Charles Goff III, but his material is less
lengthy and a bit more dense. Also, but I am not 100% sure about
this, I think computer treatments play a bigger role here than with
Phinney's re-work (boys of this age don't use the term remix, mind
you). Goff's work is more 2005 than Phinney, but it's a good, solid
space ride for two hours, without much news going on. (FdW)

Review from Vital Weekly.

CHARLES GOFF III & CHRIS PHINNEY. Maestros Of The Magnetic Age. Taped Rugs/Harsh Reality Music.
Interesting concept where on one cd the music/sonics originally created by Chris Phinney are manipulated and added to by Charles Goff. And on the other cd, it's the turn of Phinney's original material to be added and manipulated by Goff. On the Phinney manipulated Goff cd there are five tracks, and eight on the Goff manipulates Phinney. On the five track album, Phinney has created some quite sparkling soundscapes. With the use of voice overs (from a variety of sources like OTR and sports commentators) and reshaping, looping and changing the original material he's produced a machine shop of textures and colours. Because the tracks here are generally longer, they develop slower. The other cd features on average shorter pieces. The beauty in this is that both cds combined offer up some interesting concepts, at times they're industrial, and yet by turns, ambient. Anyone who's interested or enjoys the work of Goff, or indeed anything related to Goff will know that what you get isn't your regular fare. Maestros is no exception, but I do believe that this set is probably more user friendly for beginners. A splendid tour of the inner landscapes. (Dw)

From http://www.modern-dance.co.uk/

Here are some links to info & audio for the Charles Rice Goff III - Taped Rugs 06 06 Tour of the Southeast USA. Recordings with Brett Hart, Dave Fuglewicz, Hal McGee & Chris Phinney.

Taped Rugs

Aural Innovations

Here is a short experimental video clip I put together of a few pictures that Charlie took while visiting here.

Goff Phinney Clip

All Music Copyright Harsh Reality Music/Taped Rugs Productions