From Scratch Five Rhythm Works

Beginning in 1974, based in New Zealand, the sound-performance group From Scratch used an evolving array of percussion instruments to create a distinctive rhythmic music, texturally rich and tonally sumptuous, making use of found and repurposed objects as well as custom-made percussion instruments. And while the music has a sophisticated, fluid and intelligent polyrhythmic drive, pitched percussion features prominently, using microtunings and just intonation in tightly structured pieces which evolve and mutate, making use of intricate interlocking of melodic and rhythmic elements. Given their Pacific identity, one can find similarities with a number of Asian Pacific musics; their music will appeal to open-eared listeners interested in such musics, and it will also intrigue admirers of the early work of Steve Reich and Terry Riley. Formed by Phil Dadson on his return to New Zealand following his late-60s involvement in the U.K. with Cornelius Cardew's Scratch Orchestra, Auckland's From Scratch embraced an egalitarian ethic, focusing on co-operation, integration, and the union of opposites. These principles are clearly heard in the music here, with all the players interlocking, with the music exploring and exploding the polarities of melody/rhythm, local/global, group/individual, minimal/maximal. These four tracks, ranging from 1974 to 1982 are propulsive and yet serene, percussive and yet sweetly tonal, and toe-tappingly alert, an immersive and distinctive soundworld. All tracks here are newly remastered from the original master tapes; "Passage" was their first recording and is previously unissued.