Charlmagne Palestine Bells Studies

High up in a tower, accessible only by a spiral staircase that led to a concrete platform above the whole city, for seven years Charlemagne Palestine's HellsBells became the sonic mainstay of NYC 53rd and 5th. This LP collects some of the most relevant recordings from those early days.
Side A presents "Bells Studies", the complete reel-tape that gives the title to the whole LP, an intense pulsating work built in five movements starting with slow hypnotic large sonorities and accelerating into more dense and maximal explosions.
Side B collects some shorter Studies: "Bells", the two parts of "Confiscated Bell Tape" and an excerpt from "Dumb Bell Tape". each track recorded by the composer in one single take around 1965 and never heard again for the last 50 years!
In 1963 while attending the highschool of music and art in NYC, 15 years old Charlemagne Palestine was asked if he'd be interested in playing a carillon with 26 bells at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church down the street from the Museum Of Modern Art everyday of the week at 5pm to 5:30pm. Charlemagne decided that he loved these voluptuous Taylor bells that clanged all over 53rd Street and 5th Avenue... everyday from 1963 to 1970 when he left NYC to study and teach at CAL Arts.
Charlemagne soon became known as the "Quasimodo" of Midtown NYC, and his dissonant and ""klanggdedangggebannggg"" style of playing attracted a diverse group of fans from Moondog to John Cage to Tony Conrad among others. Charlemagne Palestine was able to continue to play his clanging bell soap operas for seven years dinggdonggingggg every late afternoon and sunday mornings!
Published in an edition of 350 copies only with original photos from the recording sessions.