Aug 012008
The Feedback: The Feed-Back and Quasar
From: S/T [RCA, 1970]
Lately, I have come across earlier recordings of popular musicians such as Bob Seger, Steve Winwood and Billy Joel that easily surpass their mainstream radio hits. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that that Ennio Morricone, the famous film composer, had a secret career as the trumpet player for an avant garde ensemble named Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. This project allowed him to experiment with new ideas that he could incorporate into his own compositions. Crime and Dissonance, a compilation released on Ipecac records in 2005, focused on the avant-garde side of Morricone’s work that was undoubtedly influenced by his work in Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza.
It appears that the band changed their name to The Feed-Back for their self-titled record on RCA, but then went back to the previous name shortly after the record was released. The Feed-Back was comprised of Franco Evangelisti (keyboards, percussion) Mario Bertoncini (piano, percussions), Ennio Morricone (trumpet), John Heineman (trombone, piano, cello), Walter Branchi (double-bass), Egisto Macchi (percussion) and others on additional instruments.
“The Feed-Back” opens the album with a breakbeat that is begging to be sampled. If Jay-Z and Kanye weren’t so busy digging for classic soul, they might discover this gem in the experimental section during their next crate-digging excursion. While i’m listening to “The Feed-Back”, I hear a fresh mix of slamming breakbeats, free jazz squalling, and electronic oscillations. It’s really hard to make experimental music fun to listen to, but they have definitely achieved this from the beginning. The next track, “Quasar”, continues on in the same vein, but it features a motorik groove that makes me think of the classic Faust song “Krautrock”. At about the mid-point, the tempo of the song slows down to reveal the nuances of experimentaion that have been bubbling underneath. Then, without warning, the drums explode onto the scene with cacophonous trumpet and other extraneous noise leading the way. On the final track, “Kumalo”, the breakbeat sound from the first track returns, providing a fascinating backdrop for the sonic tapestry of cello, sitar, electronics, trumpet and piano. Clocking in a just under 27 minutes, the self-titled album from The Feed-Back proves that you can say more with less time.
There isn’t a lot of information available on the Feed-back’s recorded output, but as far as I can tell this is the only record that they released. It is extremely rare, but you may be able to find it amidst a pile of throwaways in the dusty bins.
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This has been sampled by cut chemist in "the audience´s listening" album…can't remeber the name of the track rite now.
Punk-cho:
Thanks for your comment. I'll have to research that Cut Chemist record to find out which track samples this record. As usual, the comments are pretty sparse on here. Wish that poeple would comment, especially if they aren't digging something. That way it gives us an idea of what people are digging the most.
Peace, Kevin
this is some ear opening material, thanks for putting this up, a great find!
Edan "sampled" the title track. He didn't really do much with it other than rap over it but hey, he got there first. Thanks for the heads up, this thing is great.
Colin,
Do you know the name of the Edan track and album that sampled "the Feedback" and which song did they sample from The Feedback. Thanks for the info about this.
Best, Kevin
Kevin,
If you combine my earlier comment with punk-cho's you actually come up with some facts. Cut Chemist used "The Feed-back" on the Torture Chamber remix he did for Edan and Percee-P. I play that instrumental a bunch and it's what originally attracted me to this record.
By the way, is there any way I'm going to find a copy of this thing anywhere. I've checked out the usual spots (Ebay, Gemm) and have had very little luck. Any thoughts/suggestions would be much appreciated.
Colin
K,
Upon further review I also noticed that Cut sampled Kumalo for The Audience is Listening Theme Song. That song was originally kinda ruined for me by the incessant playing of the Ipod commercial that used it. However, I recently gained a new respect for Cut's song when played for me by a friend who doesn't know the commercial and let me get into it on it's own merits.
Looks like Cut got his money's worth from the Feed-Back.
Colin,
Thanks for your detective work on this! I will definitely be searching out these Cut Chemist remixes to see how he flipped it. As far as finding an original vinyl copy of this record, I would imagine that would be pretty difficult. The songs that I posted are not from the original copy. I downloded them from Soulseek. Since then, I've also seen this record up at Mutant Sounds. Thanks again for your "feedback" on this, and good luck in finding a copy for yourself.
Best, Kevin
thanks!
check out my blog: raer psych/jazz
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