Spun #3

Bertùf
"Gnossiennes"
Gooom Disques 013

Satie wrote his Gnossiennes in the imagined style of dance music in ancient Knossos, and the first three of his melodies are re-imagined here by Bertùf in a manner that sounds to me simultaneously warm/hazy and cold/glitchy. Nowhere on the jacket or vinyl label does it say at which speed this disc should be played, and it sounds fine either way, but as I tend to like things on the slow side, I transferred it at 33.3.

In many of his pieces, Satie would include texts for only the performer to see as he played. I'm going against his wishes, though, and including his directions below, because I think they add a nice extra dimension to the listening experience.

(Side A)

Numero Un: Slow. Very shiny. Ask. With the tip of your thought. Postulate within yourself. Step by step. On the tongue.

(Side B)

Numero Deux: With surprise. Don't go out. With great kindness. More intimately. With slight intimacy. Without pridefulness.

Numero Trois: Slow. Advise yourself carefully. Arm yourself with clairvoyance. Alone for an instant. So that you obtain a hollow. Very lost. Carry that further. Open your head. Bury the sound.

Find it here.