Altered Zones

Endless House, everybody’s favorite failed electronic music commune from  the early 1970s, has been brought back to life in a new 12-track compilation by London’s Dramatic Records. The brainchild of Czech audiophile/venture capitalist/megalomaniac "Jiri Kantor", this high modernist fortress in glass and chrome once was once home to a revolving coterie of composers with cool synthesizers and Werner Herzog accents; according to Kantor, Endless House was a “multimedia discotheque” of sorts, destined to form “the cradle of a new European sonic community.” Too bad it was stuck in the middle of the Bialowieska Forest, and demolished in its scintillating entirety after only six months! Learn more from this “1977 BBC Radio Hungary” interview by renegade composer “Walter Schnaffs”, whose “brand of dubbed-out collage,” sampled below, reportedly “underwhelmed Kantor and his staff over-paid taste makers" (via Visitation Rites)

MP3: Walter Schnaffs: "I Am Germany"

For more of a sense of the collective’s “house style”, peep this Kantor-favorite  by “Rasmus Folk”, spotlighted by 20 Jazz Funk Greats a few weeks back

MP3: Rasmus Folk: "Coupe"

Endless House compilation is out now via Dramatic Records