Friday, April 27, 2007

Nik Raicevic-Beyond the End... Eternity,LP,1971,USA

Another Nik Raicevic oddity!Here's an amusing story about this LP ,i found at RYM site:
"This has got to be one of the most unusual electronic albums I have ever heard! Talk about a forgotten relic from a forgotten era! Even the early works of Tangerine Dream on the Ohr label takes a back seat compared to this album from Los Angeles-bases synthesis Nik Raicevic. His albums have been pretty much known only by the most die-hard and fanatical LP collectors, those looking for the off-the-wall stuff that's never seen a CD reissue (and not likely to). I was exposed to Raicevic back when I was a small kid in 1979. My dad had a copy of _Magnetic Web_ (1973) for about a week and got rid of it. I liked it, but for some reason he did not. It took me years to find out who did _Magnetic Web_, and once I found out, I discovered it was Nik Raicevic. Little is known of this guy (finding info on him online is next to impossible), but one thing for sure was when he quit the music business around 1976, he sold his big modular Moog to none other than Steve Roach, then a former racecar driver, but later a big name in the New Age/electronic genre (yes, the same guy who teamed up with Australian didgeridoo player David Hudson in the 1990s, although of course he had no albums out in '76). Around the time he gave up on music, he did provide some sci-fi artwork to an Iowa-based pomp rock band called Locust (who released the album Playgue in 1976). Also I found out he provided some percussion on the Rolling Stones' Goats Head Soup album, which I find extremely surprising, because the Stones were so much more mainstream than anything Raicevic was recording. I was trying to figure out why my dad got rid of _Magnetic Web_ so fast in my dark recesses of my early childhood. While much more recently the opportunity for me to get that album hadn't arised for me quite yet, I was given the chance to get this earlier release, _Beyond the End... Eternity_, and I got a copy! It all makes sense, if the "music" on this album is anything to go by, it's little wonder why my dad got rid of _Magnetic Web_, it must've been too far out for his likings. _Beyond the End... Eternity_ was Nik's first album after being kicked off the Buddah label following the release of _Head_ (the album with the coloring book included). This album was released on Narco Records, and it's basically a sound effects library album. It's nothing but electronic bleeps and laser sounds, with some droning Moog. Nothing remotely resembling a tune or a melody, Jean Michel Jarre or later Tangerine Dream this is not. The album cover is truly a time piece, with that trippy sci-fi cover done by Raicevic himself. The minute you hear the opening cut, "Beyond the End", you hear mainly electronic wailing sounds that sounds like sirens. The next cut, "To Go, To Do, Is to Be" features that odd droning Moog and more sound effects. The rest of the album is more or less the same, bearing titles like "The Mist that Drifts Away", "Deathless", "The Wanderer, "Life's Timelessness", and "Eternity". This is truly a wonderful album to clear parties with, because of all those relentless electronic effects. I also love that raw analog sound. This is truly one album you'll either give a one or a five star rating, but because I like this off-the-wall stuff, I give it a five star rating. And to think three more albums will be released from him before dropping out of the music business. None of his albums have ever been reissued on CD, so you have to get it on LP (or 8-Track). I know my parents would hate this album (like they did _Magnetic Web_), but that's not my problem, if you're looking for the most off-the-wall stuff, give this album a spin.

***************NEW LINK POSTED SEPTEMBER 2012***************

Get it here

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

If someone played this to me and told me it was an early or lost Maurizio Bianchi recording, I'd believe them. Total electronic minimalism.

Anonymous said...

I bought this album used a few years ago and it had a sticker on the shrink wrap that said: Warning! Do not listen to this while stoned.

Of course it only made you want to listen to it while stoned even more. Clever marketing.

Anonymous said...

Did Nik Pascal or Nik Raicevic ever publish any of his album artwork? If so where can I find it?

jimsharpe said...

whenever I download a file it comes out corrupted. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. I'm on a Mac and this only began happening recently. Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Hazy Dave said...

Magnetic Web seems to be available here.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

jimsharpe:

you need a program such as UnRarX (unrarx.com) in order to open .rar files on a Mac.
Download and open UnRarX, download the .rar file, and then drag the .rar file into the UnRarX window... which then pops out the mp3 files.

Hope that helps!

hazy dave: thanks for the Magnetic Web link!

||l IIl ll || IIlI l || said...

well... after an exhausting search in the web, and since I couldn't find anything... Is somebody there who has his first LP (I mean the self-titled Head in Buddah Recs) and who wants to... sell it?? I was very unlucky 'cause I had find it at discogs, but the guy had already sold it when I placed my order :/

Anonymous said...

The wonderful Head album is up at the equally wonderful redtelephone66 blog.

Anonymous said...

The Nik Raicevik/Steve Roach story is totally untrue. Steve and I have a mutual friend (Loren Nerell) that I asked about this pervasive internet rumor. Not only did Roach never own a Moog Modular but his ARP 2600 was bought new. How does crap like this get started? -DPW-

Unknown said...

Hi, it's Gypsy Flemming...
Nik would be very happy to know he was remembered. He passed about 20 years ago from lung cancer from his 2 1/2 packs a day habit. What a waste...
Nik originally used his music at his ongoing art studio on Sunset Blvd named "Art In Space". Nik used recordings from the Moog and ARP 2600 synthisizers and we created albums at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood with Doc Seigel.Then we would pick a painting for the album cover or create a new one. Origininally, the paintings were oil but he changed to oil after a few years to acrylic because he was able to blend it better and it dried faster. At the gallery, the paintings changed colors and content with use of a light wheel. It was all quite striking to walk in from the strip and see paintings that changed and electronic music playing.
I still have some of Nik's paintings and vinyl albums. I will try to post some pics of
paintings on blog.
Gypsy aka Laura M. Weymouth BH CA