The Helsinki-based label Frozen Reeds have just announced their latest effort towards preserving the music of Julius Eastman, a misunderstood American composer once popular for his musical minimalism; on May 30, Frozen Reeds will be bringing Eastman’s Femenine to vinyl for the very first time.
According to Tom Huizenga of NPR, throughout his career, “the late composer swerved from “ critical acclaim to gate-crashing controversy, and from success to homelessness. To be proudly gay as a composer in the 1970s was brave enough; to be Black and gay in that world, even more so. But that confident self-awareness enabled Eastman to write music that was challenging, mischievously irreverent and sometimes ecstatic. Today he’s a visionary to many, even if his insistence on incorporating racial slurs into his titles still ruffles feathers.” However, despite his extensive success and commendable education in music, Eastman soon fell into a cycle of addiction and sporadic behavior upon his return to New York City in the early 1980s, which eventually led to his early passing a decade later with his music tainted with controversy. Frozen Reeds’ efforts to revitalize and preserve Eastman’s compositions accompany a resurgence in fans interested in unveiling the details of Eastman’s convoluted life.
According to Rob Arcand of Pitchfork, “The album has been remastered from the original high-definition tape transfer by Jim O’Rourke at his Steamroom studio in Japan. It features republished liner notes written by the composer and author Mary Jane Leach, who first met Eastman in the early 1980s and has been a central figure in efforts to archive his work. In 2015, the University of Rochester Press published Gay Guerrilla: Julius Eastman and His Music, a collection of essays on Eastman that Leach co-edited alongside Renee Levine-Packer.” In addition to this, the vinyl remaster will include a reissue of a 1974 performance by the S.E.M Ensemble featuring Eastman on piano.
As Leach said in a statement, “Eastman’s stated aim with Femenine was to please listeners, saying of the piece that ‘the end sounds like the angels opening up heaven… should we say euphoria?’”
Listen to the album below.
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