MOTHER MALLARD'S PORTABLE MASTERPIECE CO.

The first two songs on this set, "Endocrine Dot Patterns" (15:30) and "C-A-G-E I" (32:10) feature the earliest full line-up of the band, with David Borden and Steve Drews being joined by Linda Fisher following the duo's early concerts when they realised they were limited at just how much they could play due to a lack of hands. They had commenced by performing works by the likes of Robert Ashley, Morton Feldman, Daniel Lentz, Jon Hassell, Terry Riley, John Cage, Philip Glass and Steve Reich, but as time progressed their own compositions took precedent and for me the one which really stands out for me on this release is "C-A-G-E I" which is incredibly hypnotic and following a similar path to what would be experienced with Tangerine Dream who had much more musical success. The repeated melodies and changing layers make for a complex arrangement which is quite dangerous to play when listening to in the car as it really does take hold of one's consciousness as all that exists are the notes, and the music is all-encompassing. This is the first time I have come across Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co. who appear to be one of those bands whose influence has been much larger than their recorded output, with their debut only coming out in 1973, yet there is no doubt that Borden's work with Robert Moog had a huge impact on the world of synthesizers.

Somehow it always has amazed me the hidden "magic" in music. That which makes any composition forgettable or masterwork. I mean you can have Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed playing along, but not always will they come up with masterworks, not even God himself J.S. Bach pulled it through as such.

Anyway, here in this Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company's 1976 reissued in 2001 "LIKE A DUCK TO WATER", everything is apparently set up for a flawless effort, yet something along the way happens and it is no good news.

This following brief copied bio seems important for this review considering exactly its songwriting intentions and their focus in this release.

Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company, formed in 1969 by David Borden, was the world's first synthesizer ensemble, predating groups like Tonto's Expanding Head Band and Tangerine Dream. After recruiting Steve Drews and Linda Fisher to operate additional synthesizers, the group began playing concerts of minimalist music by Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass.

"Like a Duck to Water" really sounds like a mixture of borrowed musical languages, the likes of those same three early minimalists they used to perform, Reich, Glass and Riley. So original as such it is not. It is a great listening experience if you like to play the "who is who" game. It has undoubtly some real awesome and beatiful moments but also those which are not that much fun or even weak.

I will say the reason I do like far more Reich's or Riley's musical idiom as opposed to early Glass, was precisely the fact that the latter's focus was quiet in intention mechanical as opposed to the human spirit that prevailed the first two. In this Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company's release it seems Glass' mechanoid features outweight the more human like spirits of the other two influences.

***3.5 "could have been better" PA stars.

A masterful journey through the possible universes of electronic music.

Box-sets, if not by rule, usually worry less for quality in composition, in favour of recording-dates or availability (or rarity) of the material. So it is kind of normal to approach them as historic "antiques" that no matter what, have to be respected because of that solely. Therefore in that regard they tend to be quiet unfriendly.

Opposite to that, there are flawless compilations, which by luck, fate or accident, are true to the spirit of audiophiles, more than historians. And of course there are also, if scarce, those compilations that achieve both. They are not only pure delight to listen to, but also master degree classes on the subject. This incredible Box-Set belongs to the latter.

There is no single piece in this "MOTHER MALLARD'S PORTABLE MASTERPIECE CO. - (1970-1973)" which could not offspring by itself, the creative electronic language of future projects or musicians, right now in 2014!. Every piece, even if influenced in its time of creation by contemporary musicians, becomes transmuted to the point of offering in return, to those same "influences", future possible material, which by then, they were not even imagining!

David Borden should stand somehow as the "prophet" who was able to carry Robert Moog's vision to reality, for the joy of us prog/electonic and electronic-music followers.

Yes!, This is not an "average" prog/audiophiles wish come true ( no guitars or solos, no weird time signatures nor drums, no front-men preaching (or singing as you call it), etc. etc...) . This Box-Set, therefore could hardly be thought of as "prog/universal" appealing (I mean, in this category the top band, has 1/4 of the ratings of the most mediocre Rush album!). BUT for followers of this sub-genre, it is a "sin" to miss it , and to to those I address!

*****5 complete PA stars, and still missing some!

Thanks to PA reviewer Sean Trane for this recommendaion!

From what I understand none of their early music committed to tape were ever released at the time. Once not being a habit, Cuneiform released these early works in 99 in the form of 'archives', but with no liner notes. The opening Ceres Motion is the only Drews composition and is one of the later pieces included on this archive disc. It starts very calmly and slowly builds inertia and momentum, with the help of his partners and loops built very pleasant soundscapes with sequencer rhythms that Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze would develop a few years later. The repetitive and hypnotic nature of their music that evolves gradually but permanently makes this kind of aural pleasure very hard to resist, but its abrupt end is somewhat unsettling, leaving you with a taste of unfinished business. Up next, the much less accessible Cloudscape For Peggy starts on cosmic Moog noises, and we're hovering around the Zeit or Atem TD soundscapes era.

The 12-mins piece Music is a bit of a WTF moments with Fisher's vocals (albeit short-lived) topping a very upbeat and almost pop-y piece; by this time (72), the mini-moog was out and indeed dominates the track. The short Train piece (still almost 7-mins) is another Drews composition, but it sticks aurally close to Cloudscape (same sessions most likely), and is darkly cosmic, slightly nightmarish. The almost-20-mins closing Easter also dates from the Robert Moog's Trumansburg installations, and is probably the weirder and most experimental track on this disc. This over-the- top build-up of twisted quagmires of sonic drools and rants will crash your sanity against the wall of incomprehension if your third ear is not sufficiently developed.

Yet another impeccable and essential archive recording from Feigelbaum's label, though uncharacteristically it doesn't feature much additional historical details. If you're in electronic music, certainly this belongs in the most-visited shelf.