New Album Launch: 'Andrew Poppy on Zang Tuum Tumb' Box Set

3xCD box set explores the carreer of the influential minimalist/classical/electronic composer.

(PRWEB) June 4, 2005 -- ZTT Records presents Andrew Poppy on Zang Tuum Tumb, a 3 CD box set compiling classic recordings, unreleased and rare material commemorating the 20th anniversary of Poppys period with the label.

One of the UKs leading contemporary composers, Poppy arrived at ZTT in 1984 having studied under John Cage and founded the avant-garde collective The Lost Jockey (Crepsecule/Operation Twilight). He went on to successfully straddle two worlds: orchestral compositions on one hand; left field pop collaborations (Psychic TV, Coil, Nitzer Ebb) on the other.

Andrew Poppy on Zang Tuum Tumb compiles all of the key tracks from both Poppys ZTT albums -- The Beating of Wings (1985) and Alphabed (1987). Rare remixes, alternate takes and B-sides are also included, all of which are available for the first time on CD. A completely unreleased third album, which has been locked in the ZTT vaults since 1988, is on a third disc. A 'mini book is also included, containing a biography, new interviews with the composer, bibliography and discography.

Highlights of the box set include Cadenza, a 14-minute recording of Poppys breakthrough composition; The Impossible Net, which places him squarely at the recent convergence between classical and electronics; Kink Kong Adagio -- industrial downtempo from before the genre was so named; Inside The Wolf, Poppys theme for Channel 4s The Tube; The Passage, a completely unreleased and mesmerising suite from Poppys very last session for ZTT.

Some pieces are for full orchestra conducted by the composer, others just use ship-yard samples. Guest musicians include Ashley Slater (Norman Cook), Joceyln Pook (Real World), and Annette Peacock (Salvador Dali) and certain tracks have been notably sampled -- in one way or another -- by the likes of Ninja Tunes DJ Food, Boards of Canada and Warp Records Max Tundra.

Having recently celebrated his 50th birthday, this is a busy year which will also see Another Language (a piano/vocal album with singer Claudia Brucken) Trans-Acts (score for a performance installation by filmmaker/visual artist Julia Bardsley premiering in Glasgow and touring Europe) and Levitation And Fall (an Oratorio with electronics" for the 50-piece Grammy award-winning Estonia National Male Voice Choir).

Andrew Poppy on Zang Tuum Tumb is the definitive view of Andrew Poppy as a progenitor of avant-garde composition, minimalism and early electronica.

Artist:   Andrew Poppy
Title:'Andrew Poppy on Zang Tuum Tumb
Release date: 27 June 2005
Label: ZTT Records   
Catalogue no.: ZTT 186CDX
Format:   3-CD box set

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