Muscle Up

by Patrick Cowley

Overview

Following Dark Entries' 2013 release School Daze, a collection of experimental recordings Patrick Cowley recorded between 1973 and 1981 that were used as soundtracks to gay pornographic films, the label released a second volume, Muscle Up, in 2015. As with the first collection, this one features extended ambient soundscapes (some of which run past the ten-minute mark) which bear little resemblance to the style of hi-NRG disco that Cowley helped pioneer. However, this set does include an instrumental version of "Somebody to Love Tonight," a percolating midtempo disco number that Cowley co-wrote with Sylvester, one of his most prominent collaborators. The two shortest tracks on the collection, "Pigfoot" and "5oz of Funk," are synth-laden heavy funk cuts that could easily be released as a 7" on Stones Throw. "The Jungle Dream" and "Mockingbird Dream 2" (a longer version of a track included on School Daze) incorporate bird calls and other nature sounds for a sort of cyber-exotica hybrid, and "Timelink" similarly features the droning sounds of a didgeridoo over cosmic synth arpeggios. As with School Daze, the entire album is remarkable, and demonstrates the unlimited potential that the late producer had as a film composer. ~ Paul Simpson

Product Details

Release Date:	12/18/2015
Label:	Dark Entries
UPC:	0744271372151
Rank:	59426

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Cat's Eye
2. The Jungle Dream
3. Deep Inside You
4. Somebody to Love Tonight

Disc 2

5. Pigfoot
6. 5oz of Funk
7. Don't Ask
8. Uhura
9. Timelink
10. Mockingbird Dream 2

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Patrick Cowley   Primary Artist
Charlie McMahon   Yidaki,Didjeridu
Maurice Tani   Bass
Joe Tarantino   Noise

Technical Credits

Patrick Cowley   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Instrumentation,Arranger
Gwenael Rattke   Design
George Horn   Remastering
Maurice Tani   Liner Notes
Art Adcock   Synthesizer Programming