Born in the United States and having moved to Australia in 1975, Bert is an outstanding composer, performer, writer, and instrument maker, and educator. For many years, he has explored the live interaction between aesthetic elements—such as technology, microtones, and improvisation—and mechanical processes, composing works that are at times humorous and unconventional. Known for his musical intelligence—both acute and approachable—he constructs machine-generated musical environments, wanders through them, and explores the possibilities that arise; yet this never results in the alienation or nihilism often associated with technology-driven works. This recording features an excerpt of the final section—comprising three movements—from *A Certain Kind of Spice*, a roughly six-hour-long work for computer-controlled synthesizers composed between 1990 and 1991 that pioneers a magical intermediate space between humans and machines. Dedicated to Kenneth Gabro, this music draws on a wide range of inspirations, including Sun Ra, Elliott Carter, Quincy Jones’s “Setembro,” Charles Ives, the Portsmouth Sinfonia, and ancient Greek modes. While these pieces feature pitch progressions typical of “traditional music” and are composed of delicate sustained textures and varied, powerful sounds, they are rendered through deliberately chosen, cheap-sounding synthetic tones—a choice that, combined with the composer’s (and the audience’s) attitude of embracing the beauty of unexpected “mistakes,” makes them truly unique. The track on Side A of the LP is an edited version; the full-length version is included on the CD. It comes with a very interesting commentary by the composer himself.

Specifications:
・Includes insert and download code
・Text in both Japanese and English