Day of Niagara

Inside the Dream Syndicate, Vol. I: Day of Niagara or simply Day of Niagara is a bootleg recording of a 1965 performance by the minimalist music group the Theatre of Eternal Music, a.k.a. the Dream Syndicate. Contributors include future Velvet Underground members John Cale and Angus Maclise, composers La Monte Young and Tony Conrad, and artist Marian Zazeela. It received a release in 2000 by the label Table of the Elements against the wishes of Young.[1][2]

Day of Niagara
Studio album (bootleg) by
Theatre of Eternal Music
ReleasedMay 9, 2000
RecordedApril 25, 1965
GenreDrone, avant-garde, minimalist
Length30:52
LabelTable of the Elements
John Cale chronology
Sun Blindness Music
(1965)		 Day of Niagara
(1965)		 Dream Interpretation
(1965-1968)

Overview

The original master tape of the recording was illicitly copied several decades before it found its way to Table of the Elements for release by composer and visual artist Arnold Dreyblatt, who had been employed as Young's archivist assistant. La Monte Young threatened legal action against the label, as there had been no written agreement on who actually owned the rights to the music; however, no legal action was eventually taken.[3][4][5]

As it was sourced from a copy of a copy of the original tape, the recording quality noticeably suffers.[6] Young published a press release describing extensive problems with the release, including errors in the audio quality of the copied source tape, an unbalanced mix, and uninspired artwork.[7]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Pitchfork(8.1/10)[9]

In a review for AllMusic, Brian Whitener wrote: "For anyone who cares about the history of American music... the album is an exceptional piece of musical history... Table of the Elements should be praised for letting the chips fall where they may in the interest of a more complete understanding of music history."[8]

M.H. Miller of The New York Times described the album as "a loud score that sounds not unlike an airplane engine and predated the noise rock of [Lou] Reed's 'Metal Machine Music' and other staples of early punk by about a decade."[10]

Pitchfork's Sean Murray commented: "This music is not meant to be listened to on headphones. It is difficult, should fill space, bounce off walls, clear rooms, and mess with your head. Appropriate volume levels do not exist for what is on this disc."[9]

Writing for The Village Voice, Alec Hanley Bemis stated that the music is "intense but also closed, fundamentally ungenerous. Even after a dozen listens it induces nausea before it yields something like pleasure, and then only through blindered attention and an effort that must approach the effort needed to create it. It is infinite, but finally impossible music—impossibly undocumentable and impossibly demanding."[2]

Track listing
  1. "Day of Niagara" - 30:52

Personnel

References
  1. "Inside the Dream Syndicate, Vol. I: Day of Niagara". Table of the Elements. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  2. Bemis, Alec Hanley (30 January 2001). "Room and Bored". The Village Voice. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  3. Vojtěchovský, Miloš. "Early Minimalism: Vibrating and Drone Music". Agosto Foundation. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  4. Pickowicz, Natasha (March 2010). "Charles Curtis Interview". Paris Transatlantic. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  5. Margasak, Peter (13 August 2000). "Music; Amid the Drone, a Feud Over Who Composed It". The New York TImes. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  6. Walls, Seth Colter (11 April 2016). "Tony Conrad: 10 Essential Recordings From the Drone Pioneer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  7. Young, La Monte. "Statement on Table of The Elements CD 74 "Day of Niagara" April 25, 1965". Mela Foundation. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  8. Whitener, Brian. "John Cale: Inside the Dream Syndicate, Vol. 1: Day of Niagara [1965]". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  9. Murray, Sean (30 April 2000). "Inside the Dream Syndicate, Volume I: Day of Niagara (1965)". Pitchfork. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  10. Miller, M.H. (22 July 2020). "The Man Who Brian Eno Called 'the Daddy of Us All'". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
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