Tim Weisberg's LISTEN TO THE CITY

The flute guy?!?

 
Craig Shipley
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Tim Weisberg's LISTEN TO THE CITY

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Posted: 03.03.2008 - 20:44  ·  #1
This instrumental recording ("instrumental" as in "no vocals") has been a favorite of mine for many a year, actually since it came out in 1975. Since no-one has bothered to release this album on CD (yes, I pinged Wounded Bird; no joy), I transfered my ancient cassette tape over to digital a few years back and was very pleased with the outcome (Thank you, Magix Audio Cleaning Lab 11!) I was reminded of this recording when I saw the LP in a Goodwill store this weekend (which I promptly bought for a buck just for the cover information & photo inner sleeve; liner notes will be quoted below). There are a lot of synths on the recording, played both by keyboardist/vibes Lynn Blessing (360 Systems, possibly others; ARPs IIRC) and flutist Tim Weisberg (A.R.P. 2600, programmed by Mike Melvoin & Don Hakala); guitar, bass & drums round out the rest of the band. It is a concept album that deals "with the moods and textures that shape and color city life. The album confronts the city primarily in terms of its compressed and churning energy. Tim has used synthesizers to convey that vivid sense of energy", covering everything from a joyous street party (which resulted in a minor hit in the US), to criminal chases, drug pushers, prostitutes, lunch breaks, rush hour and funerals (this track, titled "The Passing" is very TD Phaedra-era in sound, evoking "Mysterious Semblance At The Strand of Nightmare" with its mournful flute). While to some it may sound dated, this is a album that still sounds fresh to me and is always an enjoyable listen, especially the upbeat title track. If you get a chance to snag a copy of LISTEN TO THE CITY, I recommend that you do so!

Info on Tim Weisberg is very scarce, even on the Net, so I have no idea what else he has done since then, especially in the terms of using synths. I do remember seeing him in an ad for a wind-driven synthesizer interface in the '80's or '90's but I don't know if it resulted in a recording (I thought the ad might have been for NED or Fairlight, but I'm not sure and that doesn't sound right. Pretty sure that it was not for the Lyricon or Yamahas' I/F, but I could be wrong). He did have a fairly conventional performance recorded onto a DBX-encoded LP in the late '70's which I still have, but nothing to decode it with. He did have a recording with the late Dan Fogelberg in the mid-70's that was very popular and very conventional.
LNerell
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Re: Tim Weisberg's LISTEN TO THE CITY

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Posted: 24.03.2008 - 20:12  ·  #2
I saw Tim perform many times back in the 1980s. One of my best friends was a big fan of his so I got dragged to a lot of his shows, not that I minded. Then later when I was working for Oberheim I got a chance to met him when he came into our shop. At the time he was using a Fairlight Voicetracker to take pitch information from his flute to trigger via midi several synths, including a couple of Matrix 6Rs. I seem to remember he even did an ad (which is probably what you remember) for Oberheim showing his setup at the time. Heck of a nice guy. I lost track of him and haven't heard much about him since, I wonder what he is up to these days? Thanks for bringing him up.
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