K7N - Norman Yeh - $6.00 - (90 minutes)
From: "Factsheet Five" #35 - spring '90 - us@
Norman Yeh, "K7N" Absolutely manic distorted and multiprocessed, speeded up and osterized classical music - or at least it was vaguely classical before Norman started working it over. The most memorable track is on Side A, where a violin speeds up and gets louder until it practically explodes your stereo speakers. Hard to breathe around this stuff. (T/MG)
From: "ND" #13 - early to mid '90 - us@
Norman Yeh "K7N" Collection of cuts from various comps. Lengthy pieces usually exploring one musical idea i.e., screeching violins, piano noodlings, etc., which creat interest for a while, but often meander.
[what a way to describe virtuosity!]
From: "Retrofuturism" 13 - July 1990 - us@
K7N by Norman Yeh-Part of this tape is squeaky nervous violin playing, no doubt irritating to some, but I found myself hanging onto it attentively. Maintaining the same level of energy throughout the 15-minute "Sonata #5 in 3 Movements for Solo Violin required some stamina. Side two attempts a similar thing with piano, but lacks the same level of energy. This is an interesting document of the work of an unusual performer.
From: "The Single Eye" #3 - fall '90 - Canada
Norman Yeh: K7N (Cassette)
This is one bewildering cassette. The tape consists of eight improvisational pieces that utilize (in different combinations) violin, synth, tapes, guitar and bass to create an edgy listening experience. At times almost (but not quite) pleasant, and at other points the sounds will make you feel that Norman is skinning you alive. (A.C.)
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The reviews are not necessarily copied verbatim from the original. Usually, small apparent typos are corrected & obsolete addresses are removed. In some cases, I may choose to leave misspellings, misinformation, etc intact to demonstrate how sloppy the reviewer is. Of course, there may be times when the original packaging was confusing (deliberately or otherwise) which may effect the reviewer's comprehension. The more recent the tapes are, the less likely this is to be the case. Most of the recent tapes provide fairly extensive liner notes. In some cases, reviewers whose native language isn't English may be writing in English anyway for the sake of 'internationalizing' their reviews. Obviously, this may lead to what strikes native English speakers as 'bad' English. Hopefully, equally obviously, this should not be interpreted as a lack of intelligence in the writing. Editorial notes may be inserted into the reviews in [brackets]. In many instances, I (tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE) replied to reviews that I disagreed with strongly. These replies are included here. In some cases, I may add additional retrospective comments.