nik pascal: beyond the end...eternity m y s t e r e :
raicevic


[ed. note]- mucho thanx to joseph d'angelo for bringing raicevic to my attention...

after my interest was piqued about raicevic, i went in search of available recorded evidence. the lps do seem to show up fairly regularly on ebay, but the prices are usually in the $25 & higher range. not bad for an artist who made one record for a record company, then self-released several more, before disappearing completely.

i have been fortunate enuff to have had the chance to listen to most of raicevic's work, tho i am not sure that is the primary attraction here. the art on the self-released lps (see example at top of page) is definitely indicative of the period. the early 70s, when drugs were a way of life & spirituality for many. the descriptions of raicevic lps almost always comments on the strange, unreal depictions of some kind of inner landscape, done in colors to match.

and the music? long-form synthesizer dominated space evocations, with early electronic percussion and sundry other keyboards. no vocals, at least that i have found. so it makes sense as some kind of timewarp soundtrack from an age where science fiction as realized thru chemical stimulation was a dream in the process of coming true.

raicevic's first appearance was on the "head" lp, which was actually released on buddha records. the song titles were "cannabis sativa", "methedrine" & "lysergic acid diethylamide (l.s.d)". pretty direct of a drug concept, which, after some changes at the record company, apparently led to nik being kicked off the label. i have seen this record credited to "head", to "art in space" & to "107-34-8933". the albums that i have seen are pretty confusingly labeled, with subtitles such as this ones "electronic music from art in space".

nik's 1st release on his own narco records imprint was "beyond the end... eternity (subtitled "electronic music from "realization of eternity"") here he establishes his methodology of crediting himself under multiple names, nik pascal, raicevic, and flemming.

he continued to release fairly similar works on this label thru 1975 or 1976, of which "magnetic web" from 1973, is cited as a high point. the "numbers" lp is omitted from the discographies i have found, and i am not sure if it even exists as a separate record, or is another case of confusion due to the obscuring labeling practices.

i have found no information on raicevics activities after 1976, when he sold his equipment and retired from making music. if anyone out there has any more info, please email me and i will add updates to this page.

it is interesting to consider the early period when he was doing his electronic works, at least for the "commercial pop" market , and i plan to try to review all of the records in that context. feel free to email me with your reactions to what you have heard.

nik (pascal) raicevic discography
  • art in space head lp (1969 buddah bds-5062; promo, coloring book)
    -nik raicevic doing electronics experimentation. all the song titles are drug related. some listings credit this lp to "head", some to "art in space" (reissues?)
  • nik pascal beyond the end...eternity lp (1971 narco)
  • nik pascal sixth ear lp (1972 narco)
  • nik pascal magnetic web lp (1973 narco)
  • nik pascal zero gravity lp (1975 narco)
  • nik raicevic numbers lp (?)
    -from cached california albums site.

    he is also listed in several places as having played percussion on the rolling stones "goats head soup"?!

"in los angeles, synthesist nik raicevic had released 5 indie lps between 197o and 1975, and developed a performance style on analog synthesizers that presaged the (so-called) "berlin school" of electronic improvisation! Finally retiring from music in 1976, raicevic apparently sold his modular moog to a former race car driver named steve roach, who began to perform a weekly electronic music series in clubs in his san diego hometown."
~doug walker
[from "us spacerock a brief and personal history by a participant (part 1 1975-2oo1)]
http://www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue18/history1.html



~ b . w i l d e r e d 


please send any additional information, updates and corrections to this article to...
b.wildered@white-rose.net
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