From the New Sounds Live concert series (back in the before time), the Manchester trio GoGo Penguin plays their original score to the 1982 Godfrey Reggio film Koyaanisqatsi, recorded in January 2020 at Brookfield Place.

Named for a Hopi Indian word meaning "life out of balance," the non-narrative silent film, is full of time-lapse images of modern life, including footage of an L.A. freeway and a jumbo jet at LAX, the demolition of a housing project in St. Louis, as well as people and traffic flows in NYC. Now, there happens to be an original score by Philip Glass inextricably linked to the film. However, the trio - pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Rob Turner - mostly stuck to acoustic sounds inspired by minimalism and electronic music for their expansive and revelatory, often pulse-driven, repeating riff-centric original sonic experiment. Hear some of the sections from the New York premiere of GoGo Penguin’s live score to Koyaanisqatsi, recorded live at Brookfield Place for this New Sounds.

#4353, NSL Silent Films - Gogo Penguin and Koyaanisqatsi (First aired 4/14/2020)

ARTIST: Philip Glass Ensemble
WORK: Philip Glass: Koyaanisqatsi [1:00]
RECORDING: Koyaanisqatsi (1998)
SOURCE: Nonesuch 79506
INFO: nonesuch.com

ARTIST: GoGo Penguin
WORK: Score for Koyaanisqatsi - slow [11:43]
RECORDING: Live from Brookfield Place, 1/24/2020
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: Some of the musical ideas are condensed and recorded on their EP 'Ocean in a Drop (Music for Film)' | https://gogopenguin.lnk.to/OceanInADropWE

ARTIST: GoGo Penguin
WORK: Score for Koyaanisqatsi - end [16:23]
RECORDING: Live from Brookfield Place, 1/24/2020
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: Some of the musical ideas are condensed and recorded on their EP 'Ocean in a Drop (Music for Film)' | https://gogopenguin.lnk.to/OceanInADropWE