Charles Joseph Smith - Collected Works and War of the Martian Ghosts (LP)

Sealed.

Collected Works and War of the Martian Ghosts is the definitive recorded collection of living Chicago DIY legend, Dr. Charles Joseph Smith. It also marks the first archival release from Chicago's Sooper Records. All of the music here is being made widely available for the first time ever. This 90-minute collection is compiled from 30 years of Charles' self-released music spanning concert piano, electroacoustic experimentation, electronic beats, free improvisation, and two instrumental realizations of his evolving sci-fi opera, War of the Martian Ghosts (a 2023 electronic realization, and a 2018 piano realization). This double Vinyl / Triple CD Collector's Edition includes an extensive liner note booklet containing 9000 words about the artist's life and work, as well as poetry, interviews, quotes, and 30 archival photographs. Liner notes written by Sooper co-founder Glenn Curran and edited by Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz.

Dr. Charles Joseph Smith's remarkable story begins with a mute child's gift for music, and the purposeful way he nurtured this talent to become both life practice and raison d'être. Charles recounts this artistic journey in his autobiography, The 88 Keys that Opened Doors, a self-published book that chronicles a life in which music was (and still is) the primary key to overcoming immense challenges posed by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). His career as a musician starts in the church, reaches into the international concert piano circuit, and eventually settles to bear strange fruit in Chicago's experimental underground. Along the way, Charles Joseph Smith's compositional voice absorbed and metabolized popular music spanning pop to jazz, the gospel of the church, the canon of the classical conservatory, modern dance scores, and the rule-shattering experimentalism of his city's DIY subculture, where he has been a mainstay for over 30 years. Since the mid-1990s, Charles has been performing, dancing, and selling his self-published musical and written works in person, often at the local shows he frequents. He is known around Chicago as a living symbol of the power of music, and of the beloved spirit of community at the heart of DIY. This is the definitive collection of his original recordings-though it would be impossible to ever encompass the galaxies of music, poetry, and prose penned by the prolific Dr. Charles Joseph Smith.
 
Collected Works
A1        Sounds Of The Beach - Two Voices (2002)
A2        Le Leader Negatif (2008)
A3        Beats For Katie S. Rap Song (Revised With No Ondes Martenot) (2012)
A4        Selection From First 16-Minute Original Techno Mix W/ Crossfades (2012)
A5        Love Theme (1996)
A6        Rubber Band Improvisation (1994)
A7        My Days Are Not Over For Me (1993)
B1        Experimental Jazz Piano B - Latin (Improvisation) (2013)
B2        A Mixture Of Musical Styles (1994)
B3        "The Five Louises" - An Experimental Opera (2008)
War Of The Martian Ghosts (Midi Realisation, 2023)    
C1        Dreams Of Being Viola
C2        Acid Rain
C3        Distribution
C4        Instrumental Extension Of Marching To War (Act 1)
C5        War Of The Martian Ghosts
C5        Dance In Homage To The Stars Shining At Night
C6        Foggy, Cloudy And A Little Windy
C7        Second Movement Of "Jazz Sonata"
C8        Underscore Music Before Dissolution Of Being (Act 2) - Instrumental
C9        Dissolution Of Being - Orchestral Version
C10        Recapitulation - The Rap Scene From Act 2
C11        Butterfly Study In F# Minor
War Of The Martian Ghosts (Piano Realization, 2018)    
D1        Final Descent
D2        An Unusual Welcome Parade
D3        Council Of Elders
D4        March To War
D5        War Of The Martian Ghosts
D6        The Aftermath
D7        Restoration
D8        Flourishing Cities Of Undead
D9        Recapitulation
D10        Dissonance Of Being