[CP 316 CD] Lew Corelis, Jack Schrage, Musik Werks; Songs You've Never Heard Before, Intersketches

August 2025 release; long in the works (the initial transcription on file dates back to October 2015; 10 years ago!) compendium of the two LPs released by the duo of John Edward Schrage & Lew Demetri Corelis in 1979 & 1981 (respectively) of their joint Musik Werks project, issued via their collective River Musik Werks imprint. Working out of their Moline, (just outside of Davenport) Iowa-based studio from 1976 onwards with engineers Steve Elliott & Rick Condon, the pair produced & issued work by area musicians such as Xtian-Rock outfit Grace, Little Road & A Stone To Roll, & Andy Benson (whose "The Beer Song" single was also issued on RMW), all while the two Electronic Musicians worked after-hours (ala Tod Dockstader at NYC's Gotham) on an alluring blend of hand-played vignettes (often involving advanced-harmony) & the kinds of entirely abstract, timbre-focused Analogian Forms that rival anything in the Seeselberg (see [CP 112 CD]) or Di Jarrell (ditto, [CP 137 CD]) discographies. In fact, the majority of "Songs You've Never Heard Before" is a gorgeous, extended suite starting out in the kinds of spaced-out, minimal pointillisms best witnessed on Sähkö 12"s a decade+ later, then suddenly mirroring an alarmingly contemporary take on Ambient Music, with touches of Ernest Hood's... earnestness (the wistful field recordings of crickets do the heavy lifting here) & the exact-same soporific tonal palette as the proto-everything Jean-Jacques Perrey "Prelude Au Sommeil" (see [CP 142 CD]) set. While decidedly focused more on diatonic & pulse-oriented fare, the second LP "Intersketches" (which has never been an easy pull; it's taken this long to find a suitable copy!) provides a refinement on the duo's studio technique, where the pair's analogue synthesis grappling & patch-designs are coated in all manner of time-based effects & cross-layerings. Frankly, it's incredible that these inspired outings have been all but footnoted in the annals of private-press Electronic Music; great to have this handy single-disc (which features both titles with only seconds to spare) to right any wrongs... Tracklisting: "Songs You've Never Heard Before" (River Musik Werks #RMW 1, 1979) 001. Mississippi (9:42) 002. Spring Sounds (7:16) 003. Glorasm (3:03) 004. Evolution (9:44) 005. Subsounds (5:18) 006. Summersong (5:09) "Intersketches" (River Musik Werks #RMW 2, 1981) 007. Latin Sketches (6:09) 008. Rolling (4:04) 009. Piece Of Polymoog (4:50) 010. Melancholy (4:45) 011. Intersketches (13:44) 012. Next Stop The Sky (5:07)