Syrinx - Tumblers From The Vault (1970-1972)

Syrinx — Tumblers From The Vault (1970-1972) 3 LP + booklet

150-gram vinyl plated and pressed at Quality Record Pressings!

Album download included, offer subject to expiration

Syrinx's path veered from the dominant modes of ‘70s subculture, their version of chamber pop hybridized with wild, whimsical electronic experimentation charting new territory in the under and overground.

Formed by composer John Mills-Cockell after the dissolution of Intersystems, Syrinx's two adventurous albums, Syrinx (self-titled) and Long Lost Relatives, endorsed the poetic potential of the avant-garde, subverting a turn of the ‘60s trend toward technological pageantry.

The musicians behind Syrinx were composer and keyboardist Mills-Cockell, saxophonist Doug Pringle, and percussionist Alan Wells. All three were young veterans of the Toronto creative scene by the beginning of 1970. LSD played a supporting role in their artistic pursuits, but equal guidance also came from Mills-Cockell's studies at the University of Toronto and Royal Conservatory of Music, where he established an ad-hoc, DIY electronic music course in the school's basement.

Tumblers From The Vault presents these two albums alongside the trio's unheard music, revisiting the Syrinx story and sharing their memorable, mind-bending melodies.

One modest task of Tumblers from the Vault is to reinstate Syrinx to their place in the wider canon of groundbreaking music so their story can be appreciated beyond the limits of Canadian notoriety. Another task is to simply have this music heard again, which is an endeavor made less difficult by the fact that the most defining quality of Syrinx's music is its timelessness and agency.