Spoerri Bruno

• From his seemingly bottomless well of unreleased conceptual pop, jazz and pioneering electronic experiments, Swiss composer Bruno Spoerri, in conjunction with long term collaborators Finders Keepers, finally unleashes the master tapes to an obscure 1972 feature length documentary called ‘Langstrasse Zwischen 12 und 12’ (‘Long Street Between Midday And Midnight’).

• Directed by Gianni Paggi (who had also worked on Swiss pop music weekly ‘Hits A Gogo’) and radio host and author Max Rüeger, this seldom seen film studied the stark counter balance between the lifestyles of the inhabitants of Zurich’s famous Langstrasse - a varied and vibrant stretch of road in centre of the city which played host to a unique mix of contrasting cultural and social groups, working class families and energetic creatives.

• ‘Langstrasse Zwischen 12 und 12’ explored real life stories of family run businesses, schools, nine to five commuters and the contrasting nightlife scene including the city’s liberal after hours red light district. To accentuate the ironic and slightly schizophrenic nature of the production Paggi and Rüeger called upon Spoerri as one of the country’s most versatile instrumental composers to share a first-hand impression of the area as a local himself.

• Exploring a wide range of musical disciplines from early modified synthesisers to rock rhythms via found sounds, jazz, folk and traditional Greek music, Spoerri successfully infused vibrant bursts of sonic colour into the monochrome imagery of the programme, creating a floating narrative undercurrent quite unlike anything heard on regular Swiss TV during the era.

• Like most of Bruno’s releases on Finders Keepers, ‘Langstrasse Zwischen 12 und 12’ sees the artist explore unique new territories, combining the skill of incredibly talented musicians and combining his own discoveries in the realms of electronic music and his own brand of post- concrète found sound application which would appear on his rare postcard records made for industrial companies utilising wristwatches, pneumatic drills and forklift trucks as essential parts of his orchestral palette.

• This early 70’s glimpse into Spoerri’s narrative composition for the small screen captures an important European artist-cum-scientist treading a seldom trodden path between experimental pop, jazz and music technology in its infancy.