David Bedford, Nurses Song with Elephants (side A)

Listening to 1972's Nurses Song with Elephant seemed sad and appropriate given Bedford's passing a few weeks ago.  His compositions here combine an overt focus on texture with complex layering that evolves drastically through time.  Sounds are not presented in pointillistic fashion—they're thrown at the listener in constantly-evolving clusters.  Bedford also exploited his interest in pop music—these abstract compositions could incorporate song-like structures and vocals in a rapid turn.  The recording is natural and stays out of the way, but some high frequency detail seems to have been lost.  The overtly-70s font on the front cover, while it's totally unrelated to more timeless material, is my favorite element in the packaging—the back cover does not look good.