FM - DIRECT TO DISC / HEAD ROOM @ 45

 

Marking its 45th anniversary this month is the sophomore LP from Canada’s OTHER progressive rock trio, FM, with Direct to Disc (aka Head Room) being released in May of 1978. Recorded shortly after the departure of co-founder, Nash the Slash, this would mark the premier of Ben Mink on mandolin & violin and highlight an idiosyncratic use of a short lived, but fascinating recording process.

For the recording of this album, FM employed an experimental technique which bypassed the use of recording tape and, instead, captured the sound directly to the master acetate disc. To utilize this process, the band had to perform live in studio, with no overdubbing capability, and mix the LP as it was being captured by the transcription mechanism to the master disc. The process for doing this was extremely sensitive as any flaw would ruin the master, so over-saturation, clipping and distortion were essential to avoid. This also meant that the band had to be prepared to get it right with only one or two takes allowed as it was extremely expensive to be burning through master discs for throwaway takes.

Despite the limitations of this process, FM opted to record two side-long, heavily improvisational and predominately instrumental compositions. It was a risky proposition to be flying by the seat of your pants when you are trying to work within such strict technical parameters. Yet the band managed to deliver the goods with two 15 minute excursions into jazz-rock infused experimentalism - incorporating their traditional electric violin & mandolin from Ben Mink, Cameron Hawkins’ battery of synthesizers & bass guitar and drums & percussion from Martin Deller. This also included a bizarre configuration which used an alpha wave brain monitor plugged into a synthesizer, translating Deller's live brainwaves into a throbbing hum. All in all, a pretty bold experiment for a young band to undertake.

The sessions reportedly produced two sets of master plates with one set used for the finished LP, which was pressed in a run of 20,000 copies, all of which sold out. There are rumors that the unused plates were later used for an unauthorized second pressing, titled Head Room, which because of the different plates, contained different performances of the tracks. The existence of this alternate version remains somewhat questionable as the band have not been able to confirm that the Head Room release actually contains different performances from the initial Direct To Disc release. Because of the nature of this “direct to disc” process, all records which were manufactured using it were, by necessity, limited editions. The master disc simply wasn’t usable past a certain number of copies. This also meant that any future reissues would have to be remastered from the vinyl pressings as there would be no master tape available.

For the initial authorized release, regular FM artist, Paul Till, provided the cover painting and the album was issued by independent label, Labyrinth Records, as their first and apparently only release. Critically, it was a well received album, but it is mostly neglected because of its limited availability and the more experimental nature of the music it contains. A reissue on CD was finally released in 2013.