by Brian Olewnick In 2003, the small Italian label fringes, which had specialized in recordings of music on the farther edges of contemporary electro-acoustic improvisation, released the first disc on its archival sub-label: two earl- 70's performances by minimalist pioneer Eliane Radigue. It might seem an odd choice, but Radigue's steady-state, pulse and drone oriented works for synthesizer had cast a wider and wider influence over younger improvisers over the years, especially those concerned with the layering of extended tones and the unanticipated patterns that emerge. "Geelriandre," from 1972, created on the ARP synthesizer, begins with muffled bell tones nestled inside a drone that's just this side of harsh. Small sounds are added or removed over the piece's half-hour length, not through any strict system but rather intuitively, stressing the subtle placement of the notes within the drone-space, their sonic ripples the aural equivalent ...