The post is titled “Phonic Psychomimesis” yet the work is titled “Riga Walkthrough.”Either way, what it is is an extended — nearly half-hour —Â melange of field recordings (MP3). The “ingredients” list hints at the range of details contained within it: “traffic, public transport, crowds (bars, cafes, markets, stations, shopping malls, supermarkets), sport games, amusement parks, concerts, cinemas, theaters, kindergartens, fireworks, street musicians, airplane drones, church bells, footsteps, halls, hangars, birds, rain, bicycle and skateboard sounds, flagpoles, movements of security cameras, suburban night-time ambiences and other details.” The result is a journey that is both real and imaginary, a hyperreal work of documentary construction. That the sound appears raw leads the listener to ponder the two creators’ intent. There are lengthy silences and crashing crowd scenes (the word suggests itself due to the filmic power of the procession). There is no compositional self-evidence, no baroque thematic activity or unnatural processing. Is it a collection of favorite moments, emblematic moments, otherwise invisible moments, or all of the above?
Track originally posted for free download at cronicaelectronica.org.
