Nothing like a little cross-pollination. The Wandering Ear netlabel got its start as a pure-sound alternative project by the folks who’d earlier started the Dark Winter netlabel. While Dark Winter (at darkwinter.com) focused on studio concoctions, Wandering Ear (wanderingear.com) presented field recordings in all their unadulterated, raw goodness. Its first four entries included motor boats in a Minnesota lake, dawn at a mosque in Istanbul, life deep in a Brazilian forest, and the lull of an Australian beach. That last entry flirted with the artificiality of studio composition by melding multiple recordings, as highlighted in the Disquiet Downstream of January 15 (link). But the latest from Wandering Ear, Melt: Minnesota Remixed, dives deep into the land of sampling, offering up over two dozens mixes based on the raw goods of the label’s first release, Thaw: Field Recordings from Minnesota. Key tracks include the watery drip of Lasse-Marc Riek‘s “Canoe Trip Retoure” (MP3) and Scott Sherk‘s more modal take on the same source material (MP3); listen closely to how the heavenly hum and background chatter of the original serve different purposes in each. Hats off, as well, to the otherwordly desolation of Horchata‘s “Thaw Remix” (MP3) and the looped and layered bird calls of Joel Krutt‘s “Avian Reduction” (MP3).
Frippertronic Duet MP3
The “hot tickle” free downloads posted by guitarist Robert Fripp over at dgmlive.com don’t hang around forever. A subscription to the series’ RSS feed (RSS) is the best way to keep up to date. Among the most recent is a duet featuring Fripp, on, as ever, his heavenly, looping guitar, and Theo Travis on woodwind (flute?). The two start off matching pitches with eerie verisimilitude, but soon enough launch into something much more compelling and complex and dissonant than mere tandem tone-riding (MP3). The following note accompanies the posted MP3: “Don’t forget this isn’t necessarily the finished article but very much a work and mix in progress.” How’s this for freshness? It was recording on January 5, 2007, in Salisbury. Travis (theotravis.com) plays in a quartet that includes bassist Andy Hamill (4 Hero, LTJ Bukem) and he collaborated with DJ Krush back in 1997.
FM Noise MP3s
The attenuated noise of Phillip Stearns‘ Autopoiesis – I isn’t a matter of drones, per se. At least the five “Structures,” labeled “I” (MP3) through “V” (MP3), do not burrow deep into singular sounds and coast in a den of intense sameness. Quite the contrary, though the sonics of these pieces, described briefly by Stearns as having been produced on “Mixer and FM transmitter feedback,” may initially sound narrow and amusical, even drone-like, they in fact change continuously. (FM transmission also serves as the link between him and the two other musicians, Aaron Drake and Cassia Streb, who make up the improv trio DSS.)
The pieces don’t end where they begin, but they make complete sense as they unfold, moving from raw noise through tortured slivers, sinuous sounds appearing below beeps that might be mistaken for violin or bag pipe, each entry clearly distinct from the others. In a warning attached to the recordings, Stearns says, “Please mind your listening volume as some of the tracks may cause damage to speakers and/or ears,” but one needn’t cue them up to full-ear assault to appreciate their richness. More info on Stearns, who is based in Los Angeles, at art-rash.com/pixelform.
Lynchian Japanese MP3
It opens with the misfunction of some broken old, little machine and then fades, countintuitively, into impressionistic piano. The latter, with its gentle daybreak melody, brings to mind the soundtracks of Angelo Badalementi, and that quietly instrusive mechanical sound reaffirms the association by focusing further on something akin to Badalamenti’s work with director David Lynch. The track is titled “Shousetsu” (MP3), off the album Odori, which is out from Japanese musician radicalfashion (born Hirohito Ihara) this month on Hefty Records. More info at heftyrecords.com.
Found Sound MP3s
From found radio to wobbly vinyl, the source material that comprises Lee Rosevere‘s Play 2, on the WM netlabel (wmrecordings.com), all comes across a little warped, a little nostalgic, a little maudlin, which is all to Rosevere’s credit. From the flurry of violins on “The Missing Shadow” (MP3), mixed until they collectively achieve a supple quality, to the bunker realism of the mashed up broadcast signals on “Nobody Goes to Heaven” (MP3), to the angelic tones of “Pendulum” (MP3), Rosevere manages to tweak existing sound enough to make it his own, leaving a taste of the original intact. That violin montage, “Missing Shadow,” was done on the same equipment as “Pendulum,” a sampler with a whole four seconds of memory to its credit. This background studio information comes courtesy of some useful liner notes Rosevere has posted along with the music. More info on Rosevere at geocities.com/happypuppyrecords.