Hey guys. Here's my latest roundup of great non-musical sound recommendations for you...
As always, if you like what you see/hear, please considering supporting these tremendous artists & labels by buying their albums and following them on Bandcamp and/or social media.
-
Bacfora - Undisclosed Spaces (US5)
(self-released, 2023)
Bacfora is the musical moniker of Andrew Burge, who makes minimal lo-fi noise/drone compositions on cassettes & digital. His work places an emphasis on atmosphere, tone and texture.
This is the fifth and final release in a series of albums that Burge released throughout June 2023 called (and based on the theme of) 'Undisclosed Spaces'. It consists of two 18-minute long noise/drone compositions recorded through a 2-track tape machine.
Track 1 begins with the sound of a low, tremulous, fuzzy drone, which is soon accompanied by the sound of drifting, flickering tape hiss. As the track progresses, the ambience of the soundscape flutters rapidly and intensifies dramatically. At a certain point, some faint subtle melody fights to emerge through the hazy mix of sounds that have accummulated and expanded. On top of all this, there's some reversed noises that create a pretty demented effect, along with various shudders and wavering tones drifting in and out of this strange audio environment. Throughout the course of this piece, there's a lot of subtle frequency shifts and textural changes...
Track 2 begins with a low, wavering, rumbling lo-fi drone that crackles and glitches, creating a very unsettling atmosphere. Gradually some fuzzy textures and soft glimmering ambience can be heard faintly through the mix. Eventually you will some distant crashing sounds, creepy abstractions and stuttering wind-like noises spreading and soaring all throughout the soundscape. As a whole, I would say this composition is more muted, reduced and subtle than the previous composition, but no less powerful. Both these pieces paint vivid images of ambiguous desolate landscapes and strange unhabited places. It kind of reminds of the sound design in some old sci-fi movies that I love.
'Undisclosed Spaces' is a dark, vague and haunting album of grainy textures, mysterious atmospheres ambient tape hiss, ominous tones and eerie lo-fi drones. It's a really powerful sound work for something so bare and minimalistic. A rich, atmospheric and captivating listening experience. I'll need to check out the rest of the albums in this series...
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
Stuart Bowditch - Resounding
(Courier, 2023)
Stuart Bowditch is a sound artist & field recordist whose practice is located in places and communities that exist on the fringes, both geographically and socially, with a particular interest in the sonic landscape, capturing overlooked and overheard noises and using sound as a documentative and creative medium.
'Resounding' is a series of 10-minute field recordings where Bowditch followed in the footsteps of JA Baker, author of The Peregrine, to document the sound of locations marked with a 'P' on one of Baker's maps.
In these calm pastoral recordings you will hear lots of environmental ambience, tranquil drones and a plethora of familiar sounds captured around the villages and small towns of rural England, such as cacophonous birdsong, dogs barking, the resounding echo of distant gunfire, airplanes passing overhead, sea waves lashing shorelines, the deep humming of boats on the bay, murmured voices, wind blowing through trees, grasses swaying, bushes rustling, creek water sloshing, rivers gurgling, etc... on top of which there are more ambiguous noises and found sounds that are harder to identify and define, which forces you to listen closely and give it your full attention.
'Resounding' is an album of gorgeous field recordings and subtle sound art. The idea behind this album is dead simple, and you can feel the love and passion that went into it. I was googling all the different place names as I was listening to these recordings, and the particular combination of these sounds and visuals left me feeling calm and serene. These tranquil soundscapes make for such a peaceful and meditative listening experience, and a beautiful album of non-musical sound.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
Peter Wullen - Step Into The Light, Lazarus
(nostalgie de la boue, 2018 / self-released, 2023)
Peter Wullen is a Belgian poet, writer, sound artist and field recordist. He has released a variety of works (both solo and collaborative) - independently and through various labels. This album was originally released on the nostalgie de la boue record label back in 2018, but has recently been re-released on his own Bandcamp page
'Step Into The Light, Lazarus' (titled after a line in a Gillian Welch song) is an album comprised of field recordings taken from train stations, tubeway stations, snowfall, cemeteries and churches located around Brussels, some of which was then electronically manipulated to create soundscapes of ''Ultraquietness''.
It consists of both long-form compositions and a series of short fleeting sound sketches. I was instantly hooked by the opening track - a 24-minute long immersive noisescape that I got completely lost in. The source of the field recordings are very vague in this piece due to them being stretched, looped, mixed and manipulated beyond recognition - a purely joyous darkened sound, which ends with ominous footsteps - reverberating loudly off of hard floorboards.
Throughout the rest of these recordings you will hear sinister rumbling noises, murmured voices (possibly from a TV?), dripping water (in what sounds like a dark alleyway), creepy echoes, frightening growls, ambiguous shuffling, shimmering loops, faint ambience, windy drones, environmental phenomena, whooshing white noise, small objects being bounced off surfaces, various sonic abstractions and of course - more footsteps. The whole thing is dark and disturbing, but in a very vague kind of way.
'Step Into The Light, Lazarus' is an album of eerie noisescapes, immersive drones and haunting sound design. I don't really know what the artistic intent is behind this album, but it doesn't really matter. It's a mysterious, slightly unsettling and highly enjoyable listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
Matilde Meireles - Vanishing Points
(Crónica, 2023)
Matilde Meireles is a Portuguese sound artist, field recordist & research fellow who makes use of field recordings to compose site-oriented projects. Her work has a multi-sensorial and multi-perspective critical approach to site, where Matilde investigates the potential of listening across spectrums as ways to encounter and articulate a plural experience of the world — human and otherwise.
'Vanishing Points' is one 25-minute long sound composition based on the idea of ''sonic abundance'' in busy urban environments, created from unprocessed field recordings and heavily transformed electromagnetic pulses. You should read the artist's presentation/blurb on the Bandcamp page for an enhanced understanding and appreciation of this piece...
It begins with a warbling, fuzzy, slowly-evolving drone...which is made up from heavily-processed electromagnetic pulses, painting a very lonely and somber image...
Then you will begin to hear the hiss of indistinguishable field recordings emerge through the mix, along with a soft rhythmic crackle. After a few minutes, the drone starts to fade away and you will hear unmistakable and familiar city noises take over the entire soundscape. Listening closely you'll be able to distinguish the whoosh and zoom of passing traffic, locomotive P.A announcements, falling rain, faint conversations, motor drones, engines humming, trains chugging and many other sounds of the urban hustle and bustle.
Around the midway point of the piece, you will begin to hear the voice of a sports commentator emerging through layers of hissing TV static, alongside the clattering cooking sounds of a domestic kitchen...and then the return of the dreamy pulsating drone you hear at the beginning of the composition, which creates a rather surreal Lynchian atmosphere.
Eventually you will hear murmured voices and traffic sounds fighting their way through the spectral noisescape. In the final section of the piece, the layers of ambience gradually become more and more minimal and bare, and the intensity decreases. As the textures and tones quieten down and thin out, we're left but nothing but a swirling, mournful, organ-like drone, signifying the end of this bizarre sound journey...
'Vanishing Points' is a mesmerizing and haunting audio excursion through busy urban environments and quiet domestic life, highlighting the intriguing juxtaposition and merging of both worlds in an abstract and creative way. The hypnotic sound collages, fuzzy textures, fascinating field recordings and ominous dissonant drones that Meireles has created makes for such a rich, dreamy and exquisite listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
Demetrio Cecchitelli - Vertice
(asonu, 2023)
Demetrio Cecchitelli is an Italian musician whose research in the field of sound has been applied to different kinds of media (discography, live set, radio, audio vision, theatre, dance, performance, installation). He has released many works on numerous record labels across Europe, United Kingdom, US / North America and Japan.
'Vertice' is one 45-minute long ambient sound composition, blurring the lines between minimalistic ambient/drone music, acoustic sound ecology and quiet noisescapes.
It begins with a low, slow creeping drone...quietly crackling and undulating for the first few minutes of the piece. As the composition progresses, subtle higher frequencies, spectral ambience and distant swells of atmospheric noise fill the soundscape and make this dark abstract environment come alive. If you listen very closely, there are certain sections within the track where traces of faint beautiful melody drift in, providing some nice fleeting colours before they vanish completely...
The environment is mostly filled with vast mysterious echoes, long sustained reverberations, hypnotic loops, deep rumbles and muted ambient noise. Great dronescapes to sink into...
'Vertice' is a mesmerizing and immersive sound journey that will appeal to fans of ambient music and non-musical sound art alike. Its dreamlike tones and soft soothing textures makes for such a beautiful and atmospheric listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
Bad Groupy - Topless Mimosas
(zeromoon, 2023)
Bad Groupy is an international duo of experimental noise artist Jeff Surak (Washington, D.C.) and Estonian-born free-form improviser Kris Kuldkepp (Hamburg, Germany). The duo explores Trans-Atlantic improvisation using double bass, prepared objects, voice, guitar tapes, and analogue electronics.
'Topless Mimosas' is an album that consists of two 20-minute compositions - recorded live at Jauna Muzika Festival, Vilnius, 2023. It's described by the artists themselves as ''an audio sculpture viewed from two sides''.
In this album you will hear a wild amalgamation of crackle noisescapes, ominous rumbles, monstrous swells, frightening whooshes, rhythmic putters, laser-like zaps, lo-fi gurgles, metallic shimmers, stuttering feedback loops, scintillating gong sounds, harsh squeals, eerie sine waves, fluttering tape hiss, dissonant screeches, mysterious vibrations, fuzzy drones, motor-like roars, frightening howls, brutal white noise, wavering static, erratic distortions, industrial ambience, robotic chugs, demented percussion, brooding tones and an array of unnerving sonic disturbances and frightening power-electronics. At times quiet and tense, at other times loud and explosive - the diverse noises and rich harmonic textures that make up these long-form audio collages are great to get lost in.
'Topless Mimosas' is an unsettling yet intriguing album of dark nightmarish soundscapes, sinister atmospheres, avant-garde sound art and abstract power-electronics by two skilled artists in their field. These unpredictable improvisations and wild noise experimentations make for such a cathartic and rewarding listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
Jacob Kirkegaard - Under Bjerget
(Posh Isolation, 2015 / self-released, 2021)
Jacob Kirkegaard is a sound artist & composer from Denmark who works in carefully selected environments to generate recordings that are used in compositions, or combined with video imagery in visual, spatial installations. His works reveal unheard sonic phenomena and present listening as a means of experiencing the world.
'Under Bjerget' (English translation - Underneath the Mountain) is an album consisting of two 25-minute long compositions that were created from recordings taken from the basement of the old Carlsberg factory in Copenhagen, Denmark. Kirkegaard captured the vibrations of this 150-year-old shut down building and crafted them into the magnificent drone music that's presented in this album.
In these recordings you will hear eerie environmental ambience, dark rumbling drones, dissonant shimmering, mechanical humming, industrial white noise, rhythmic vibrations, hissing steel, windy whispers, subdued howls and all kinds of rippling, rattling sound phenomena that naturally occurs in that old abandoned factory.
Two years after these recording were made, it was presented as a 16-channel sound installation inside four large and pitch dark rooms in the now abandoned Carlsberg basement. What a perfect audio environment to experience this lush atmospheric sound work, and luxuriate within...
'Under Bjerget' is a wonderful album of rich exquisite sound art and powerful drones. Through various electronic manipulation techniques and skilful sonic processing, Kirkegaard has created these unique industrial soundscapes of haunting and desolate atmospheres that make for a mesmerizing and immersive listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
post doom romance - fragments
(Somnimage, 2023)
Post Doom Romance is the collaborative audio/visual project of sound artists Mykel Body & Seah. Together they explore inner and outer soundscapes, and create love letters from the abstract language of granular synthesis - a communication through particles. The process creates an aesthetic - the third "thing" that arises when two objects presence each other.
'fragments' is their latest release - a series of tracks dedicated to their online Bandcamp subscribers. The album consists of 11 sound ''fragments'' - each one dedicated to an individual subscriber. It's a really cool idea, and a special treat for their fans. In these recordings you will hear a dark and intriguing mixture of eerie drones, fuzzy pulses, grainy textures, puttering vibrations, creepy echoes, abstract noise particles, bleak shuddering tones, ominous ambience and possibly some cello (?) - all intertwined with field recordings taken from (what I assume to be) the duo's recent trip to the AARK Artist Residency in Korpo, Finland. The natural sounds of open air, churning waves, seaside birds and a plethora of watery textures and tones are strewn throughout this entire album, giving a more earthy aspect to these surreal and haunting dreamscapes.
'fragments' is a brooding and shadow-filled sound journey through a maze of ghostly atmospheres and abstract noise environments. Its subtly powerful dronescapes and haunting sound design makes for a really ominous and immersive listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
Bjerga / Iversen - Birds Of A Feather Flock Together
(Grisaille, 2023)
Sindre Bjerga & Jan-Morten Iversen are two experimental musical artists from Norway. 'Birds Of A Feather Flock Together' is their new collaboration album, which consists of two long-form atmospheric noise compositions.
Track 1 begins with a shimmering ghostly drone, drifting darkly across the soundscape, accompanied by slow swells of eerie noise. The more you listen, the more you will hear slight shifts and evolutions in the textures and tones of the ambience, while ambiguous objects are being shuffled about in the background, creating a rather creepy atmosphere. After a certain point in the piece, you will hear high-frequency electronic notes, dissonant melodies, subtle violin squeals, heavily-distorted guitars and strange tape manipulations filling the entire soundscape, making a cacophonous yet soothing racket of unsettling noise, which gradually dies away during a long fade-out...
Track 2 begins with low ominous rumblings, erratic violin vibrations and swirling scraping sounds. Then you will hear sustained dissonant tones emerging through the mix, creating sinister vibes of unbearable tension and suspense...like something terrible is about to happen. The soundscape gradually fills with spectral noises, haunting drones, wailing tones, ambient tape hiss and weird psychedelic experimentation. Towards the end of the composition you will hear very faint bursts of slow distant melody trying to break through the layers of noise. And like the first track, this one also has a long dramatic fade-out...
'Birds Of A Feather Flock Together' is an album of hypnotic noisescapes, haunted atmospheres, eerie drones and unsettling ambience. This kind of sound collage and noise experimentations is so wonderfully immersive, and makes for a troubling yet strangely beautiful listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
there are no birds here - bleached memories
(self-released, 2023)
there are no birds here is the moniker of Matthew Shenton who is an experimental musician & sound artist whose work explores the rural landscape of Suffolk with a particular focus on the morphology of the working class soundscape of the Shotley Peninsula.
His work uses manipulated field recordings, homemade instruments, music concrete and modified electronics salvaged from potential landfill to create textural explorations of timbre with instinctive, chance-based arrangements that mimic the rural soundscape.
'bleached memories' is his latest release. It consists of five compositions based on recordings of an old slide projector that the artist captured, then sampled, looped and digitally manipulated...
In these compositions you will hear erratic bursts of noise, soft explosions, unsettling crackles, ghostly echoes, hypnotic whirs, dissonant static, stuttering loops, eerie clicks, rapid glitches, broken transmissions, wavering static, creepy scratches, howling hisses, quiet rumbles, ominous frequency shifts, tortured squeals and a plethora of other weird sonic abstractions...against the backdrop of haunting cavernous drones and spooky atonal ambience.
'bleached memories' is a dark and inventive album full of eerie soundscapes, unsettling ambience and creepy noise experimentation. I really admire how Shenton manages to create such sinister atmospheres and powerful sound design using such a bare and minimalistic approach. A disturbing yet mesmerizing listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
uœrhe - traum manifold
(Molt Fluid, 2023)
uœrhe is an experimental sound collagist from the Czech Republic. I don't know anything about this artist, but this album of his was one of the two launching-off releases from brand new label Molt Fluid.
'traum manifold' is an album consisting of two long-form audio collages ''for microcassettes, found sounds, field recordings, no-input mixer and tape feedback. Rough sounds for rough times – dilettante concrète – microcassette abuse''.
In this album you will hear ambiguous voice fragments, crackling tape distortions, wavering pulsations, environmental reverberations, erratic rattles and bangs, psychedelic electronic swirls, harsh squeals, lo-fi drones, creepy tingling bells, fractured rumblings, rhythmic noise abstractions, eerie shudderings, boomy explosions and ambient hiss. The soundscapes that uœrhe has created have an unsettling and haunting effect. They feel claustrophobic, yet you don't want to escape...
'traum manifold' is a unique album of unpredictable and atmospheric tape collages. It goes from quiet eeriness to eruptions of noise to feeling like you're being electrocuted. An unnerving yet immersive listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
Tukahdus - harhakuvat
(self-released, 2023)
Tukahdus is an electronic musician & experimental sound artist from Finland. He designs haunting sounds and emotive atmospheres.
'harhakuvat' is his latest release. In this album you will hear dark shimmering electronic tones, smothered industrial noises, shuddery rumbles, metallic drones, lo-fi hiss, manipulated voice samples, distorted echoes, crackling textures, rushing static, faint eerie nature recordings, throbbing synth notes, (very) minimalistic post-rock guitar, swirling feedback, spooky dark ambience and an overall ghostly sound design. I really like how the artists can build all these layers of haunting noises and electronic loops without it coming across as abrasive or unpleasant. These atmospheres just suck you in and hold you there from start to finish...
'harhakuvat' is a bleak and atmospheric album of abstract foreboding soundscapes, full of tension and suspense...and it never gets too dull or unpredictable. A surreal, immersive and slightly sinister listening experience.
Buy/Stream/Download :
-
Cody Shaffer - Marvelous Scandal
(self-released, 2023)
Cody Shaffer is a Chicago-based experimental musician & sound artist interested in perpetual care, objects, intention and ghosts. Over the last few years he has self-released a variety of works in a variety of different styles on his Bandcamp page.
'Marvelous Scandal' is his latest release. In these nine sound works you will hear a raw and abstract mixture of voice samples, hypnotic rustling, ukelele improvisations, shuffling movements, papery textures, rattling beads, environmental drones, room sounds, water running in a bathtub, surfaces being lightly scraped, small objects being knocked around, and a darkly amusing snippet of Whitney Houston's 'Dance With Somebody' being covered on some local access TV show...all against the subtle backdrop of gentle ambient tape hiss. It's really absurd, yet somehow utterly intriguing...
'Marvelous Scandal' is a wonderful little album of minimalistic lo-fi audio collages. It's a strange but satisfying blend of raw field recordings, abstract sound art, free-form improvisation and weird noise. Shaffer leaves these pieces totally bare and exposed, giving us a little glimpse of some quiet abstract environment, and the sonic elements that exist within. A bizarre and soothing listening experience.
Stream/Buy/Download :
-
No comments:
Post a Comment