microphones in the trees

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

sound mirrors

miroirs sonores ~ voyage au coeur de la matière (1988)

first time i got familiar with this album was through incomparably amazing Sounds of the Dawn who has been a huge source of inspiration since their blogspot times. SotD has a CD version though and Discogs haven't had an entry for cassette release, so i was sure it was CD only ~ until suddenly stumbled on this tape while digging private announces. so here's the cassette rip as well, for the sake of archiving this unique work. "miroirs sonores" is a name of a specific sound sculpture/instrument made by Bernard & François Baschet ~ french brothers, who were creating some unique sound sculptures their whole life. their own recordings date far back to 1965, when they released a documentation of the experiments with glass and metal sound objects as Structures For Sound 10" vinyl. recently their work got a renewed interest with a double LP release on the parisian Transversales Disques label, probably in the raise of interest to another renown sound sculptures creator Harry Bertoia

this specific tape though involves other people playing the Baschet's "sound mirrors" ~ Olivier Milchberg, his father Jorge Milchberg and Rob Yaffe ~ all of them being participants of Los Incas band, who you may know as the ones recording "El Condor Pasa" song with Simon & Garfunkel. so they come from a bit different background, playing mostly folk music through their careers and yet, they managed to create deeply meditative recording for this project ~ it's as serene and slowly paced, as Himalayan Bells of Karma Moffet or numerous Klaus Wiese singing bowls albums ~ vibrational music with a lot of air in between resonating wellsprings of sound.  

listen: cassette rip ~ cd rip

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

loris s. sarid

loris s. sarid - music for tomato plants (constellation tatsu, 2020)

"Music for Tomato Plants is the first collection of tracks by Glasgow-based artist Loris S. Sarid.

Written between October 2019 and January 2020, music for tomato plants is the result of Loris's growing interest in quiet, asmr-like , hyper-realistic sounds. Recorded as a series of short kalimba and glockenspiel improvisations at first, then broken down and rearranged incorporating more elements and various types of audio manipulation.

 "Music for Tomato Plants was born while taking care of a little tomato plant, grown on the windowsill of his flat during the winter 2020. The album is a homage to the unapparent courage of simplicity, and the beauty and lightness of the most ordinary things." "In the same spirit of Mort Garson, Green-House and others who synthesize the natural and musical worlds, this ambient serenade for tomato plants is a welcome saunter through a humble garden" - Charlie Moonbeam 

único vinilo publicado hasta ahora de nuestro querido sello de cintas de cassette Constellation Tatsu, pero qué vinilo!. Green de Hiroshi Yoshimura, Plantasia de Mort Garson, David Edren, Green-House, Golden Pear... ¿Qué tienen las plantas que atrae a tantos músicos e inspiran los discos más bonitos? Este vinilo rojo y comestible está dedicado a las plantas de tomate. improvisaciones de kalimba y glockenspiel, delicadas texturas y arreglos y ese aroma añejo a disco rescatado de los años 70. afirmar que las plantas escuchan y disfrutan la música que les ponemos tal vez sea dejarse llevar, pero dejarse llevar estoy segura de que es el objetivo de este disco precioso. Placidez pura.

 listen ~ support

 



 

Friday, March 01, 2024

guenter schlienz / lori pate

 
Seen Bigfoot? Send music!
 
qué cucos los sellos eligiendo a günter para sus primeras hornadas. peak es un pequeño sello italiano y de momento solo tiene tres cintas editadas. dos de ellas han captado toda mi atención: 'guilded eternity' de günter y 'sightings' de lori pate. ambas con portadas de big foot. ¿quién es lori pate? podría ser el propio günter. las dos cintas giran en torno a esta criatura mítica como fuente de inspiración ("¿has visto a Big Foot? envíanos tus sonidos de Big Foot") "Sightings" emerge de la nieve cual alien envuelto en burbujeantes sonidos de sintetizador. con 'guilded eternity' me derrito de nuevo, lo sé, soy gunteradicta. tan marciano, cálido, acogedor y mullido como siempre. sin querer, he aquí otra de mis cintas favoritas de un ser que no es de este mundo....su poder evocador es tal que ya no tengo palabras.

❄️ sold out ❄️

 
 
 Seen Bigfoot? Send us your Bigfoot sounds.
 

 

Thursday, February 15, 2024

patricia escudero

patricia escudero ~ el sueño de satie (satie sonneries) (ediciones cúbicas, 1989)

"Patricia Escudero is a mysterious person who resonated with the movements of a group of musicians originated in Madrid in the 1980s, the ultra-acoustic group. She edited the 1987 record she left behind in the ''Comet of Madrid'' series and made it into a cassette tape in 1989 with the subtitle ''Sati's Dream'', produced by the genius Luis Delgado. A collection of 15 Satie electronic arrangements that will take you into the labyrinth of dreams. It's a work that originally has an end and a beginning, but when you listen to it in infinite reverse on a cassette tape, it feels like there's no way out. This is one of the high-quality reissue series that brings out a different flavor from the original, with new editing and beautiful illustrations by Gloria Van Aerssen (Vainica Doble)." sheyeye

"Spanish contemporary musician Patricia Escudero's 1987 album featuring scores by Erik Satie. It was released from the independent Spanish label Grabaciones Accidentales. Produced by Luis Delgado, a leading figure in Spanish new age/experimental music. Satie's works are often featured as modern/contemporary piano music, but this album features Delgado's synthesizer programming. It is a very fantastic sound, full of unique resonance and floating sensation. Hats off to Luis Delgado's diverse talents."

 

uno de esos discos verdaderamente especiales que siempre será un misterio para mí. había incluido varias canciones en diferentes recopilatorios, pero nunca le había dedicado una entrada. hoy elijo la portada de la cinta de cassette (dibujada por Gloria de Vainica Doble), pero el link para escucharlo corresponde a la reedición del vinilo, que a su vez, creo, también suena diferente tanto de la versión original del vinilo como de la cinta de cassette. un poco lío, pero da igual...todas las versiones al final suenan igual de mágicas. el sueño de Satie es eso, un sueño. también una rareza. uno de esos discos flotantes-milagro que, con apenas un par de instrumentos (timbres y tratamientos sonoros), se contentan con sumergirse en su propio sonido, imposible de ubicar en cualquier estilo y que, por alguna razón, asocio con Enno Vulthuys, Norma Lyon y, sobre todo, con Planeta Imaginario ("Valse Du Chocolate Aux Amandes - 1913"). su reinterpretación trémula, casi fanstasmal, de la obra de Satie, lo convierten en un regalo poético-musical casi imposible de describir: piano clásico y sintetizadores analógicos, notas de piano que aparecen y desaparecen gradualmente creando una atmósfera que te sitúa justo en el corazón del París de principios del sigo XX.

Patricia no hizo nada más, pero tampoco hizo falta. Además, está producido por su compañero de viaje inseparable, Luis Delgado (figura clave en la música experimental/new age española). la foto de la portada del vinilo, la imagen difuminada y casual de Patricia en algo que parece un jardín botánico, o el interior de una estación de tren, cual figura inintencionadamente fantasmagórica, me produce la misma sensación que la foto de la portada de Spiderland que hizo Will Oldham: quizás porque son momentos aparentemente intrascendentes en los que, no sé por qué, hay un profundo misterio.

si hubiese que hacer un ranking de discos imprescindibles y especiales a los que siempre vuelvo iría encabezado por Plantasia de Mort Garson, Norma Lyon o Cults Percussion Ensamble. o los tres a la vez. Patricia Escudero (es gallega) también estaría allí, entre los diez primeros. también cap n' jack o valerie webb & paul labrecque. curiosamente, casi todos ellos comparten la peculiaridad de haber sido sus únicos discos publicados. quién pudiera tener esa copia firmada por la propia Patricia: "para el kastillo de las lágrimas".

filed under: discos que nunca caerán en el olvido.

listen ~ go


Friday, February 09, 2024

molero

"Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Alexander Molero is no stranger to the exotic idealism that westerners have towards South America. A move to Barcelona a few years ago gave him new notions of how the Amazon was imagined by the west. The inspiration for this record came from the book by Anton Goering "Vom tropischen Tieflande bis zum ewigen Schnee" and was also influenced by the writings of Victor Segalen and the visions of Werner Herzog in “Fitzcarraldo” and “Aguirre”. The way that these artists explored and romanticised ideas of the unknown were the trigger for the creation of the sounds heard in “Ficciones Del Trópico".
 
Using a Yamaha CS-60 Synthesizer, Molero creates an enigmatic and utopian voyage inspired by the tropical and exotic desire of European’s first contact with these foreign and unexplored sites. For his first record, he wanted to create soundscapes for the wilderness reminiscent of the European explorers that faced the unknown and beyond of the Amazon forest in the 19th century. Eight pieces, 44 minutes, with titles referencing birds, animals and landscapes that simulate a continuous discovery.
 
 
The spirited patterns of the pieces invite you into Molero’s mind and to explore the way his imagination materialises into sound. Developed and recorded during 2017 and 2018, “Ficciones del Trópico” resonates references and soundscapes that Molero has conceptualised over the last decade.
 
The constant structure and rhythms created a unique – and continuous – sound-aesthetic. Molero’s tropical fiction is like diving into the sea with Jürgen Müller, exploring Alpha Centauri with Tangerine Dream or building new exotica through the lens of Mike Cooper. But this time everything happens in a jungle.

Saturday, February 03, 2024

manoir molle

manoir molle ~ accords (pylône éditions, 2024)

"The manoir molle makes music like the hive make honey. Like a house makes dust. Like the sky makes rain. It doesn’t have any doors, only many open windows. The manoir molle is a see-through flag, drooping in the wind. Threads loop in and out. And under this shroud, a hand-carved orchestra of air.“accords” compiles twelve unreleased tracks from Manoir Molle, French microtonal electronic composer & half of the mysterious Jean-Marie Mercimek. More than crumbs, these are whirring sentient vignettes, a bee swarm of dripping wax, dancing shadows in the funhouse mirror." -twjr


para qué añadir nada más a la preciosa descripción de turner williams jr (autor de ese sol amarillo radiante de "ensoleillée" en les disques omnison). pylône éditions es su nuevo sello y viendo la primera cinta de cassette que ha escogido para inaugurarlo no tengo duda de que nos deparará muchas alegrías musicales. ¿quién es manoir molle (en realidad Marion Molle)? la voz es la de una chica que, aunque la cinta es sobre todo instrumental, a veces canta en francés. turner dice que “accords” recopila doce temas inéditos de Manoir Molle, compositora electrónica microtonal francesa y la mitad del misterioso Jean-Marie Mercimek ('nocturne 2'!, 'la flourenn'!) junto a Ronan Riou.

suena 'un jour' y me derrito. piano, instrumentos de viento que no logro reconocer. todo muy lo-fi. es como una versión particularmente acústica y abstracta de los discos submarinos de los años 70 ('imprimante'). pienso en la simpar miaux, daphne oram, laurie anderson ('fecrier') e incluso, sin parecerse en realidad, en la abuelita islandesa sigríður níelsdóttir (cuya cinta grandma lo-fi / the basement tapes tanto nos gustó allá por el 2011). será porque manoir mulle, efectivamente, hace música como en la colmena se hace la miel, y pienso en miaux cuando me la imaginaba componiendo melodías extraterrestres mientras preparaba tartas de manzana vestida con un traje antiavispas. también pienso en günter (escuchad cómo se cuela algo parecido a un sinte modular y esa flautilla tan Les Halles en 'remedium'), en las orquestas callejeras, en los órganos vetustos de pierre palla y en las fotos y portadas que reposan sobre tapetes de ganchillo. esas extrañas asociaciones que hacen que ciertas músicas vayan siempre unidas.

listen ~ support

Thursday, February 01, 2024

torso

torso ~ set out (ozato record, 2019)

Spirits of earth and air push and pull in this set of gloriously rich and involving pieces for flute, cello, sax and tapes.


Some music makes you aware that it is only really made of moving air. Droning or rattling, shaking against your eardrum or snaking past it, sound happens between moving objects and the waiting air. This collection of layered duets between kenji (sax and flute) and Orie (cello), give you exactly that feeling. The Cello, thick and earthy, full of warm resonance, is a hard packed floor for the sunny, glassy flute to move over. While fine details are filled in by glockenspiel, wordless vocals and sympathetic electronics.

If this description (and quick glance at the cover) makes you think you’re about to hear some worthy and ‘good for you’ full fibre improv noodling, think again. Set Out is a deeply addictive record full of stretched, looping melodies informed by indie pop structures and an aching Europe-endless cafe music sadness. Fans of Mama!milk, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Sylvia Tarozzi and Penguin Cafe orchestra take note.  Magic." all night flight

listen ~ support