‘Listen to your world. It might be more interesting than all the things you buy to escape it.’ This observation by American writer Sasha Frere-Jones in 1999 comes 30 years after composer R. Murray Schafer introduced the term acoustic ecology, thereby raising awareness of the musicality of soundscapes.
This 46-minute mix proves Frere-Jones right – with field-recordings by Alejandra & Aeron, Bill Fontana, Chris Watson, Paul Bowles and others.
Featured cover art: Jean C. Roché – Birds of Venezuela
Playlist
Paul Bowles – Wind
Playing with a musical sound. (1958, Dom America)
Geir Jenssen – Cho Oyu Basecamp: Morning
Audio diary of climbing the eight-thousander Cho Oyu in Tibet. (2006, Ash International)
BJNilsen – Rough Grazing
Exploring acoustic environments in Gran Paradiso’s alpine landscape. (2015, Editions Mego)
Justin Bennett – The Mosques of Tanger (exc.)
High up on a rooftop in the early morning, the calls from various mosques mingle and echo through the city. (1994, Staalplaat)
Chris Watson – Cassarina
Echoing voices shouting by the seaside. (2002, Touch)
Jean C. Roché – Ocumare (exc.)
Fascinated by the unusual musical volume he encountered in Venezuela, ornithologist Jean C. Roché set out to record the country’s birds. (1972, Sub Rosa)
Paul Williams – Top Fuel
Action during the hot-rod drag car racing meet on England’s Santa Pod Raceway. (1999, Ash International)
Alejandra & Aeron – Anguiano Bells
Calling the village for the Danza de los Zancos during the annual Fiesta de la Magdalena in Anguiano/La Rioja. (2001, Lucky Kitchen)
Félix Blume – Piano and Screaming
A funeral in Port au Prince on the Caribbean island of Haiti. (2016, Discrepant)
Bill Fontana – Waves Breaking on Rocks Along the Northeast Australian Coast
Field-recording as an art in itself, analogous in many ways to photography. (1983, Sierra Club)
Eckart Rahn – Pachinko In Your Head (exc.)
Imaginary rhythms created by the overlapping sounds of around 1,000 pinball machines at Aladdin Pachinko Parlour, Shinjuku, Tokyo. (1998, Blue Rahn Studio)
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