Fordism and Other Delicacies

Taken from the upcoming album 'Längd' - containing over 70 minutes of unreleased material from Hummingbird...

www.fluidaudio.co.uk

Längd

Hummingbird - Längd

From dusk to dawn with two pairs of cranes and one or two single male contenders. In this recording you will hear almost infrasound (80-200 Hz) growls and heavy panting as the males chase each other in the wetland and of course the trumpeting of cranes through the night. An amazing experience to be this close. Huddunge, Uppsala. April 9, 2024.

Mixpre 3ii + Lewitt 440 Pure in ortf

Cranes like you never heard them before!

Nicola Fornasari was born in Cremona, Italy in 1977 Italy. He began his musical career as the bass player and singer for hardcore band Entropia in 1995. Over the following eleven years, he contributed to releases on various international compilations, a 7” vinyl record with Tenia Records (ITA), and a full-length CD with Six Weeks Records (USA), while playing over a hundred shows across Italy and Europe. Since 2007 he has embarked on new musical projects, including Xu(e) (a duo with Andrea Poli), Xu (his solo project), La Petite Vague (a duo with Diego Balconi), and That Which is Not (a duo with Pier Giorgio Storti / Belaqua Shua). He is also a member of Twyxu and Zero Wait Ensemble. His works have been released on numerous labels, including Fluid Audio, Shimmering Moods, Slow Tone Collages, Krysalisound, Eilean, Flaming Pines, Rottenman Editions, Rohs! / Lontano, Twice Removed, Cathedral Transmissions, Triple Moon, Thirsty Leaves Music, Audio Gourmet, Tessellate, Haze, Many Feet Under, Subterranean Tide, and Laverna. He has also released with Whitelabrecs previously, with ‘Embodying Formlessness’ (2019) and ‘Slicing Space-time Into Objects’ (2022).

Francis Gri is an Italian composer based born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1982 and is based in Milan. Co-founder in 1999 of the ethereal dark band All My Faith Lost (Cold meat industry, Projekt Records) he left the band to create electronic and acoustic sounds. His first works with under the moniker Apart have been published by the Italian label Final Muzik. Francis is the founder and curator of KrysaliSound, a record label dedicated to experimental Ambient music and active between 2011-2023. While most of his works can be found in the KrysaliSound catalogue, he has also released music with many other labels including Final Muzik, Slowcraft Records, Time Released Sound, Shimmering Moods, and Midira. His music for Whitelabrecs includes ‘Apart’ (2018), Home Diaries 015 (2020) and ‘Soolo’, a collaboration with Grotta Veterano (2022). Francis’ sound is in a constant state of evolution, encompassing various ambient styles and techniques that blend oneiric and emotional resonances. With the use of acoustic instruments and electronic textures, his focus is to create a balance between darkness and purity that cohabit within our souls, moving around abstract imperfections, poetry and meditation.

‘Valley of Languages’ is the brainchild of these two musicians who, despite having never met in person, found themselves sharing and understanding the same musical space; which became the inspiration for the album title and its concept. This album is not just a collection of songs; it's a collaborative exploration of diversity and emotional resonance. It serves as a metaphorical meeting point where diverse musical languages and techniques converge, creating a rich tapestry of sound that transcends geographical boundaries. This album comprises six tracks, each a testament to the harmonious collaboration between two minds separated by distance, but united by a similar way of seeing and perceiving things.

Written and produced by Nicola Fornasari and Francis Gri
Mastered by Francis Gri
Photography by Francis Gri
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Valley Of Languages

wlr160 Xu & Francis Gri - Valley Of Language

I got to spend December 2023 recording in several jungle locations in Costa Rica. The experience was wonderful and inspiring. Most of the trip was spent on Osa Peninsula, in lodges that bordered Parque Nacional Corcovado (Corcovado National Park). With nearly 2.5% of the world's species represented, many of them endemic, it is  recognized as one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet.

On the same morning as the previous  Midnight Chorus recording https://soundcloud.com/soundeziner/cr-fincasueno-midnightchorus, a troop of Golden Mantled Howler Monkeys greeted the Dawn and their neighbors (and the rest of the jungle) the only way they know how. Male mantled howlers have an enlarged hyoid bone, a hollow amplifying bone near their vocal cords that gives the ability to generate great "howling"  calls that can heard for kilometers.  Howling allows the monkeys to exercise territory and remain in contact  without expending energy through movement or bearing the risks of physical confrontation. As someone who likes little more than sitting in a forest listening to nature speak, I approve of this lazing behavior.

While this howling is their most well-known vocal characteristic, I'm rather fond of the popping and grunting that warms up to the howl and pads the time in between. It's relatively quiet, and is most noticeable only when near the vocalizing howler. The best description of it that I can think of is like the "vocal fry" not uncommon in many of today's pop singers. Check it out near the start of the first round of howling around 2:40 (link in the comments)

After a first round of loud howls, the group takes a break. With what is known about Mantled Howler activity, they're likely sleeping, or maybe eating. After 20-is minutes, they pick up again for a brief session before settling back down. It's possible they've been moving during this time as they're quieter during this round. Finally, just before Sunrise at 05:38 in the morning, they pick up again, slowly building and then tapering off after nearly 30 minutes of vocal exercising.

After speaking with other recordists, I know I am far from alone as someone who loves their sound, but I I may be one of the few that enjoys waking up to their calls. Every morning I heard this in the distance or nearby was a morning I walked out to breakfast with a big silly grin on my face.

Another voice that has become a personal favorite is the Yellow-throated Toucan, with their rhythmic, bouncing song that seems to carry on forever. There is at least one singing for most of this recording, but you can get your first good listen behind the Howlers at 53:27 or skip ahead to 1:06:02 to hear two singing at each other.

Hummingbirds are abundant, and you'll hear their buzzing wings fly by and around the microphones numerous times. Also coming and going are raucous and noisy Scarlet Macaws and Red-lored Parrots, a lone Red-eyed Tree Frog, a visiting Little Tinamou, and more. 

I'll point out a few voices along the way in the comments, but I'm out of my depth when it comes to identifying neotropical birds, so I'll largely let the ecosystem speak for itself. Feel free to poke around with links in the comments to scoot around the recording, or just let it play out over your morning coffee like I do.

Feel like seeing some fancy colors? I've been playing at visualizing soundscapes lately. Check out the video for this recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/duxU2INkyXI?si=xhIrgiHiOSOk922l

AMNS Costa Rica 01

Golden Mantled Howlers at Dawn

https://pointless-geometry.bandcamp.com/album/dawno-temu-sacralia

Dawno Temu - Solo project of Agnieszka Bykowska, Polish sound artist and producer. While balancing between ambient, drone and minimalist music, she creates unique sonic sceneries centered around layered synth waves with elements of electroacoustic. Having spent nine years in Bydgoszcz, PL she has crossed paths with the improv scene. Played numerous shows across Poland, including appearances at festivals. Her main sources of inspiration are the notion of time, spirituality and emotional corners of human nature.

linktr.ee/dawnotemu
www.instagram.cwom/davnotemv

SACRALIA is the second LP from Polish sound artist and producer Dawno Temu.

Living within the realms of fast-paced reality we're bypassing the essence of "being fully in the moment". While so much dependent on the notion of time itself, we're sharing a collective fantasy of making the time dependent on us - to pause it, outstretch it, turn it back in order to experience something once again. Dawno Temu approaches that concept with both severity and sensitivity in her compositional process.

Each of six tracks on the album is like a ceremonial object for the performative aspect of careful observation that finds its fulfillment in rapture and emotionality. These objects in their historical meaning have been utilized as a means for establishing or maintaining communication between the sacred (the transcendent, or supernatural) and the profane (the secular, cause and effect). Rather than trying to fit a doctrine Dawno Temu celebrates subjective experience of the individual, points in time and space that are carrying an idiosyncratic, empirical gesture with them: light reflections, moments of pause, sources of pleasure - which are actually common experiences, bound with human nature - and sonically reinterprets them as manifestations of “the sacred” among “the profane”.

The sound of SACRALIA is raw and ascetic; euphoric, but full of reverie. Balancing between wide and dense, Dawno Temu carves her own path in drone and minimalist music. Meditative repetitiveness of structures, slowly evolving and dissolving form the frame of SACRALIA which leaves a room for serenity and reflection in both: herself and the listener. Improv strings ensemble, featuring guest appearance of Antonina Car and Joanna Szczęsnowicz (jablkagruszki) in EVERY PAUSE STRIVES FOR ADMIRANCE, together with synthesizer mimic chanting of a litany where all instruments gently pass each other by and only occasionally synchronize to speak with one voice. In her work process on SACRALIA, Dawno Temu focused on conjuring up certain feelings during long and immersive recording sessions with two synthesizers. This way, slowly forming unique shapes and imagery, she developed a somewhat emotional bond with the instruments, reminding of Éliane Radigue and her composing approach.

Composed and recorded by Dawno Temu (Agnieszka Bykowska) between 2022/2023 in Wrocław and Poznań
Track EVERY PAUSE STRIVES FOR ADMIRANCE composed and recorded by Dawno Temu (synthesizer), Antonina Car (improvisation on violin, baritone violin, cello), and Joanna Szczęsnowicz (improvisation on violin)
Mixed by Dawno Temu
Mastered by Adam Badí Donoval / www.instagram.com/adambdonoval
Artwork: Krzyś Bykowski, Iza Roko
www.instagram.com/krzys418
www.instagram.com/_zulaxo

SACRALIA

Dawno Temu - EVERY PAUSE STRIVES FOR ADMIRANCE (FEAT. ANTONINA CAR, JOANNA SZCZĘSNOWICZ) / POINT#56

Lift off! This was spectacular beyond what I could have imagined. The starling murmuration at the Avalon Marshes in Somerset. Hundreds of thousands of birds departing from their roost on the reed beds. The numbers are hard to comprehend. First the silence - a timid chorus at this time of year - then the starlings start to chatter. Suddenly there is a build up of rumbling bass, like wind hitting the microphone or something about to erupt. Then the waves across the field, like ocean waves in the distance, both visually and sonically. And the lift off. The rumble becomes a satisfying silky carpet enveloping you overhead.

This repeats 3-4 times as different waves of departing starlings take flight. MAGICAL.

I edited 30 seconds at the end from when they've all left, to give perspective, so you can appreciate the decibels such a gathering produces.

Location: Shadwick Heath, Somerset, UK
Date and time: 25 February 2024, 7am
Habitat: Reed beds, Flooded plains

Gear (Associate Links):
Sound Devices 744T
Sennheiser MKH8060 and MKH30 in Mid-Side rig.
Nikon Z6-II https://amzn.to/4aWjeyZ
Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM https://amzn.to/4bmU24t
Sigma 70-200 F2.8 https://amzn.to/3Wpdrxu

Starling Murmuration Dawn Lift-Off

From the split EP "Coastal / à main levée" 
Of the Night Sky / Jean-Emmanuel Rosnet
HS54

Handstitched* returns after a summer excursion and is super-excited to announce the next release in the split-artist series, this limited issue is by producer and instrumentalist Andrew Dobson under his guise Of The Night Sky, and French sound artist Jean-Emmanuel Rosnet.

Both artists deliver two emotionally resonant and individual perspectives for the split EP, Of The Night Sky who has previously released an EP on the Cactus Island label as Digitonal visits Handstitched* with his Coastal EP which focuses on his creative visions, surroundings and explorations with combinations of textured ambience and introspective harmonies which links Of The Night Sky’s music and the Suffolk landscapes together in musical soundscapes.

Jean-Emmanuel Rosnet is focused on improvisation - weaving patchworks of modular synthesis, tape variations, resampling and digital process into magical and mysterious sound collages, inspired by Musique Concrète and his trademark overlapping of intimate dimensions within natural environments. À main levée was composed in early 2024 in the heart of Parc Naturel du Livradois-Forez's green hills where he is now located. À main levée follows his recent album Les Alentours which was released on Californian imprint Not Not Fun Records.

Nuits Après Jours

Alina Kalancea - Salt

Simple experiments geared towards performance, these pieces were recorded using Monome mlr & Grid, Organelle/Orac, Montreal Assembly CT5, Chase Bliss Audio Mood, and Mutable Instruments' Rings & Clouds.

I hope you'll enjoy!!

Performed/Recorded by D.Harper 6/2020

Mastered by Porya Hatami
http://poryahatami.com/

Poppy botanical by Walter Müller, 1910

Root

This is & was Twatt 004 with Mathias Van Eecloo, owner of the label @laapsrecords https://laaps-records.com & @iikkibooks https://www.iikki-books.com/
Follow our next audiostories mixlr.com/wecu/events

____________________
Twenty-One Four Ears
____________________
21 tracks from the 21 albums during the last 4 years on IIKKI and LAAPS
IIKKI : September 2014 - November 2020
LAAPS : January 2020 - November 2020
tracklist :
(time line / artist / track name / album / label)
(00.00 - 04.29) 01 - Toàn - Caillou (Volta No Vento) (IIKKI 013)
(04.14 - 06.18) 02 - Danny Clay - 6.12.2015 (I) (Stills) (IIKKI 001)
(06.07 - 08.50) 03 - Aries Mond - Cut Off (Cut Off) (IIKKI 008)
(08.31 - 12.20) 04 - Taylor Deupree & Marcus Fischer - On Branches (Lowlands) (IIKKI 003)
(12.04 - 14.49) 05 - The Alvaret Ensemble - Ast (Ea) (LAAPS 001)
(14.42 - 18.28) 06 - Offthesky & The Humble Bee - An Affair on Invisibility (We Were the Hum of
Dreams) (LAAPS 003)
(18.24 - 21.43) 07 - Tomotsugu Nakamura - Alone Together (Litterature) (LAAPS 005)
(21.24 - 24.38) 08 - Valance Drakes - Loyalty And Honour Above All Else (Freedom Is Its Own Kind
Of Salary) (LAAPS 006)
(23.59 - 30.20) 09 - Joni Void - Non-Linéaire (Nature Morte) (LAAPS 007)
(30.08 - 35.06 ) 10 - Andrea Belfi - Vano (Alveare) (IIKKI 002)
(34.56 - 38.44 ) 11 - Fean - Swellen (II) (LAAPS 002)
(37.57 - 41.09 ) 12 - Foresteppe - IX - XII (Odeyalo) (LAAPS 008)
(40.50 - 43.38 ) 13 - Federico Durand - Los Juguetes De Minka Podhajska (Pequeñas Melodias)
(IIKKI 007)
(43.07 - 47.09 ) 14 - Stephen Vitiello & Molly Berg - Mental Radio (I Drew A Fish Hook, And It
Turned Into A Flower) (IIKKI 010)
(46.57 - 51.52 ) 15 - Masaya Ozaki & Kaito Nakahori - Horizon (Mythologies) (IIKKI 004)
(51.39 - 59.42 ) 16 - Danny Clay - Ocean Park II (Ocean Park) (LAAPS 004)
(58.05 - 62.11 ) 17 - The Humble Bee & Offthesky - For Her Breath Is On All That Hath Life (All
Other Voices Gone, Only Yours Remains) (IIKKI 009)
(61.55 - 64.09) 18 - Akira Uchida - #2 (Sasanami) (IIKKI 012)
(63.56 - 66.54) 19 - Aaron Martin - To Stems Unclasped the Petals Cling (Touch Dissolves) (IIKKI
006)
(66.36 - 72.06) 20 - Scott Worthington - A Time That Is Also A Place (Orbit) (IIKKI 005)
(71.57 - 75.21) 21 - Seabuckthorn - And Bickers Into Colour (Through A Vulnerable Occur) (IIKKI
011)

Twenty - One Four Years (Mix Showcase IIKKI+LAAPS)

Field sound recordist and archivist of vanishing sounds in natural Iandscapes. Highly commended in the Sound of the Year Awards 2024 - Best Natural Sound.

Cranes like you never heard them before!

Bo Söderström