Really amazing field recordings on your page. Thanks for sharing them

Call of a young serotine bat in the roost

CS/DL : f-o-m.bandcamp.com/album/a-conference-of-critters

“These pages are wrinkled, curled, soaked in the dense thick air for weeks; the lines of ink smudge a little. The words touch. Nights, storms, warm afternoons: all is said in the tale of terrestrial things. Up in a madan tree, a koel repeats its call, incessant, signalling something. A group of women is planting seeds, laying flowers in the water, hands in the soil. The critters confer; living together in a collective river, floating through the stream of extended time, connected like the organs of the same body. Microphone in hand, I am sheltered under a large banana leaf, witnessing the rain that touches all of us inhabitants of this forest. The critters confer; the water circles endlessly.” — Diane Barbé 

After multiple non-human morphings, Diane Barbé comes back to her hominid-self to share a glimpse into Thailand’s rainforests and the acoustic expressions they foster. "a conference of critters" is a humid, drenched, gathering of biophonic and sylvan gestures cadenced by delicate human interventions. Here, the jungle pulses and hums. Thick stridulations guide us from the margins of the forest to its heart. Dwelling between soakings and crepuscular choruses, a multitude of earthlings sound the tropical ecologies. Monkeys, insects, frogs, birds, and humans intertwine under a resonating canopy. ‘The critters confer’ Barbé writes as she inevitably blends with the local fauna. Amid the strident ecoscape, perspectives oscillate — without warning animals (humans included) invade the foreground, momentarily dissolving the sonic tapestry before vanishing back into the greenery. These recollections transport us in a sonant bloom. A murmur rises, creatures stir, rain sizzles, leaves vibrate, the forest materializes. 

All sounds heard and recorded in Nakhon Chai Si province and Khao Sok National Park, Thailand, April-May 2021. Some of the voices and moments were part of Enclosed Garden, an interdisciplinary art residency curated by the Heroines’Wave network. 

~  

Waeving together experimental music, biophonic research and activism, Diane Barbé searches for forms of interspecies resonance to explore chronobiology –understanding human and non-human animal entanglements through time manipulations. She is currently creating an ensemble of wind instruments, percussions, bird calls and little sound devices, called The Alien Kin, that are used for musicking in open air, with and beyond human audiences. Diane has been based in Berlin since 2015 and is engaged in many forms of collaborations with dancers, dreamers, whistlers, image-makers, performers, writers, and other kinds of creatures. 

→ www.dianebarbe.com

cassette & digital

diane barbé — what the moon sounds like

One track from the third release in the new SYM CD-series!
THORSTEN SOLTAU - Gewächse im Zwielicht
https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=21322

This Friesian multi media artist with two works on one CD: his compositions combine drone-ambient and electro-acoustic elements in a wonderful (sometimes bizarre, sometimes melancholic) way, various instrumental and electronic sources are building a hypnotic web, very complex and with many unexpected twists and surprises in the mix..  this CD is like a little wonder!

"MUSIC.ART.MORPHOSIS.
A reflection.
I call myself a listening person – I am constantly listening to and into environments. This has lead to a refined sense able to picking up things that may slip the attention of others. My ears are trained to scan the places I visit – crowded metropoles, remote spots in nature or even familiar surroundings of office or home. My way of listening can be divided in two modes: the perception of sound on an unconscious level or the deliberate focus on sonics.

Becoming a sort of scanning antenna had a profound effect how I compose. The experience of my listening is reflected in my sound works. As an example several compositions feature barely noticeable overdubs. They can only be heard with specific settings of loudness and spatial room (and are therefore easy to recognize with headphones) or equalizer settings. Another example is the creation of dense clusters of sound resembling information streams or (over-)crowded places.

My goal is the creation of rich sounds with layers only reachable by multiple listening. Each work exposes itself over time with each consciously made playback / perception:
Repetition becomes a reward for the listener.

On sounds.

My compositions are either electronic or electroacoustic. A commonly used sound is the human voice or excerpts of complex synthesis. As a composer I choose my source material wisely. The starting elements have to inhabit the desired mood and intensity later formulated into full compositions. Nevertheless I am open for developments by surprise or error during sound design.

One important factor is randomness. Sounds or sound manipulating factors are mapped to random forces which allows for unexpected results. Some of my composing techniques are deliberately executed against their primary intention as well. This allows for an ever-morphing character of my works until the final touch is added.

On sonic morphosis.

My compositional ethic has strong ties to morphosis. To reflect different degrees of sonic shifting / transformation / transitions I apply several techniques and methods. As explained above the use of complex treatments and randomness allows for a sound that constantly shapes into an liquid and organic sculpture. The sonics I create are further exposed to imperfections and errors – like body and mind aging or perishing over time.

Errors are integral and welcome. Most of them occur as a glitch in the analogue or digital domain during sessions or setup changes. They give a further layer to the music resembling small failures made by the composer – adding a human touch despite their virtual origin.

On concepts.

My solo work has always been underlined by concepts. My canon includes albums with apparent or less apparent concepts. Often works can be seen as cornerstones of things I research at that time of their genesis. Several compositions reflect situations from personal life. Thus all works can be seen as intimate and highly personal sonic artifacts. Conception can be seen as the base of each work without outweighing the listeners experience. Each of my pieces can be explicitly heard as a sole composition as well."
https://thorstensoltau.de

THORSTEN SOLTAU - Das Begehren

Extract from the CD with Cat. Nr. SYM:04: 
For the first time both long active veterans of the experimental / post industrial / field recording scene have collaborated, and created a mesmerizing one-tracker (56+ min.) with many breathtaking moments from the very beginning... an incredible new virtual sonic reality, taking you on a journey to the microworlds of the "more than human" lifeforms.. a "Phloem" is the part of plants that transports organic compounds = photosynthates. 

order:
https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=21323

FRANCISCO LOPEZ & DANIEL MENCHE - Sacrificed Phloem (Zannec Line)

Thrush Nightingale
recorded
Sikkalahti, Finland 
2am 5th June 2002

This performance is unusual in the almost continuous delivery, rather than separate strophes with intervals between.

nightingale after midnight

My warm-up Set for the recent bbk Party. Vinyl only so expect Cracks and jumps. Had so much fun <3

FX live played by arika

BBK @ Session

Bassador @Session 28.01.2023

a very personal Vinyl selections in a mixtape-style. music between 1995 an 2019 from Germany, Austria, Belgium and The Netherlands that can somehow be labeled as Underground music without reference to any musical instruments used.
Playlist:
Mouse on Mars -subsequence
Roman Jungblut -Einsicht
Bohren&ClubOfGore -schwarzer Sabbath für Den Martin
Zombieflesheater -turn the record and place the needle there again
Zea -an experience of trouble
Chefkochschulz -Charlotte Gainsbourg
Wunder -Noitz's Kakao
Krube -des Zunichtewerdens III
Felix Kubin -No1
Lali Puna -distortion2000
Jeans Team -hi friends
Jerobeam Fenderson -planets
Klaus Apfel -Kiste auf dem Dach
Mein kleines Pony -Kiste auf dem Dach
Candie Hank feat Angie Reed -the booty bank
Kommando Sonne-nmilch -Faltenaffen
Bambam Babylon Bajasch -das letzte Zucken

Central European Underground Express Pt2

Le sentier de randonnée s’est transformé en ruisseau. En approchant l’oreille au pied du vieux muret on peut entendre l’eau se frayer un passage entre les pierres.

The footpath has become a stream. Listening carefully close to the low stonewall, you can hear water trickling through its stones.

© Ph.V. 2023

Résurgence

François J. Bonnet talks about ‘The Order of Sounds: A Sonorous Archipelago’, his book on the philosophy of sound and listening, explaining the motivation behind its examination of modes of listening and its mapping of plural sonic ontologies, and expanding on some of the concepts he introduces in order to take account of the ‘schizological’ nature of sound. The podcast concludes with an exclusive track by Bonnet’s alter-ego Kassel Jaeger. 

Call of a young serotine bat in the roost

fields on the way

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