Name: PS CloseUpCaper MonoVersion - Short clip by the sound space
Duration: 1 min 14 s
Description: This is a short clip of a close up recording of a capercaillie lekking. It was recorded with an Clippy EM172 mic into an olympus LS-14 in central Sweden. Photo by Stefan Taylor.

from 'Thawlines' [CD|LP|DIGITAL]
Denovali Records · den372
available on all formats at https://denovali.com/johnlemke

Unfamiliar landscapes, dampened by snow and fog, frozen waterways, ghostly forests: in equal parts unsettling and rich with possibility - such is the world of ‘Thawlines’, the third solo album by John Lemke. Carved out at a glacial pace over six years, it distills the memories of a deeply impactful journey to Finland in 2011 into John’s most personal album to date.

During a time of inner turmoil, John’s first encounter with the harsh Finnish winter while visiting an old friend in Helsinki, served as the backdrop and catalyst for pivotal change. Inspired to write an album based on the experience some years later, a second trip with a residency near the Arctic Circle followed. Gathering field recordings and reflecting the original voyage, John experimented with first sketches in the solitude of the icy woodlands, before beginning to flesh out tracks in his Glasgow studio.

The practice of turning memories of places, situations and atmospheres into music, slowly evolved into a complex mosaic of textures and tones, sparking near endless permutations of each piece. About the process John says, ‘I always liked the idea of time as my main collaborator. Or put differently, collaborating with slightly different versions of myself over time. Most of the pieces on ‘Thawlines’ were crafted over a number of years, with long gaps in between recording, letting the ideas ferment somewhat in the meantime, or at least my notion of where they could go. The process let me look at each track from a multitude of angles and come at it with contrasting frames of mind, before understanding what the pieces truly needed to be. It was just a very natural way to work and let ideas grow. In many ways the album turned out as a celebration of the art of getting lost.’

The increasingly slow progression, partly due to John’s many soundtrack commitments, meant that more and more current experiences started seeping into the work as well. As John explains, ‘A lot of life has been digested in this record. From losses of loved ones to becoming a parent and everything in between.’ From a production point of view, John kept feeling drawn to sounds that evoked a certain childhood nostalgia in him such as the mellotron, unruly synths, reverb drenched vocals and era specific recordings of cello, drums and guitars.

Abandoning the rather electronic feel of People Do (2013) and Nomad Frequencies (2015) for a more band oriented sound, John enlisted the help of some of his favourite musicians in the form of Pete Harvey (Modern Studies) on cello, Clive Deamer (Portishead, Radiohead, Robert Plant) on drums and harpist Urška Preis (rouge-ah) to realise his vision. As John says, ‘The music somehow needed to run through the hands of others, which gave a sense of catharsis after such a drawn out, solitary process. It was exactly what was needed to bring the journey full circle’.

As a long odyssey comes to its conclusion, the yield can finally begin a life of its own.

Thawlines

Apparition

John Lemke - Apparition

me jamming on a real TR909! first time for everything.....

tr909 jams

Sounds and conversation from a night spent catching and ringing woodcock in West Wales with wildlife artist Owen Williams. Over the last fifteen years, Owen has ringed more than 2,500 woodcock - find out what he's learned and listen to him ring another bird!

Episode 1 - Owen Williams - the woodcock ringer

Black tailed godwits, golden plover and lapwings provide a backdrop to a chat with David Morris (Area Manager, Cumbria and North East - RSPB) and Dave Blackledge (RSPB Site Manager, Solway Coast Reserves) about early spring waders, farmland restoration and Icelandic godwits at RSPB Campfield Marsh.

Recorded 3/3/23

Episode 3 - David and Dave - RSPB Campfield Marsh

Writer and curlew enthusiast Mary Colwell meets Helen Ryman, farm manager at Mochrum Estate in Wigtownshire to talk about birds on the estate and plans to safeguard an important population of curlews in southwest Scotland. As they talk, the first curlew of 2023 can be heard returning to the estate for the spring... but how will these birds fare this summer?

Recorded 21/3/23

Supported by funding made available through Scottish Government’s Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund

Episode 4 - Helen and Mary - Mochrum Estate Curlews

This episode attempts to capture the richness and diversity of sound on a Finnish bog habitat near the Russian border, recorded overnight and into the following morning in May 2023. 

Knowing that many curlews which visit the UK in winter are born and bred in habitats like this, it's a magical experience to hear the world from a wader's perspective and understand the birds as they move across Europe during the course of the year. Alongside the curlews, enjoy fantastic recordings of whimbrel, cranes, golden plover and the steady, almost mesmeric sound of black grouse displaying.

Introduced by Patrick Laurie and David Jarrett, this episode was recorded by Pete Smith and funded by the RiGG Trust.

Episode 10 - Pete, David and Patrick - A Night on a Finnish Bog

UK conservationists often look to Finland for examples of "wild" wader habitats, but this chat with ecologist David Jarrett shows how important commercial farmland can be for birds like curlews on the Russian border. Covering issues like the control of mesopredators(including badgers and pine martens), grassland management and long, harsh winters, this episode shows that it's difficult to extract lessons from Finland for a UK context.

Recorded May 13th by Pete Smith

Episode 11 - Patrick and David - Finnish Farmland Curlews

The Red Deer Rut (Brame du Cerf) recorded in the heart of the  the Orleans Forest, the largest Forest in France. 

Zoom F3 + 2 x Sennheiser MKH8020s
23.09.2023

Red Deer Rut - Forêt d'Orleans, France

The sounds of a new day in the African bush. This album was recorded in Northern Tuli Game Reserve in Botswana and features the diverse sounds of birds and wildlife in an ecotone of mopane woodland and arid savanna.

Botswana: Dawn in Tuli Wilderness

Botswana: Dawn in Tuli Wilderness - Album Sample

Psarocolius montezuma recorded at a nesting colony, near Turrialba, Costa Rica. 5.30am 2nd March 2018. Primo 172 mics AB to SONY PCM-M10
Overall winner of 2019 Competition of Wildlife Sound Recording Society
https://simontelliott.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/some-birds-have-all-the-luck/

Montezuma Oropendola

This is a short clip of a close up recording of a capercaillie lekking. It was recorded with an Clippy EM172 mic into an olympus LS-14 in central Sweden. Photo by Stefan Taylor.

PS CloseUpCaper MonoVersion - Short clip

Pete Smith is a professional field recordist and sound designer with a keen interest in wildlife and conservation. 

PS CloseUpCaper MonoVersion - Short clip

the sound space

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