Gruenrekorder featured on Bandcamp Daily
The Best Field Recordings on Bandcamp | By Matthew Blackwell / October 2025
Sound of the Wetlands | Various artists
The cover of Sounds of the Wetlands recalls classic ‘70s vinyl featuring wildlife recordings of birds or whales, but pressing play reveals something far different. A collaboration between artists in Valdivia, Chile, and London, England, this is an exercise in contrasts. Each artist approaches the topic of wetlands differently, creating tracks that are alternately ambient and noisy, featuring pure unedited recordings or layered instrumentals. Though no plan was determined beforehand, a clear demarcation arose: London recordists who worked in the London Wetlands Centre, right in the city and under a flight path from Heathrow, had to confront the incursion of unwanted noise pollution into the area. The Chilean artists, meanwhile, were more likely to integrate music into their recordings to highlight the relaxing atmosphere of the relatively untouched Valdivian wetlands. Though both habitats are defined as wetlands, they couldn’t sound more different, and these pieces highlight how far human interference can reach into otherwise pristine nature reserves.