![\"Dark](\"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/Photos\/dark_sound_cover.jpg\" "\\"Dark")
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Dark Sound | Mikel R. Nieto<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n 176 pages, dark paper, black ink, hardback. <\/p>\n How to purchase<\/em> <\/p>\n About<\/em> <\/p>\n 34 recordings in one track. In a black polycarbonate CD. <\/p>\n Tracklist<\/em> <\/p>\n Excerpts<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MP3<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MP3<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MP3<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MP3<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MP3<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1 Track (64\u203253\u2033) <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This publication has been possible thanks to the support of the Basque Government as part of its programme of grants for the encouragement and development of plastic and visual arts, in the publications category (2015).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anti-copyright. Except \u00a9 from the authors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Field Recording Series by Gruenrekorder <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Aurelio Cianciotta | Neural<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Pierre C\u00e9cile | Le son du grisli<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Et l\u00e0\u2026 des field recordings, bien s\u00fbr : c\u2019est-\u00e0-dire qu\u2019une fois encore des oiseaux dont je ne saurais jamais le nom chantent dans mon studio quand tout \u00e0 coup un orage \u00e9clate. Rien que de tr\u00e8s normal pour l\u2019habitu\u00e9 du label Gruenrekorder que je suis. Si ce n\u2019est qu\u2019au bout de dix minutes environ, l\u2019enregistrement m\u2019a tout l\u2019air d\u2019une composition d\u2019\u00e9lectronique minimale avant de changer encore d\u2019aspect en virant musique concr\u00e8te. Et c\u2019est d\u2019autant appr\u00e9ciable qu\u2019ici la basse-cour est pleine et que cette r\u00e9serve de bruits m\u00e9canico-futuristes (beaucoup de turbines et de g\u00e9n\u00e9rateurs on dirait) a chass\u00e9 les derniers \u00e9perviers qui nichaient depuis des lustres pas loin de mon\u2026 lustre (c\u2019est un meubl\u00e9).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reconnaissant \u00e0 Mikel R. Nieto de m\u2019avoir d\u00e9barrass\u00e9 de mes nuisibles, j\u2019ouvre alors son livre. Ecrit en quatre langues, il parle d\u2019\u00e9cologie d\u2019une mani\u00e8re assez originale (de l\u2019impact de l\u2019industrie p\u00e9troli\u00e8re surtout : d\u2019o\u00f9 le noir !) en m\u00ealant un hommage au peuple Huaorani, un essai de Jos\u00e9 Luis Espejo (Ecopolitik) et de nombreux t\u00e9moignages (que je n\u2019ai pas tous luz, je veux bien l’avouer). Pour en savoir plus une seule adresse. Notez que le prix de Dark Sound suit la courbe du baril de brut. Comme je vous le recommande, je vous conseille aussi de suivre ses fluctuations pour obtenir le meilleur prix. <\/p>\n Nowamuzyka’s list of 58 favorite albums of the world – 2016<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Beach Sloth<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n The smallest sounds are given great care. Raindrops find their intrepid way into the mix without overwhelming the rest of the balance. Nature\u2019s sounds waft in and out. Over the course of the piece Mikel R. Nieto moves in and out of the original source materials, letting slight manipulations seep into the mix to create a slight disorientation. By opting for this Mikel R. Nieto lets the sound feel as if it is constantly in a state of flux. Various non-natural elements also rear their heads, reminding the listener of the world beyond this one, of the industrial world that so often interrupts nature. For the finale the way that the piece simply disappears into a regular environment, one familiar to all, gives it a universal relatable spirit to it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDark Sound\u201d shows of Mikel R. Nieto\u2019s deft hand at creating engrossing compelling pieces of art through naturalistic means. <\/p>\n Mikel R. Nieto<\/a> | Dark Sound<\/a> @ ACL 2016: The Year\u2019s Best Packaging<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n & ACL 2016: Top Ten Field Recording & Soundscape<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n textura<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Given the challenges with which the reader must contend, it’s the CD component that will likely form the primary site of engagement for many consumers; having becoming suitably oriented to the project via the book, they’ll likely shift their attention to the sound collage and perhaps absorb (to the best of their ability) the text while the black polycarbonate CD’s content fills the room. Though Nieto, a phonographer, sound artist, and researcher, fashioned the material from thirty-four separate recordings (captured using devices ranging from contact microphones and hydrophones to bat detectors), it’s presented as a single-track, sixty-five-minute stream.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A dense vocal tapestry of insects, amphibians, underwater creatures, and birds appears amidst thunder and the industrial noise of machines (including a passenger plane, pump, battery, an electric generator at Tiputini Biodiversity Station, and air conditioner for the Electrical Substation at Yasuni Research Station). Though a simple scan of the thirty-four sources reveals a sound design that moves from an initial emphasis on natural phenomena (in the Ecuadorian jungle) to the industrial sphere, a better appreciation for the CD’s material is obtained by reading the detailed notes Nieto wrote for each part. In doing so, the sound material takes on a whole new dimension; it resonates much more powerfully, for instance, when one realizes that a machine’s grinding is actually the sound of jungle terrain being flattened and cleared to make way for the construction of an oil settlement. <\/p>\n Matt Parker | earthkeptwarm.com<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n The single track CD contains a wide number of field recordings from across various situations that the recordist encountered whilst investigating the noise and culture of Ecuadorian oil mining operations and the impact it has had on the biophonic soundscape and ecology of non-native human, native human, and nonhuman populations. The album comes with an accompanying black paged book with black glossy lettering throughout which makes it impossible to read other than in bright sunlight; a statement upon the darkest of dark geological substrates; crude oil, as well as a comment on the practices of obfuscation that have continued in pursuit of capital gain through oil drilling by corporations. This has led to a number of significant historical, political events including the death of Alejandro Lebaka, a Basque man who in the 1980s took it upon himself as a missionary to position himself as \u201cthe voice of the voiceless\u201d (Lebaka in Nieto, 2016: 53) but in his attempted defence and support for a number of native groups, specifically the Huaorani (literally meaning those who speak our language\u201d) which is to say, the native people of the Ecuadorian rainforests, was killed by spears from a group of Huaorani referred to as Tagaeri who no longer wished to partake in the violent systems of control forced upon the Huaorani.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The book provides a significant overview to the political history and issues encountered as a result of the colonisation, and pacification of the indigenous people of Ecuador in pursuit for oil whilst also raising a broad ranging investigation into acoustic research and\/or phenomena that are a consequence of the oil operations and their effect directly and indirectly on the Ecuadorian ecology.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The album itself, contains a number of ethnographical and environmental field recordings that include weather events, insects, birds, fish and small mammals and security guards, diesel turbines and high security perimeter fencing. The recordings range from acoustic captures to hydrophones to ultrasound and contact microphones in an attempt to reflect the wide range of acoustic, para-acoustic infra and ultrasonic phenomena that are comprised, altered and ruptured in the pursuit of capital.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The book is highly politicised and the recordings only further emphasise the massive transitions from small tribe to mass industrial practice and the absolute refusal for some to be forced to be adapted and co-opted into a military industrial complex and capital based system of goods exchange and parasitic raping of newly discovered lands. <\/p>\n Patricia Arredondo<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Stephen Fruitman | Avant Music News<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n For Dark Sound is a 176-page hardback book containing nearly illegible texts printed in a shade of black just barely this side of pitch, which is the color of the pages, as if it had been dipped in the effluence of the Exxon Valdez. Within are essays and letters in Huao (language of the Huaorani of Ecuador), Basque, Spanish and English. Thus for the average individual the book is unreadable, even if he or she were fluent in one or two of the languages and read the book in strong sunlight, as the author recommends. A shame, really (though probably the point), since it claims to include \u201cEcopolitik, an introduction as an epilogue\u201d by Jose\u0301 Luis Espejo (the one<\/a> who writes about the secret Hermetic codes of Leonardo da Vinci? Impossible to tell, there\u00b4s a million of \u00b4em on Facebook), maps and photos and a bulging archive of research papers, reports, facsimiles and testimonies of the clearly excessive, if not downright genocidal, ravages of the oil industry in Ecuador<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The unreadable word as statement? In the great scheme of things, everything we write is eventually erased. Might as well begin as the universe intends us to finish. Fortunately, there is a black polycarbonate CD affixed to the inside back cover that the disc player has no trouble reading, containing a continuous flow of field recordings made in Huoarani country, contrasting the natural environment and its birdsong, wildlife and weather with the heavy metal clankings and drillings of the oil industry laying waste to the former.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The price of Dark Sound is \u201cset by the crude oil Brent price<\/a>\u201d on the day of purchase (pretty low on the day of writing, so act fast) and, just to prick your social conscience one last time, Nieto reminds the presumptive consumer that \u201c[b]y buying this book you are contributing to the destruction of the planet\u201d. Well, nobody said saving the world was going to be easy. <\/p>\n Richard Allen | a closer listen<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n So is this gothic music? Industrial? No, it\u2019s darker than that. But what could possibly be darker than a demon? one might ask. How about a duck covered with oil, or a child swallowing water from a polluted river? Got you. Yes, this is real horror.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I feel that I must be honest too. The book is a pain to read. It reminds me of the black leopard I once saw at the San Diego Zoo. The creature made no sense to me. I couldn\u2019t see its spots \u2013 black on black \u2013 until it turned a certain way, until iridescence made the marks visible. The same is true of the book. You\u2019ll need just the right light. But it\u2019s worth reading: a collection of essays, photography (black), poetry, redacted documents, glossaries and reports of the impact the oil industry has had on Ecuadoran environments. Let the disc play; the experience will be concurrent. Swiftly arrives the sound of thunder, foreshadowing intact.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All is peaceful at first, natural, unadorned. But then those other sounds start to creep in: our sounds. An airplane. An extraction machine. Underwater generators. All the while, Nieto is growing close to his natural subjects: ants, bats, birds, fish that leap from the water to escape larger fish. And yet he is apologetically aware that he is changing the environment by his very presence, and by his machines. The barons are less conscience-stricken; as the book\u2019s chronology demonstrates, they are driven by profit, pushing as far as they can in every instance, claiming the justification of demand. While the \u201cuncontacted people\u201d attack workers over the disturbance of noise, their violence generates sympathy. A far more chilling crime is the hotel room robbery of the recording artist, as security does nothing to stop the thief. His property ~ which fortunately did not include his computer \u2013 is never recovered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By the halfway mark, \u201cthe sounds of the forest (have been) driven away or smothered by the sound of engines\u201d. Only when the machinery rests does the local tapestry re-emerge. And yet, as one author indicates, the pre-eminent silence is not that of the indigenous people or non-human species, but that of the local indignation. Money buys trials, redactions, law enforcement, turned heads. To read the book is to read something that looks secret because it is hidden. To listen to the composition \u2013 34 recordings blended into a single track \u2013 is to realize that noise can be murder. <\/p>\n Rigobert Dittmann | Bad Alchemy Magazin (91)<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Frans de Waard | VITAL WEEKLY<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n \u0141ukasz Kom\u0142a | Nowamuzyka.pl<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Mikel R. Nieto jest tak\u017ce naukowcem, wyk\u0142ada na r\u00f3\u017cnych uczelniach, prowadzi warsztaty oraz konstruuje w\u0142asne mikrofony, pozwalaj\u0105ce mu odkrywa\u0107 nowe metody zapisu d\u017awi\u0119ku w terenie. \u201eDark Sound\u201d to jego pierwsza pozycja w katalogu niemieckiej oficyny Gruenrekorder. W pierwszej kolejno\u015bci dostajemy do r\u0119ki czarn\u0105 ksi\u0105\u017ck\u0119, w twardej oprawie, 176 stron, kt\u00f3r\u0105 najlepiej czyta si\u0119 przy \u015bwietle dziennym z uwagi na spos\u00f3b w jaki j\u0105 wykonano \u2013 na czarnych, atramentowych kartkach wydrukowano teksty w kolorze przypominaj\u0105cym \u201ez\u0142oto\u201d. Artyku\u0142y s\u0105 napisane w czterech j\u0119zykach: huao, baskijskim, hiszpa\u0144skim i angielskim. Po zapoznaniu si\u0119 z ksi\u0105\u017ck\u0105, si\u0119gamy po p\u0142yt\u0119 wype\u0142nion\u0105 nagraniami terenowymi pochodz\u0105cymi z las\u00f3w tropikalnych po\u0142o\u017conych we wschodniej cz\u0119\u015bci Ekwadoru, a dok\u0142adnie chodzi tu o plemi\u0119 Huaorani zamieszkuj\u0105ce las Yasun\u00ed i pos\u0142uguj\u0105ce si\u0119 j\u0119zykiem huao. To india\u0144skie plemi\u0119 jest wyj\u0105tkowe, uwa\u017ca si\u0119 ich za pierwotnych mieszka\u0144c\u00f3w tych las\u00f3w.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201eDark Sound\u201d przybli\u017ca czytelnikowi problem tzw. ekopolityki w tamtym rejonie \u015bwiata. W ksi\u0105\u017cce znajdziemy r\u00f3\u017cne raporty, zestawienia i skany dokument\u00f3w, m\u00f3wi\u0105ce o ogromnym zagro\u017ceniu dla ludzi oraz \u015brodowiska w postaci ha\u0142asu, jaki generuje tam bezwzgl\u0119dny i krwio\u017cerczy przemys\u0142 naftowy. Inspiruj\u0105ce s\u0105 te\u017c teksty R. Nieto dotycz\u0105ce aktu s\u0142uchania i ciszy. W wielu miejscach autor powo\u0142uje si\u0119 na my\u015bli kluczowych filozof\u00f3w XX wieku, takich jak Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault czy Jacques Derrida. Je\u015bli chodzi o proces s\u0142uchania, R. Nieto wielokrotnie nawi\u0105zuje w swojej pracy do aktualnych zachowa\u0144 cz\u0142onk\u00f3w plemienia Huaorani. Cho\u0107 jak sam pisze: \u201eS\u0142uchanie nie mo\u017ce by\u0107 pojmowane w kategoriach biologicznych. Nic nie jest obiektywne i nigdy obiektywizm nie powinien by\u0107 celem s\u0142uchania. Nie jeste\u015bmy neutralnymi obserwatorami, a wr\u0119cz przeciwnie \u2013 jeste\u015bmy s\u0142uchaczami interesuj\u0105cymi si\u0119 otoczeniem. Historia m\u00f3wiona uczy nas uwa\u017cnie s\u0142ucha\u0107 ciszy w tym, co m\u00f3wi\u0105 do nas inni ludzie, a ca\u0142y ten proces polega na ujarzmianiu w\u0142asnego ego.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wed\u0142ug plemiennych my\u015blicieli, dzisiejsza m\u0142odzie\u017c Huaorani nie potrafi rozmawia\u0107, s\u0142yszy ale nie umie s\u0142ucha\u0107 \u2013 utracili zdolno\u015b\u0107 my\u015blenia. Takimi oto s\u0142owami opisuj\u0105 t\u0119 sytuacj\u0119: \u201eDzisiejsi m\u0119\u017cczy\u017ani s\u0105 jak kurczaki: maj\u0105 skrzyd\u0142a, ale nie umiej\u0105 wysoko lata\u0107.\u201d \u2013 \u201eS\u0142uchanie innych ludzi potwierdza moje w\u0142asne istnienie\u201d \u2013 pisze R. Nieto. Tylko uwa\u017cne s\u0142uchanie d\u017awi\u0119k\u00f3w zwierz\u0105t pozwoli my\u015bliwym zdoby\u0107 po\u017cywienie. Wystarczy, \u017ce przyjdzie pora deszczowa i nieustannie padaj\u0105cy deszcz czyni z nich w pewnym sensie ludzi niepe\u0142nosprawnych. Wi\u0119c je\u015bli dok\u0142adnie ws\u0142uchamy si\u0119 w materia\u0142 z \u201eDark Sound\u201d, gdzie g\u0142\u00f3wnie stykamy si\u0119 z odg\u0142osami przyrody w zestawieniu z ha\u0142asem wytwarzanym przez cz\u0142owieka, czyli m.in. warkotem maszyn oraz ogromnym hukiem silnik\u00f3w nisko przelatuj\u0105cego samolotu, u\u015bwiadamiamy sobie, jak wa\u017cn\u0105 rol\u0119 odgrywa cisza w \u017cyciu Huaorani. Ale to tylko jeden z aspekt\u00f3w tego niezwykle skomplikowanego problemu przed jakim staj\u0105 mieszka\u0144cy las\u00f3w Yasun\u00ed. <\/p>\n Holger Adam | testcard #25: Kritik<\/a> <\/strong> <\/p>\n RODOLPHE ALEXIS entf\u00fchrt mit The Glittering Thing On The Mountain erneut auf ferne tropische Inseln, wo V\u00f6gel wie Synthesizer klingen und mitunter auch b\u00fchnentaugliche Dark Sound | Mikel R. Nieto Gruen 167 | Book & CD > [order] Reviews 176 pages, dark paper, black ink, hardback. Languages: Huao, Basque, Spanish and English. Note: Partially legible. Sunlight reading recommended. How to purchase The price of this book is set by the crude oil Brent price (LCO), script […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15050","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15050"}],"version-history":[{"count":56,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16242,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15050\/revisions\/16242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nGruen 167 | Book & CD > [order<\/a>]
\nReviews<\/a>
\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/p>\n
\nLanguages: Huao, Basque, Spanish and English.
\nNote: Partially legible. Sunlight reading recommended.<\/p>\n
\nThe price of this book is set by the crude oil Brent price (LCO)<\/a>, script by Daniel Knef.
\nNote: By buying this book you are contributing to the destruction of the planet.<\/p>\n
\nThe book contains Ecopolitik, an introduction as an epilogue by Jose\u0301 Luis Espejo, a letter to the Huaorani people, two research texts and one bertso, descriptive texts and photos of recordings, a possible chronology, a glossary, a compilation of several texts with testimonies, reports and declarations from different people, groups, institutions, and publications in reference to the impact\u2014direct or indirect\u2014of the noise from the oil industry during its various phases of development on the people, the environment and the fauna. More info at dark.mikelrnieto.net<\/a><\/p>\n
\nFinal editing, mastering and carbon print from Ireland by Slavek Kwi.<\/p>\n
\n01. Nyctridomus albicollis
\n02. Lipaugus vociferans
\n03. General Electric CF34-10E
\n04. Hypsiboas lanciformis, Hypsiboas boans and Unidentified Oil Extraction Machines in the Distance
\n05. Pogonomyrmex barbatus
\n06. Paraponera clavata
\n07. Atta cephalotes
\n08. Ectatomma tuberculatum
\n09. Termitidae procornitermes
\n10. Eciton burchellii
\n11. Gryllidae and Unidentified Frogs
\n12. Lophostoma yasuni
\n13. Leptonycteris yerbabuenae
\n14. Yamaha Enduro E40X
\n15. Unidentified Underwater Animals
\n16. Honda GX160
\n17. Unidentified Underwater Survivors in Produced Water
\n18. Changlin YZ26
\n19. Electric Generator at Tiputini Biodiversity Station
\n20. Electrical Substation at the Yasuni Research Station (Ten Meters Distance)
\n21. Electrical Substation at the Yasuni Research Station (One Meter Distance)
\n22. Air Conditioner for the Electrical Substation at Yasun\u00ed Research Station
\n23. Chevrolet S10
\n24. CAT MD6420B Drill
\n25. Cummins KTA19\u00adG4
\n26. HongSheng CYJ-8\u00ad3-37HB
\n27. CAT 3512 DITA
\n28. MTU 396
\n29. Shale Pump SP\u00ad1614
\n30. Tiger Rig ZJ30LDB
\n31. Oilon Wisedrive WD32-34
\n32. Maxon Oxytherm LE
\n33. Preamp Battery Blackout
\n34. Radio Jungla 94.3 FM Through Several JBL Control 1 Pro in Repsol-YPF Access Control<\/p>\n
\nBook & CD (500 copies)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/Photos\/gbweb.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n
\nGruenrekorder \/ Germany \/ 2016 \/ Gruen 167 \/ LC 09488 \/ EAN 4050486956762
\nISBN 978-3-00-052370-0 \/ SS230-2016<\/p>\n
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\nIn the product page on the label\u2019s website the description of this release ends with this warning: \u201cPartially legible. Sunlight reading recommended\u201d. It\u2019s hard to fail recognising that this warning is absolutely appropriate, until you realise that it\u2019s a black book, with black opaque pages, printed with black lucid ink, housing a black CD. And it doesn\u2019t stop there, as it doesn\u2019t have a fixed sale price, but its price is determined by the crude oil Brent price at the time of purchase, so the author and label warn that if you buy the book you\u2019ll \u201ccontribute to the destruction of the planet.\u201d With these creepy premises, a curiosity about the content of the work immediately arises. And after a few attempts, the reader can find the right angle and light to (struggle to) start reading realising that it\u2019s a remarkable collection of essays, pictures and documents on the oil industry\u2019s impact on the Ecuadorian natural environment. This is coupled with a CD with 34 recordings in one track from the Ecuadorian rainforest (the whole work is part of the Field Recording Series by Gruenrekorder). It progresses from delightful natural sounds to industrial machines slowly disrupting them. Then reading, meanwhile, some testimonies or a detailed chronology perfectly let this whole suppressed world to (painfully in every sense) re-emerge from its current status. The pervasive \u201cblack\u201d, eventually, doesn\u2019t hide anymore, but becomes the mandatory colour to engage with, in order to learn and understand what has been hidden, but must now be revealed.
\nlink<\/a><\/p>\n
\nN\u2019\u00e9tant pas bibliophile, je ne me suis gu\u00e8re int\u00e9ress\u00e9 \u00e0 ce livre (pourtant tr\u00e8s beau) imprim\u00e9 noir sur noir\u2026 Comme Dark Sound (le titre de l\u2019ouvrage) contenait un CD c\u2019est vers ce CD que je suis d\u2019abord all\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\nlink<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAmong these:
\n– Mikel R. Nieto \u2013 \u201eDark Sound\u201d (Gruenrekorder)
\n– Rodolphe Alexis \u2013 \u201eThe glittering thing on the mountain\u201d (Gruenrekorder)<\/p>\n
\nMikel R. Nieto\u2019s \u201cDark Sound\u201d truly has love for its surroundings. Quite soothing in its exploration of the great unknown this is a field recording from the night when all else remains silent. Throughout the piece the attention to detail feels incredible as literally every last possible detail is amplified in full. Edits are done with the utmost of care and consideration as the many variations of the sound feel alive. Layering is done in an intricate way that emphasizes the importance of the smallest elements to celebrate those elements of an aural environment that so often go completely overlooked.<\/p>\n
\nlink<\/a><\/p>\n
\nA black disc lodged in a black book with black print? This didn\u2019t seem like such a good idea, until we read the text and thought about it for a while. As it turns out, the project is a parabolic reflection of its subject matter, the redacted and silenced voices of the oppressed. This is a perfect example of a label fully committing to a vision, and in this case, amazingly, the risk pays off.<\/p>\n
\nDark Sound tells a story that few want to hear, but that all need to hear: a story of a culture obliterated by greed and \u201cprogress.\u201d The black book contains black prose and even blacker thoughts, while the field recordings provide a soundtrack to desecration. The sounds of nature continue to vibrate beneath the machines, but they do so with progressively weaker sounds. We strain to hear them as we strain to read their stories, and yet we must. In the words of Martin Niem\u00f6ller, First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out \u2026. (Richard Allen)<\/p>\n
\nIt’s saying something when the book component of Mikel R. Nieto’s Dark Sound is even more unusual than the CD material it accompanies. Dark it most definitely is: with its type printed in black ink on dark paper, the 176-page hardback book verges on unreadable; formally described as \u201cpartially legible,\u201d the book requires that the reader either hold it a particular angle under lamplight to absorb it or do the same under bright sunlight. The text itself, presented in Huao (the language spoken by the Huaorani people), Basque, Spanish, and English, is cryptic, too, as indicated by the \u201cBy buying this book you are contributing to the destruction of the planet\u201d note within and the political dimension signified by its \u201cThe price of this book is set by the crude oil Brent price (LCO)\u201d statement. Dark Sound is rather Borges-ian in its content, ranging as it does between texts (on the ethics of deep listening, for example), reports, aphorisms and quotations (Nietzsche, Artaud), diagrams, testimonies, a letter to the Huaorani people, a glossary, and \u201ca possible chronology,\u201d among other things. By now, it should be obvious that the texts collectively accentuate the profound impact the oil industry can have on living creatures, human and otherwise, and their surroundings.<\/p>\n
\nOf course the display format used makes absorbing such information a challenge, to say the least, and it’s easy to imagine a less resolute soul abandoning the reading process midway through. As true to the projects’s theme as the black-on-black display is, a subtle modification to it that would have allowed for slightly better readability might have been worth considering, especially when the textual content is so central to an appreciation of the work’s themes.
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\nI have listened several times to the CD Dark Sound by Mikel R. Nieto over the past month and have been intrigued by the purpose of the recordings presented by the album. — Dark Sound is a CD length single track album of field recordings taken by Mikel R. Nieto mostly in and around the Ecuadorian rainforest within areas associated with the colonisation and domination of contested areas that were found to have oil reserves. The album traces the relationships between a number of different indigenous groups who have resisted becoming associated with Western European and global models of capital, in favour of continuing the heritage and lives they had prior to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the late 15th Century.<\/p>\n
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\nUn o\u00eddo puesto donde suena el Diablo
\nEl ruido es una escucha involuntaria. En Dark Sound, Mikel R. Nieto comparte una serie de notas, observaciones, fotograf\u00edas, grabaciones y reflexiones resultado de una estancia en el Amazonas. Pese a lo que se dice del libro, el libro me parece m\u00e1s un libro sobre la escucha que un libro sobre el impacto ambiental del ruido provocado por la maquinaria y las actividades relacionadas con los trabajos de extracci\u00f3n de petr\u00f3leo en la selva de Ecuador. […<\/a>] Nota final: La informaci\u00f3n que se recopila en esta nota se sustenta en los enlaces adjuntos en el texto, lo mismo que el gif y las fotograf\u00edas; los subt\u00edtulos son frases del libro descontextualizadas. Otro texto donde el trabajo de Mikel me ha servido como base puede descargarse aqu\u00ed<\/a>. Agradezco a Laura Mart\u00ednez-Lara, por cruzar el Atl\u00e1ntico con el libro en mano. Y evidentemente a Mikel, a quien est\u00e1 dedicados estos apuntes, por su generosidad en la escucha y por haberme compartido este proyecto desde que era silencio. All the meanings<\/a> are destroyed<\/a>.
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\n\u201cThe only political issue that matters is climate change,\u201d according to American writer Michael Tolkin. \u201cEverything else is midrash.\u201d Mikel R. Nieto is a Spanish artist\/researcher from Basque country and co-editor of the sound art web portal mediateletipos<\/a>. With his piece Dark Sound, he attempts to heal the world in a fashion far more oblique than any Talmudic exegesis.<\/p>\n
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\nHere\u2019s a release for the blackest of hearts: a black book with black ink, housing a black disc, titled Dark Sound. In addition, the price of the package is determined by the crude oil Brent price at the time of purchase. The website warns customers that by buying the book, they will be \u201ccontributing to the destruction of the planet.\u201d Now that\u2019s bleak. However, it\u2019s also the most honest advertising we can remember.<\/p>\n
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\nMIKEL R. NIETOs Dark Sound (Gruen 167, Book + CD) verbl\u00fcfft als Buch von 176 Seiten, Schwarz auf Schwarz (!) bedruckt mit Texten in Huao, Baskisch (Nietos Muttersprache), Spanisch und Englisch. Der Preis richtet sich nach dem aktuellen \u00d6lkurs des Brent Crude Oil. Mein Wer ? Wo? Was? zu Huao f\u00fchrt zu den Huaorani, eine Volksgruppe im Amazonasurwald, deren harter Kern in einer zona intangible vor Holzf\u00e4llern und Erd\u00f6lfirmen letzte Zuflucht fand. Allerdings hatte ihnen in ihrer \u201aguten alten Zeit\u2018 Blutrache eine interne T\u00f6tungsrate beschert wie einst in Medellin und Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez oder jetzt in Caracas. Das Huaorani-Reservat liegt nahe des Yasuni-Nationalparks und der Tiputini Biodiversity Station im ecuadorianischen Amazonasgebiet, das als Dschungel mit seinen kurios pfeifenden und knarrenden Bewohnern h\u00f6rbar wird: Nachtschwalbe und Schreipipa, Fledermaus, Ameise & Co. H\u00f6rbar gemacht wird aber quasi auch die Neugier und die Besorgtheit der Forscher und die Drohkulisse der \u00d6lbohrmaschinen in beunruhigender N\u00e4he, der Krach eines Mantelstromtriebwerks, eines Yamaha Enduro, eines Caterpillar-Bohrers etc. Jede dieser Klangquellen wird einzeln beschrieben. Dazu kommen die Texte „There Where The Devil Sounds“ und „Conquest of the Useless“ (\u00fcber den Tod der Missionare Alejandro Labaca und In\u00e9s Arango und die – gescheiterte – Yasuni-ITT-Initiative zum Schutz des Yasuni-Nationalparks vor der \u00d6lgier). Zusammen mit einer Zeittafel, die mit „1492: Christopher Columbus does not discover America“ beginnt und mit „2017: Oil will run out“ endet, liefert das ein \u00f6kopolitisches Statement und weiteres Kapitel \u201atraurige Tropen\u2018, das einen schwarz sehen l\u00e4sst. Mitsamt dem Widerhaken, dass selbst diese kritische Produktion nicht umweltunsch\u00e4dlich zu bewerkstelligen war. Mit Nietzsches „…ich liebe den Schatten, wie ich das Licht liebe“ zeichnet sich dunkel eine Philosophie des lebendigen H\u00f6rens und der t\u00f6dlichen Stille ab, die Sentenzen von Artaud, Heidegger, Derrida und Serres mit solchen der Huaorani mischt, wobei sich Aporien des Nichterkennens und Nichtverstehns mit abzeichnen. Wer kann schon Baskisch. Oder wenn es raunt: All predators fear the death that they cause… Und: From where I come from there is an open wound in the landscape: a noise that sounds, a misophonia. A dystrophic symphony. Wie klingt eine mangelern\u00e4hrte Symphonie?
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\nThe other release is a hardcover book, 176 pages, so one has to read something during these sixty-four minutes of music that can be found on the pitch black CD. At least if you mastered either Huao, Basque, Spanish or English, and you are willing to sit either in sunlight or a strong lamp: the whole book is black ink on paper, so not easy to read. The whole thing is about the oil industry and how they destroy our planet. The price of the book is „set by the crude oil Brent price (LCO)“, so it fluctuates on a daily basis (check out the label’s website for that). Ah, but making books is also not very ‚green‘, you could remark, but the author beat you there too: „by buying this book you are contributing to the destruction of the planet“, it says on the back. Thankfully I got mine for free; I must not think how it got here anyway, by car or perhaps even by plane but surely an oil using device. Huao, one may wonder, is the language as spoken by the Huaorani people in Ecuador and whose land is under siege by the oil industry, and that what this highly politically motivated book is about, hence the excessive use of the colour black. Their environment is what we hear on the (also black, but maybe not a CDR?) musical component of this package. There are lots of wildlife, rain, and thunder sounds but also the sounds of the oil industry. Of course I should say about the latter they are ‚awful‘ sounds, but it makes up a fascinating listening experience, moving from one sound into the next; the whole piece has thirty-four different segments, but it is cut as one piece on the disc, perhaps to suggest a unity of location. Nieto, who is from a Basque background, in case you were wondering why that language is part of this, created a great imaginative piece of sound art based on totally contrasting field recordings. Meanwhile you can read the book, obviously, but I must admit I found it not easy to read, or even to search for those bits that were in English, as the four languages are together, arranged per chapter\/section. Holding this against the light, concentrating really hard to decipher it, made me think: ‚okay, I sympathise with this message, even if I can’t find the concentration to take it all in‘. But this is all together an excellent political statement.
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\nHiszpa\u0144ski artysta d\u017awi\u0119kowy w swojej ksi\u0105\u017cce \u201eDark Sound\u201d porusza wiele zagadnie\u0144 zwi\u0105zanych z ha\u0142asem, cisz\u0105 i s\u0142uchaniem. Opr\u00f3cz tekst\u00f3w naukowych mamy te\u017c nagrania terenowe zarejestrowane w lasach tropikalnych Ekwadoru.<\/p>\n
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\nDraussen vor der T\u00fcr: Field-Recordings und Sound-Art von Gruenrekorder
\nIn der letzten Gruenrekorder-Kolumne war ja bereits die Rede davon, dass man ziemlich herum kommt mit den Ohren, wenn man sich mit den CDs des Labels besch\u00e4ftigt, und das war nat\u00fcrlich ausschlie\u00dflich positiv gemeint. Die Aufnahmen, die Gruenrekorder ver\u00f6ffentlicht, werden ansprechend pr\u00e4sentiert und sind ein Abenteuer f\u00fcr die Ohren. So auch dieses Mal. <\/p>\n
\nNamen wie Ruddy Kingfisher tragen! Es zirpt Tag und Nacht, und noch viele andere Ger\u00e4usche dringen aus dem Urwald ans Ohr. Wie immer atemberaubend, spannend und entspannend. Noch relaxter geht es bei HAFIS BJARNAD\u00d3TTIR zu, deren Sounds Of Iceland \u00fcberraschend reduziert r\u00fcberkommen. Es pl\u00e4tschert, taut, blubbert, rauscht und kocht – je nachdem ob das Mikrophon vor B\u00e4che, Gletscher, hei\u00dfe Quellen, Wasserf\u00e4lle oder Lavastr\u00f6me gehalten wurde. Wasser, Gezeiten, Naturgewalten und gigantische Naturschauspiele, die \u00fcberraschend intime Sounds generieren. Trotzdem wird es beizeiten recht kalt oder hei\u00df gewesen sein, wobei es sich in angemessener Funktionskleidung sicher neben dem Mikrophon hat aushalten lassen. Die Aufnahmen selbst machen wenig fr\u00f6steln, im Gegenteil, sie w\u00e4rmen eher – auch wenn einem der Wind um die Ohren bzw. aus den Kopfh\u00f6rern pfeift. Gro\u00dfes Kopfkino liefert auch, man mag es nicht meinen, der Rhein. Es muss nicht immer Island sein, Karlsruhe hat es auch in sich. Das Duo RHEIN _ STROM bestehend aus Lasse-Marc Riek (Aufnahmen) und Thomas M. Siefert (Location Scout), dokumentiert den Klang des Rheines und seiner nahen Umgebung Von der Rheinquelle bis Hafen Karlsruhe auf der ebenso benannten CD. Das sind ein paar Hundert Kilometer, festgehalten in 21 Ausschnitten. Und – im Unterschied zur zivilisationsfernen Wildnis einer tropischen Insel oder der relativen Unber\u00fchrtheit Islands – um den Rhein herum menschelt es, Flugzeuge \u00fcberfliegen den Fluss und Schiffe befahren ihn, Autos und Z\u00fcge begleiten ihn. Auch das h\u00f6rt man. Und so stellt das Booklet zur CD die Frage: \u00bbWie k\u00f6nnen wir als heutige Menschen zu diesem Fluss in Beziehung treten, ohne in der Begegnung mit seiner an manchen Stellen erhaltenen Sch\u00f6nheit wieder einem Romantizismus zu verfallen bzw. im Konfrontiertsein mit den irreparablen Eingriffen sich frustriert und desillusioniert abzuwenden?\u00ab Eine Audio-Aufnahme des Flusses und seiner nicht nur nat\u00fcrlichen Ger\u00e4uschkulisse mag da einen weniger voreingenommenen Zugang gew\u00e4hren. Der Rhein als Fluss und von Mensch und Maschine geformte und genutzte Ressource klingt hier und da wie eine elektro-akustische Komposition (im Hafen Karlsruhe etwa, wenn sich unter Wasser aufgenommene Schifffahrtsger\u00e4usche in der Aufnahme wiederfinden). Das klingt alles recht spannend und wirft anregende mithin schwerwiegende Fragen auf, die nach Umweltschutz beispielsweise. Eine \u00f6kologische Frage, auch f\u00fcr die Ohren. Was muss man nicht alles h\u00f6ren, tagein tagaus! Und was will man nicht h\u00f6ren bzw. was h\u00f6rt man \u00fcberhaupt, wenn es zirpt und raschelt? So harmlos geht es nicht zu, so unber\u00fchrt ist die Natur nicht. Wie (drohende) Umweltverschmutzung als Field-Recording klingt, diese Erfahrung kann man sich am Beispiel von MIKEL R. NIETO und seinem Dark Sound eindr\u00fccklich vor Augen bzw. Ohren f\u00fchren. Die Aufnahmen kommen zusammen mit einem pechschwarzen Buch und dokumentieren Naturaufnahmen aus dem Yasuni-Nationalpark in Equador, dessen indigene Bev\u00f6lkerung und tierischer Artenreichtum durch Bohrungen nach einem \u00d6lvorkommen tief unter dem Naturschutzgebiet nicht mehr nur bedroht ist – die Zerst\u00f6rung und Vertreibung ist bereits in vollem Gange. So stellt sich beim Zuh\u00f6ren die Frage, ob der Tropenregen schon auf aufgew\u00fchlte Erde f\u00e4llt, die von Roh\u00f6l verschmutzt ist, und es knattern auch die F\u00f6rdermaschinen auf der CD, die dem schwarzen Buch beigelegt ist. Man k\u00f6nnte fragen, ob nicht mit dem schwarzen Buch (schwarzer Druck auf schwarzem Papier) der p\u00e4dagogische Holzhammer herausgeholt wurde – andererseits entspricht das schwarze, beinahe unlesbare Buch in seinem Aussehen den \u00f6lverklebten V\u00f6geln und Meerestieren, deren Bilder in Europa noch am ehesten mit \u00d6lkatastrophen assoziiert werden, und insofern ist die Aufmachung genau passend. Dark Sound zeigt eindr\u00fccklich die politische und unbequeme Seite dessen, was Field-Recordings auch sein k\u00f6nnen. \u00c4hnlich unheimlich auch die Aufnahmen von CHRISTINA KUBISCH \/ ECKEHARD G\u00dcTHER , die auf Unter Grund Grubenwasser zu Geh\u00f6r bringen, das sich in stillgelegten Untertagebausch\u00e4chten sammelt und dort abgepumpt und umgeleitet werden muss, damit es das Trinkwasser in der Region nicht verunreinigt und den Grundwasserspiegel nicht derart anhebt, dass sich das Ruhrgebiet mit der Zeit in \u00bbeine riesige Sumpflandschaft\u00ab (so ein Zitat aus dem Beiheft zur CD) verwandelt. Langzeitfolgen des Kohlebergbaus, gruselig, hier nachzuh\u00f6ren. Verlassen wir diesen Horror und wenden uns noch kurz der Field-Recording basierten Klangkunst und Musik zu. KG AUGENSTERN sind per Kanalschifffahrt von Berlin bis Maguelone am Mittelmeer gelangt. Das scheint zu gehen und sie haben auf Tentacles ein Klangexperiment festgehalten, das sich wie folgt erkl\u00e4ren l\u00e4sst: Lange Stangen auf dem Kahn kitzelten bei jeder Durchfahrt unter einer Br\u00fccke deren Eisenkonstruktion und der dabei entstehende jeweils spezifische Sound wurde festgehalten und im Rahmen von Klanginstallationen in diversen Museen zug\u00e4nglich gemacht. Das klingt aufwendig und phantasievoll, es scheppert auch ordentlich, aber auf der Reise stelle ich mir das Spektakel interessanter vor, als das konservierte Ergebnis klingt. Das je eigene Klangprofil der Br\u00fccken, von dem KG Augenstern im Booklet zur CD schreiben, es kommt nicht so recht r\u00fcber. Kommen wir zu DAVID ROTHENBERG \/ KORHAN EREL. Rothenberg hat ja schon mit Zikaden musiziert, und auf Berlin B\u00fclb\u00fcl spielt er zu Field-Recordings von Nachtigallen Klarinette. Das ist nach all dem Rauschen und den \u00f6kologisch katastrophalen Perspektiven je nach Geschmack l\u00e4ppisch oder erholsam. Es ist beides, lang lebe der Zwiespalt. Ganz unzweideutig Nerven zerfetzend ist das Ergebnis von CLUB BLEU , die auf Dark- Asian- Energy Field-Recordings der Stadt Singapur elektronisch erg\u00e4nzen, verfremden und bis zur Unkenntlichkeit verzerren. Heraus kommt dabei ein elektro-akustischer H\u00f6llenritt. Mir zu stressig, aber m\u00f6glicherweise hervorragend geeignet, morgens statt mit Kaffee mit dieser Musik in die G\u00e4nge zu kommen. Lieber greife ich abschlie\u00dfend zu Sonic Drawings von ROLAND ETZIN , die CD liefert auch nicht gerade Easy-Listening, aber das Soundmaterial ist weniger chaotisch organisiert. Etzin kombiniert Field-Recordings unterschiedlicher Herkunft und verfremdet sie ebenfalls elektronisch. Das geht, um es mal etwas flapsig zu formulieren, bei ihm eher in Richtung Nurse With Wound und nicht – wie bei Club Bleu – in Richtung Atari Teenage Riot. Das mal als lahmer Vergleich zum Abschluss.
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