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RUHLMANN, MATHIEU & CELER - Mesoscaphe

Format: CD Label & Cat.Number: SPEKK KK:014 Release Year: 2008 Note: comes in oversized & book-shaped hardcover-design; last copy! Price (incl. 19% VAT): €16.50 Warning: Currently we do not have this album in stock! More Info Die Ko-operation von MATHIEU RUHLMANN und CELER führt (sub)marine & ozeanische field recordings und melancholische Instrumentalklänge zusammen, deep drones & deep emotions. Absolut verzaubernder Transzendental-Ambient, der aber auch klanglich überzeugt mit vielen klaren Details. Auf dem japanischen SPEKK-Label wie immer exquisit designed & verpackt! "The album 'Mesoscaphe' is a sound work dedicated to the 1969 voyage of the Ben Franklin, the naturally-propelled submarine created to explore the currents of the Gulf Stream, and the nature of the sea. Half of the sound is composed of original pieces of music, meant to symbolize a deepening human element culled from memory, from strings, pianos, and electronics. The other half of the sound is composed of natural field recordings, of the Ben Franklin itself, as well as the surrounding oceans and habitats, with the intention of providing realism through sound, just as if it were an actual document from the voyage, of the surrounding ocean. The artists exchanged their own original sounds with each other, allowing each artist to experiment and remix outside of their own sound sources, with the potential to apply our own sound methods to each others' sound sources, and develop the concept even further. Titles were made to coordinate with the movement of the voyage, creating their own story, in relation to the progressing sounds. The final result is a documented literary and audio interpretation of the voyage, from the perspective of 3 sound and visual artists, of the experiences and surroundings of the crew of the Ben Franklin, traveling for 30 days by the gentle glide of the Gulf Stream. We hope to bring attention to an important event in history, overshadowed by the moon landings, and for people to know the story of the revolutionary submarine that explored the nature of the ocean, challenged scientific development, and ended up in a salvage yard." [Mathieu Ruhlmann & Celer] "Of a different kind, more the Spekk kind perhaps, is the work by Mathieu Ruhlmann which he recorded with Celer, a duo of Danielle Baquet-Long (pianosm words, custom electronics, tape-loops, theremin) and Will Long (pianos, custom electronics, tape-loops, arrangement diagrams and splicing). I never heard of them. Ruhlmann, which we know from his previous releases in the field of microsound, field recording and ambient, gets credit for field recordings, bowed ukelin and cymbal, violin, kettel and contact microphone recordings of the Mesocaphe. The latter is a work by Jacques Piccard, and is a naturally-propelled submarine, also known as the Ben Franklin. It has been in the water for thirty days back in 1969, but it's not as well-known as the moon-landing which happened shortly after that. The music here, in three parts and each with distinctive different parts, is build from both the field recordings of water and the submarine as well as the instruments, which make a great combination. The sub-aquatic thematic approach here recalls the many albums released by Mystery Sea, but I must say this is something that is just a bit better. There is more detail in the music, due to better (more extended) mixing of the diverse sounds, and attention to smaller parts are brought in. Though it's not easy to differentiate between the various sounds used, the boat rumbling, water splashing and the drones produced by the various instruments, there is throughout a gentle flow (pun intended) in this music. Maybe less surprising than the Grimm disc, this stands out well in the Spekk catalogue. " [FdW / Vital Weekly] www.spekk.net