field recording redux/ invisible cities

[Derek Holzer <derek@xxxxxx>]

dear list,

looks like there's a big boom in "field recording" in the microsound world 
right now, and i am all the happier for it! Stephen McGeevey's VLF recordings, 
QuietAmerican.com, the recent release by Hazard featuring Chris Watson's field 
recordings, a very informative article on "audio ecologists" in the latest 
Wire, personal access to VERY extensive archive of field recordings on Hotline, 
a shipment of binaural microphone parts in the mail, a rediscovered minidisc of 
some Latvian crickets i made last year, and the "Invisible Cities" project of 
Fallt.com have all revitialized my enthusiasm for the genre. 

especially the Fallt project, which combines new and previously released 
recordings into a really amazing array of locations and methods. a semi-random 
sampling reveils Stephan Mattieu's sublime Berlin umbrella-phone, Janek 
Schaefer's microfone-in-a-postal-package investigation of potty-mothed British 
mailclerks, and RAQS Media Collective's urban/tropical Delhi soundscape. on 
the "deep listening" scale, these recordings get high marks. close attention 
seems much more well-rewarded by some of these recordings than by a lot of 
whoosy-swooshy DSP tracks i have listened to lately. [don't get me wrong, i 
still ain't giving up my AudioMulch and PD for a more "purist" approach!] if 
anybody else has such astonishing field recording experiences, whether yours or 
others', please share!

best,
derek

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