listen.camp | episode 022 | field notes | 05.18.22
The spring season has been short here. Trees are getting green and I'm continuing my experiment in microgardening.
episode 022 includes a number field recordings from different settings: sounds from the Connecticut forest, people visiting the home of a Supreme Court Justice, and an audio tour diary from Closet Organ (more on that later). There is also some music.
As always if you like the music- please support the artists featured on each program. I say this every month and actually type the words, because I mean it. Almost all of the music in this program is available via
bandcamp, some of it at no cost. And, as always, special thanks to
CAMP Radio for their continued support.
01. Cherry Blossom Symphonette (2016)
Every year, in late April, the cherry trees blossom in Washington, D.C. I have seen this once. It is beautiful. Beauty Pill captured the environment and atmosphere beautifully in Cherry Blossom Symphonette.
To start, I reversed this piece. The string section sounds fantastic. The harpsicord is barely recognizable. Then the full piece fades in. There is a lot going on here. Most of the elements seem relatively simple- probably because they are well performed, but the arrangement and production make it all work.
02. Back at Kavanaugh's House (2022)
On 7 May, a twitter user (@LiteraryMouse) posted a short video of pro-choice advocates gathered outside the home a member of the US Supreme Court. The message was simple: We will not go back. I added just a tiny bit of reverb and looped the audio for two-minutes. Thank you, @LiteraryMouse!
— FederalFelonMouse (she/her) (@LiteraryMouse) May 8, 2022
03. #workinprogress (2022) 042122_guitar is a drone in C#. One track is pretty clean. The other track uses different levels of reverb. Oh, and the cool part is that the booming kick drum is a sample from the soundcheck before a recent Low concert in the UK.
04. Closet Organ tour diary, part 1 (2022) Closet Organ is a nice punk band from Glasgow. They recently went on a short tour of northern England. This is mostly a series of field recordings, with very little music. Just four middle aged men driving around in a van. If you would like to hear more Closet Organ music- go to their bandcamp page. The audio in this segment was drawn from the videos they made documenting the first three days of the tour. Here is Day 1. The full series is definitely worth a watch.
05. Ring 2B: AI (2014)
The music of Emperor X is usually on high rotation here. This is a nice ambient/drone. I loop it when I'm out working in the microgarden.
06. Wasted on the Senate Floor (2017)
When Emperor X released Oversleepers International in 2017, the opening track, Wasted on the Senate Floor seemed like a nice piece of lyrical satire. Fast-forward to 2022 and it's more science than fiction. And it is a banging tune.
07.Pipe and Pistol (2022) Maryam Qudus is a gifted musician and recording engineer. Google it- and prepare to have your mind blown. This track is from her spacemoth project, and most recent release, No Past No Future. Pistol and Pipe (and please forgive me for repeating this) reminds me of Young Marble Giants- or rather, what YMG might have become if they had new technology. The vocals are detatched, but unforced. It's almost like a gentle monologue or rap, with a VERY, VERY, deep low end punch. The mix and the arrangement are fucking brilliant. We're in the process of setting up an interview with Qudus for episode 023. The album is available for pre-order now.
Go here. Click this. This track slays.
08. Closet Organ tour diary, Part 2 (2022)
And the program concludes with excerpts from days 4-6 of the Closet Organ tour. This section features some fine dining, bad driving, and a medical incident. Check the entire series on YouTube.
BONUS: At one point in the video series, they sampled the tones from a parking ticket machine. For your pleasure- you can now click the following link to download the:
Closet Organ Sample Pack. Play around with it. Have fun.
