FIELD RECORDINGS: VA - FAR AFIELD

VA - Far Afield: A Webbed Hand Compilation
(Webbed Hand, 2005)

Somewhere in the spectrum between Musique Concrete and Phonography, is a vast gray area that is disowned and disputed by either side. This compilation treats this no-man’s land as its playground. Field recordings they are, with some processing, but not just walls of rhythmic noise. Sounds of nature, sounds of the city, using the non-instrumental rhythms and melodies of the source recording as the focal points, coaxing the music and beauty out of unplanned, un-orchestrated events. This 2-CD compilation was curated by Fred Yarm.

Curator's Statement:

"The idea behind this compilation was to challenge phonographers and musicians to find a middle ground between their two crafts by sculpting field recordings into creative compositions without using traditional instrumentation (unless captured in the field). The terms passive to describe the phonographer’s process of capturing sound and active to describe the composer’s process were used; however, this sparked a great debate over how passive the phonographer’s craft is. In reality, phonography can be quite active in the choices of location and timing of the recordings, the placement and movement of the microphones, etc. However, in relative terms, the phonographer’s product is rarely as ordered as a musician’s composition and a composer’s product utilizes sounds that are generated for his or her specific purpose. This compilation allotted the artists the opportunity to find a middle ground in the realm of musique concrete.

The results that I received were astounding. The tracks represent everything from highly composed tracks telling stories or capturing the essence of far away locales to straight field recordings that the artist felt did not need any processing to demonstrate the beauty of the situation. Cracking ice on a lake, cicada songs, rusty gates, dripping water, moving trains, and a handful of other captured sounds provided the instrumental palettes for these compositions. Many thanks are to be given to the artists who accepted this challenge to coax such delightful music and beauty out of unplanned and un-orchestrated events. Their work far exceeded my expectations on many levels. In addition, I would like to thank C.P. McDill of Webbed Hand Records for his encouragement to initiate this compilation and for his efforts to see Far Afield
into fruition". Frederic Yarm.

Disc 1:

A01. Quiet American - Khulna Station (for Andrew Raffo Dewar)
A02. Erick Gallun - Open Field Decay
A03. Lyndsey Cockwell - DWP
A04. Don Bosco - Watching
A05. Doug Haire - The Hand Off
A06. John Hanes - Tuscan Gate
A07. o.m.s. - n.m.a - format2002edit04m
A08. Carlo Giordani - Valle Rossa
A09. John Roach - The Two Shades
A10. Christopher Fleeger - Painting
A11. Direwires - Dayslumber via the Train
A12. devslashnull - Von Roll Grate System Test: 1984
A13. Raphael Lyon - Virginia Beach
A14. Scott Smallwood - Basement Well
A15. The Outsider - Aurora Storm
A16. Angus Carlyle - The Sea Swells Again


Disc 2:

B01. Carlos Santos - Crossing Point
B02. Pete Stollery - Banchory Ears
B03. Giuseppe Rapisarda - Dalla Finestra
B04. HarS - SportNational
B05. Uveaele - Lava d’Or
B06. Aaron Lewis - Long Pond 2/1 10am
B07. Steve Bradley - SO2 Emission
B08. Robert Horton - Insect Trust
B09. Eric Bollman - 14th Street
B10. Davide Morelli - Foto.01
B11. Thanos Chrysakis - Afar…Sounds Begin to Ooze
B12. Martiensgohome - White Chapel Moose
B13. Ambrose Pottie - Chainwash 16
B14. Seht - Death in Strip-mall
B15. Archive - Imprint
B16. Fred Yarm - Downspout Gamelon


Far Afield: A Webbed Hand Compilation

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