CD – Hideous Replica

This interesting setup consists of a small speaker being used in two different ways: to play sounds from Gregory Büttner’s computer and as Birgit Ulher’s trumpet mute. This results in the trumpet functioning as both a transmitter and a receiver, modulating the sounds produced by the speaker as it plays. A wide range of sounds has been produced: metallic clanks, squeaks, wheezes, seizures, gaseous emissions and a variety of vibrating pulses. The catalogues of good sound recordists move beyond simply documenting interesting sound events and evoke an attitude of composition through representing a non-trivial personal taste. Ulher and Büttner are certainly not new to this field. The former is very capable with action-oriented tools and resonant bodies, while the latter is more experienced with computers, microphones and speakers. The duo have spent lots of time experimenting with various iterations of electroacoustic setups and are able to imbue their work with a sense of “taking the stage”, a feeling reinforced by the fact that this album was recorded in just two sessions at the Red Room in Hamburg. The title of the whole project, as well as the first track – Araripepipra – refers to a bird, but the other seven are all dedicated to creatures in danger of extinction. There is a feeling of mimicry running through the work, which either evokes something real or something “imagined as real”, playing with the concept of endangered animals from an ontological perspective.