Murmer – Songs For Forgetting

murmer-songs-for-forgetting

LP – Sounds Art Series/Gruenrekorder

Patrick McGinley, better known as Murmer in the enclave of experimental and sound-art, made the release of this album possible in harmony with Gruenrekorder and thanks to crowdfunding on Kickstarter, involving friends and a big part of the Estonian art community: a passionate and careful group of followers that makes ongoing musical explorations very intense at those latitudes. We remember Murmer as a radio-artist on Resonance 104.4 FM in London, leader of a programme run by Framework, of which he was also the co-founder and activist, focusing on field recording and on a definitely non-academic creation of audio-archives. Now, after moving to Estonia with his family, he’s trying to support the local artistic scene with this project and the results seems to be very interesting, starting from the rough but elegant artwork, designed by the Armenian illustrator Vahram Muradyan and created with totally recycled paper used in that region. McGinely, who’s a devoted supporter of site-specific sound culture, seems naturally attracted by trying to combine sounds, compositions and sensations coming from specific spaces or activities, in order to create proactive connections between a potential group of interested people and a realistic context. “Songs For Forgetting” is Murmer’s first big release since 2012’s “What Are The Roots That Clutch”, for Helen Scarsdale Agency. In the meantime, his creativity has never misfired, he displays it in a more controlled and mature way, that evokes elliptical breaks, measured energies and shudders, little auditory emergencies made of ticking sounds, dull vibrations, suctions, chimes, beneficial breezes. “I work very slowly” said Murmer, recalling that the first element of this work was recorded in Köln in August 2007, while other field recordings were captured near water leaks coming from Soviet’s drainpipes in the small Estonian village of Toravere, as well as others captured in Spain (Valenza), France (Ētretat) and near the Andelle river in Normandy. In conclusion, even though the connection between rurality and sound-art is not new, if we consider the plots and places of capture, and the result is a very accurate work, Murmer is a fantastic exegete.

 

  • Murmer – Songs For Forgetting (#2)
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