3" CD-R folded within an oscillating 4-sided paper casing designed by Estlin Usher. Housed in recycled vinyl sleeve. Additional inserts designed, sourced, and assembled with environmental considerations in Chicago by Modern Concern.
Edition of 20.
Includes unlimited streaming of Natural Rhythms Vol. 2
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“At a distance of seven feet below the surface of the peat a curious antique vessel was discovered, extremely thin, and fastened together in a very neat and workmanlike manner by innumerable rivets…”
“Abbeys, Castles, Mills and Rivers” is the second in Irish sound artist Mark Waldron-Hyden’s Natural Rhythms series, a field recording project introduced earlier this year with “Vol. 1: Healing Well / Old Bridge,” released on cassette in July by Anticipating Nowhere (UK). Natural Rhythm's practice is defined as loosely focused, and seeks to approach a variety of “historical, ancestral, social, political or personal subjects” through site-specific recording.
In Vol 1., Waldron-Hyden primarily utilized hydrophones to explore the damp subterranean expanse of St. Brendan's Blessed Well, one of the oldest healing wells in all of Ireland. Once tickled with starry droplets of water, in Vol. 2, the listener is instead pricked with the sharp thorns of hyper-intuitive percussive collaging, reconstructed from open-air recordings taken at Bridgetown Abbey, Glanworth Mill and Castle, and the Glanworth Dominican Friary.
Natural Rhythms Vol. 2 is propelled by the indeterminate patterns sifted throughout the vast expanses of quiet solitude found in these places, peppered with the calls of far-off animals and wild transitions in distance, depth, and direction. “Through this composition I wanted to validate all sounds within the space as a musical event and highlight the rhythmic and percussive nature of the quiet, the silent, and the far away. There are some larger dynamic moments within the composition that act as a sonic palate cleanser, readying the brain for more periods of quiet sparse audio passages.”
Falling into disuse throughout the latter half of the Early Modern Era, the Glanworth and Bridgetown priories are now largely unvisited by the general public, and thick vines cover the low-hanging ruins that still stand. Waldron-Hyden’s series continues to prove that these ancient sites are still imbued with a deep sense of magic and wonder, as Natural Rhythms Vol. 2 rebuilds the sonic landscape of a location crumbling under the colossal push and shove of empires, the environment, and history itself. Like stumbling upon a bird deep in the brush, we pause and quiet ourselves as our vantage point breaks with our every move.
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credits
released November 12, 2021
“Abbeys, Castles, Mills and Rivers” was recorded on July 12 and 13, 2021 and composed in-post by Mark Waldron-Hyden, a sound artist and radio engineer currently based in Lisbon, Portugal. In-between residencies at Dublin Digital Radio and CAMP, his work has appeared on labels such as Sensory Leakage, Warm Milk Recordings, and Sunshine Cult Records, which he co-founded.
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supported by 8 fans who also own “Natural Rhythms Vol. 2”
In my opinion - not for sleep. Something to lose yourself into while alert and able to chase the sound. I have no doubt that a room in my starship will have this on rotation. finldavi