A Closer Listen
Marc Namblard and Yannick Dauby engage with contrasting soundscapes in the split set Brownsberg and Other Topographics. Dauby’s dérive (an urban walk) mirrors the “drift” of being lost in an urban environment. Namblard’s composition, recorded in Suriname, restores the connection with nature.
Recorded in Taiwan and Tokyo, Dauby’s “Other Topographics” reinforces the idea of an aimless, rewarding wander. At first the sounds are industrial, and non-specific; but the latter part of the piece takes listeners to a city soundscape where everyday sounds proliferate: children playing, prayer rhythms, public announcements, heavy machinery, traffic and transit. Silence and pauses, sudden hums and roars, beats and pulses suggest a world of chaos and complexity; bird, insect and water sounds are reminders that nature has a way of breaking through.
The Brownsberg nature preserve, located south of Suriname’s capital of Paramaribo, is described by one tourist company as “just one big mighty jungle,” difficult to access but rewarding for the hardy visitor. Namblard’s field recordings capture a complex tapestry of intertwined habitats, species and geophysical sounds. If Dauby’s piece is a dérive, Namblard’s work is its complement; instead of the occasional nature sound, the piece contains only a hint of humanity. As the thunder approaches, the rising rain baptizes the listener into the primordial sounds of Earth’s deep history. Insects, frogs and other animals reflect the rich diversity of the non-human world. A particularly noteworthy cry, beginning at 15:30, sounds like a wet dog crossed with a laser, a reminder that there are more sounds in heaven and earth that are dreamt of in our philosophy.
The unspoken message, gleaned from this combination of walks, is that humankind has replaced lush biophanies with soundscapes of the inanimate. In the latter part of Namblard’s composition, the storm passes, the night falls and the soundscape grows thin, but not silent, an ironic echo of the thinness of nature sounds in urban environments. In the city, nature must be loud in order to be heard; in the jungle, the local. creatures can whisper.
Sun Oct 06 00:01:12 GMT 2024