A Closer Listen
Air Pressure is a companion piece to last year’s Room40 release Atmospheres and Disturbances, in which Philip Samartzis explored the sounds of sub-zero research stations. The new album pairs him with Michael Vorfeld, whose percussion and self-designed string instruments operate in duet with the Eastern Antarctic environment, creating a sonic third space.
The sounds of the Antarctic can be sudden and harsh, but also intensely musical, a realization amplified by the segments in which the environment takes center stage. A howling wind can seem like a drone, rattling infrastructure like (literal) metal music. As the album begins, one can imagine a scenario in which Vorfeld ventures outside to play these instruments, although we suspect he does so from a position of relative safety. The dark, bowed strings suggest the low howl of wolves, although no wolves occupy the area; the crackle of ice suggests footsteps, creating phantasms. Combined, the work of the field recordist and the instrument builder recall that of Harry Bertoia, who found unusual timbres through a process of creation and experimentation.
Described in the liner notes as “one of the world’s most abrasive environments,” the Antarctic is transformed by these players into something resembling consonance, with offsetting tones similar to those that mitigate the effects of tinnitus. The three-way conversation between the elements, the effects of the elements on manufactured objects, and the response of a musician creates something one might call the Samartzis-Vorfeld Band, although of course it would be hard to bring the actual Antarctic wind on tour. One cannot tame the wind, but Air Pressure creates the impression that instability has been transformed into stability, danger into something harrowing, yet safe.
Wind was considered the breath of God, with matching illustrations on mariners’ maps; it’s easy to attribute such force to a supernatural being. The rattle and hum of “Depression” seem like duets with the Almighty, the edges blurring to the extent that one can’t decipher the difference between precipitation and percussion. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? (Psalm 147:17). Yet Samartzis and Vorfeld dare to enter the whirlwind, to create as the Creator. Their courage is rewarded with an impression of mutual appreciation.
Following the prior diptych of Array and Polar Force (recorded with Eugene Ughetti), Samartzis continues to build a body of work based on sounds that few people will ever hear in person. By inviting others to participate, he has widened our appreciation of the lonely places, making them seem less remote and more inviting. Vorfeld’s music, vast and mysterious as the Antarctic terrain, is like a sonic blanket draped over shivering field recordings. As the album ends in wind and fire, one thinks, I could survive for a while in this place. (Richard Allen)
Fri Nov 29 00:01:39 GMT 2024