Amazing piece of work from David Vélez with his Beta Vulgaris (SUBLIME RETREAT SR014)…nothing so prosaic as “music” going down here, it rather represents his research and studies in plant life and growth. He’s bolstered by the work of others, for instance the philosopher Michael Marder and the horticulturist Paula Diane Relf, and Jeanne McHale, and Li-June Ming, and Jonathan Burdette.
The trend of his research is about fostering a better relationship with the environment, and that plants can help us to do just that, whether through healthier living and eating, or growing a more friendly community of farmers, or inducing a sense of “rootedness” and belonging, or even just the general well-being that comes from gardening therapy. Even more specifically, Vélez is a fan of the beet, rhapsodising freely about the taste, colour and shape of this humble root vegetable, so purply in colour as to make the pumpkin blush for shame, going on to speculate about sustainable solar energy systems and how betanin helps with the flow of blood to the brain, leading to better cognitive functions. Is there nothing the beet can’t do? Read his notes, and listen to this intense sound – created using sine tones – and soon you’ll be on board with this programme, changing your diet, revising your politics, booting out your energy supplier, not to mention cutting down on your psychiatric bills.
I think the droning sounds here are intended to help plants grow, but hark ye – there’s also the unusual notion of “sonic bloom organic farming” which comes to us from Dan Carlson, who presents scientific evidence that anything resonating above 3000 hertz is guaranteed to be good for whatever’s in your greenhouse. David Vélez has reached the point in his work that he regards his beetroot plants as “collaborators” in the production of this record, and specifically credits farms in Huddersfield and Medellin. You’ll be amazed at the results…I would recommend not just playing this record on your home hifi, but installing it in your garden or window box, and prepare for biological miracles. From the same odd Polish label that brought us Lancelot’s Delusions in 2021. Arrived 30th January 2023.