Wolf-themed vinyl LP credited to Nils Mosh and Melissa Pons – I think it’s called Of Wolves and People (GRUENREKORDER Gruen 214), even if this title is printed nowhere on cover. At first gazoon I thought it might even be a split LP, but as it turns out each creator takes a side each, with Nils Mosh training his microphones on a single grey wolf in Germany while Pons sticks in Portugal with her Iberian wolf.
Yes, it’s a field recording type-genre release but mixed with music and such, and both sides amount to a diverting semi-cinematic styled sweep of an odd imaginary landscape, almost telling stories. On ‘GW954f’, Nils Mosh makes a collage out of wolf howls and interviews, so plenty spoken word here creating a documentary vibe. He did it in the Ruhr area, where there are traces of mining, but also pasture, villages, sand pits…he found clumps of wolf fur on the barbed wire, he saw traces of digging in the earth, he spoke to local people, shepherds, farmers, and conservationists. More than once, he said to himself “to think I only came here to record the song of a nightingale” (true fact), and found himself staying there for three years, immersing himself in the lore of the wolf. From what I can gather, the wolf is a pretty “hot topic” in this part of the world, and I suppose he encountered and recorded many divergent points of view. Nature-lovers evidently want to protect wildlife, but I’m not sure if the shepherds take the diametrically opposite view; I would hope that it’s not quite as polarised, or as physical, as the vexed issue of fox hunting in the UK countryside, over which many an idealist has come to blows.
Nils Mosh has turned in a compelling sound document; though the dialogue is all in German, I’d still like to think it’s a balanced and nuanced presentation of the arguments (unlike the binary “join me or die” sentiment that continues to prevail on social media), and what’s more it amounts to a nifty, subtle piece of audio poetry.
Likewise with Melissa Pons – her side is titled ‘Lament of the Wolf’ and blends the phonography tapes with musical interludes. She might not have spent three years in her chosen residency, but she did pass several days at a wolf refuge – the Iberian Wolf Recovery Centre. After learning this particular animal is suffering from a massive population reduction (it might even be an endangered species), she totally “went native” and pretty much ran with the wolves – learned the names of a dozen of these canines, and absorbed much lore and knowledge from the staff at the Centre. She got into a “rhythm” – the rhythm of the animals, and before long she was even dreaming about them, thinking her way back into the form of an innocent child who could bond with these beasts. In all this, Pons demonstrates considerable empathy with this branch of the animal kingdom, which allows her to re-examine ancient European myths about the wolf; Christian tradition tended to see the animal as the Devil incarnate, and hunted it for no other reason than an attempt to drive out evil. Her simpatico work – also a beautiful listen – may be a step on the way to the rehabilitation of the wolf.
In all, an understated listen perhaps, but quite stunning results by the end of it, and breathing a puff of new life into the field recording genre. By the way, it’s pressed on that recycled / reclaimed vinyl we’ve been hearing so much about, so it’s probably better for the environment too. From 7th July 2023.