Ferns Recordings in France is a small label run by S. Gautheron, who also used to managed the G.M.B.H. label in the 1990s, home to Small Cruel Party, Daniel Menche, and others; Ferns has also attracted such names as Steve Roden, Christoph Heemann, Kiyoshi Mizutani, Giancarlo Toniutti, Ingeos and many others, all evidence of the flourishing international sound art nexus.
In this context we have the single-track epic Expended Desert (ferns_stem_19), which pairs the field recordings of Sam Dunscombe with the Sho and Hammond organ playing of Michiko Ogawa. American Dunscombe may have come your way as a player and interpreter of certain Wandelweiser compositions, though he’s also added his minimalist woodwinds to recordings by Taku Sugimoto and Tim Olive. Michiko Ogawa was present on some of those exact same recordings as it happens, and has recently graduated to releases on Hitorri and the excellent UK label, Another Timbre (with Lucy Railton). Today’s record Expended Desert began life with recordings of many different locations, including certain National Parks in America and a yacht club in Slab City. We can certainly perceive the gentle breezes and other atmospheric effects, and for some reason I deceive myself into hearing crickets chirping (though this may simply be a by-product of the entire process). Ogawa’s additions are more than simply holding a candle in the face of the empty wilderness, nor is he “jamming” along with nature as some philistines tend to regard this sort of work. Rather, we have the sense of a genuine integration with the power of nature, a very sympathetic melding of mind, body, and breathing.
For the listener, 41:47 mins will pass as if seized by an hallucinogenic trance, as you contemplate the near-empty monochrome photographs of these desolate vistas, although if you want evidence of so-called civilisation, simply open up the gatefold to view two photographs of a railway siding that will induce instant existential longings. There’s probably some Zen philosophy encoded somewhere in all this apparent “emptiness”, encouraging us to surrender all thoughts to the speed of the wind. (04/03/2024)
We also received Et Si C’était Le Vent Qui Avait Raison from same label – tune in next time for a review.