Guest Mix: Appel d’Air Vol. 2

Guest post by John Also Bennett (JAB / Seabat / Forma). JAB’s debut solo album Erg Herbe was released on Shelter Press earlier this year.

This mix was compiled as the second volume in my “Appel d’ Air” mix series, the first volume of which is available here. It takes its name from the Michel Redolfi album of the same name. I’m always looking for music that uses flute or wind instruments, open spaces, and environmental sound in tandem, even if these conditions are only met loosely. In this collection I included two pieces of music originally composed as environmental music for video games (“Inside The Deku Tree” from Legend of Zelda and a Resident Evil Save Room theme), both of which  were designed to color the atmosphere of a virtual space, and both of which use flute (albeit electronic). Eva-Maria Houben’s “ein schlummer (a slumber)” uses flute and organ and their reverberations inside a large cathedral: the near silences between notes as the reverb tails off are as important as the notes themselves. I also included one of my own compositions, “Chanterai por mon coraige,” recorded in a decrepit mill in the French countryside, pictured above. Like many of the pieces included on this mix, the sound of the space in which the piece was recorded plays a role in the composition; in this case evening crickets and the churning of a nearby creek. You can download an mp3 version here.

Tracklist:

1. Daniel Kobialka – Organic Eternity (Excerpt)

2. Koji Kondo – Inside The Deku Tree (Legend of Zelda – Ocarina Of Time)

3. Mary Jane Leach – Downland’s Tears (Excerpt)

4. Vijay Raghav Rao – Raga Malkauns – Alap and Gat n Jhaptal

5. Jim Fassett – Symphony Of The Birds (Third Movement)

6. Eva-Maria Houben – ein schlummer (a slumber)

7. Steve Roach – Spectre

8. Mamoru Samuragochi – Resident Evil – Save Room (2002 Remake)

9. Harold Budd with Jon Gibson – How Vacantly You Stare At Me

10. Che Chen & Robbie Lee – This Was The Only Place That Was Green

11. JAB – Chanterai por mon coraige

12. Jefre-Cantu Ledesma – Joy