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Jeph Jerman and Jon Mueller, "Nodes and Anti-Nodes"
Both of the artists working on this piece are known for stretching the boundaries of music: Mueller heads up the Crouton label, one of the most active and prestigious recent electro-acoustic labels, while Jerman has been working for years to redefine percussion, using such things as cacti as instruments. Here the two take their love of sound to a full on audio-visual level that gives the listener a rare glimpse into the creation of such work.
The DVD comes packaged in a beautifully simple oversized letterpress package, numbered and with a 7"x7" print of artwork and credits. On the DVD there is both a 37 minute video that shows the actual process of capturing the sound, as well as a MP3 file of the same material for causal listening on the go. Intentionally, I listened to only the mp3 file at first, which I would also recommend that the reader does as well. It is more fascinating to hear the result of such unconventional techniques before actually seeing them at work, and letting ones own creativity go to work.
As expected from two drummers, albeit unconventional ones, the sounds are heavily focused in percussion. The track opens with a chaotic jumble of rattles and bangs, before stripping away to more conventional, but subtle, metallic percussion clangs. Other sounds that are present could well be the sound of metal bouncing around in an iron pot of boiling water, amplifier feedback, rocks clattering, engine hums, etc.
The most accurate description of this work is that it functions as an ethnography of sound, the nuanced experimentation with everyday objects that are rarely examined in their sonic properties. Again, listening to the audio portion of the work is a good starting point I believe, because when watching the video material reveals the proverbial man behind the curtain, it is all the more interesting.
The video portion is based on a combination of scenes showing the more esoteric percussive techniques, such as the use of bones and seashells, interspersed with subtly changing nature footage that makes for a perfect companion to the sound. Just as in the audio portion, it a studied examination of nuances that surround us in the world that go unexamined.
Granted, this is a somewhat difficult work, but for anyone who has an interest in the obsessive study of sound and the music that is around at any given time, it is a compelling document that allows for a look inside the creation of this type of material.
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