David Blamey - Rural (vinyl)

David Blamey - Rural, Open Editions

Side A: Charcoal Bell – As a visual artist, David Blamey has a knack for finding patterns of formalism in everyday life that, when augmented through acts of repetition or prolonged attention, break down and unravel in interesting ways. This piece combines two simple elements: the sound of charcoal burning and bells. As the material splinters and pops under flame the sound created resembles the ring of tiny bells. The tracks overlaid comprise a cowbell, a sheep bell and a child’s toy bell, all found in the locality and played by Blamey.

Side B: Nothing Happens – This piece is a composition of environmental sounds recorded in a garden between dawn and darkness on a single day: the chatter of starlings; a zinc gutter expanding in the sun’s rays; toads signaling to each another; the drone of bees; modulating cicada song; and the fanfare of an un-oiled garden gate. Listening deeply to these kinds of background noises and waiting for them coalesce into a readymade form of music draws near to what Spalding Grey referred to as encountering ‘perfect moments’, or what Eastern philosophy describes as great power existing in small things.