Mesoscaphe : Long-term submersion into the depths of the ocean
» Published by trym on Aug 06, 2008
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Label: Spekk
Year: 2008
Format: CD
Drifting through the oceans with the Gulf Stream
In 1969, Jacques Piccard – a Swiss physicist – designed the Mesoscaphe, later dubbed the Ben Franklin, which was a submarine designed for a crew of six which could survive weeks at a time submerged deep into the ocean to travel the currents of the sea. The drift missions of the Mesoscaphe were located in the Gulf Stream, and during a voyage over more than 2413 kilometres, recordings of various acoustic, biological and lighting experiments were conducted. Fascinating and tremendous as this mission had been in terms of researching the effects on man of a long voyage under stressful conditions in a very closed environment, the Mesoscaphe’s endeavours were overlooked or shadowed by the lunar missions of the same year and hence never got as great coverage.
In this new album hailing from the illustrious Spekk camp, collaborators Mathieu Ruhlmann and Celer (aka Danielle Baquet-Long and Will Long) have come together to dedicate their work to the Mesoscaphe and its oceanographic studies, based on sound artistry around a sparse selection of instruments and field recordings of the original missions. An unusual project one may suggest, but looking back in recent years, such “tribute” compositions have come out from many respectable musicians; Geir Jenssen was inspired by Jules Verne and space in Autour de la Lune, 12k recently released the earlier recording and ode to the oceans by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Christopher Willits, or take Chris Watson’s field recording works for Touch or very recently Lawrence English’ (label owner of room40) new recording on Touch paying homage to natural phenomena of mists and clouds, or even the as of yet unreleased composition of sound artist Emiliano Zelada based around the recordings of beaked whales drawn from hours of sub-sea recordings by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency, studying the nature of these wales and their communication by means such as echolocation.
The album is split into three tracks, each of which is an extended composition as covered recently in our highlight of Encre’s “Plexus II” project, and the three musicians weave deep, droning melodies that cast of impressions of being immersed at great depths in the ocean. As I listen, it also becomes natural to think of Wolfgang Voigt and his recordings as Gas – droning, textural environments that go on at great length, but here is little rhythm where Gas often bases his work on some pulsating patterns. Only the slightest sense of rhythm can be distinguished in Mesoscaphe (the album) where the sonar sounds enveloping the listener takes on a subdued bass-like hue but remain like a droning, ambient soundscape.
For fans of extremely long ambient compositions where the tracks themselves do not evolve massively but rather lead you to explore the details, Mesoscaphe will be excellent home listening or even meditational aid. The three compositions are however slightly disjointed and rather than flowing on nicely, the album stops and takes a different direction and contrasts the feeling of a large vessel carried naturally by the currents of the Gulf Stream. The lovely, Japanese label Spekk once again though shows its careful thought for selection in its catalogue and alongside the storytelling Brain Cloud release by Joe Grimm, they demonstrate their aptitude for innovation and staying at the forefront of the minimalistic and ambient electronic music scene.