Fields of Gold

What is field music? For one, it is the recording of environmental sounds for documentary purposes. Scientists have regularly felt the need to preserve the chants of indigenous peoples for following generations and they have undertaken various pilgrimages into far-off places with tapes and microphones. Secondly, it is a new musical genre that uses these recordings as the basis for free-floating compositions and sound scapes. All kinds of manipulations are allowed, transforming a "real" environment into a fascinating "artificial" one. The resulting tracks have one foot in the modern ambient sector, approximating Brian Eno and his followers, while at the same time continuing the work initiated by the pioneers of musique concrete. And thirdly, it is the topic of a series on mouvement nouveau, which will start this week. We talk to Marcus Obst, the man behind field music project Dronaement, the head of the great field muzick label and an expert on the issue. We'll be covering the history of field music, its greatest artists, its methods and its future as well as providing you with excerpts from great compositions. Until the project takes off, feel free to browse to Marcus' page, where you'll find lots of information already and where you can order the fantastic "Muzick from open windows"-sampler.

Homepage: Field Muzick