Reviewed by John Willsteed

These two releases are from Naturestrip, who describe their intentions thus:

"The focus is on sonic art, noise, songs, ephemera - by artists who respond in some way to environmental sound - through field recordings, unusual microphonics, humming along to the background noise..."

Naturestrip releases have had an aesthetic and conceptual range from raw documentation to sound sculpture, concrete music to instrumental and electronic constructions; in which the idea of 'nature' somehow resonates.

LOREN CHASSE - THE FOOTPATH

I can't quite grasp whether I'm meant to relate to this. Does it exist without me? The most common recurrent image in my mind as I listened to these seven tracks is of David Lynch's face looming up at me smiling enigmatically.

This journey is gritty, bumpy, crunchy - it follows a path, sometimes extremely closely. The gravel rash on my face is testament to this. I made a note somewhere in the middle of Track 3: If I listened to this on an iPod I'd feel like Travis Bickle. So it's not entertainment, but more an exploration of awareness and perception.

The tracks loosely alternate between the path and the surrounding nature, excursions into a more recognisable world. Like a meditation CD, the tracks are long and change is slow and minimal. But no chance of relaxation here. Trapped underground with giant bugs. No escape.

Where do I hear this? In a gallery space? As an element of some piece of public art? What is this sound-art supposed to do to me? Too dense to be moody, too random to have a narrative for me to follow. Where am I?

When all's said, there are some interesting recordings and interesting manipulations but this is definitely not for everyone and that includes me!

JOEL STERN - OBJECTS:MASKS:PROPS

Joel Stern's CD is very accessible. My immediate reaction was to interpret, to make stories from these aural vignettes. They seemed like tiny movies to me . . . and this is what they look like:

The sound of someone standing on a guineapig, but I could be wrong. The little squeal of feedback near the end is great.

Stringed instruments strummed in an almost rhythm, the birds are relentless and I think someone is poking a hankie down a pigeon's throat. Call the RSPCA. The rooster however, seems happy.

Rainstick is cultural vandalism. I love the reedy harmonica cross rhythms, the backwards stringed thing is almost a voice and the frogs and crickets take us away.

Someone eating the packaging from a 40" Sony Bravia and then polishing off a couple of expensive microphones as dessert. I love the low frequencies in this piece.

I feel as though four people dressed up as bees and then crawled in to my chest as I was sleeping. Look, now they've crept up into my head , emptied two of the cupboards, let the bath overflow, tied saucepans to their legs and are re-enacting what they saw yesterday on Slapdown.

A cougar is loose in the aviary. The rain beats down on the tin roof as the wolves close in. I don't care, I play my simularium and chant the words I've heard since I was a baby "nah nah nah nah nah nah nah". Release the mice, for soon the end will come and the colour of the end will be pale orange or possibly a light brown.

In the forest, a woman with a violin bow in her throat talks to the birds, the birds. Jane Rutter is in a tree trying desperately to find 4RPH. She is distracted by the woman, finds it hard to concentrate, the words are familiar and yet not. She finds something eventually but it's simply annoying so she leaves it on, hoping that the violin lady will stop. It doesn't work. A man arrives with a snare drum in his nose and leaves with the violin woman. They will be happy. But not Jane.

The microphone is tied to an animal in a folk club whilst tuning is underway. A box of crickets has been left under the third table on the left. The room is sad. Four people have received parking tickets. Only one will contest their legality. A passenger plane arrives to buy takeaway and is not served. Why?

I think you can see how much I enjoyed this CD. I'm equally sure that your movies will look very different.

Both CDs are available from Naturestrip