What if sounds were to fold in on themselves? Quite quickly after being ‘born’, even. Only to be released back into the ‘normal’ world of linear projection and moving waveforms from a resonant source to the ear drum to hearing and listening, some album length later?
Through a looking glass of sorts, as if emerging from an anechoic chamber through the backdoor. From absolute silence into all hearing, all sound anew, flooding over, rushing in. A ghostly aural universe with perspective shift, familiar knowns flipped upside down and inside out.
Could this inverted aural space be the one which is always there to begin with, like the inverse of an acoustic emission – the literal backside of the speaker? The inverse as diametrically opposed or quintessentially other, but with identical value and properties. The hitherto unheard side as sine qua non to the heard.
This collaboration between Jos Smolders and Jim O’Rourke offers a unique opportunity to investigate the intricate, topological complexities of (deep) hearing and its inverse; an exploration into the very essence of sound herself.
– Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg
credits
releases September 17, 2021
Jos Smolders and Jim O’Rourke – Field recordings and electronics
Sleeve by Rutger Zuydervelt