just received for testing:

Lisn parabolic dish & microphone (japanese design). Appears to be close in design to the Telinga systems, with a smaller, deeper curved dish - nice padded carry case - comes with a 3.5mm jack for plug in power + a separate small box for converting to XLR etc.

will be testing this over the coming weeks. Price for UK & European customers is still to be fully confirmed but in Japan it's has a low-ish retail price in comparison to other proper parabolic systems.

jez riley french - ‘instamatic: snowdonia’

a document of listening, simply

6 tracks focusing on fence wire recordings & listening to the wind

available as a limited edition, full size taiyo yuden cd mounted on an art card + additional postcard  

Review by Daniel Crokaert from 'The Field Reporter' website:

In his Instamatic series, Jez riley French invites us to share his moments of fortunate listening like they are, without make-up nor intellectualizations, retouches or alterations of the source, except a careful selection and probably a bit of equalization…
A hike within some magnificent natural region of North Wales, namely Snowdonia, led Jez to look particularly into the wind, that wind which speaks to us, while sweeping at the same timeendlessly across ever changing landscapes…
that air which circulates, lifts, makes particles, objects and surfaces vibrate, suggesting their outlines and concrete features…

But, far more than a report about a physical truth, the work quickly switches over to the extra-ordinary, underlining a very personal way of experiencing, of giving another dimension to things, and our environment…
Vast palette of amplified metallic resonances of fences planted in the isolation of a still preserved nature…agitation, vibrations, ferruginous supplications…a whole universe stands out, and submits to the laws of another one…a unhurried play of echoes and reflections coming out of the insignificant, and which reminds us constantly that our perceptions are fluctuating, eminently subjective, and tributary of their “captation tools”, but that they can also be the starting point of unexpected emotions…
“There’s an aesthete within us all “ seems to be, roughly speaking, what Jez whispers to us.

Through his care, his methodical record, his sense of listening, the creation of his own range of microphones, Jez acts like a revealer, a non-standard intermediary…
“Snowdonia” succeeds in closing our eyes slipping us into a long travelling through shaggy herbs, dishevelled by an insistent breeze – a Malickian scene…
Just next to us, trembling & bending wires, streaking the rust tones of a jaded vegetation…pebbles shrouded in history shape long grey veins studding the country as far as the eye can see…in the faraway, the shadow of hills asleep, peaceful guardians of a permanent sight…
In our ears, clicks, muffled murmurs of cold metal, aeolian moan, all the tense sensoriality of the world…

“Snowdonia” ends up ringing like the name of a mythical place where one has rendezvous with the other-worldliness…that other-worldliness, disguised under common appearances, here finely caught, and alongside which we often pass by in total indifference…

an article on the BBC website asks 'what adventures are really left' - it goes on to discuss all the usual ideas of 'adventure' - climbing mountains, trekking across vast landscapes etc etc. I don't see this as 'adventure' anymore. It is too obvious, too limited by ideas of effort, dedication & experience which actually are as impact motivated as sitting through a modern action movie. So, I sent the BBC an email which i'm sure will have them puzzled or will probably be dismissed as the ramblings of some odd staircase recordist....


we live in an 'impact' driven society - adventures must be dramatic, all broadcast sound is compressed so it is 'in our face' & we don't have to truly engage with the act of listening. Popular music too is compressed, meaning the quiet sections of the music are as 'loud' as the louder sections. 

put simply one of the true adventures left is to realise this & to re-engage with the act of listening to the wide audible vistas we inhabit. From singing fences, the sounds of insects walking, our buildings vibrating to spending several hours listening to just one location, allowing oneself to become embedded in the ebb & flow of the soundscape specific to that place.

It is, after all, rather strange & somewhat sad that 99.9% of all these 'adventure' experiences are about the visual & physical - the sound rarely gets a mention & as with everyday life, most people simply don't really listen - they hear, perhaps spend a few seconds stopping to listen, but it has to be said, if our ears were thought of as muscles they'd be the flabbiest, most out of condition parts of our anatomy for most.

listening, truly listening to the world, with our naked ears & by using different microphones to take us deeper, below the surface, that is an adventure for sure & one i've been on for many years now. It never ceases to amaze.

I'm on a trip to Australia right now. I spent a day listening to a wire fence filtering the sounds of insects, birds, the breeze & the almost infra-sound tones created by surrounding vibrations. This requires as much work, dedication, struggle & sense of exploration as anything & brings with it experiences that are as exhilarating, rewarding, mind expanding & inspiring as any hike across the antarctic etc.

to get closer is the adventure we all ignoring, to be still & to truly experience a place.

australia trip - wired lab residency, blue mountains & bundeena

after 3 days in Norfolk tutoring on another nice Wildeye course alongside Chris Watson, followed by 3 flights over 26 hours, I've now arrived in Australia for my residency at The Wired Lab.

(qantas win a prize for playing stereolab as boarding music in Melbourne !)

flying in over mountains covered in early mists, cloud like cobwebs holding on & sliding down valleys, (listening to elizabeth fraser's new work) & contemplating the time i'll spend in australia.  Its a privilege indeed to have been invited here by Sarah & Dave at Wired Lab. I am constantly aware of how lucky I am & how much my work begins with the understanding of that.

I'm staying a night in Canberra - surely the quietest capital city in the world. I went for a short walk near my hotel & saw one person on the streets. I arrived early in the morning & intended to set out for a walk & to take some photos of some of the art deco architecture, however a quick nap somehow turned into a deeper sleep & I awoke after sunset. Perhaps tomorrow morning....

in the meantime here's some archival photos of canberra....