Behrens, Marc – “20 Zonen” – [Auf Abwegen]

abacus   1/14/2014   A Library, CD

40 minute field recording collage of sounds collected from the artist’s hometown of Darmstadt, Germany produced for a radio broadcast of different installation audio works. A very nostalgic release for him as they focus on the district in the city where he grew up and learned to listen to everyday sound. The recordings here are collected from places like an equestrian club, a heavy ion research lab, a railway museum and of the many planes and trains intersecting with the town’s serene soundscape. The piece itself is loosely grouped into different zones that loosely coalesce into a “topophonic cross vein.” The layering of sounds is indeed rhythmic and narrative in a strange and entrancing way, with periods of silence subtly isolated by noisy punctuation. An abstract, cerebral yet fascinating piece of work.