Marcus Obst, Trafic Tonalite (3" CDR Field Muzick)

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For several seasons now, Marcus Obst has produced some very thoughtful ambient work under the artist name Dronæment (not to be confused with the recently released "Dronament" album by Mathias Grassow and friends on Practising Nature). His latest (last?) album under that nom-de-musique was a collaborative effort with Andrea Marutti and the ubiquitous Aidan Baker, released in 2004 and called "Fields 1", in which he mixed and treated sounds supplied by the latter duo into a beautiful and dramatic pastorale.

Perhaps that album´s title was a secretive wink in the direction he subsequently chose to take, for recently he established a limited edition run (a mere fifty copies each) of 3" CDRs for his Field Muzick label, indicating a more concentrated interest in not-quite-pure field recording.

Trafic Tonalite, one of the two releases launching the label (the other is Rot by "Giesele" - in fact Lasse Marc Riek of the Grünrecorder label), is described as a "mini CDr with relaxing street noise". On it, Obst integrates the sound of automobiles speeding by, maybe on wet pavement, with a slowly evolving synth line and subtle, erratic beat. His Cageian goal has been to take an everyday source of what we might otherwise simply dismiss as noise and place it in a context whereby we "re-hear" it as pleasing music which softly drifts its way into our consciousness. Seamlessly constructed!

If you like these twenty minutes, and I know you will, then there are a further two tracks with which you can double you enjoyment, downloadable from Obst´s website <http://www.fieldmuzick.net/marcus-obst-trafic-tonalite>.