#53: Mtskheta
Reimagining the sound of a local market in the country of Georgia and feeling the emotions of voices in a crowd
Currently listening to: Mtskheta by Melted Form
Hello, friend.
In the country of Georgia lies a small but bustling city known as Mtskheta—one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Its people are lively and expressive, which I found out while listening to a field recording captured at a local market there provided by Stuart Fowkes of Cities and Memory. For those who don’t know:
Cities and Memory is one of the world’s biggest sound projects, covering 130 countries and territories with more than 7,000 sounds and more than 2,000 contributing artists. With the aim of remixing the world, one sound at a time, thousands of field recordings are reimagined by our global community of sound artists and musicians to create an entirely new form of listening.
This Spring, Cities and Memory hosted their 10th Anniversary Spring Project, for which I created Mtskheta. At first, I entered my name as a contributor expecting whatever random field recording I would receive to lead me down an ambient path. I’d keep the recording mostly intact, give it some space to breathe, and complement it with some gentle tones and textures.
Then, I heard the voices of the Georgians among their village market. They were jeering and chuckling and babbling all about—I had no idea what they were saying but every mysterious utterance sounded full of emotion. Their unique intonations inspired me to create something entirely different than I expected.
I started clipping samples of the voices, looping them, and creating new dialogues. It became an odd beat of sorts, which I built upon with a couple of drum and synth samples courtesy of mobygratis.
I think my favorite part of the track is the last minute or so, in which you can hear the contrasting voices of a couple of old men and a young child. The men must have been joking and laughing about something. There’s almost something dog-like in one of the clips, where one of the men’s voices sounds like a low barking pattern. Meanwhile, the child was shouting exclamations with the kind of fervor heard among schoolchildren pleading their case in a passionate game on the playground.
I hope you enjoy visiting my reimagined version of this little market in Mtskheta. You can listen to the original field recording here—it was recorded by Colin Hunter. I encourage you to keep exploring the rest of the Cities and Memory sound map where you can hear thousands of tracks and the field recordings from around the world that inspired them.
The age we live in demands that we look for inspiration in unexpected places without hard expectations. Allow yourself to be inspired by the unknown and the foreign. Listen to the voices of people on the other side of the world and hear their emotion. You may not understand their words but you will remember the feeling behind them. And you may hear yourself there, in a world you never expected to visit or care about. We are all people living parallel lives—all equally worthy of contributing our voices and our songs.
The Living Music List
Hello again, friend. After our brief visit to Georgia, let’s see where else we can find some beautiful sounds. Just for fun this week, I’ve included a note with each music recommendation below to let you know where in the world it’s coming from.
Because it’s July 4th—Independence Day in the US—mainstream releases are few. So, this week’s list is a bit abbreviated, but we still have plenty of gems for you to explore (4 in each list for the 4th).
Happy listening.
Ambient
dreams rental by hopeyouwell (album / drone, tape loops) [Independent / Finland]^
This debut ambient record from Finnish artist Artem Selyugin (AKA hopeyouwell) features gentle drones awash with lo-fi analog textures that are a tape-lover’s dream.
Escape Now by Jo Johnson (album / melodic, electronic) [quiet details / UK]
“Ever-shifting melodic sequences come in and out of view, soaring washes of chords mix with endless organic textures—at times a huge sound-world, at others intimate and delicate—always using sonic dynamics to create a beautiful and powerfully mesmerizing atmosphere.” — Bandcamp description
Pardinyas by ghost and tape (album / electroacoustic, modular synth) [Dauw / Spain]
“With this new work, Heine Christensen continues his explorations into the world of Eurorack. This ever-changing instrument has had a profound impact on his practice, pushing the boundaries of his (re)sampling and sound construction techniques. On Pardinyas, we hear the most minimal and abstract ghost and tape to date. Snippets of melody come and go, almost as if they’re playing a game of hide and seek, but before you even realize it, the abstraction has turned into a meaningful reality.” — Bandcamp description
Archival Recordings: Primal Image / Beauty by Alan Lamb (album / dark ambient, experimental) [Room40 / Australia]
“Time is a strange and elusive companion. Listening to Alan Lamb’s Primal Image/Beauty, the traces of time are deep, and forever deepening. Recorded in 1981 and 1983 respectively, and then revised and refined across the coming half decade, each of these pieces traces Lamb’s personal history through materiality and harmony.” — Bandcamp description
All Genres
FIRST 4:
Weight Away by Lukas Creswell-Rost (album / folk rock) [Wayside & Woodland Recordings / UK]^
This new album from Lukas Creswell-Rost, a former member of post-rock group The Pattern Theory, is a journey through some darker moments for the artist. The songs sit primarily in the folk-rock realm, but the arrangements and stories are ever-shifting much like the life that inspired them. Whether he is grappling with a close friend’s loss or the uncertainty in his own mind, Creswell-Rost weaves a compelling story throughout.” — my brief description of the project from The Press Box in issue #49
Landscape from Memory by Rival Consoles (album / electronic) [Erased Tapes / UK]
“As Rival Consoles, [UK producer and musician Ryan Lee West’s] calling card is his ability to channel hope, pain, sadness, and euphoria in one fell swoop, twisting the key in the lock of his internal world and telling stories without words. Crucially, Landscape from Memory is as much about zooming in on the details as it is about seeing past the horizon. Like a saturated photograph or an abstract painting daubed with bright splotches, Landscape from Memory is a riot of color, an album blazing with a sound-shaper’s renewed love for his craft.” — Bandcamp description
Self Titled by Kae Tempest (album / hip-hop/rap) [Island Records / UK]
Kae Tempest is many things—rapper, poet, novelist, playwright—and here on Self Titled, he is at his most ambitious according to Apple Music. “[Self Titled is] a career peak that takes in menacing hip-hop grooves, jubilant, expansive pop, jagged beats, and bombastic soundscapes.”
. by Kesha (album / pop) [Kesha Records / USA]
The first half of the opening track FREEDOM. for Kesha’s new album . (pronounced “period”) is actually ambient. The album, however, goes on to explore funky, dancey electropop with Kesha’s iconic vocal delivery. The best part is knowing that the “freedom” being referenced here is that this album is the first fully owned by Kesha herself, being released on her own independent record label.
Music List Reminders: Bold and ^ denote reader-submitted work. Bandcamp links provided for every record that is available on the platform. If an album is not on Bandcamp, YouTube or other streaming links are provided. List format: Title by Artist (release type / genre or subgenres) [Label / Location].
The Press Box
This week, just a quick mention of a new album coming soon out of Spain.
Aunque llegue la mañana by Raúl Cantizano & David Cordero (out July 18)
A new album of ambient flamenco guitar? Yes please! That’s what’s in store from the next release on David Cordero’s Noray Records: Aunque llegue la mañana (which translates to “even if the morning comes”).
Cordero partnered with artists like experimental flamenco guitarist Raúl Cantizano and vocalist Lela Soto, weaving together 11 tracks of meditative, minimalist, and evocative soundscapes.
For me, this album represents a bold and very personal project. I felt the need to bring my roots closer to the sound I’ve been exploring for years, and this work is the result of that encounter.
Aunque llegue la mañana is now available for pre-order on Bandcamp and will be released in full on July 18. I’ll be sharing a longer interview with David about this beautiful record sometime in the coming weeks. For now, you can listen to 3 of the singles ahead of the album’s full release.
500 Sub Giveaway EXTENDED—win a free album + book!
I’m extending my 500 subscriber giveaway which was originally going to end July 1st. We’re about 8 subscribers away from 500, so each one of you who helps share Hum, Buzz, & Hiss is greatly appreciated.
I’m sweetening the prize deal, so check out how to enter below (it’s super easy and a free way to support my work):
Invite a friend to subscribe to Hum, Buzz, & Hiss on Substack using the referral link on my leaderboard page: https://meltedform.substack.com/leaderboard
DM or email me your referred friend’s name/email so I can confirm they subscribed (DM on Substack or email me at meltedform@gmail.com)
1 grand-prize winner will receive an album of their choice on Bandcamp (digital or physical, max $15) + a signed paperback copy of my poetry book Shifting Senses, Lifting Lenses: A Book of Poems and Songs.
Additionally, 2 more winners who refer their friends will also receive copies of the book.
This new version of the giveaway will now end in 2 weeks on July 18!
That’s all for this week’s issue. Thank you for reading. Until next time.
Your friend,
Melted Form
Remember to listen to the hum, buzz, & hiss of the world around you—there is music to be heard there.
Read the previous issue of The Living Music List:
Afterword—Let’s Get In Touch
Are you an artist, a label owner, or a member of the press? Want to share an in-depth feature of your upcoming release, an advertisement, or a guest post for a future Hum, Buzz, & Hiss issue? Get in touch with me at meltedform@gmail.com or join our Discord Community. As always, I would love to hear and recommend your music, especially if it’s new and ambient/electronic/experimental.
thanks for including qd36 jo johnson!