Label: Sound Image – SI0003 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album Box Set Country: US Released: 1977 Genre: Non-Music, Folk, World, & Country Style: Field Recording, Folk
A winding teleportive journey through the Bahia region of Brazil through sound and images.
It’s always exciting when artistic mediums are merged.Sound Image was a very short-lived American box-set series in the mid-70s that sought to capture the everyday sounds of our world together with accompanying imagery.Edited and recorded by legendary recordist / radio producer James Metzner, the series only managed three releases before folding, presumably due to productions cost, which by today’s standards would be totally unthinkable.
This third (and sadly final) instalment to the series captures everyday life in Bahia.Atmospheric church bells and the murmurs of the congregation gives way to beautiful local folk, together with traditional Fisherman’s ditties, lively samba and intimate love songs.There’s something so special about the immediacy and intimacy of these recordings, presumably of amateur musicians either put on the spot or captured spontaneously, set within the genuine sonic atmosphere of where they originate.It’s a mesmerising removal from the everyday, uniting sound and space in a way that seems obvious but is rarely executed as well as here.Metzner’s intuition of who, what and when to record is truly special and it’s clear he had a unique ear.He was quoted a few years back when The Library Of Congress acquired his entire archive..“You can go to a museum and see Diane Arbus' photographs. You can see René Magritte paintings. Why not soundscapes? They are every bit as much of an art form.”We couldn’t agree more!(NM/VG+ with all photographs).
Tracklist A1 Festival Da Boa Morte 3:03 A2 Samba 2:06 A3 Gypsy Song 0:43 A4 Samba Da Viola 2:08 A5 Woman Washing Clothes In River 0:53 A6 Fishermen's Songs 2:30 A7 Men Husking Coconuts 1:00 A8 "Just Us Two" Song 3:36 A9 Festival Of St. Lazarus 2:28 B1 Morning Montage 3:30 B2 Minister And Crowd 1:30 B3 Men Playing Dominoes 0:30 B4 Samba Da Viola 1:55 B5 "Ser Tao" Instrumental 2:31 B6 Parrot And Girl 0:35 B7 Candomble 2:24 B8 Vaiqueros 1:10 B9 Capoeira 3:45 B10 Soccer Game / Samba 2:26
