Simon Fisher Turner – The Epic of Everest

“The Epic of Everest” is a classic documentary (from 1924!) about George Mallory and Sandy Irvine’s attempt that year to climb the Mount Everest. The fateful expedition was filmed by Captain John Noel in the harshest conditions:
“The pair were last seen when they were about 800 vertical feet (245m) from the summit. Mallory’s ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years, until his body was discovered on 1 May 1999 by an expedition that had set out to search for the climbers’ remains. Whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit before they died remains a subject of speculation and continuing research.”
The film is also among the earliest filmed records of life in Tibet.

For the BFI restoration of this move, a completely new score was composed by Simon Fisher Turner.
And this score turns out to be an impressive sonic document by itself!

Betacicadae – Mouna


Mouna

Betacicadae is probably not a name you will easily remember.
It concatenates Beta (“obsolete magnetic tape, a second version, something lowly“) with Cicada (“strange and humble insect that emanates beautiful sound”).
And: it is the artist alias of Kevin Scott Davis.

Mouna – available on CD, clear white vinyl, or as a digital download – is not easy to describe, since it contains many different styles.
Still it manages to present a coherent, “narrative” sound. I found myself returning to it and playing it over and over again – which is ususally a sign of something special going on…

Cello + Laptop – Parallel Paths


Parallel Paths

Cello + Laptop first got my attention with their beautiful track, “The Hunt”, featured on the Escala 2.3compilation.

This Spanish duo, consisting of Sara Galán (Cello) and Edu Comelles (Laptop) have now released their full debut album on the Envelope Collective label (“The label that is always slipping in the fold of the wave”).

Parallel Paths easily exceeds the (high!) expectation I had based on the single track I knew from Escala 2.3.