It's not always clear to me which musical themes come up every day and it's certainly often due to chance or perhaps the playlist that's currently playing.
Last Sunday I listened to Mark Barrott's “Nature Sounds of the Balearics” several times on repeat.
It was the weekend, the sun was doing its best, the air was rather oppressive & it wasn't difficult to imagine a Balearic environment.
After several "Sketches from an Island" albums and 12" inches, "Nature Sound" was, well, his "techno" album, but of course that's not the whole story. His Balearic philosophy of the “Sketches” releases can be found on most of the tracks.
Mark Barrot has become somewhat rare in recent years, but that shouldn't stop anyone from (re)discovering his release from 2014 - 2018.
My favorites from the “Nature Sounds” album are “Keltner & Chalkin”, “Aroon” & “Donchian Reprise”, which would also look good on any other Virtual Dreams album.
Overall a good idea.
Before the album came out, Running Back released a test pressing version. Normally something like this leaves me cold and I wait for the official release. Here I couldn't say no to 10 euros. I admit, it's a bit nerdy.
„Mark Barrott yields another lush study of life of the white isle, making his debut with the Running Back Incantations sub-division of Gerd Jansen’s label
“Most music does not come out of nowhere. Arising and appearing in a pre-existing system of influences, cross-references, roots, memories and desires, it either directly points towards a heritage or into the future. Mark Barrott’s Nature Sounds of the Balearics is a bit of both. The mastermind behind the International Feel label and the Sketches from an Island series presents an intermediary.
Technically, it’s his departure from a software based workflow and onto (or back to) a hardware driven creative point of view.
Philosophically, it deals with the schizophrenia of our times: the late Paul Virgilio’s dromology and logistics of perception versus a decelerated life outside of cities, internet algorhythmics (sic!) versus meditation, the excessive stock market (all track titles are derivates of that world) against a tactile way of living.
Musically, it is the outcome of what Barrott himself described as his „techno album“. For people whose definition of techno has to do with speed (again) and kick drums that might seem like a misinterpretation. Listeners who remember the Artificial Intelligence and Freezone compilations, various chill out channels or Detroit’s mellow moments, will tend to agree. „Nature Sounds of the Balearics“ miraculously evokes those days and times, without breaking his neck. It is as much at home in a Caribbean water utopia between dolphins and old fishing boats as it feels current and applicable in a Ridley Scott dystopia. And if meta levels aren't your thing: it’s just a beautiful album.”
-boomkat-
„Mark Barrott - International Feel boss, Talamanca System member and ‘the master of sunset music’ - drops a new LP on his mate Gerd Janson’s Running Back label. Nature Sounds Of The Balearics is not, as one might suspect from its title, a collection of field recordings. However, this LP does mix in some found sounds with a chilled take on the grooves that have pretty much become a natural sound on the Balearic islands over the past few decades. Barrott describes this as his techno album, and the influence is certainly there on tracks like ‘TRIX’ and ‘Ichimoku’. However, there are also strong strains of new age, downtempo and - of course - Balearic house here.“
-Bleep-