Lo Escucho, Lo Pinto member and Cafe OTO regular, Sholto Dobie provides the first vinyl release for Rory Salter's (Malvern Brume/The Sprigs) Infant Tree label, and finds immediate common ground with his approach to improvised performance, field recordings and sonic arrangement. Recorded over a year in various locations (Vietnam, Lithuania, Sweden) and constructed from Dobie's self-built reed instruments (which, to these ears, sound quite a lot like detuned flutes), 23 is a balancing act of diegetic sounds, be they environmental or tonal, the nature of the instrumentation conjuring an alien interpretation of surroundings, both interior and part of a wider natural world. Bird song, the flow of water and the push of the wind dovetail beautifully with Dobie's own contributions, suggesting what I don't know, but reflecting some intuited symbiosis. This is a record of uniting vibrations and drones, an instinctive exploration of sound and capability that shows great control and patience. As audio manipulations go, it's uniquely musical and warm-sounding, eliciting a feeling (even if not emulating a practice) not unlike The Gerogerigegege's remarkably poised >(decrescendo) LP on Trilogy Tapes, as well as the more obvious reference points of Malvern Brume, MP Hopkins and such. Highly listenable and smart headed? That's the sound art gold.
