pablo diserens // turning porous LP

Our popular Berlin-based field recording artist Pablo DiserensIn August 2024presided over labelThe record was released through Forms of Minutiae.

Various recordings she made during her two-month stay in Galicia, Spain.This is a deep listening soundscape piece using field recordings. DL code included. 180g heavy vinyl, 45RPM.

Below is a commentary by the label.

as part of the solo exhibition "on becoming amphibian" and publication, forms of minutiae and galería vilaseco present "turning porous", a collection of amphibious and hydrographic sounds by field recording artist and forms of minutiae co-founder pablo diserens.


Invited to the lush Galicia region in northwest Spain, Pablo Diserens spent two months living and working there, inhabiting the region's freshwaters day and night in the hope of integrating with the local amphibian community. He employed a variety of video and sound recording techniques while adopting a listening and attentive posture. As he gradually integrated himself into the amphibian, Pablo Diserens played with the boundaries of human experience by engaging in physical play and perceptual reframing. The result was a shift in the sense of the present as a being passing through an embodied amphibious reality. The subsequent exhibition and publication "On Becoming Amphibian" and album "Turning Porous" form a body of work that reflects this permeable transformation, inviting listeners into the fragile soundscapes of Galicia's aquatic ecosystems.

Across the six tracks, you can hear the calls of anurans, chirps of insects, bats, birdsong, the roar of hydroelectric plants and sounds carried by the wind. Alternating between croaking frogs and droning soundscapes, the album draws you into the complex sounds of the region's ponds and rivers while also suggesting a music that is specific to the region. There's a sense of physical contact and intimacy throughout the tracks.

Fascinated by frogs and devoted to their well-being, Pablo Diserens sets the stage for the world of anurans. Amphibians are known as indicator species; their extreme sensitivity to changes in their health and environment tells us something about the state of the planet. So much so that their presence (or absence) can be used to monitor the health of habitats. The album opens with "arytes", a delicate call of a midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) recorded on the slopes of the Rio Minho. A microphone placed very close to the toad carefully picks up the toad's nighttime calls, which over time intertwine into a tapestry of delicate tones. It's a kind of eerie music. The lively calls of the Iberian water frog (Pelophylax perezi) and the Iberian tree frog (Hyla molleri) radiate from the former quarry. As listeners become absorbed in these excited soundscapes, the pings, ribits, and chirps swell with hints of meaning, as if we are beginning to understand and hear them as language.

"Riparian zone" paints a portrait of the Rio Minho by blending animal sounds heard on the river slopes with anthropogenic vibrations. Anteaters, crickets, grasshoppers, bats and birds merge in a pseudo-circadian curve into a polyrhythmic soundscape of clicks, pings and zips. These sounds are buffered by a drone-like confluence of insect buzz and the static hum of the dam's hydroelectric plant, the timbral resonance gradually shifting as the microphone moves closer to and away from the source of the drone. Throughout the track, non-human presences ebb and flow from the constant hum of hydraulic technology scarring the landscape. As dusk gives way to dawn, a bird attacks the microphone to reclaim the foreground, giving way to the elusive call of a stork.

For Pablo Diserens, sustained tones and complex rhythms have a unique allure, especially when such music is unobtrusively present in the world. "Transparent Skin" expresses this feeling with a magical delicacy. Water beetles wriggle and sizzle beneath the surface of a frog-filled pond, revealing submerged pulsations beneath the surface. Further upstream, a hydroelectric structure produces intertwining tones of site-specific music, charged with emotional ambiguity. Pablo Diserens blows into a glass bottle, creating vibrations through Helmholtz resonance. Finally, the call of an anuran joins this microtonal chorus, liquefying the listener into a state of permeability as the amphibians permeate.

"Mirage in Motion" closes the album on an esoteric opening. Somewhere among the jutting rocks and twisted chestnut trees, the forest is enveloped in a gentle hum. Insects wriggle timidly and the wind blows through the cracked tree trunks, forming soft Aeolian tones.

Overall, turning porous exudes the slimy intimacy of Pablo Diserens’ listening experience; as they write in an adjacent publication: “I’ve become more frog than human these days.” A metamorphosis made audible through the combination of field recordings, drone-like forms, and hints of acoustic ecology. Inviting the listener to interweave with Galicia’s fragile amphibians and aquatic realities, turning porous invites the listener to take in the world with a gesture of penetration; a murmur that calls for a permeable, porous existence as a way of coexisting with the creatures of the pond and beyond."

Labels and other works  ///Click here to see more Forms of Minutiae releases available at Tobira. 

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Ask us for digital files.

12" record - 45rpm - 180g
printed outer sleeves
Limited edition of 200 copies

tracklist:

1. alytes 06:40
2. riparian zone 09:58
3. herpetophonics: ponderings 04:41
4. permeable skin 08:28
5. herpetophonics: arousal 06:46
6. mirage in motion 04:55 

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Forms of Minutiae:

"As part of the upcoming solo exhibition and publication “on becoming amphibian”, forms of minutiae and Galería Vilaseco present “turning porous”, a gathering of amphibious and hydrographic acoustics by field recordist, artist, and forms of minutiae's co-founder Pablo Diserens.


Invited to live and work for a two-month period in Galicia, the verdant region of Spain's northwest, Pablo Diserens spent days and nights inhabiting the region's freshwaters in the hope of merging with the local amphibian communities. All ears, they adopted a series of listening postures while deploying a range of visual and sound recording techniques. Gradually dissolving in the herpetofauna, Diserens toyed with the boundaries of human experience by engaging in somatic play and perceptual reframing. This resulted in an altered sensing of the present as funnel existenceed through embodied amphibious realities. The subsequent exhibition and publication “on becoming amphibian” and the album “turning porous” form a body of work that This permeable morphing while inviting listeners into the vulnerable soundscapes of Galicia's aqueous ecologies.

Over the course of six tracks, anuran calls, insect stridulations, bat clicks, avian songs, hydroelectric hums, and wind-borne tones occur. Frog recordings and dronesque soundscape compositions alternate, drawing us into the sonic intricacies of the region's ponds and rivers while hinting at site-specific musics. Closeness is felt throughout, as tracks bear a sense of intimate positioning flirting with physical contact.

Enamored with frogs and concerned with their well-being, Diserens gives the stage to the anuran world. Amphibians are known as indicator species. Their health and extreme sensitivity to environmental changes speak volumes on the state of the planet. So much so that their presence (or lack of) can be used to monitor the health of a habitat. “alytes” opens the album with the deliciously minute calls of common midwife toads (Alytes obstetricans) recorded on the slopes of the Rio Miño. Placed extremely close to the toads , microphones pick up prudent nocturnal pings intertwining over time into a delicate tonal tapestry. A bewitching music of some sort. Aptly named, the two “herpetophonics” tickle the ears and dilate the pores as the boisterous calls of Iberian water frogs (Pelophylax perezi) and Iberian tree frogs (Hyla molleri) radiate from former quarries. As listeners melt in these aroused soundscapes, pings, ribbits and chirps swell with hints of meaning as if we began to fathom and hear them as a language — an anuran semantic.

“riparian zone” paints a portrait of the Rio Miño by merging animal voices and anthropogenic vibrations heard along the river's slopes. In a quasi-circadian curvature, alytes, crickets, grasshoppers, bats and birds merge into a polyrhythmic soundscape made of clicks, pings , and zips. These are cushioned by the dronesque confluence of murmuring insects and the static hums of a dam's hydroelectric plant—which tonal resonances gradually shift as the microphones move closer and away from the drone's source. Throughout the track, non-human presences ebb and flow from the constant buzz of the hydraulic technologies scarring the landscape. As dusk reaches dawn, a bird reclaims the foreground by attacking the microphones and giving way to the gripping clatter of storks.

For Diserens, sustained tones and rhythmic complexities hold a unique magnetism, even more so when such music is found discreetly existing in the world. “permeable skin” carries this sentiment with spellbinding delicacy. Water beetles stridulate and zip away under the surface of a frog -packed pond, unveiling the submerged pulses of the waters' flip side. Tones rise from the hydroelectric structures further upstream, intertwining in a site-specific music charged with emotional ambiguity. Diserens responds by blowing into glass bottles, creating oscillations made of Helmholtz resonances Finally, anuran pings join this microtonal chorus as it percolates with amphibience, liquifying listeners into a permeable state.

“mirage in motion” ends the album with an arcane opening. Somewhere between protruding boulders and contorted bodies of sick chestnut trees, the forest is visited by a gentle hum. As insects stridulate timidly, winds funnel through a cracked sylvan trunk to form soft aeolian tones, ebbing and flowing with the aerial currents.

All in all, “turning porous” oozes with the slime and intimacy of Diserens' listening experience. They write in the adjacent publication: “I'm more frog than human these days”. A shapeshifting that is made audible through the imbrication of field recordings, dronesque forms, and hints of acoustic ecology. By inviting listeners to weave themselves with the fragile amphibian and riparian realities of Galicia, "turning porous" is an invitation to let the world in in a gesture of permeance. A murmur that calls for permeable and porous existence as a way of cohabiting with the critters of the ponds, and beyond. "

Artist: Pablo Diserens

Label: Forms of Minutiae