A new album ‘nico’s grave‘ is out
A limited edition CD, featuring a unique hand-drawn three-panel cover, is available.
In the late summer of 2018, I temporarily relocated to Berlin, furthering my interest in intertwining environmental sounds and improvisation.
I spent my early days getting a sense of place by following peaceful canal paths and navigating hidden hinterhauses, re-mapping my bearings away from the cars and traffic.
Soon I was drawn into the calm soundscapes of the Landwehr Canal in Neukölln – listening to the nuanced and distinct sounds – birdsong, echoes of a distant dog bark, rustling leaves, brief conversations heard here and there.
In the opening track, I recorded footsteps and the ambience of the forest from my walk to Friedhof Grunewald-Forst cemetery, where Nico, the German singer and model, is buried.
The music in this album is based around guitar improvisations and responds to those subtle environmental recordings and walks, merging the two into a hybrid form of harmonics, rhythms and atmospheres.
Available to order from Bandcamp and Dash The Henge Store
Bouche Bée [boosh bay] was formed in 2005 by artist and vocalist Emmanuelle Waeckerlé and guitarist Petri Huurinainen.
In Spring 2020, electronic and community musician Peter Keserü joined us. We spent the next two years improvising every few weeks or so, in Emmanuelle’s garden studio in Thornton Heath. Precious times of togetherness during and after lockdown. Each session was recorded. Sometimes we listened to the tracks over dinner.
The collective sound that was emerging had developed a subtle cinematic feel, ethereal and stirring at times. In addition Emmanuelle played with words more often; her own and those of others from her readings at the time (Catherine Keller, François Jullien, Tim Ingold, Luce Irigaray) picking them randomly from pages of her sketchbook.
We had never performed live, yet it felt quite natural to think of making an album. The tracks on ff free mon cheri were selected over 8 months of repeated listening and unanimous selecting, picking those that withstood that process. Jeff Ardron’s subtle mastering revealed a song like quality that surprised us.
Petri Huurinainen: acoustic guitar, bow, ebow, fx pedals
Peter Keserü: samples, iPads, melodica, seaboard, ocarina
Emmanuelle Waeckerlé: voice, Irish drum, ukulele pitch pipe
Recorded by Peter Keserü
Mixed and mastered by Jeff Ardron, St Austral Sound
Photography by Emmanuelle Waeckerlé
Ink drawings by Petri Huurinainen
Design by Earshots
Released July 26, 2023