Douglas Quin- Fathom (Taiga, 2010)

“Douglas Quin’s Fathom brings together four extended underwater soundscapes—two each from the Arctic and Antarctic. The recordings have been gathered over a period of 15 years, capturing an extraordinary palette of sonic voices, events, spaces, and textures. To the human ear, these soundscapes are haunting and otherworldly; yet they are very much of this world—out of earreach. The tracks are minimally edited and are his first field recordings to be archived in vinyl. Included with the release is a sealed envelope containing an insert with specific locations, animals, and other elements heard, giving listeners the option to absorb sound with or without association. The envelope is printed with liner notes and comments from Dutch journalist and music critic René van Peer. Mastered by James Plotkin, cut direct to metal and pressed on 200 gram virgin-vinyl, Fathom comes packaged in custom letterpressed materials and is presented as a limited edition of 1000.” (Taiga)

Just last week, my sister's friend Chance took off to Chile for his seasonal gig on an Antarctic research vessel. At his goodbye dinner, he was explaining how amazingly laser-like leopard seals sound when swimming underwater. Its true. You can hear them in droves on this album's second Antarctic track: "77° 37’ S 165° 48’ E". Fathom offers a fascinating presentation of unprocessed, ethereal polar sounds. Quin's field recordings fall nicely within the very best, most authentic genre of ambient music; that of the natural world. As always, Taiga has pulled out all the packaging stops with a beautiful, deluxe letter-pressed album cover. I believe I'm gonna grab a copy of the real mccoy from Mimaroglu while there's still some left. Big thanks to Dom (in Portugal) for this album rip.

Download Links, Douglas Quin- Fathom (Taiga 11, 2010): FLAC and 320 mp3

Arctic
58° 37’ N 159° 59’ W
59° 02’ N 158° 25’ W
Antarctic
64° 49’ S 64° 02’ W
77° 37’ S 165° 48’ E