Hybernation – Greyhound Park (Rednetic)

As Hybernation, UK-based electronic producer Stuart Bowditch has already established a reputation for building his ambient / downbeat-oriented productions around found sounds and field recordings – an approach vividly showcased on his impressive 2007 debut album for Rednetic ‘Snow Cover.’ Two years on, this debut volume in Rednetic’s strictly limited run 3″ CDR ambient series sees him working completely with field recordings, with this single 18 minute long track ‘Greyhound Park’ taking its title from a now-dilapidated shopping park that Stuart often glimpsed from his parents’ car as a child during the eighties, but never actually visited. Ostensibly, the audio contents here document a trip to the local shops – from the walk in through the car park, through to the metallic crash of trolleys being slotted into place, the yelling of excited children and even the occasionally entrance of stray, foreign-accented chatter (though it’s never really clear whether the voice in question emanates from the shopkeeper or his customers). Apart from the appearance of icy, minimalist IDM arrangements towards the very end of the track, Bowditch’s also elected to keep much of the original audio here more or less untreated, leaving plenty of ambiguous space for the listener to conjure up their own inner visuals. One of the most unexpectedly delightful ambient treats I’ve heard for quite a while…but remember there’s only a scant 100 copies around.