Mekong Morning Glory takes Francisco Lopez’s full-spectrum approach to field recording, editing sounds to extract their maximum sonic impact, while adding further processing and instrumental adornments to create a kind of personal audio postcard. Merzouga’s Eva Pöpplein & Janko Hanushevsky traveled through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam on the Mekong capturing sounds which were then tinkered with. “We examine field-recordings in regard to their musical qualities … and fuse them with electronically processed electric bass sounds.” Hanushevsky also adds chopsticks, golf balls, knitting needles and wine corks to his bass playing. Don’ go in expecting a crisp snapshot of the river – insects, water, voices and the like – as I did, but submit to the ‘ambiance’ of the locale via Merzouga’ re-creation of that space and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
The bass is most noticeable through the central section of the 49-minute piece creating a kind of musical saw-type effect. It enters, after opening patterns of wind chimes and a dull grey drone, as a Ry Cooder-esque slide guitar, its gurgling tone merging with the splash of the river. Elswhere its perhaps responsible for various prepared piano- type tinkerings and digital blips and blops.
Their editing however is what most impresses, particularly a violent segment late in the piece involving cascades of white noise: waterfalls, rapids, raining shells and granular synthesis collapsing and colliding in a symphony of tiny detail. From here they introduce a sinuous drone using what sounds like Akira Rabelais’s Argeiophontes Lyre software, before ending in unprocessed chatter, traffic and motorcycle throttle.
Joshua Meggitt
