Sonidos y Modulaciones de la Selva

Italian sound artist Marco Shuttle debuts on Astral Industries with AI-39. Alluring and evocative, ‘Sonidos y Modulaciones de la Selva’ is a journey deep into the Amazon rainforest, seeking to capture its power and vastness, but also a rumination on the problem of its impending destruction. Within its wild freeform, the seamless interplay between nature and the machines sees them merge into a mysterious dance – a liquifying sequence of scenes that shimmer with flora, fauna and the unmistakable aliveness of the jungle. A procession of sputtering and cavernous pulsations, sprawling biologies and hidden mysteries, the jungle as an entity, a spirit, begins to emerge. With all its peculiarities and strangeness, it reveals a world of seeming chaos, yet underneath it all a thread of something innately conscious. Although it could be considered a form of sound diary, the scope spans much further than a standalone creative work. Within its intoxicating montage of shifting forms, ‘Sonidos y Modulaciones de la Selva’ stands as a sonic ethnography, and a contemplation on time, space, and our evolving relationship with nature. Ongoing large-scale logging, agriculture and infrastructure projects are leading to significant deforestation in the Amazon, and continues to threaten biodiversity, the global environment and the livelihoods of indigenous communities. Part of the proceedings from this release will be donated to Amazon Watch a nonprofit organization that works to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. Special thanks goes to Marco Cruz from Amazon Jungle Trips and to Aberlardo and Manuel, the indigenous guides who took me deep into the forest and made me experience its overwhelmingly powerful beauty. This record is dedicated to Colombia and all the fantastic people I met in this wonderful country – Marco Shuttle