Raft of Trash is collaborative MIDI project consisting of Thom Isom, Andrew PM Hunt aka Dialect and JC Leisure. Grouw, their first release out on Liverpool label Pale Master, utilizes ambient sounds from the world-building game Simcity 3000 to create a digital bank of synthesizers and samplers. The four resulting “zonings” (i, ii, iii and iv) are uniquely sounding, gently oscillating environments. While all the arrangements originate in the digital realm, there is also something very organic about each and every one.
“i” reminds me of a swarm of crickets, chirping away, eventually joined by a strange percussive ensemble. “ii” is like a swamp waking up at the break of dawn, with its birds, insects and amphibians joining the choir, while “iii”, arguably the most relaxing of the “zonings”, sees its tiny wooden clinks, plastic plonks and minute melodies transform into a distorted, desolate land/soundscape. “iv” is very chirpy, bright and percussive, a tiny ending.
Grouw is a nice little meditation reflecting on audio sources, environments and our future, and a very pleasant listen too, if you’ve got 15 minutes to spare (we all do, just don’t watch the next suggested Vine compilation). Click that play button, eh.
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