Not to be confused with the other Native Instrument(s) based in Berlin that has a role to play in the music world, the Native Instrument duo consists of Felicity Mangan and Stine Janvin Motland, and they clearly didn’t succumb to a haphazard moniker-choosing process that involved forming words out of their leftover Alpha Bits letters. Instead, “native instrument” fittingly describes their actual music: much like all the touristy photos we excitedly take of even the most trivial minutia when we’re in new places, Mangan and Motland (also a SHAPE alumna) use their field recording gear to incorporate “native” sounds into their quite-new collaborative brand of manipulated sound collages. Most of the shit we hear in our daily lives gets unconsciously tuned out as “noise,” but Native Instrument specialize in giving it a bit of screwed attention.
The Shelter Press label has the honor of sponsoring the duo’s debut 12-inch, out March 16. It’s called Camo, and on it, the non-human wildlife of Australia (Mangan’s motherland) and Northern Europe emerge in the context of “electronic and vocal adaptations.” Bird sounds abound (kind of a given, thanks to their naturally melodic sound). But screaming monkeys also appear, as if to remind you of their penchant for violently ripping your arms out of their sockets if you should get too close. Thankfully, Native Instrument got “too close” for us, so all we have to do now is listen to those primates. Check them out for yourself on the track “Waldfest” below, and pre-order Camo here.
Camo tracklisting:
01. Deep Frog
02. Vögel Unserer Heimat
03. Waldfest
04. Emutional Flutes
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