Mixtape #44 : Spring

by 5:4

For my April mixtape, i’ve gone for a seasonal theme, exploring music that references and/or alludes to aspects of spring. While all the seasons are, by their nature, in a continual state of flux, i’ve personally always tended to think of spring and autumn as being ‘transitional’, more obviously progressing between opposite poles of light and warmth. Therefore, i’ve opted for a quite polarised collection of music, some of which can be heard from a cheerful, upbeat, thank-god-it’s-not-winter-anymore angle (Syd Dale, Barbara MorgensternJohn ZornThe Bad PlusDeerhoofVeljo TormisHenry ManciniC Duncan) while others are more reflective and contemplative (Clint Mansell, Wendy CarlosGalina GrigorjevaKim CasconeGreg HeadleyAndrew LilesClara Iannotta, frostbYte, Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki & Tatsuro YamashitaHelen GrimeKeith BerryMichael OlivaShane CarruthScott WalkerPaddy Kingsland). Brian Reitzell is something of an odd one out, in full-on sinister mode, while John Oswald‘s madcap overclocked version of the Rite of Spring is one of my favourite sections from his gleefully demented Plunderphonics album.

Starting the mix, and at half-hourly intervals, i’ve indulged my love of birdsong by including some (from the British Library‘s collection) that are particularly appropriate to the season of spring in the UK, beginning with a wheatear followed by a nightingale, a swallow and finally a cuckoo, which brings the 90 minutes of seasonal sonification to an end. The mixtape can be downloaded or streamed below; here’s the tracklisting in full, including links to obtain the music. The cover artwork is a photograph i took in the early spring of 2012, at Painswick Rococo Gardens; those of you who know your flowers will recognise, carpeting the ground, a multitude of snowdrops, a long-established symbol celebrating the season of spring.

British Library – Wheatear (from British Bird Sounds On CD)
Syd Dale – That Spring Feeling (from KPM 1016 – Pleasure Spectacle)
Brian Reitzell – Primavera Pt 1 (from Hannibal: Season 3 Volume 1 (Original Television Soundtrack))
Clint Mansell – Blossoming (from Stoker (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack))
Wendy Carlos – Spring [excerpt] (from Sonic Seasonings)
Peter Raeburn – Flowers (from Woodshock (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack))
Galina Grigorjeva – Svjatki for mixed choir: V. Chto Nastanet Vesna (Spring Is Coming) (from Nature Morte)
Kim Cascone – CathodeFlower [excerpt] (from CathodeFlower)
Barbara Morgenstern – Spring Time (from Sweet Silence)
John Zorn – Rain Flowers (from Nova Express)
Greg Headley – Neptune – A Latter Spring Has Come [excerpt] (from The Operation of the Heavens)
British Library – Nightingale (from British Bird Sounds On CD)
Andrew Liles – A Cold Spring in Summerland (Binaural Mix) (from My Long Accumulating Discontent : Complete Download Version)
The Bad Plus – First Part: Adoration of the Earth: Spring Rounds [excerpt] (from The Rite of Spring)
John Oswald – Spring (from Plunderphonic)
Clara Iannotta – Intent on Resurrection – Spring or some such thing [excerpt] (from A Failed Entertainment: Werke 2009–2014)
frostbYte – wildflower [excerpt] (from One dog night)
Deerhoof – Flower (from Breakup Song)
Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki & Tatsuro Yamashita – Passion Flower (from Pacific)
British Library – Swallow (from British Bird Sounds On CD)
Helen Grime – A Cold Spring – II. Calmo (from Night Songs)
Keith Berry – My Backward Voyage To The Spring: Memories Are Smashed To Smithereens. I Never Thought Much About My Schoolmates, Always Had To Enter That Door Much Earlier Than The Others. Little Did I Know I Would Have Met You There. (from The Ear That Was Sold to a Fish)
Michael Oliva – A Memory of Spring [excerpt] (from Nocturne – rarescale plays Michael Oliva)
Shane Carruth – The Finest Qualities of Our Nature like the Bloom on Fruits Can Be Preserved (from Upstream Color (Original Motion Picture Score))
Veljo Tormis – Suite from ‘Kevade’ – Spring Time (from Eesti Heliloojad (I))
Henry Mancini – Night Flower (from Music from “Mr. Lucky”)
Scott Walker – Come Next Spring (from Scott 2)
Paddy Kingsland – Spring Meadows (from Nature and Wildlife)
C Duncan – Garden (from Architect)
British Library – Cuckoo (from British Bird Sounds On CD)



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Michael D. Scott

Nice! I’d noticed your previous themes of “Autumn” and “Summer” and figured the other seasons would follow. Let’s see… you’ve done “Moon”…

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