Oz Fritz - All Around the World
(Sub Rosa)
Released under the aegis of Bill Laswell’s Material project, this is a collection of field recordings of sacred places that Fritz made in order to explore his hypothesis that, in simplified terms, “the atmosphere, the quality and aesthetic of mood found at holy shrines may be recorded and transmitted… The intention here is to use sound as a means of exploring space.” Our musical trans-global express has scheduled stops to eavesdrop on prayer calls in Tashkent, chanting monks at the Basilica de Sacre Couer in Paris, tinny horns at an Arabic horse show at the pyramids in Giza – all collected in the lengthy opener, “What Is Your Job,” wherein Fritz replies with the self-described explanation of what’s happening here, “I record sounds.”
Fans of gothic horror movies like Phantom of the Opera will enjoy the pipe organ at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on “Our Lady,” complete with the congregation’s muffled coughs and general milling about. Anyone who’s ever toured the cathedral will recognize the ambience of sightseeing commingled with religious ceremony if you happen upon a mass in progress during your visit. “Easter Sunday Midnight Mass” is exactly as described – spent in the company of chanting Tamil priests at the Mount St. Thomas shrine in Madras, India. Unintelligible, but rhythmically hypnotic…perhaps the result of Fritz’s clandestine recording? Elsewhere, the hauntingly harmonic chanting of the Australian Outback is captured in “Marralyil,” which I guarantee you’ll be humming to yourself long before the track ends.
Not everything works, however: “Bell of Sacre Couer/Showtime at Giza” is a mess of confusing noises, sound effects and general mayhem with no inherent direction or raison d’etre, as is “West African Night,” which mostly consists of an uninteresting collection of percussive effects, while “Next Stop Bedford Avenue” is an unnecessary exercise in comparing and contrasting the sounds of the New York subway system with the Paris Metro which overstates the obvious: that the manic insanity of rush hours are the same no matter where you live.
It is these environmental ambient tracks that are the least successful; the album is best when it explores the musical traditions of obscure and remote peoples and, as such, I’d have to say that, based on this evidence, Fritz’ hypothesis is not proven or, rather, not very interesting. These recordings are based on his interpretation of John Cage’s theory that “a new way of hearing music may occur for the attentive listener…who places musical value on common sounds and elements of noise…[m]usic that exists outside the structure of chords, scales and orthodox harmonic patterns.” [From Fritz’ liner notes.] While a few of these recordings do just that (“Temple Drumming” at the Ayuppa Temple in Madras, “Holy Beggars” chanting in Tokyo, Tashkent and India), it is the recordings of traditionally structured sounds (what us Westerners might typically describe as “music”) that works best. The rest are mere ambient noises that the Western ear, at least, is programmed to tune out.
Part sociological travelogue, part ethnological musical journey, this is still a wonderful primer for the state of ethnic music All Around the World, particularly for anyone interested in exploring non-Western modes of musical expression.
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