Review | By Ed Pinsent / The Sound Projector
David Rothenberg | Nightingale Cities
Clarinettist and sound artist David Rothenberg made the Cicada Dream Band record for Gruenrekorder in 2014 (with Pauline Oliveros and Timothy Hill); that record made use of insects and birdsong as part of its conceptual whole. A similar approach is used on Nightingale Cities (GRUENREKORDER Gruen 189), a double CD set of music recorded in Berlin and Helsinki. The nightingale is the key. Rothenberg claims this particular bird has “helped me to find the perfect sound”. He enlisted the help of various musicians and singers, plus field recording technicians, and they went out and played in the raw, creating music right there in the forests along with the song of the nightingales. The sessions have been thoroughly documented in the fat book of notes – photographs and annotations galore, meticulously detailing the circumstances of each separate track. […]