OUT OF THE BOX #17
Eselsohr (2011)
Out of the Box is an irregular series focusing on seven inch records. It’s an excuse to engage with my collection in a new way, as well as to write about older records and genres we don’t often cover at ACL.
OUT OF THE BOX # 17
Eselsohr ~ Voluntary Milking System (2011)
Along with the Pause Peuls (2011) cassette, Voluntary Milking System is the only output from this project from couple Giuseppe Ielasi and Jennifer Veillerobe, both released on their label Senufo Editions. The tape features recordings from Niger, slowed down and manipulated with a CDJ’s pause button, conjuring magic from a limited pallet and a constrained process. Voluntary Milking System consists of unprocessed field recordings made at the farm Le Petit Bouveuche in Saint Leger sur Sarthe in the Normandy region of France. So quite different releases, but they share a simplicity and an attention to unusual rhythms, as well as the straightforward presentation that one expects from Senufo.
As it was 2010 and still the early years of the global financial crisis, the price of milk was so low that the profits were insufficient to cover even the already reduced labor. Maybe that tension is part of why the duo chose to highlight these sounds, or perhaps there’s just something appealing about the surreality of the “voluntary milking system.” The release notes describe an almost completely autonomous 24-hour cycle in which cows enter a designated area twice each day to be milked voluntarily by an automated system. The artists conceive of this automation as a kind of extended 24-hour loop, and their recordings highlight a variety of ambient drones and rhythmic events (milkings) that form engrossing polyrhythms and harmonics.
As with so many of Ielasi’s projects, the tracks are untitled, free of allusion or referent, leaving the listener to form their own conclusions. At 45rpm, the tracks are short, but certainly long enough to get the point across, and I’ve found myself replaying this record several times, finding more sonic details as my mind wanders. The electronic drones and restrained ambience make an interesting background texture, but it is really the cycle of mechanical polyrhythms that makes the release so engrossing. Again, while the process and the results are wholly distinct, the two Eselsohr releases share a similar aesthetic, one that also animates many of the pair’s solo records, for instance, Ielasi’s work with small motors, or Veillerobe’s excellent Luftlöcher (2013), made entirely from unprocessed recordings of sparkling liquids. In fact, Voluntary Milking System has a lot in common with that release in particular, and not for the first time I hope to hear more from Jenny in the future.
So, the name: Eselsohr is a German compound word, Esels + Ohr, that is, Ohr des Esels, literally ear of the donkey, but more like the meaning of dog-ear or earmark. So, a fold that signals something of significance. I can only speculate as to the meaning of the moniker, but there’s something about the idea of the earmark that resonates with the project for me. One of the more obscure releases from Senufo’s original run, but like all their releases worthy of a closer listen.
