MY BLUE HEAVEN – JULIE NORMAL & EAR EXPLORER

The imaginary soundtrack to an old film never made about waves, palm trees and wandering hearts by Julie Normal, one of the rare few who still play the ondes Martenot (Martenot waves), an obscure French electronic invention from the 1920s; and Ear Explorer, an Italian sound collective that resurrects dead sounds (usually from gramophone records), often using creative, DIY methods and techniques. Here, the wavering sounds of the Martenot, which consists of a keyboard and a ring on a wire that creates a sound similar to a theremin, mingles with heavily manipulated Hawaiian 78s played at a much slower speed to create a hypnotic and atmospheric echo-scape of bleeps, drones, loops, and locked grooves.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pia Riverola