New Year’s resolutions are notoriously difficult to keep; most don’t last through Easter. In like manner, many artists have tackled year-long projects over the years, with varying degrees of success. Those who have seen it through include Wixel (an EP a month), Lullatone (a track a week), and the still-unfolding two-year Ceremonial County series from Folklore Tapes. We expect that Ben McElroy will make this hallowed list with Allotment Tapes, as he is already a prolific musician; his self-discipline is a known factor.
Allotment Tapes is a multi-media project involving music and film; the music itself incorporates field recordings and interviews. Through these monthly releases, McElroy will explore St. Anns Allotment in Nottingham, the oldest and largest allotment in all of Europe. One may subscribe in order to access the set’s bonus features, or simply catch up with the installments as they are released. Amusingly, the tape series is not available on tape (for now).
Allotment Tapes #1 – A Different Stillness features gardener Val Turton, who provides an overview of the allotment. The title track begins with running water, footsteps and bell tones, then Turton’s voice describing “a different stillness.” Sentences are dropped into a musical framework, akin to a meticulously edited podcast. Music and field recordings dance around the dialogue, coloring the spaces between the words, bringing the images to life. “This is more than enough for me,” Turton admits, but McElroy adds more anyway – a blessing, especially when the strings begin to serenade the springs. One can see Turton in the video for “The Growing Space” as she gives McElroy a tour, the guitar and strings added later, seamlessly integrated into the original biophony.
“Warming Up the Soup” is a welcoming piece, in tone as well as in title, the dialogue swallowed in an eager appetite of flowing water and violin. The allotment comes to life in the pauses of the bow, as if McElroy is dueting with silence, or at least a John Cage form of silence, allowing the allotment to speak. When the birds emerge in the closing track, it is as if insisting on being interviewed as well; they have, after all, been here for generations, their ancestors possibly predating the 19th century founding of the site. One can hear visitors in the background, a steady low-level buzz.
We’re keenly interested in where McElroy heads next, and what his next eleven vantage points will be. At the intersection of history and nature there lies an invitation to wonder, and McElroy sparks the imagination with this first exquisite entry. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 