Bestarium Sombre is a spiritual successor to Dominic Eulberg’s Mannigfaltig, a clubworthy album on which nearly every track is dedicated to a single species. The big difference is that some of Anastasia Kristensen‘s “dark beasts” are real, while others are imaginary.
The magpie, of course, is one of the real ones, and gets to lead off the set with its song (before the track titled “Intro”!). In addition to its song, the bird is known for being playful and intelligent. The music is similarly intricate, yet fun, shifting between different types of percussion. The magpie sends directions to the instruments; or perhaps she is singing along.
The black-footed ferret is sadly endangered; also known as the American polecat or prairie dog hunter (as 90% of its menu is prairie dogs), the species has been cloned in an effort to prolong its existence. Kristensen’s track of the same name is stark and robotic, producing the feeling of an assembly line containing boxed, mass-produced polecats: a frightening fate. In similar fashion, Africa’s secretary bird (which does not take notes), known for its height and protruding plume, is also endangered. The repeated sound of breaking glass reflects its fragility.
The “Sulphur Mustang” (short for “Sulphur Springs Mustang”) is “not an official breed,” but a tiny, nearly non-existent strain that developed among a stolen herd in Utah. One can almost hear the hooves of the horses as they scallop away, despite the efforts of a persistent horse whisperer. And of course there is no such thing as a hydraulic whale, although there is such a thing as hydraulic whale watching, which is what prompted the artist’s imagination; the whooshes that decorate the track imitate what one might hear should such a species develop, rising from the sea in order to meet the metal eye-to-eye, while the electronic warbles are the hydraulic version of whale song. Silver cuttlefish do not (yet) exist, although there are silver cuttlefish lures and necklaces, all the better to send the mind spinning to what sort of fish this might be. In Kristensen’s hands, we can imagine an angular, darting fish, its changing colors represented by shifting vocal tones.
As the project draws to a close, one remembers Pauline Baynes’ Questionable Creatures: A Bestiary, which offered a similar combination in art and prose. The sobering reality is that every imagined creature is balanced by one that may be on its way out, descending into history, myth and memory. As fun as Bestarium Sombre may be, it may one day be heard as a requiem. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 