Sounds & Spaces 001

April 21, 2013 6:59 AM

“When I was doing my Post-Doc at UCL I used to go to the British Museum to relax, and work in the beautiful library there, so I chose the space for the mix. I wanted to capture the ambient atmosphere in the central courtyard, so I did some binaural recording to include in the mix. I also wanted to make the mix something of an exploration through history and ideas in line with the contents of the museum, so I brought in lots of disparate music spanning the centuries and continents. I also mixed it in a way to be like a journey though the museum, turning corners and regularly coming across something totally different and unexpected, with each track being like a different exhibit. Hence the name of the mix, in that, each piece of music almost has a visual content.” -- Max Cooper & The British Museum

Tracklisting:
1. Max Cooper “Binaural Museum”
2. A Winged Victory For The Sullen “Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears” (Erased Tapes)
3. Max Cooper “Woven Ancestry” (Unreleased)
4. Adam Johnson “Anex” (Merck)
5. Peiyou Chang “Song of Gu Qin” (Peiyou Chang)
6. Vaetxh “Randolph Pactali” (Unreleased)
7. Bonobo “Cirrus” (Ninja Tune)
8. ThermalBear “U Love” (Last Night On Earth)
9. Rockwell “Fluf” (Shogun Audio)
10. Xu Zhengyin “Dragon Boat” (China Record Corporation)
11. Unknown Origin “Gregorian Chant” (Edit)
12. MMOTHS “For Her” (Max Cooper Remix) (SQE Music)
13. Unknown Origin “The Call to the Lama from Afar” (Jade)
14. Rrose “Waterfall” (EAUX)
15. Nils Frahm “Peter” (Max Cooper Remix) (Erased Tapes)
16. James Yorkston “Woozy With Cider” (Jon Hopkins Remix) (Domino)
17. Max Cooper “Binaural Museum”

posted by empath (11 comments total)

Yes! Thanks very much empath. Perfect for today. Max Cooper has been a big fave here, since you introduced me to him previously.
posted by carter at 7:34 AM on April 21, 2013

Londoners and visitors alike: if you're in the area one of life's great pleasures is to wander in to the British Museum - for free - and go see any of its treasures. From obscure artefacts through to he Rosetta Stone, there is something thrilling to just be able to walk in and just look at them for 10 minutes. You can stay longer, of of course. But it is an extraordinary privilege to be able to dip in and out of world class treasures as if you owned the place.
posted by MuffinMan at 7:52 AM on April 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

When I was doing my Post-Doc at UCL I used to go to the British Museum to relax, and work in the beautiful library there

An experience sadly no longer available to post-docs, or anyone else:

It is with great regret that the British Museum will close the Paul Hamlyn Library as part of efforts to accommodate a 15% cut to the Museum’s grant-in-aid budget.
posted by verstegan at 8:27 AM on April 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

On the other hand, verstegan, that same post mentions they're re-opening up the Reading Room. I've never seen the Reading Room used as anything other than exhibition space.
posted by vacapinta at 8:40 AM on April 21, 2013

I'm going to derail this discussion of the fate of the British museum back to one about music. Another excellent mix that came out recently & that might appeal to people who like this is Donato Dozzy's Roma mix for electronique.it, which ostensibly uses a bunch of fragments of Italian pop music to create an excellent deep house (I think?) set. Not as delightfully eclectic in overall sound as this one, but very cool as a synthesis of different bits & bobs.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:22 AM on April 21, 2013 [2 favorites]

Oh man, I need to get myself to London and The British Library. Permanently.
posted by iamkimiam at 11:56 AM on April 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

This is the most delightful thing ever.
/happy place.
posted by special-k at 1:09 PM on April 21, 2013

How serendipitous -- I just arrived (like, an hour ago) in a hotel I booked in London in such a ridiculously offhand manner that I didn't realize it was practically backed up against -- the British Museum. And this is the first link I open on MeFi, sitting in my room at what my body still insists is 4 pm. Thanks, kind empath!
posted by ariel_caliban at 1:22 PM on April 21, 2013

Great find, empath. The different spaces in the British all have such different characters and sounds and it's a great place to watch and listen.
posted by a halcyon day at 7:26 PM on April 21, 2013

This is great. More of this, please.
posted by schmod at 7:42 AM on April 22, 2013

> Donato Dozzy's Roma mix for electronique.it

That electronique.it series is a great one. The Rrose mix is especially outstanding.
posted by Hubajube at 8:41 AM on April 22, 2013