“An Album A Day” #3 is another common but entertaining LP that’s similar (yet different!) in scope to the Environments™ series. If you’re unfamiliar with the Nonsuch Explorer series, there are plenty of affordable world music and field recording titles that would nicely round out your collection. Some of the earliest titles from the mid-to-late ’60s are — in my humble opinion — must-owns. Japanese koto music, Balinese/Javanese Gamelan, South Indian instrumental and vocal music…in the pre-millennial days of indie labels basically ripping off artists by pressing radio station transmissions into wax, Nonesuch was one of the finest purveyors of traditional musics from around the globe. I probably own a half-dozen of their albums, with the pinnacle (again, just my opinion) being Music From The Morning Of The World. I still think that’s one of the most important gamelan records ever made. If you’d like to disagree, you may do so in the comments section. Off the top of my head I can’t think of a better (or earlier) example than that one.
Of course, the good thing about Nonesuch Explorer was that it wasn’t a label focused specifically on world music. There were some non-music titles they released that require attention. 1978’s Tibetan Buddhism Shedur: A Ghost Exorcism Ritual is one of those “Oh, you need this” albums that should be in every collection. Animals Of Africa — to a lesser extent — is another. Twelve different species are documented, from “laughing” hyenas to trumpeting elephants and monkeys chattering. The liner notes attempt to draw parallels between the clarity and articulation of the voices of these animals to that of humans interacting with one another in our own environment. It’s also believed that there’s a musicality to the voices that rivals that of the greatest composers in the history of the medium. Whether or not you view this recording as merely jungle sounds or an exploration of the similarities between human and animal language.
I went through a phase in the summer of 2010 when I was picking up a lot of these Nonesuch Explorer series records, and I nabbed this one on August 27th of that year during a storewide sale at work. That same day I picked up some silly cheap MHS (Musical Heritage Society) LPs of Varèse and Messiaen, the aforementioned Music From The Morning Of The World as well as two other Nonesuch titles: Iannix Xenakis’ Electro-Acoustic Music and Varèse’s Offrandes / Intégrales / Octandre / Ecuatorial. Honestly, I don’t listen to this one that much. I thought it’d be cool to one day take some samples from this and mix it in with some ambient or drone recordings to create some sort of druggy noise/animal hybrid sounds, but as I only own one turntable and am growing lazier in my old age, I’ve never followed through. Either way, it was fun to break this out and listen to it today.
Animals Of Africa
Sounds Of The Jungle, Plain & Bush
(Nonesuch – H-72056, 1973)
A1. Leopard
A2. Vervet Monkey
A3. Hyrax
A4. Rhinoceros
A5. Zebra
A6. Wildebeest
B1. Lion
B2. Hyena [MP3]
B3. Wild Dog
B4. Silver-backed Jackyl
B5. Elephant
B6. Hippopotamus
