Rubbish Music (Kate Carr & Iain Chambers)'s CD/DL, Upcycling, reviewed in the Wire
"Collectively and individually our relationship to what we throw away is undergoing radical and necessary change. The resourcefully fabricated soundscapes of Upcycling can be heard as modest yet significant reflections on that fundamental shift" - Julian Cowley Read the review here
Upcycling
Rubbish Music uses sound to investigate the journeys, transformations and impacts of our discarded objects. Using our worn out treasures, empty vessels and broken devices as an orchestra of vivid musique concrète materials we examine the worlds we make and destroy via our rubbish.
From the great rubbish patches we have made in our oceans to buried dumps and sophisticated recycling plants the objects we let go of continue in many guises without us. Decay, transformation, re-purposing and recycling are just some of the means by which our everyday objects might persist and change in ways which extend beyond our relationships with them.
These journeys discarded items embark upon also create new worlds, new niches for species. From the changing habits of animals making the most of our swathes of waste, to the rise of plastic devouring bacteria, throwing away objects, and what happens to them next has profound effects. With our toolkit of rusty bells, dirty oven grills, onion skins, toilet plungers, wine bottles, nasal spray and a squeaky chicken toy, we seek to imagine some of them.
RUBBISH MUSIC is the duo of Kate Carr and Iain Chambers. Upcycling is their first album.