Bob Corn & Matteo Uggeri — Fields Of Corn
The cd cover proclaims: “A Binaural Sound Movie In San Martino Spino”, and thats exactly what it is. Halfway through my initial listen, I was quite unimpressed and confounded by what I was hearing; but soon after that, everything clicked into place for me. In the starkest terms, the album consists of Bob Corn performing songs; recorded by Uggeri binaurally and interspersed with sections of dialogue and field recordings (literally). Bob Corn sings simple, emotive songs, accompanied by his guitar; reminding me of Will Oldham - except with an Italian accent. Uggeri’s role here, is beautifully listed as: “binaural field recordings, steps”. For those not in the know, binaural recordings aim to replicate sounds in a stereo-field as heard by human ears - to the extent that sometimes mics are even attached to the ears of dummy heads, to create the most realistic stereo-field (it’s for this reason, that the inlay says “Please Listen With Headphones”). Thus, despite a few “straight” tracks of Bob Corn performing, the pieces which stand out are those where Uggeri’s role is felt. This is amply explored by the start of the album. After a minute or so of machine noises, we hear traffic crossing from speaker to speaker, the crunching of footsteps and Bob Corn’s approaching vocal. His unaccompanied voice spirals around the stereo field, as either Uggeri circles him, or vice versa; with the echo of his voice introduced for further spatial confusion. This is a trick repeated across the album, to varying degrees; though, as I said above, there are also “straighter” tracks, like “End Now”. The songs are mixed in with long sections of recorded dialogue, and ambient sound; creating a genuine sense of an “audio diary”, or indeed a “Sound Movie”. To my ears, the whole thing has a dream-like quality to it, so perhaps thats a better notion. Thus Uggeri’s role is something like a real-time processor, as well as a collagist and producer. This relationship between performer and recorder is often blurred across the album, but nowhere more beautifully than on “Call My Name”: here, Uggeri walks around Bob Corn as he plays; until your brain suddenly realises that his scuffing footsteps are providing a rhythmic accompaniment. Its incredibly clever and effective - it’s years beyond the average ‘folktronica” set-up.
This is a very special release, though its perhaps to be seen as an E.P. rather than album proper. For one thing, it is a little short (approximately twenty-four minutes); and for another, two of the five songs performed are covers, which, again, gives the feel of an E.P. (On top of this, the last of the five songs appears to be performed by a different project altogether: Comaneci.) Of these covers, the first is “A Minor Place” by Bonnie “Prince” Billy; indeed, its the first song we hear, which is a problematic start to the album in some ways. Given Bob Corn’s “Oldham-isms”, performing “A Minor Place” seems a tricky venture. He delivers it faithfully and well, to the extent that I feel fairly sure that if Will Oldham had an Italian twin, they would sound exactly like this. The faltering and articulate vocal is captured beautifully, with no real sense of affectation. However, coupled with the swirling “production” that I described in my second paragraph, there’s a very real danger of it being perceived as a “novelty” cover; somewhat wasting Uggeri’s techniques. This is a little ironic, given that Oldham’s career is littered with examples where he has used recording techniques or instrumentation to deliberately confound listeners; so in that sense, the version on “Fields Of Corn” is actually a very apt tribute that I’m sure Oldham would approve of. Uggeri’s obtrusive presence in the recordings, brilliantly questions the role of “producer”; especially in an area of music (the “singer-songwriter with guitar”…) where a notion of transparent authenticity is often presented. Here, by bringing the act of recording into plain view of the listener, Bob Corn and Uggeri very simply leapfrog such concerns. “Fields Of Corn” is an odd, unsettling listen; but also a very brave venture, with immense warmth and character. In simplistic terms, an application of creative field recording techniques to acoustic song; in more colourful terms, a warm daydream in rural Italy.