Mike Cooper — Chao Phraya - River of Kings

This two CD-R release represents a unique and interesting concept revolving around Mike Cooper's time spent in Bangkok. The Chao Phraya River, the longest in Thailand, runs through the city. Like Venice, Bangkok was built virtually on the water, and was made up of a series of canals. These canals have since been filled in and paved over with roads, but the Chao Phyraya is still a very active means of transportation through the city, facilitated by river ferries. The ferries, whose role are very much akin to buses, have stops at 36 floating metal platforms. The platforms are designed with rollers which enable them to float freely up and down with the tides, and the rise of the river during monsoon season.

Cooper has chosen to document the movements within Bangkok in two ways; the first disc is an audio travelogue of his walks throughout the city. For purposes of being concise, this soundscape is offered as a collage of interesting sounds. The piece starts with the hum heard from Cooper's hotel window, the sound of the city awakening with traffic. From there, myriads of lively sounds are presented. Cooper's extensive experience as an idiosyncratic and creative musician over a forty-plus year period plays a major role in the success of this project.

The first disc's sound collage is a perfectly judged piece of sound art. The recorded sounds are tied together with no fancy effects, and thus the intent to present a slice of life comes off as natural and realistic. The first disc includes sounds of children practicing gamelan, gongs and xylophone as well as street sounds, a karaoke singer in a restaurant, temple chants, and birdsong, among other things. What may be the most important aspect of these recordings is the fact that Cooper has a sensitive ear for the musical sounds present in everyday life.

As a result, these discs serve not only as a slice of life, but as entertaining, and very listenable music. The aforementioned elements are assembled in such a manner that they still retain a certain ramshackle earthiness, meant to mirror the surroundings, and it makes for a very rich and rewarding experience.

The second disc deals entirely with the sound, or music, generated by the ferry platforms. The platforms produce an often shrill, high whine, which is changed by the height of the water and the passing of boat traffic. The recordings, I believe, each represent a single platform. Though these pieces require a bit more patience of the listener, they are still informed by Cooper's ability to isolate those moments which are singularly musical. The disc becomes interesting as one realises the differences from one platform to the next. Once again, Cooper has figured out a way to transport the listener through the city of Bangkok in a clever and original way, while at the same time presenting a kind of music.

This set is currently only available directly from his website, and it is certainly worth the time to seek it out.