Rothko – My Life, For A Week At Least

Trace

Since lockdown, Mark Beazley‘s work as Rothko seems to be gradually becoming more meditative, reflecting favoured landscapes with found sounds and field recordings taking greater prominence. Recently he spent a week in the Swiss canton of Ticino and this latest twenty-minute release is an aural snapshot of what must have been an idyllic break.

Amongst the pastoral birdcalls and wind rustling the leaves, the bass has retreated to a liminal throb, an ancient heartbeat its low tones giving a grounding to the natural sounds that move around our heads and open our eyes. We traverse the panorama slowly, with other elements introduced as we pass dreamlike carried on a bed of gossamer synth. The rush of water soothes as local bells toll gently.

Our mind’s eye is given plenty of opportunity to construct the journey, its woodland hues reflected against a vivid blue sky. Higher synth tones take on a distant plane-like drone; but these human-made sounds move seamlessly amongst the the found sounds, giving some sort of loose structure. There are points towards the end when it becomes just a little oppressive, slightly overwhelming and changing the perspective.

My Life, For A Week At Least asks us to make comparisons as we move from the open sky replete with birdsong, through the shadows cast by trees and into the darker, colder spots where the trees grow thicker; but suggests that we have nothing to fear as we make it home, warm inside as the weather turns heavier. The sound of raindrops is captured and revelled in as we stay tucked up waiting for it to pass and for the birdsong to gradually re-establish itself.

Once again Mark has captured a moment in time and shared it with us as if it were a home movie or album of snapshots. It is a warm, inviting soundscape that keeps on giving each time you revisit. Perhaps this is the start of something?

-Mr Olivetti-