Ludwig Berger & Pablo Diserens // Tracing Basalt In The Onsernone Valley CD

実験レーベルforms of minutiaeとVertical Music主宰2名が、2026年1月にリリースした共作CDです。

物音スケープ7曲を収録。16ページのブックレット付属。DVDサイズのケース仕様です。

レーベルその他作品はこちら /// Click here to see more Forms of Minutiae releases available at Tobira. 

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Ask us for digital files.
CD in large format DVD sleeve.
Includes 16 page booklet.
Edition of 100 copies. 

Tracklist:

1. regen ist die sonne des klangs (rain is the sun of sound) 08:16
2. vom wasser lernen (learning from water) 03:12
3. schallbad im isorno (acoustic bath in the isorno) 05:26
4. wie tief dringt ein ton ein? (how deeply does a sound penetrate?) 03:26
5. suche nach schalleindrücken (searching for sonic imprints) 05:58
6. sprechen in reibenden zungen (speaking in rubbing tongues) 07:24
7. die basaltfrequenz finden (finding the basalt frequency) 06:02

From the label:

"The two labels, forms of minutiae and Vertical Music, team up to present “tracing basalt in the onsernone valley”, the first collaborative project of field recordists and sound artists Pablo Diserens and Ludwig Berger based on Basalt’s writings.

In the Oratorio di Niva, deep in the Onsernone Valley (Ticino, Switzerland), Ludwig Berger and Pablo Diserens found loose sheets of paper in a folder marked with the name “Basalt.” These aphoristic and personal notes conveyed a profound philosophy of listening and belonging. Amazed, the two artists unearthed the origin of these writings.

It is said that Basalt (1910 - ?) was a gender non-conforming person born and raised in Berlin. They studied geology while being part of the city's vibrant queer scene before escaping the Nazi regime in the 1930s. For years, they travelled through Europe until they settled in the Onsernone Valley in the 1950s. Here, Basalt developed a keen ear and relationship to the environment informed by early theories of bioacoustics, psychoacoustics, and ecology. Oozing with poetry, Basalt’s notes revealed a hypothesis of their own emerging from a singular methodology of listening. The core principle of their “sonic imprint theory” was the belief that sound leaves measurable traces in the matter it comes into contact with. Consequently, Basalt spent the rest of their life using their body as a sound recording device in the hopes of creating a sonic archive through their skeleton. In time, they cultivated an intimate and extensive relationship with rocks, birds, rivers, insects, and human locals—such as fellow trans refugee and poet Gian Alessandro Rapp. In the end, nobody knows exactly what happened to Basalt. It is believed that they disappeared in the Onsernone Valley, their body never to be found. Based on Basalt’s last written entry, some speculate that they morphed into a grasshopper and joined, what they called, the insect people.

Inspired by Basalt’s life and writings, Pablo Diserens and Ludwig Berger put Basalt’s thinking and methodologies into practice. The duo followed these aphorisms like a map, listening to the Onsernone Valley and recording the sounds it fostered. As time passed, the landscape unveiled itself differently and the parallels with Basalt’s experience grew. Sounds became palpable while the boundaries between the two artists and the world blurred. Out of this attempt to bring Basalt’s philosophy back to life, Pablo Diserens and Ludwig Berger created a counter-cartography of the valley’s soundscape, tracing the effects and interrelations of its sonic imprints. Together, the album and Basalt’s writings enact a psychogeographical gesture that urges listeners to reimagine their relationship with the world around them."

Artist : Ludwig Berger & Pablo Diserens

Label : Forms of Minutiae x Vertical Music

cat no : FOM17

Release date : August 2025