A start of the year that has involved an insane amount of travel, some for business a lot for pleasure. This has meant I’ve been even worse than usual about keeping this supposedly semi-regular blog up to date. I’ll also blame time spent wrestling with weighty questions like ‘what’s the point of it all,’ ‘would it make sense to start a Substack’ and ‘have I got time for more game of FIFA.’
Still the urge to produce something has finally won out and means I am back - albeit very briefly - for a self-promotional update about a new project. Namely my new Instagram Account - Wild_Meditations.
A view over the still surface of Lower Pierce Reservoir, Singapore.
The concept is pretty simple: short (typically 30 seconds) video and audio clips of beautiful natural (and some a little more urban) landscapes that I’ve visited and which I thought other people might also enjoy. Like most things I do it really all started by accident, the result of a desire to record some of the sights, and just as importantly the sounds, from my semi-regular forays into wild spaces.
A dawn chorus of coots, swamp hens, black swans and ducks welcoming sunrise at Lake Okareka, North Island, New Zealand. (click full screen for a bigger video)
Wandering along an empty beach, catching the sunlight pouring through a forest canopy, marvelling at the view atop a windswept promontory, watching swallows swoop and dive over a secluded pond, or just drinking in the birdsong and buzz of insects in a jungle clearing. Nothing else quite feeds my spirits and lifts my soul as stumbling across these special spots and timeless moments, a reminder of the diverse and infinite beauty of the natural world.
It’s why I try and get out and walk whenever I can and wherever I am, and what led me to try and capture some of these inspirational experiences and bring them back home with me. It was only recently, during a trip to the stunning North Island of New Zealand, that I realised I had amassed my fair share of these short clips and it might be nice to find a way to share them with others.
Bulbuls welcome the morning in Pulai Marsh a delightfully quiet corner of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. (click full screen for a bigger video)
The aim is to hopefully offer people the chance to take a mental breather, a step away from the ongoing craziness of the weird and slightly grim world we are all living in right now.
It’s also a way to share my luck in getting to experience these sights and sounds and on a fairly regular basis. One of the biggest pleasures of living in Singapore is the fact that it’s only ever a very short walk, or a quick bus/train ride to a picturesque green space. In fact, since we moved I can be tramping the Green Corridor or wandering through the Botanic Gardens in five minutes or less. What’s more these aren’t just manicured green spaces, they still happen to be alive with birds (and even the occasional animal) many of whom are more than happy to let you know about it through their strident calls.
Surf and shingle at the dramatic Back Beach in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
(click full screen for a bigger video)
As such, I thought others might also appreciate these brief clips, so I've started with a selection of some that I've enjoyed enough to record over the last few years. They are an eclectic pick from various locations ranging from Singapore’s Botanic Gardens and the wonderful forest of Fontainebleau to spectacular beaches of New Zealand’s North Island and the majestic savannah of Kenya.
Fingers crossed I will continue to add to these through further adventures, be they far afield or just down the road. I hope that you can overlook (and under-listen?) the poor production values, something I will work on going forward, and simply appreciate a chance to enjoy some natural calm.
I’d also love it if people want to contribute their own clips or recordings if so feel free to reach out through the email on this website somewhere.
Other Natural Escapes
So this doesn’t turn into a completely self-indulgent entry (though you could argue that they all are) I thought it might be nice to share a few other more comprehensive and more professional accounts, records and websites that also look to capture the rich, intriguing and diverse soundscapes that can be discovered all around us, if we only take the time to stop and listen.
Wild Record
So I’ve written before about my interest in rewilding and the huge potential it can have to resurrect patches of disused or denuded land and bring them back to life. The Knepp Estate is the poster child for this movement in the UK and now you get a chance to listen to the results of their 25-year rewilding journey. That’s thanks to a new record that captures the evocative dawn to nighttime soundscapes of their idyllic corner of East Sussex.
The vinyl edition might have already sold out but you can enjoy a digital version of A Day in the Life of the Knepp Estate by Sounds of Rewilding through Bandcamp. It’s a really beautiful record and you have the added pleasure of knowing that all the profits go to Rewilding Britain.
I admit to only hearing (excuse the pun) about this one recently after a recommendation on Cerys Matthews’ excellent BBC Radio 6 show.
Listening Planet is the lifework of the remarkable Martyn Stewart who has travelled the world, recording in over 60 countries and capturing the sounds of over 3500 different animal, bird and insect species.
The aim of this remarkable project is to raise awareness about the diversity, beauty and fragility of the natural world and the site gives you a chance to listen to many of these recordings plus musical remixes and much, much more besides.
Cities and Memory
This one doesn’t necessarily limit itself to the natural world, but it’s a wonderful project all the same. It features field recordings from more than 130 countries ranging from fishing songs in Kenya’s Lake Turkana to a skate park in Singapore and everything in between. The twist is that these sounds are then taken by over 2000 artists who remix these sonic building blocks to create whole new tracks.
You can listen to both the original and remixed creations side-by-side here and there’s also an option to get involved be it submitting recordings. I am a big fan, mostly because it follows through on something I’d always wanted to do which was use my hours of audio recordings as the base for some music – if only I ever got round to learning how to use Garage Band or had any musical bones in my body.
Woodchester Piano Company
Which takes me onto my last but definitely not least, a recommendation for a project by an old friend from college, which continues the blend between the natural world and music. The whimsical name comes from a former piano company in Stroud and the Instagram and Bandcamp accounts houses a wonderful selection of atmospheric and simply gorgeous ambient music mixed with clips of natural sites typically given slightly psychedelic twists. While I appreciate it’s not for everyone, I bloody love it and the music, and would urge you all to go and buy the debut album or at least sign up to his Substack account, which offers some interesting insights into the challenges of creating music today and why its still worth it.
See I knew I should get me one of those!