Alder Hey
"Last year I interviewed sound recordist Chris Watson on the subject of noise for a piece exploring the use of birdsong at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool..."
RTS NORTH EAST & THE BORDER CENTRE | 12th January 2012
The magnificent pictures that our specialist cameramen produce for the BBC Natural History Unit’s stunning wildlife documentaries are a high point of UK television. But, as always, the pictures are pretty useless without the sound that goes with them. CHRIS WATSON is one of the world's leading location sound recordists, with a remarkable portfolio of work including ‘The Frozen Planet’, ‘The Life of Mammals’ and ‘The Life of Birds’.
On January 12th the RTS, in association with Newcastle University, is promoting an evening event with Chris that will demonstrate the lengths he goes to capturing the remarkable sound of the natural world - or as Chris puts it, ‘putting a microphone where you can't put your ears’.
For more details of this un-missable event, go to www.rts.org.uk/netb. The event is free, but registration is essential through our Eventbrite booking service.
The Poetry of Radio | The Colour of Sound
The Poetry of Radio
The Colour of Sound
By Seán Street
To Be Published 6th February 2012 by Routledge – 146 pages
This book explores the idea of the poetic in radio and sound as well as the concept of pure sound as poetry, both historically and within a contemporary perspective, examining examples of makers and works internationally.
Chris Watson at Bluecoats | Liverpool 27th January 2012
Gina Czarnecki exhibition until 19 Feb '12
A retrospective exhibition by this award-winning artist, featuring new commissions and other works being shown in the UK for the first time. Daily 10am - 6pm.
Fri 27 January 7.30 – 9.30pm
Chris Watson - Quarantine:
Founder member of influential Sheffield based music group Cabaret Voltaire, Chris Watson is one of the world’s leading recorders of wildlife and natural phenomena. Here Watson presents the UK premiere of new album El Tren Fantasma and a live performance of his sound score for Quarantine, a video work by Gina Czarnecki.
Free but booking required
Chris Watson Sound Quiz on Springwatch | BBC2 26th December
Chris Watson's sound quiz for Springwatch (BBC2 tonight at 7pm). Answers tonight!
Stimulus Respond
Chris has responded to the latest edition of "Stimulus Respond - 13 Chaos". You can find out more here
On the Radio 2012
NATURE: Soundings from Antarctica
BBC Radio 4, Tue 3 Jan 11.02, rpt Thur 5 Jan 21.02
Soundings from a frozen landscape: A powerful and emotional journey in sound; above, below and within Antarctica’s landscape of ice with contributions from the team who made the BBC series Frozen Planet. Sound recordist: Chris Watson, Producer Sarah Blunt. You can read a review in The Guardian of this broadcast here.
NATURE: The Water Boatman’s Song
BBC Radio 4, Tue 10 Jan 11.02, rpt Thur 12 Jan 21.02
Writer Paul Evans accompanies sound recordist Tom Lawrence on a journey in sound across Pollardstown Fen to hear the extraordinary sounds of an underwater orchestra of aquatic insects. Additional sound recordings: Chris Watson, Producer Sarah Blunt
NATURE: The Ghost Roost
BBC Radio 4, Tue 17 Jan 11.02, rpt Thur 19 Jan 21.02
More than ten years ago, sound recordists Chris Watson and Thor McIntyre-Burnie recorded the sounds of tens of thousands of starlings when they came into roost for the night in the derelict remains of the concert hall on the West Pier in Brighton. Today the West Pier no longer exists, having been destroyed by storms and fire, what remains are the sounds of a Ghost Roost. Producer Sarah Blunt
NATURE: Emma Turner; a life in the reeds
BBC Radio 4, Tue 24 Jan 11.02, rpt Thur 26 Jan 21.02
Drawing on extracts from her book, ‘Broadland Birds’, NATURE tells the remarkable story of Emma Turner, a pioneering bird photographer who lived for many years on a houseboat in the reed beds at Hickling Broad. It was here that she took a remarkable photograph which provided evidence that Bitterns which had been driven to extinction in Britain in the late 1800s were breeding in Norfolk once again. Wildlife sound recordist: Chris Watson, Producer Sarah Blunt
NATURE: In search of the Tiger’s Roar
BBC Radio 4, Tue 31 Jan 11.02, rpt Thur 2 Feb 21.02
Chris Watson leads a team of wildlife sound recordists to Corbett National Park in India, in the hope of capturing the sounds of the forest and the roar of a Bengal tiger. Producer Sarah Blunt
NATURE: Painting in Sound
BBC Radio 4, Tue 7 Feb 11.02, rpt Thur 9 Feb 21.02
When the National Gallery in London invited wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson to create a piece inspired by a painting of his choice, it was the start of an innovative project exploring how paintings can be interpreted with sound. Producer Sarah Blunt
Review of El Tren Fantasma in The Quietus
You can read a review by Luke Turner in The Quietus
BBC Best Albums of November 2011
El Tren Fantasma has been listed as one of the BBCs Best Albums of November 2011
"It's during the points of human absence that El Tren Fantasma works best. Here Watson's ability to create whole worlds, entire lifetimes in the listener's imagination, beyond the moment of recording, comes to the fore. Brushwood and tall grass sway beneath the breeze crossing canyon slopes, while constant cicada chatter is punctuated by the distinctive calls of woodpecker and crow."
www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcmusic/2011/11/the_best_albums_of_november_20.html
Review of El Tren Fantasma by Andrew Weatherall
"A benchmark in field recording not to mention a map of the soul, an insight into the human condition and a key to dreams." (Caught by the river)
You can read the full review here and buy the album and 12" vinyl in the TouchShop
