SiAl by Matthias Urban

"Austrian sound artist Matthias Urban crafted the two 20-minute, side-long tracks on SiAl out of field recordings he made in Iceland a few years ago. His source sounds are often recognizable, filled with running water, chirping birds, and wafting wind. What makes SiAl so compelling is the way Urban sequences those sounds, creating a subliminal narrative where each aural event feels like a new chapter in a story. There’s a stretch on side two that builds palpable drama out of what sounds like mucky footsteps tromping through a swamp. It’s odd to feel suspense without even knowing exactly what’s going on, but Urban’s work on SiAl has that kind of sneaky power."
– Bandcamp Daily

"These recordings were captured over a four-year period, but they come across as a single adventure: a trek into the wild, away from humanity, at the mercy of the elements. Urban returns with stories to tell, and blends them into an exquisite aural novel: a book on tape without words."
– A Closer Listen

"Four years of pristine Icelandic recordings converge on this cassette, unfolding as the story of a sonic adventurer, plunging himself into polar temperatures, daring the surf to swallow him whole, gingerly approaching the local seal population and asking for ~ no, stealing ~ an interview. Urban released a wide variety of recordings this year, but this is his best, a cacophony of surf and snow that sounds as bracing as the conditions in which it was recorded."
– A Closer Listen 2018 Top Ten Field Recording & Soundscapes

Dinzu Artefacts is focused on the contemporary art of sound by musicians interested in experimental practices, modern composition, improvised music, noise and field recordings.

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