Auntie Flo Releases Experimental EP
'The Soniferous Garden' is available now.
Brian d’Souza (aka Auntie Flo) has released a new two-tracker, titled The Soniferous Garden.
The EP sees d’Souza bring together an international group of musicians to explore musical differences and celebrate shared visions, “drawing together the introspection of Pharaoh Sanders’ classic “Harvest Time” with the rhythmic complexity of Thomas Mapfumo,” explains the press release.
Produced and arranged over an intense, collaborative two-day session at the Santuri studio as part of the Ugandan Bayimba arts festival in Kampala in September 2015, the project draws on Senegalese Sabar drumming, the plaintive notes of the Adungu (a Ugandan 10-string harp) and the vocals of Gio Kiyingi, underpinned by d’Souza’s arrangements and drum programming.
The title The Soniferous Garden is taken from the writings of Canadian composer and environmentalist R Murray Schafer, a concept he defines as “a garden or place of acoustic delights”—an aural space of retreat from the oppressive overabundance of acoustic information that characterizes the modern industrial world.
The two compositions are a response to this idea—drawing the listener into meandering, ever-evolving themes that weave in and out of a rhythmic base that is equal parts traditional percussion and electronic production. The title track showcases the virtuoso Adungu playing of erstwhile Burnt Friedman collaborator Hakim Kiwanuka, and vocals from regular Highlife World Series contributor Giovanni Kremer Kiyingi while Rainfall on red earth (inspired by the vivid colors of the landscape around the studio) pushes the talking drum of Mama N’Dieck Seck Thiam to the fore.
The EP is available to purchase now, and streamable in full below.