ANTARCTICA EXPERIENCED THROUGH MUSIC
Capsule Comments on CDs about Antarctica
Valmar Kurol (January 2016)
NOTE: This valuable resource is kindly provided by Valmar Kurol (Montreal Antarctic Society/Societe Antarctique de Montreal).
Valmar Kurol can be reached directly at mtl.ant.soc@sympatico.ca
Launched: 27 May 2004. Last Updated: 19 February 2006; 9 December 2006; 7 July 2007; 15 July 2007; 5 January 2008; 3 August 2008; 15 February 2009; 1 September 2009; 1 February 2010; 12 February 2010; 14 August 2010; 15 February 2011; 23 June 2011; 20 May 2012; 30 January 2013; 29 December 2013; 3 January 2014; 1 February 2015; 31 January 2016; 15 September 2016.
There is no other music like the toneless music of millions of years of accumulated silence, through which come bars of unearthly colours. There is no need for ears to hear the fugues played on this ice organ. Here nature has set aside for man a domain of beauty and inspiration such as he cannot know elsewhere on this planet. - Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd (The National Geographic Magazine, Oct. 1947).
In his 1986 treatise, The Ice - A Journey to Antarctica, American author and history professor Stephen Pyne argues that traditional fiction could not find enough material in the Antarctic experience or the Antarctic environment to construct typical novels. The range of potential experiences was much smaller than elsewhere, the opportunity for surprise much less. Modernist literature was more inclined to follow Joseph Conrad into the Heart of Darkness than to pursue Robert Scott into the Antarctics Heart of Whiteness. Instead the Antarctic has been largely a wasteland for imaginative literature.
If one substitutes music for fiction/literature, the above comments may be just as appropriate. The visual and spiritual superlatives of Antarctica are now frequently expressed through photographs, movies and coffee table books but to a lesser extent through music. What kinds of tunes and rhythms does the seventh continent inspire? Is there an Antarctic sound? Whatever the answers to these questions, it seems that there is a scarcity of Antarctic-themed music for those with an appetite for it. The classical repertoire appears to be minimal and it is the pop artists who have been making more Antarctic musical noises, in some cases literally. While earlier songs may have focused on urging listeners to keep the continent pristine, much of the current crop seems to hold Antarctica as a mirror/metaphor for the coldness and isolation people feel in their day to day lives.
The following is a consumers guide to recorded music that I have found over the past twenty years, now mainly through the Internet. There are very few themed discs devoted entirely to Antarctica, but there are now many CDs with individual songs entitled Antarctica or about The Ice. While this site is meant to be a listing and not a critical or sociological discussion of the music, there are occasional commentaries, which stand to be corrected or debated, as well as comments by some artists about their tracks. A few non-music CDs have been included for their Antarctic content (theatre, recitation, comedy routines) but CD audio books have been generally excluded, with exceptions where the material was considered to be noteworthy.
The amount of music being made about Antarctica seems to be increasing in recent years due to:
1) the relative ease of visiting Antarctica, through tourist cruises, for direct inspiration;
2) the establishment of Artists and Writers programs by governments of countries with bases in Antarctica, which provide financial, logistical and promotional support;
3) the increasing focus on the continent (particularly now because of the widescale interest in global warming);
4) the ease of composing and recording music with consumer oriented software and digital instruments and 5) the increased possibilities of finding a worldwide audience and marketplace through the Internet with personal web sites or download/distribution sites with digital files, without the need of CDs.
Of course, none of this guarantees that interesting, popular or quality music will be made. To return to the questions at the beginning of this introduction, (What kinds of tunes and rhythms does the seventh continent inspire? Is there an Antarctic sound?), based on this discography, the answer is, its everything and anything people bring from their own varied backgrounds. The music listed herein includes the beautiful, inspirational, comical, harsh and discordant to the outright boring.
Finally, many thanks to all the composers and performers who have taken the time to provide comments about the reasons and inspirations for their Antarctic-themed music. This has greatly helped to animate the discography. Any additions and comments to the music listing are welcome. – Valmar Kurol, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (mtl.ant.soc@sympatico.ca)
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Classical Antarctica: Ralph Vaughan Williams
SINFONIA ANTARTICA (Seventh Symphony) by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Perhaps you have seen the vintage 1949 film Scott of the Antarctic. The background music, by one of Britains greatest 20th century composers, was later arranged into his Seventh Symphony, which premiered in 1953 and is still considered to be the mother of all recorded Antarctic music. The scoring includes a wind machine and conveys the struggle and desolation of Robert Scotts final journey. It is a dark, deep, dreary and depressing work, not to be played on a Walkman or iPod on an exercise bike. There are many recorded versions and listeners may find their individual tastes and preferences among the various issues.
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras recording of this work in 1998 with conductor Kees Bakels, on the budget-priced NAXOS label, is a real bargain at a third of the price of some of the more expensive ones. The booklet notes are informative but why, oh, why feature a cover photo of Greenlanders hunting in the ice, when this is supposed to be the South? Naxos 8.550737
The second release in 1998 of this classic Antarctic music, performed by the Hall Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli, is no spring penguin. The full symphony was premired in January 1953 by Barbirolli and the present performance was recorded in June 1953. This reissue on CD is now the oldest of the twelve performances of the Symphony that were recorded and issued on disc.
The issued performances are:
1. Sir John Barbirolli, Hall Orchestra (Manchester), recorded June 1953; 1998 EMI 7243 5 665434 2 7
2. Kees Bakels, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, recorded September 1996; 1998 NAXOS 8.550737
3. Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, recorded March 1996; 1997 TELDEC 0630-13139-2
4. Andr Previn, London Symphony Orchestra, recorded 1968; 1995 BMG/RCA Classics 74321 29248; also issued as 1985 RCA VICTOR Gold Seal BMG 60590-2-RG and as 1987 RCA VICTOR Gold Seal 6781-2-RG
5. Raymond Leppard, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, recorded March 1992; 1993 KOSS Classics KC - 2214
6. Leonard Slatkin, Philharmonia Orchestra, recorded June & November 1991, November 1992; 1993 BMG 09026-61195-2 (this release has been discontinued)
7. A) Adrian Boult, London Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded November 1969; 1991 EMI Classics CDM 7 64020 2
B) Boults original mono recording by the same orchestra in December 1953 was reissued in a collection of Vaughan Williams symphonies in 2002; Decca 4732412. Also issued in 1989 as Decca/London 425 157-2
8. Vernon Handley, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded April 1990; 1991 EMI Eminence CDM 7 64034 2; the same performance is also available on a Classics for Pleasure compilation (2002) EMI 7243 5 75313 2 0
9. Bryden Thomson, London Symphony Orchestra, recorded June 1989; 1989 Chandos CHAN 8796
10. Bernard Haitink, London Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded 1985; 1986 EMI CDC 7 47516 2
11. Stephen Threlfall, Chethams Symphony Orchestra, recorded October 2001; Chethams TBE 1013
ANTARCTICA by Chethams Symphony Orchestra (2010)
This disc is one of three CDs that were produced to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Chethams School of Music in 2009. Situated in Manchester, U.K., it is the largest specialized music school in the U.K., with about 290 students from ages 8-18. The CD was recorded live at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, over October 17 & 18, 2001, with conductor Stephen Threlfall. The two works on the CD were the centrepieces for the schools Antarctica Project in 2001, which was done in collaboration with a number of organizations, including the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The two tracks are Sinfonia Antartica by Ralph Vaughan Willliams (composed 1953) and High on the Slopes of Terror (composed 1999) by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Vaughan Williams 7th Symphony (Sinfonia Antartica) was the full symphony developed from his soundtrack for the 1949 film Scott of the Antarctic, about Robert Scotts fateful 1910-1913 expedition to the South Pole. Each musical movement is prefaced by a dramatized narration by Alan Williams. Davies High on the Slopes of Terror was originally written by Maxwell Davies for the National Association of Youth Orchestra, to be performed in Scotland in 2000, however the performance was postponed and the 21-minute, challenging piece was premired instead by Chethams Symphony Orchestra on this recording in 2001. The title comes from a reference in Scotts expedition diary and the piece was based on Maxwell Davies 1997-98 trip to Britains Rothera Base on the Antarctic Peninsula with the BAS, which also led to his Antarctic Symphony, (8th Symphony), first performed also in 2001. Chethams TBE 1013; www.chethams.com; www.maxopus.com; (See also SIR PETER MAXWELL DAVIES in the Other Classical Antarctica section.)
SINFONIA ANTARTICA/SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC (2009)
This is a superb compilation CD of British music and vocal recordings related to the Golden Era of polar exploration, curated by James Nice. The main track is Ralph Vaughn Williams famed Sinfonia Antartica (7th Symphony), which was completed in 1952 and was the reworking of his themes for the soundtrack of the 1949 film Scott of the Antarctic. The version here was recorded in 1953 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Boult. Also on the CD are seven thematic extracts from the film, totalling 8½ minutes, with the titles Prologue, Pony March, Penguins, Climbing the Glacier, The Return, Blizzard and Final Music, most of which are recognizable in the full symphony movements. Most of the music composed for the film was never recorded or included in the film and only the shortened excerpts were used. Its performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Ernest Irving and recorded in 1948. Fortunately for aficionados, the full original film score became available on a CD for the first time in 2002 on the Chandos label, with Rumon Gamba conducting the BBC Philharmonic. (See below in this section.)
The real gems on the disc are two versions of the song Tis a Story That shall Live For Ever, recorded in 1913 by Stanley Kirkby and Robert Carr, two vocal artists of the era. According to the informative CD booklet liner notes, Tis a Story That Shall Live For Ever was written by P. Pelham and L. Wright, and first released on 78 rpm disc on March 5, 1913 by Victory Records, sung by Robert Carr (B47, 1668). The song pays fulsome tribute to Scotts ill-fated expedition of 1910-12, and press ads for the Victory disc promoting it as In Memory of Captain Scott and his Heroic Comrades. Two months later, on May 6, 1913, another edition of the Carr recording was issued by Diploma Records with a pictorial label, in commemoration of the British Hero - a record that should be in everyone's repertoire. It seems that Scott himself left no sound recordings to posterity. The Stanley Kirkby version of Tis a Story That Shall Live For Ever, which opens this CD was released on a green label Zonophone 78 rpm disc in 1913. Billed as English Descriptive, with orchestral accompaniment, the other side of the 78 featured Kirkbys version of Be British, a song based on the Titanic disaster. Kirkby was a popular and versatile baritone who made many hundreds of recordings. (Zonophone 1050, X-2-42486).
In addition, the CD presents two recitations by Ernest Shackleton, one of which has appeared on commercially available historic recordings and the other has been invisible. According to the interesting liner notes, Sir Ernest Shackleton made two different sound recordings following the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-09, otherwise known as the Nimrod Expedition, the first of three expeditions to the Antarctic led by Shackleton. It was financed without institutional support and relied on private loans and contributions, including sponsorship from HMV, who also donated a gramophone and a bright lot of records to cheer the weary months in the snow-bound regions. The first Shackleton recording was made in New Zealand on June 23, 1909 and released as a 78 disc on HMV (D377) as A Description of the Dash for the South Pole. Even by the standards of the day the recording was crude, and although Shackleton claimed at this time that I can talk much better than I can write, this recording hardly does justice to his skills as an orator. At the same time Shackleton was under pressure to complete an account of his 1907-09 polar expedition, published as The Heart of the Antarctic in November 1909, and ghost-written by Edward Saunders. The reverse side of the HMV disc featured the recording The Discovery of the North Pole, made in 1910 by Commander Robert Peary, who commanded an American expedition said to have reached the North Pole in 1909, although today this claim is widely disputed. The Shackleton recording remained in the HMV catalogue as late as 1939. Less well known, the second Shackleton recording, titled My South Polar Expedition, was made in London on March 30, 1910 and released on Edison Blue Amberol cylinder (4M-473). An exceptionally rare sound recording, at the close Shackleton can be heard - just - asking the engineer whether his recording was successful. CD41-024; www.ltmrecordings.com; (See also VOICES OF HISTORY 2 - Arts, Science & Exploration (2005), THE VERY BEST HISTORIC VOICES (2007), HISTORIC VOICES IX - The Voices Collection (2008), TIS A STORY THAT SHALL LIVE FOR EVER (1913) and SCOTTS MUSIC BOX (2012) in the Non-Classical, all or significantly Antarctic section.)
FROM VAUGHAN WILLIAMS ATTIC – Ralph Vaughan Williams Personal Collection (2009)
This CD is a collection music transcribed from Vaughan Williams personal collection of 78 rpm recordings of various performances from 1925 to 1948. Vaughan Williams classic 1953 Sinfonia Antartica (7th Symphony) was developed from the soundtrack music of the British Ealing Studios 1949 film Scott of the Antarctic. The seven short movie pieces (totalling eight minutes), played by The Philharmonia Orchestra in 1948, conducted by Ernest Irving, were first issued on a 78 rpm record and represent various key scenes from the movie and most of them are recognizable in the later full symphony movements. Track titles include Prologue, Pony March, Penguins, Climbing the Glacier, The Return, Blizzard and Final Music. Dutton CDBP 9790
THE FILM MUSIC OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Volume I (2002)
What may be Vaughan Williams best film score, the music for Scott of the Antarctic, released in 1949, is now presented as a whole for the first time on CD. In the film, less than half of the original score was used; many of the movements played on this CD were shortened for the film and have not been heard in full, others were not used at all. Vaughan Williams later reworked the film score into the Sinfonia Antartica (7th Symphony), which still remains the standard for classical Antarctic symphonic music today.
The 41-minute suite on this CD contains all the music composed for the film over eighteen separately titled themes, nearly as long as the full symphony. It is a treat to hear the never-before-heard themes and music, which has, dare we say it, been frozen and iced over for more than 50 years. The suite was played by the BBC Philharmonic under Rumon Gamba. Chandos Chan 10007
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS - SYMPHONY NO. 6/ FILM MUSIC (2000)
Vaughan Williams classic 1953 Sinfonia Antartica (7th Symphony) was developed from the soundtrack music of the British Ealing Studios 1949 film Scott of the Antarctic. The present CD of Vaughan Williams film music may be the first to present the original film music in disc format. The seven short pieces (totalling eight minutes), played by The Philharmonia Orchestra in 1948, conducted by Ernest Irving, were first issued on a 78 rpm record and represent various key scenes from the movie and most of them are recognizable in the later full symphony movements. Pearl GEM 0107 www.pavilionrecords.com; The same pieces were also released on another Pearl compilation, BRITISH FILM MUSIC Volume 1 (2000), which has a cover photo of a sun blaring over a typical Antarctic coastal scene of mountains and pack ice. Pearl GEM 0100.
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Other Classical Antarctica (including choral and orchestral music):
TEARS OF THE EARTH: Music for the Documentary Series by Shim Hyun Jung (2014)
Tears of the Earth is a 4-part South Korean nature documentary series from MBC, one of South Koreas three major public broadcasting stations. The series began in 2008 with episodes from the Arctic, the Amazon and Africa. The 6-part Tears of the Antarctic, the final instalment, aired in December 2011. Filmed over many areas of the Antarctic Circle and narrated by actor Song Joong-Ki, the program looked at the yearly cycles of many species of penguins, albatrosses and whales, marked the centenary of Norwegian Roald Amundsen being the first explorer to reach the South Pole, and examined ecosystems and environmental issues. The 2-disc CD has orchestral music from all the series and includes 12 tracks from the Antarctic documentary, including the descriptive titles Peace, Land of Ice, Life in the Antarctic, Come and Go, Afternoon in Ice, The Attack, Penguins Village, Cutie, Fresh Snow, Lost in Ice, Tears of the Antarctic and Never Ending. The short, eloquent Antarctic pieces, recorded in 2012, are played by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jan Chalupecki. Shimaqua Music/ Fujipacific Music Korea Inc./ Ponycanyon Korea Inc. PCSD-00983
SONGS OF THE SOUTH - for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano by Scott McIntyre (2014) (not yet commercially available)
Scott McIntyre is an award-winning Hobart, Australia-based modern classical composer whose works have been performed by soloists and orchestras internationally for over twenty years. His current work, SONGS OF THE SOUTH, is a suite of five song cycles, set to sledging song texts originating from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration in the early 20th century. The texts were from various personal journals and sources from the British Terra Nova and Discovery Expeditions and from the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. His previous Antarctic-related works are FIRE ON THE SNOW (2012), a 1¼-hour, 2-act opera based on the 1940s radio play of the same name by Douglas Stewart, which was written about Robert Scotts ill-fated 1910-12 South Pole Expedition. This music was also condensed to the18-minute FIRE ON THE SNOW- Suite for 13 Solo Strings (Suite No. 1) (2010). Unused portions of the FIRE ON THE SNOW opera were previously used as the basis for the 8½-minute THE ICE BARRIER - for Baritone Voice and Orchestra (2010), words by Douglas Stewart and the 14½-minute THE ICE BARRIER - for Piano, Violin, Flute and Baritone Voice (2010). soundcloud.com/scott-mcintyre1
ANTARCTICA – New music for toy piano and/or piano by Antonietta Loffredo (2014)
This is a CD of keyboard works from various international composers, performed by Antonietta Loffredo, an Italian pianist and educator who has performed and held workshops internationally. The album notes describe the CD as a program of newly composed works inspired by the landscapes and atmospheres of one of the most fascinating continents. While Antarctica is considered the most inhospitable continent on the planet, all along its beauty and mystery have fascinated not only travellers, scientists and researchers but also painters, musicians and writers. In this program, eleven composers from five countries draw the sounds of the piano, and the clear, distinctive sound of two toy pianos, into their works about the southernmost place in the world. Titles range from the atmospheric and metaphoric to specific places, images and, of course, penguins. The program has been performed by Antonietta Loffredo at venues in Italy and Australia. In performance, the program is accompanied by images of the continent, taken by Geoff Paul and associates, one of which is featured at the end of the CD cover. The front cover is a striking reproduction of a 1912 German map of the continent.
One of the composers represented on the disc, the project organizer and a co-producer is Diana Blom, an Australian composer and keyboardist. She is also Associate Professor in Music at the University of Western Sydney. Diana told us about the CD in 2013: The reason for the topic was that I applied for an Australian Antarctica Arts Fellowship a couple of years ago, but was unsuccessful. However a patron of the pianist, who lives in Como, Italy, remained interested in the topic (as am I, although Id like to go to Antarctica) so Antonietta and I invited several composers.
Tracks have descriptive polar titles such as Inside Silence, The Blue Ice Cave, Implacable Ice, A as Antarctica, Erebus, HeartBroken Star in the Dream Winds of Endless Night, Antarctica Suite, Icewhite (penguins steps in the eternity of nothing) and Iceberg Variations. The pieces are sparse and modernistic and the sharp jangly sounds of the toy piano seem especially well-suited to convey images of icicles and fragile ice. Wirripang Pty. Wirr 059; www.australiancomposers.com.au; www.dianablom.com; www.antoniettaloffredo.com
EX OCEANO - We are from the Ocean - the Ocean sustains us - Symphony No. 2 by Matthew Dewey (2013)
Matthew Dewey is a Sydney, Australia-based composer who has produced music internationally for the concert hall, theatre and film. Ex Oceano, Deweys second symphony, is a very lyrical and melodic 46-minute work, in four movements, based on the science of climate change in the Southern Ocean. It was performed by the Czech National symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jan Kučera and recorded in the Rudolfinum Concert Hall in Prague in 2013. The piece is the outcome of a Lynchpin Arts-Ocean Science collaboration with doctoral students at the Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Australia.
According to Matthews album booklet notes on the project, It is important that we focus on the tasks at hand: promoting awareness of climate change, supporting research, helping those that wade into this science every day and who are all too aware that change is taking place - so that they might keep strong and not despair, for occasionally, they will.
If there is one thing that I hope to have achieved with this symphony, it is to provide a conduit for the emotions, passions and concerns of those scientists to the listener. Every note comes from many hours spent in discussion with these remarkable people. I dedicate the music to all of those that have been inspired to live a life given to this science, whether their dedication has arisen through desperation, the flukes of the universe or the kindness of the muses
But, this story is not over. Whilst the music points to what might be, it leaves space for a conclusion not yet reached. As the horror reaches its apex - the tumult of being brought to what we might term the living edge - there emerges an unexpected and uneasy calm. This is the sound of what opportunity we have to make change. There may not be much time, but we have to hope that there is still time.
Album booklet notes by PhD Candidates Robert Johnson and Nicholas Roden explain the science further, The temperature of the Earth is regulated by the balance between the energy coming in to it from the Sun, energy from the Earths interior and the energy radiating back out from it into space. The Ocean stores the majority of this heat and moves it around the planet. The Southern Ocean is the flywheel of the global climate. It is unique in the world, able to store more heat and carbon dioxide than any other latitude band on Earth. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) also has global reach. Connecting the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans, the ACC drives global ocean circulation patterns that are key in regulating the Earths climate. Through this connectivity, the Southern Ocean influences 40% of all ocean circulationThe Southern Ocean is not only warming, it is also becoming less salty and less dense. The volume of Antarcticas deep currents that drive the worlds great currents has more than halved since the 1970s. This warming has a feedback effect as it begins to wash underneath the Antarctic sea ice and ice shelves: increasing ice melt rates, diluting the seawater and leading to more rapid changes in ocean circulation and sea-level rise. www.matthewdewey.com; www.lynchpin.org.au
ICEBLINK (2013) (DVD only)
This is a stunning video/still film montage taken by American Brooks de Wetter-Smith who travelled to the Antarctic Peninsula in 2006 with the National Geographic Ship Endeavour, with score written by Allen Anderson. According to the cover notes, In polar regions, iceblink is the strip of luminosity seen on the underside of distant clouds caused by the reflection of sunlight off sea-ice. Iceblink, a collaboration between composer Allen Anderson and photographer/videographer Brooks de Wetter-Smith, is a meditation on Antarctica – the color, the expanse and shape, the time, the change and the life. Its about what is seen and what is imagined. Its about the unfamiliar and the extreme. Its about Antarctica as a real place and as an interior space, the edge of the world.
In addition to being a published photographer, Brooks de Wetter-Smith is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Music at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an internationally acclaimed solo flautist and teacher and has performed on many recordings.
The score for this video was written by Allen Anderson, a Professor of music composition and theory at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has won many awards for his compositions and his music has been released on many recordings. Allen told us of his collaboration on this project in 2014: I wrote the music in response to Brooks de Wetter-Smiths photographs. My intent was not only to evoke a sense of the majesty, extremity, stillness, expanse, and color of Antarctica, but also to shape the 35 minutes into a coherent musical whole. I wrote in my musical language in a way I thought would best meet those objectives.
An earlier multi-media work from de Wetter-Smiths Antarctic voyage, Southern Ice, with narration and flute improvisation, premired in 2007. Iceblink premired at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in 2008. It is scored for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, bass, harp, marimba, xylophone, vibraphone and soprano, and also includes narration of excerpts from journals, books and poetry related to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. On the DVD, it is performed by the North Carolina Camerata (including de Wetter-Smith on flute), conducted by Michael Votta, Jr. The modernistic music is very appealing and perfectly complements the majestic scenes enjoyed on the screen. Centaur CRC 8001; www.centaurrecords.com
BREATHE by William Dowdall (2013)
This is an album of contemporary flute music played by Irish classical flautist William Dowdall, and composed by Irish and New Zealand composers. One of the pieces is the 5½-minute Tekeli-li, composed by Irish composer Raymond Reade, named after the cry of the giant white birds in the Southern Ocean near the South Pole in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, by the American macabre mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe. Published in 1838, it is a classic of Antarctic fiction and tells the tale of A. G. Pym, a young man who stows away on a whaling ship, Grampus, which undergoes mutiny and is finally wrecked on its way to the Southern Ocean. Pym and a mutineer are finally rescued by another ship heading south. Crossing through an ice barrier on the way to the South Pole, they are marooned on an island by its malevolent inhabitants. They manage to escape on a small boat, which hurtles into a mysterious chasm, blocked by a large white shrouded human figure and giant white birds overhead, crying Tekeli-li!
Raymond Reade explained the background of the work for us in 2014: The piece was composed in 2009 (Poes 200th anniversary) to a commission from the flautist William Dowdall. On the day I started work, I read a review of a new French translation (I was in Paris) of Arthur Gordon Pym that was headed Tekeli-li! I noticed that this utterance fitted well with a phrase that I intended to recur throughout my piece, so I decided to incorporate the reference directly - the flautist shouts the word(s) towards the end. Otherwise, the piece doesnt represent Poes tale in any way - but it was a sincere homage, because Ive always been fascinated by him. atoll ACD 111A; www.williamdowdall.com; www.raymonddeane.com
APPARITIONS II by Andy Wen with John Krebs and Jackie Lamar (2013)
Andy Wen is an Associate Professor of Saxophone, Clarinet and Theory at the U. of Arkansas Little Rock, U.S. A founding member of the Arkansas Saxophone Quartet and a member of the Little Rock Wind Symphony, he has performed internationally in solo recitals and with various bands and orchestras. His current CD has the 2-minute solo saxophone track, 20,000: IV. Trapped Near the South Pole, which is part of a longer suite. Andy told us about the track in 2014: Its one movement of a programmatic piece titled 20,000, by Sy Brandon. Its based on Jules Vernes 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and he depicts the scene where they get stuck in the ice near the South Pole. The liner notes further explain: The Nautilus is caught between the polar icecap and iceberg that flipped over. The tremolos reflect the doom of the Nautilus as only two days of air supply remain. Staccato notes represent chopping through the ice and the saxophonist blowing air through the saxophone and wiggling the keys represents melting the ice by expelling hot water from the Nautilus. A sense of doom returns that is followed by a final attempt of the Nautilus to crash through the remaining ice. A triumphant ending reflects the success of this attempt. Emeritus Recordings Emeritus 20132
STRING QUARTET NO. 2 & GLACIA by Patrick Higgins (2013)
Patrick Higgins is a New York, U.S.A.-based guitarist, performer and composer of experimental and modern classical music. He has composed works for chamber orchestras, string quartets and for electro acoustic projects, which have been performed internationally. On his current album, the Mivos Quartet presents his seven-movement String Quartet No. 2, which it premired live in 2012. Its a spare, tingly work in varying styles from tonal to microtonal. Glacia is a four-part electronically remixed version of the String Quartet No. 2 that bends the strings and tempos into craggy sonics, inspired by the properties of ice fields. One of the unusual tracks is the squeaky 7½-minute Snowfall, Antarctica. According to the album notes, Glacia is an experimental re-imagining of String Quartet No. 2, exploring extreme durational shifts and radical sound-field manipulations. Inspired by the interchange of the perceptual and physical properties of ice fields, it attempts a music that is at once static, monolithic, and integral, while still fluid, fragile, dynamic, and fleeting. www.patrickhigginsmusic.com
PROJECT: MUSIC FOR MOVING IMAGE by Alex Cottrell (2013)
Alex Cottrell is a Liverpool, U.K.-based musician and composer for film, radio, TV, theatre and video games. Since completing his Music degree in 2013, he has been working from his own project studio. One of his interesting pieces is the grandiose classical-influenced 2-minute instrumental Antarctic Landscape. Alex told us about this track in 2014: Antarctic Landscape was originally written for a music and moving image project during my final year of study at The University of Liverpool. Its designed to sync with a piece of documentary footage (I was never able to find the source) provided to me by a lecturer at the time (you can watch the video on my Youtube channel). Aside from the visual synchronisation, the composition is crafted to reveal the incredible range of forces that such an environment projects, in particular its simultaneous fragility and power. I guess there is something magisterial about it too. www.alex-cottrell.com; alexcottrell.bandcamp.com/album/project-music-for-moving-image; soundcloud.com/alex-cottrell; www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-4nP9T-n-k
THE FORGOTTEN FILM THEMES by Monty Mozart (2013) (Web site download only)
Monty Mozart is the British violin and piano duo of Aleksey Igudesman and Hyung-ki Joo. Accomplished classical musicians turned comedians, they joined forces in 2004 and have been touring their show of visual farce and theatre with improvised and serious classical music, A Little Nightmare Music ever since. Their album of reimagined film themes of major movies includes the 3½-minute Theme for Scott of the Antarctic, a solemn string tribute to the 1948 movie depicting the story of Robert Scotts 1910-1912 ill-fated South Pole Expedition.
THE PARMA SESSIONS – NEW WORKS FOR PIANO by Karolina Rojahn et al (2013)
Karolina Rojahn is a Boston, U.S.A-based pianist of contemporary and avant-garde music, originally from Poland. She has performed internationally and recorded many CDs of solo and chamber music and is a faculty member at the Boston Conservatory. One of the pieces on the disc is the 25½-minute, 3-part Tres Estudios Australes (Three Southern Studies), written in 1989 by Sergio Cervetti about aspects of the Southern Hemisphere and recorded in 2012. The separate tracks are the 8-minute political Young Blood in the Malvinas (Falklands is the usual English name for these disputed islands), the 8-minute ozone hole-themed The Hole in the Sky of the Antarctic and The Magellanic Clouds, named for dwarf galaxies visible from the Southern Hemisphere. Sergio Cervetti is a distinguished Uruguayan composer and performer who has studied, taught and composed in the U.S. since 1962. His works have won awards and his styles include instrumental and vocal, folk, post modern and electronic and have been composed for orchestras, dance, ballet, opera and films.
Sergio told us about the track in 2013: As you probably know, I was born in the Southern Hemisphere (in Uruguay to be exact) and wanted to express my concern about those two subjects above. The third is simply my expression of awe contemplating the starry night sky while living in my hometown in Uruguay. The Southern Cross, the Magellan clouds for example. All of these subjects are deeply ingrained in my mind and that is the only reason I wrote them. In my childhood I traveled to Southern Argentina (Lagos del Sur) but never reached Tierra del Fuego or Antarctica. Navona NV5929; www.sergiocervetti.com
These three pieces, played by Karolina Rojahn, also appear on a CD of Sergio Cervettis keyboard recordings, played by various artists, including performances by the composer himself: SERGIO CERVETTI: KEYBOARD³ - WORKS FOR PIANO, HARPSICHORD & ORGAN (2013), Navona Records NV5900. According to the liner notes for Tres Estudios Australes, Three movements deal with technical intricacies and cherished thoughts about the Southern Hemisphere, my birthplace. The first is an homage to the soldiers fallen during the 1982 Falkland War. The second suggests the endangered Antarctic. The third is a rendering of my teenage years when I spent nights deciphering the sky that crowned my hometown in Uruguay.
TRIBUTE TO MOUNT EREBUS by William Fairbairn (2013, 2007) (Web site download only)
William Fairbairn is a young New Zealand musical prodigy who has been composing since the age of four, performing publicly since he was seven and has been honoured with many awards. In 2007, at the age of ten, he composed the 5½-minute piano instrumental Tribute to Mount Erebus, which was a semi-finalist in the 2008 U.K. Song Writing Competition. Videos of several performances at different ages are available on YouTube, including a November 2013 orchestral performance by the Greenhill Community Orchestra, at the Nelson School of Music, N.Z. In 2013 he had completed orchestrating the second movement of the work for his Erebus Concerto. According to accompanying video notes, Tribute to Mount Erebus is based on New Zealands worst air disaster in 1979. I wrote the piece for the families of everyone on board after my father told me he was scheduled to be on that flight, but thankfully, he was called to a work commitment. In November 1979, an Air New Zealand plane was on a sightseeing flight over Antarctica and crashed into Mount Erebus in the McMurdo Station area. All 257 people on board were lost. www.williamfairbairn.co.nz; www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8WhFJfo_y8;
SYMPHONY NO. 1 - OCEAN by Ezio Bosso (2013) (Web site download only)
Ezio Bosso is an award-winning Italian double bassist, composer and conductor who has been based in London, U.K. since 2011 as conductor and artistic director of the London Strings. He has appeared as a soloist and conductor at festivals and concert halls with many orchestras on many continents and has composed for films, theater and dance and for orchestras, in collaboration with various artists. His Symphony No. 1 - Ocean, for cello and orchestra, premired in 2010. The present recording is with the Orchestra Filarmonica 900 del Teatro Regio di Torino, conducted by the composer. One of the tracks is the Adagio: White Ocean (Antarctic), a beautiful and mournful, deeply reverberating 10½-minute post minimalist dirge that captures both the calmness and the changing nature of this vast body of water.
ALICE IN ANTARCTICA by Alice Giles (2013) (DVD only)
Alice Giles is an Australia-based internationally known harp soloist who has played with many major orchestras and also an educator. In early 2011, she travelled to Antarctica on an Australian Antarctic Division Arts Fellowship, with the Australian ship Aurora Australis. At the Australian bases, Mawson and Davis Stations, she performed and recorded music especially written for the journey, as well as music that was heard in the Antarctic 100 years ago. Alice is the granddaughter of Dr. Cecil Madigan, who was a member of the 1911-14 First Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Alice was the first Australian professional musician to perform in Antarctica and her musical presentations were arranged to celebrate the Centenary of the First Australasian Antarctic Expedition.
According to her DVD booklet notes: We need stories and dreams powered by music to keep our attention and imagination engaged with the icy continent, since human activity - scientific and political - is going on there constantly. In creating the Alice in Antarctica project my concept was to unite the historical past and the experiences of my grandfather with the present and my own personal journey. There was very little time between being notified of the Fellowship and the travel date in February 2011, so I am immensely grateful to the composers who generously contributed such fitting and excellent pieces at short notice. I took with me video cameras to record my performances indoors and outdoors, but when I returned I found I had accumulated enough additional film material to create a backdrop to fit the musical program, adding yet another dimension. I was privileged to enter into another world, a world where nature is still overwhelmingly dominant, pristine and powerful. To express the essence of nature in performance is to have experienced that essence in the quiet of the soul. Playing a concert in front of the windows of the Mawson Red Shed at dawn, improvising on the beach at Davis, or imaging what music I would hear in my heart while on the heaving Southern Ocean - these experiences helped me engage with nature in a way I had never considered at home.
This DVD includes videos of performances at the two bases, on the Aurora Australis supply ship and at Llewellyn Hall in Canberra, Australia. Musical pieces by Australian composers included Billions of Penguins by Joshua McHugh, On Not Dancing with Penguins by Jim Cotter, Beneath the Midnight Sun by Nigel Westlake (an adaptation of Scotts Theme from his soundtrack for the IMAX film Antarctica), Southern Ocean Song by Alice Giles, Ice by Mary Doumany, Aurora Wynnis by Martin Wesley-Smith and Fantasias No. 16 & No. 17 by Larry Sitsky. www.alicegiles.com; www.aliceinantarctica.wordpress.com; www.music.anu.edu.au/aliceinantarctica
FROZEN PLANET - Soundtrack Album composed and conducted by George Fenton (2013)
This is the soundtrack for the 7-part multi award-winning TV nature documentary, which was jointly made by the BBC, Discovery Channel and The Open University, narrated by David Attenborough. It first aired in 2011 and followed The Blue Planet and Planet Earth from the same production team of Alastair Fothergill and Vanessa Berlowitz. Frozen Planet examined the seasonal environments of both the Arctic and Antarctic, with an emphasis on the effects of global warming on the polar landscapes and wildlife. The series also became a focus of controversy with global warming skeptics and deniers in both the U.K. and U.S. political circles. In the U.S., six episodes of the series were narrated by Alec Baldwin. The stately, lush, melodic music was composed by George Fenton who conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra. Fentons music also accompanied the other BBC series previously mentioned. The Antarctic tracks on the CD have titles such as Surfing Penguins, Antarctic Mystery, Flying South, Elephant Seal Duel, Returning Seabirds / Albatross Love, Ice Sculptures, Leaping Penguins, Seal Ballet / Arrival of the Humpbacks, The Long March, Emperors Return and Scotts Legacy. Silva Screen Records SILCD1392
INSPIRED by Howard Goodall (2013)
Howard Goodall is a multi award-winning British composer who has composed choral music, musicals, scores for films and television shows, including the classic British programs, Mr. Bean, Blackadder, The Thin Blue Line and The Vicar of Dibley. For fifteen years, he has also been the producer of his own educational documentaries on music for TV. In 2009 he won the Emmy Award for music composition for miniseries, movie or special, Into the Storm, which was about Winston Churchill.
This CD is a collection and sampling of his music, which includes gorgeous vocal and choral religious pieces, film music and a new oratorio to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. In the liner notes, Howard explains that he has a gift for immediately hearing music that might accompany a script, film, view or picture he has just seen. Also included is Shackletons Cross, a quiet 4½-minute piano solo, played by Howard, written in honour of the cross erected in memory of Antarctic Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. His grave is located at the entrance of the harbour to Grytviken, South Georgia, a former whaling station where Shackleton died in 1922. The piece is one of a set of compositions commissioned for paintings of the Royal Collection, a major British art collection held in trust for the nation by The Queen as Sovereign. It was named for Edward Seagos 1957 painting, purchased by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh after his 1956-57 visit to Antarctica on HMY Britannia and RRS John Briscoe. The music for this work has been written in three versions, for oboe, trumpet and strings, for trumpet and organ and the current new version for piano. Decca Classic fm CFMD28; www.howardgoodall.co.uk
LETTERS TO LINDBERGH - CHORAL MUSIC by Richard Rodney Bennett (2012)
Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012) was a prolific and eclectic British jazz composer and pianist as well as a composer of classical and choral works and of film soundtracks, for which he had three Academy Award Oscar nominations. He spent the latter half of his life in New York.
This CD of choral music is sung by the NYCoS (National Youth Choir of Scotland) National Girls Choir was formed in 2007 for singers from ages of 12 to 16. It has toured throughout Scotland and this is their second recording. The choir is conducted by Christopher Bell, with Philip Moore and Andrew West on piano accompaniment.
One of the tracks, composed in 1982, is Letters to Lindberg, a 14-minute, three-part cantata for high voices and piano duet. With playful lyrics by Martin Hall, the piece includes letters supposedly written to aviator Charles Lindbergh, as he was making his solo airplane flight from New York to Paris in 1927. The 5-minute track The letter from Scott of the Antarctic is the first of the three in the piece, which also includes letters from the sunken ship Titanic and Disneys cartoon dog, Pluto.
The lyrics are: Dear Sir, I write to you this day, To ask a favour, if I may. I pray that you might help me find, A very dear old friend of mine. Hes black and furry, short and fat, His name is Penguin. Hes a cat. A cat named Penguin? Yes I know, Its rather odd, but there you go. I met him off the Spanish coast. I thought at first Id seen a ghost: A cat who sailed a small canoe, And said Im Penguin. How dyou do. I helped him climb aboard my yacht, And said Hello – Im Captain Scott. Im heading south, toward the snow. He yawned and stretched and said Lets go. Antarctica became our home. The two of us were quite alone. We built ourselves a house of snow, And listened to the radio. Each night we walked a milky mile, And Penguin taught the moon to smile. We lived the life of gentlemen; But things were changing, even then. For gradually Penguin came, To wonder how he got his name. Why not some other name instead? It bothered him. One night he said: I think Ill look me up in the Encyclopaedia, under P. He took the book down off the shelf, And opened it, and found himself. By Jove! said Penguin. Pon my word! It says here Im some kind of bird! Pay that no mind, was my reply. Encyclopaedias can lie. He looked relieved, and closed the book; But then he sneaked another look. And later, when he thought I slept, Outside into the snow he crept. And there, beneath a mournful moon, He sang a melancholy tune; As if to say Goodbye, old friend. My time with you is at an end. I cried out Penguin! Come indoors! He shook his head and flapped his paws. And while I watched, with tearful eye, He flew away across the sky. Good Pilot, if you see my cat, Be careful not to tell him that He cannot really fly at all; For if you do, hell surely fall. Just catch his eye, and call his name; And tell him that a message came. The final words of Captain Scott: Forget me not, Forget me not. Signum Records SIGCD325
ANTARCTICA FOR STRINGS by JKerby (2012) (Web site download only)
Jade Kerber is a young Tasmania, Australia-based composer whose two stately string movements, each 2½ minutes, were the first of a collection of short pieces for string orchestra depicting the events of the first voyages to Antarctica in the 19th century: Movement I - Southern Bearing and Movement II - The Frozen Shore. Jade told us in 2013: In music class at school we had a compositional competition the TSO (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) was holding for young composers to write a two and a half minute piece themed on Antarctica; the winners got to workshop their work with the orchestra and have it performed in concert. We entered this competition as a class compositional exercise though I did not like the time limit, so created it as a suite allowing for a longer duration combined over the movements. I then chose themes for each movement and listened to similar music and went from there. soundcloud.com/jkerby
ANTARCTICA – Best Selections for Brass Band (2012)
This compilation CD of tracks from various composers, played by various Dutch brass bands, includes the track Antarctica by Carl Wittrock, played by the accomplished Provinciale Brassband Groningen, conducted by Siemen Hoekstra. Carl Wittrock is a Dutch composer and conductor (b. 1966). The liner notes explain that For his first serious work, Antarctica, Carl Wittrock became inspired by huge ice fields surrounding the South Pole. Colourful and majestic sounds provide the composition with a fascinating view of the sixth continent. Antarctica is a free impression of the spectacular scenery in the Antarctic. Melodies are linked together to convey the various aspects of the landscape. These melodies together with their simple harmonic accompaniments make this an enjoyable work for listener and musician alike. Carl told us in 2007 The main reason was the impressive nature. It is very beautiful, but also untouchable and dangerous. The composition was made as a sort of movie music without movie. De Haske Records DHR 03-059-3; www.dehaske.com; (See also AMSTERDAM – Brass Band Music of the Netherlands (2005) and other recordings of this piece in this section.)
VOYAGE (STUDY XII) by Martin Reade (2012) (live concert only)
Simon Reade is an Australian musician and brass specialist based in the Hobart, Tasmania area. He is a composer, performer, conductor and educator, currently the Musical director of Hobart City Band Inc. and conductor of the Hobart Wind Symphony. One of his works is the 11½-minute Voyage, for wind band, composed to mark the centenary of the departure in 1911 of Sir Douglas Mawsons Australian Antarctic Expedition. The piece is on YouTube, accompanied by a few photographs from Mawsons voyage. According to the composers notes to the video and music, it was inspired by the birds of the Tasmanian Sea, by Ralph Vaughn Williams, the composer of Sinfonia Antartica, which premired in 1953, and by the sense of journey. The piece was first performed on June 29, 2012 by the Derwent Valley Concert Band.
According to Simon Reades video notes, Voyage, for wind band, was composed as a deliberate act of homage to a very important date in Tasmanian history - the departure of Sir Douglas Mawson from Hobart on December 2nd, 1911, on a voyage of research and discovery to AntarcticaVoyage is also shaped roughly as a palindrome - the voyage is a recurring one. Mawson went to Antarctica in 1911 with the desire to set up a base that could be returned to and in doing so created a strong connection in the minds of Australians (and particularly Tasmanians) with this most mysterious, fascinating, often terrifying but ultimately beautiful continent. Voyage was composed for the Derwent Valley Concert Band and is dedicated to its conductor, Lyall McDermott. www.youtube.com/watch?v=afPoQYArHfU
ANTARCTIC CONCERTO by Peeter Vhi (2012) (live concert only)
The premire of this 30-minute Antarctic guitar concerto took place at Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn, Estonia on May 10, 2012. It was written by the multi-faceted modernist Estonian composer Peeter Vhi, following a major 4-month trip he made as part of an Estonian TV documentary film, from the Alaskan Arctic through the Americas to the Antarctic Peninsula in 2010. The soloist was Rmi Boucher, a prominent Qubecois classical guitarist/composer/teacher who performs internationally with symphony orchestras. The performance was led by Estonian conductor Andres Mustonen with the Tallinn Sinfonietta (which became the Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta in July 2012) and was accompanied by video projections of Antarctic scenes by filmmaker Aivo Spitsonok. Peeter told us that While the Antarctic portion was only the tail-end of a much larger trip, it left unforgettable impressions, which inspired the Antarctic Concerto. To help portray the crispness of Antarctic ice for the audience, the usual orchestra was supplemented with 20 and 25 metre-long sheets of metal siding, used as percussion instruments. He also advised that So far, no record companies have made any proposals, so I cannot tell you if or when it will be recorded and made available. www.peetervahi.com; www.arktikaantarktika2010.com
SEVENTY DEGREES BELOW ZERO by Cecilia McDowall and Sen Street (2012) (live concert only)
This is a 20-minute, 3-movement work for chamber orchestra and tenor soloist, which premired on February 3, 2012 at the Symphony Hall in Cambridge, U.K. and was performed in four other British cities over the next month. It was commissioned by the Scott Polar Research Institute and the City of London Sinfonietta as part of the Scott 100 Festival of Events, 2012 to commemorate the centenary of Robert Scotts British Terra Nova Expedition of 1910-12 to Antarctica and the South Pole. The composer, Cecilia McDowall, is a multi award-winning British composer of both choral and instrumental music. Many of her works have been recorded on CD, one of which won a Grammy in 2009. Sen Street is a British writer and broadcaster who has previously collaborated with the composer, recently in a 2011 choral work with the unusual title, Shipping Forecast, based on the BBC radios daily broadcasts of British sea weather forecasts for mariners. The title of the Antarctic composition is taken from Scotts correspondence to his wife, about the extreme cold, at the end of his fateful return from journey the South Pole. For the tribute, Street combined two of his own poems, We Measure and The Ice Tree with extracts from Scotts expedition journal and letters. Cecilia told us that Sadly, at the moment at any rate, there wont be a recording, though I am sure there will be at some point. www.ceciliamcdowall.co.uk
MARCHAS Y TOQUES DE LA ARMADA ARGENTINA (ARGENTINE NAVY BAND: MARCHES AND BUGLE CALLS OF THE ARGENTINE NAVY by Special Band of the Argentine Navy (2011)
One of the tracks on this CD of Argentinean naval marches is the rousing 4½-minute Antrtida Argentine (Argentine Antarctic), written by N. Mastromarino. According to the CDs publicity and booklet notes, Navy marches are relatively modern, since the presence of bands in the larger vessels did not become common until the second half of the 19th century. The oldest bands in the Navy were the Navy Infantry and Sea Artillery unit bands during the wars of Independence and against Brazil. Navy bands began to have regular existence in the Argentine Navy around 1880, when it began to develop its own repertoire, different to that of the Army. Further, according to this particular tracks notes, During almost a century of presence in the Antarctic, the Argentine Navy has contributed to the knowledge of the continent supporting or conducting individual scientific research projects in a variety of disciplines. Since 1973 it has also undertaken search and rescue tasks on behalf of the International Maritime Organization, in the area demarcated by meridians 10 and 74 West up to the Polar Circle. Chief Petty Officer Nicols Mastromarino (Italy 1904-Argentina 1975) was the author of this march.
Although no country has ownership of any parts of Antarctica under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, there are seven countries which claimed territory during the early exploration years of the 1900s. While these countries have agreed to put their territorial claims in abeyance under the Treaty, other acts to show possession and continued occupancy still occur. Stamps of their claimed Antarctic territories are issued annually by most of these countries and Argentina, one of the most active claimants, has for many decades been sending families to live at their Esperanza Station on the Antarctic Peninsula. Tradition CDTR020201
TERRA NOVA CONCERTO by Julio dEscrivn (2011) (live concert only)
The Terra Nova Concerto, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Robert Scotts Terra Nova British Antarctic Expedition, had its premire in November 2011 at Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge and Chelmsford, U.K.). The 33-minute work was written by Dr. Julio dEcrivn, Reader in Creative Music Technology. It was performed by the Anglia Sinfonia and the Mechanical Electroacoustic Music Ensemble, conducted by Paul Jackson. The performance consisted of the variously paced and textured music and a projected screen show of sounds and pictures from archival footage from the Expeditions photographer, Herbert Ponting. Also incorporated in the projection was a computer game, played by its designer, Matthew Hollis who maneuvered through the Antarctic terrain, along with the musicians and the score. At various times, this required choices to be made by the musicians and conductor to match the action on screen. The game itself incorporated three levels, recreating aspects of Scotts Expedition: setting up a camp, collecting penguin eggs and the attempt at Pole.
In 2012, Matthew Hollis told us about his involvement: The Terra Nova game was a project I started in my second year of my degree (2011) as I wanted to learn more about game music. I figured the best way to do this was to make a game, which meant learning how to use the Unity 3d game engine (unity3d.com), to compose a soundtrack and also record/source sound effects for it. I was inspired by the Scott Polar museum in Cambridge, run by the Scott Polar Research Institute (who were based close to my campus in Cambridge) and came up with the Terra Nova game. The game or music has not yet been made available commercially, but there is a video of the concert available on Vimeo. vimeo.com/40801889
RELEASE 7: CONTACT! by various composers (2011)
This is collection of classical music from the 2010-11 season of the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Alan Gilbert, which showcased an innovative combination of works, both new and familiar. One of the tracks on this recording is True South, a 19-minute piece by James Matheson, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based composer, whose works have been commissioned by various major orchestras and who has won many distinguished fellowships and awards from the classical music world. True South was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in 2010 and recorded in December 2010. According to Mathesons recording notes in the accompanying booklet, the composition takes its title from flipping upside down the notion of true north. We tend to think of the north as being where the most activity is, the focus of where humanity is. I saw this film, Encounters at the End of the World, a documentary that Werner Herzog made. Its set at the South Pole. In his film, he goes to Antarctica,a place that attracts people who are perpetual wanderers, who live at the periphery. Looking at it from this different perspective hit me and became afoundation for the piece. I use harmonies and sounds that have a familiar aspect to them. I use triads sometimes, but I try to use them in ways that are unusual and unexpected...There are parts of this piece where theres a lot going on, but the individual components are actually very simple. The work impresses with various sounds, textures and combinations of instruments. Its well-suited to represent the dynamic sonics of not only Antarcticas natural world but also the various moods of the character types that temporarily dwell and work in the harsh environments of Antarctica; NYP 20110107; available from iTunes; www.jamesmatheson.com
ANTARCTIC MUSIC – COMPILATION OF LIVE AND CONCERT RECORDINGS by Patrick Shepherd (2011) (not commercially available)
Patrick Shepherd, originally from the U.K., has been based in Canterbury, New Zealand since 1991. He is an award-winning composer for various media, conductor of various orchestras and senior lecturer at Canterbury University. His compositions have been performed and broadcast internationally. This CD is a private, non-commercial compilation of ten tracks, written over 2004-06, following a visit in early 2004 to Antarctica as part of Antarctica New Zealands Educational Programme and as an Honorary Arts Fellow. The titles included are Katabatic, Sinfonietta, Three Antarctic Sketches, Cryosphere, Meditation I & II, Adeliesong and Fanfare for a Frozen Land. The symphonic pieces, Sinfonietta and Cryosphere are each 12 minutes and Fanfare for a Frozen Land is 7 minutes. While they are all varied in their sounds, there is an overall calmness that combines the energy and harshness of the icy landscape with its quietness and serenity. The other pieces are shorter instrumental works for violin/violoncello, clarinets or piano. Performers include local symphony orchestras and other soloists, including the composer on piano. www.litarts.canterbury.ac.nz/people/shepherd.shtml
ANTARCTICA by Landespolitzeiorchester Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (2010)
The National Police Orchestra is a 32-member wind band from Schwerin in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania area of Northern Germany. With a repertoire ranging from jazz and pop music to operettas, the well-travelled orchestra has also appeared on many television and radio broadcasts and has made numerous CDs. This CD has the multi-hued, 11-minute track Antarctica (Suite for Band), by Markus Herr, conducted by Christof Koert. According to the record companys Web site, The four-movement suite of wind band describes the journey of English navigator James Weddell through the Antarctic, in search of the mystical Aurora Isles. James Weddell, a sealing captain, sailed into the Southern Ocean region, now known as the Weddell Sea, and in 1823 reached latitude 74S, the most southerly point claimed to that time. A species of Antarctic seal was also named after him. HeBu Musikverlag HR CD2010/03
NEW MUSIC FOR CONCERT BAND by various artists (2010)
This is a CD of concert band music by various composers to accompany sheet music for concert bands from Grades ½ to 4. One of the tracks for Grade 2½ is To the Ends of the Earth by Timothy Johnson, a Kentucky, U.S.A.-based music educator and composer. According to the sheet music notes, the piece was written to commemorate the first successful excursion to the South Pole by Roald Amundsen, December 14, 1911. Various sections are meant to represent Amundsens dogsled team, the beauty, majesty and mystery of the South Pole and the expeditions triumphal return. The CD is included with the full score parts for the various concert band instruments for this piece. Curnow Music/Hal Leonard Corporation HL63013902; www.halleonard.com
SKETCHES OF THE WORLD by the Gothenburg Combo (2010)
The Gothenburg Combo is the classical guitar duo, Thomas Hansy and David Hansson, from Gothenburg, Sweden, which performs traditional music and collaborates with contemporary composers. After winning an international guitar duo competition in 2004, they have toured internationally and released four CDs. On their latest CD, they composed tracks named for each of the continents, including Antarctica, a 7-minute piece, portraying varying moods from quiet to percussive, with plenty of jangles and string bends. David Hansson told us in 2011: The piece is part of The Seven Continents. This is the basic idea (taken from the CD-sleeve): To be perfectly honest with you: we have never performed on Antarctica so far. But we hope to be able to someday! Antarctica is the coldest and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Before the aircraft was invented, you could only reach it during the short summer and if you got stuck there during the winter: your only way of communication with the outside world would be through Morse code. This feeling of isolation and loneliness, of being stranded at the end of the world, is described in this opening movement. The majestic, grandiose beauty of the nature and the strange sounds of the ice melting and cracking can also be heard. COMBO CD 003; www.gbgcombo.com
LE DERNIER CONTINENT (THE LAST CONTINENT) – Soundtrack by Simon Leclerc (2010) (Web site download only)
The Last Continent is a 2007 French Canadian documentary film made by Quebecois biologist and film-maker Jean Lemire about his 2005-06 voyage, lasting 430 days, to the Antarctic Peninsula aboard the sailing vessel Sedna IV. Lemires small crew of scientists and back-up specialists, including a doctor and a psychologist, planned to document the threat of global warming on the environment by allowing themselves to be icebound over the winter, which would have allowed them the opportunity to explore the surroundings. Ironically, there was no ice to freeze them in and they had to contend with winds that threatened the ship, lack of easy access to the shore and the thawing of their iced-in winter food caches. Their scripted filming plans went astray with the unexpected drastic changes in lack of ice that they encountered, evidence of the fast speed of warming in the Antarctic Peninsula area. Originally made in French, the English film version features narration by Donald Sutherland. The films mellow orchestral soundtrack, 18 tracks illustrating various facets of the Expedition, is a very melodic and subdued production. It was nominated as best original documentary music, for the 2009 Gmeaux Awards, which recognize French Canadian successes in Canadian television (equivalent to the English Canadian Gemini Awards). The composer, Simon Leclerc, is an award-winning conductor, composer and arranger from Montreal who has worked with many well known Quebec musicians, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He has also composed and directed the music for the IMAX film Lost Worlds and has directed the Paramount Pictures Orchestra for the TV series Star Trek. Available on iTunes.
PENGUIN DANCE – Music for String Quartett by Hans Peter Salentin (2010)
Hans Peter Salentin is a German jazz trumpeter and composer who has played with numerous world-class artists and has issued more than 17 CDs of various types of jazz music. He is a former professor of Jazz Trumpet at the University of Wrzburg and currently works for a Dutch brass instrument firm. This CD has a lively cover of penguins jumping off an iceberg and contains polar-influenced tracks such as Penguin Dance, Endless Summer Nights, Splitting Iceberg, White and Grey and Whales, played by a Bulgarian string quartet. The melodic musical styles vary from contemplative minimalism to more boisterous playfulness. In 2010, Hans Peter explained his reason for the Antarctic theme to us: Some years ago, I watched a movie about Antarctica on German TV, maybe National Geographic, strong colours, as you know, very impressive, so I composed some music, in my way, which shows the beauty of this nature, which might be gone in some years. I loved this idea to write this music for string quartet, because it shows to me, how fragile everything is. Dewey Records 24579; www.hp-salentin.com; www.myspace.com/hanspetersalentin
ANTARCTICA FOR PIANO AND MANDOLIN ORCHESTRA by Daigo Marumoto (2009) (live concert only)
YouTube has a 12-minute live performance of this concert from Japanese composer Daigo Marumoto by the Concordia Mandolin Orchestra. There are three parts: -89.2C, which refers to the lowest temperature recorded on Earth at Antarcticas Russian Vostok Station in 1983, Polar Night and Aurora, two quieter, contemplative pieces about the dark winter season and the southern polar lights. Overall, this melodic music has a broad range of dynamics and is a very worthy impression of the faces of Antarctica.
SHIMMERING LIGHT – Film Music of Nigel Westlake (2009)
This is a compilation CD of many of Australian composer Westlakes peaceful, majestic film scores. It includes music from commercially popular films, lesser well-known films as well as previously unreleased tracks and new arrangements of some older pieces. Included is the short track Threnody, with boy soprano and orchestra, which was originally included as an instrumental-only version on Westlakes CD ANTARCTICA – The Film Music (1992). This was the soundtrack for the 1991 IMAX film Antarctica. Also on the CD is the track Beneath the Midnight Sun, recorded in 2009, which is a rearranged violin and harp duo version of Scotts Theme, a haunting track on the ANTARCTICA soundtrack disc. It was originally included on the film music CD as two separate tracks, one scored for orchestra and the other for orchestra and boy soprano. Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC 476 3658
ICEBERG by Pascal Contet and Wu Wei (2009)
This is a French disc of unusual music from a pair of instrumental virtuosos, French accordionist Pascal Contet and Chinese sheng (a giant-sized mouth organ originating around 3000 B.C.) artist Wu Wei, based in Germany. The CD is a showcase of avant-garde and improvised music, with track titles inspired by the names of different forms of icebergs. Title includes Blocky, Pinnacled 1, Amery Ice Shelf, Bergy Bit, A Song of Ice, Pinnacled 2, Wedellsee, Wedge, Icebreaker, Bergie Seltzer and Dome. The high pitched timbres and free-form soundscapes, like the ice they portray, may offer a slippery and challenging footing for listeners grounded on more traditional musical landscapes. According to the liner notes, Iceberg is especially marked by a desire for sound transformation and introspection particular to the music of Pascal Contet and Wu Wei. A very pure approach, sweetly and sensitively moving, which reveals their association as far more transcendental and spiritual than experimental. Iceberg is a voyage, sliding massively, regularly like an ice-breaker come to crack a visible layer of immaculate pack-ice, provoking the instantaneous capturing of fugitive breaking before the ice reassumes its majestic immobility. In a deceptively calm environment, the music works as if in a process of irisation. Propelled by a shimmering ballet of two instruments answering each other,even at times losing themselves in each otherAnd despite the apparent coldness of the decor, the whitish luminosity washed in the wake of this musical expedition, no feel of desolation, no dark thoughts. This Iceberg cruise is a symbol of hope. Hope generated by a will to surpass themselves acoustically, by a desire for sound cohesion of two musicians who have rid themselves for a long time now of all superfluous artifice and instrumental preconception. Radio France SIG 11056; www.pascalcontet.com; www.wuweimusic.com
WHALE WARRIORS by Brian Balmages (2009) (Web site download only)
Brian Balmages is an American composer, conductor, producer and performer for wind, brass and orchestral music and his commissioned works have been used by elementary schools and leading U.S. orchestras. He is currently Director of Instrumental Publications for The FJH Music Co., Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. One of his wind ensemble concert band pieces is the melodic 5½-minute Whale Warriors, for grades 2.5-3. It is described on the publishers web site as follows: Experience the stunning true story of Captain Paul Watson and his crew as they set sail in the Antarctic in an attempt to sink whaling ships! Based on these modern day pirates, the music tells the story of their adventures as they use methods that include stink bombs, prop foulers, and even the dreaded can opener! The music paints a picture of their ship, the Farley Mowat, which is painted black with a Jolly Roger hoisted up. The energy rises as they engage other ships and risk their lives to save these beautiful defenseless creatures. Awe inspiring! Brian told us in 2010 that the track was inspired by the book of the same name by Peter Heller about Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd campaign. It was a very interesting book to read with a lot of thought-provoking material. Download available for purchase from www.fjhmusic.com; www.brianbalmages.com
PIRATE FOR THE SEA - Original Motion Pictures Soundtrack by Aldo Shllaku (2009)
This is the soundtrack to the documentary/biographical film, by Rob Colby, about the life and career of Captain Paul Watson and his crews of volunteers. Watson was one of the co-founders the Greenpeace Foundation and since 1977 has been better known as the founder and principal activist of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS). The SSCS is a leading campaigner to protect marine wildlife around the globe, particularly seals on the Canadian east coast and whales, both in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. His entanglements with the Japanese Antarctic whaling fleet have been well publicized over the years and have been the subject of both films and TV programs. Pirate for the Sea debuted at the 2008 Telluride (Colorado, U.S.A.) Film Festival in 2008. The composer and conductor of the music, Aldo Shllaku is of Albanian origin, studied music in Montreal, Canada and is now based in Los Angeles, U.S.A., as a composer, director and arranger of a variety of music styles. The instrumental music on the soundtrack is played by a small orchestra in classical/New Age world music styles to fit the moods from the Arctic north through the equator all the way to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. This is an area surrounding Antarctica where the International Whaling Commission has banned all commercial whaling. It is in this area that Japan still carries on whaling under the guise of scientific research and against which the SSCS has taken its protesting actions. On the whole, the music on the disc is very melodic and generally serene but on its own, without the visuals, may not be reflective of the aggressive and unpleasant activities that have become the legendary public face of the SSCSs voyages.
Included on the CD is Speeding into the Sanctuary, a 3-minute, 3-part musical portrayal of the area. Aldo told us that The director/producer of the Pirate for the Sea, Ron Colby, saw another film that I had written the music for and contacted me to discuss. This is how I got involved. Once I saw the film and because of the subject matter, I immediately accepted. The Whale Sanctuary track was inspired simply by what this sanctuary is - an open, calm, safe ocean place for fish and ocean mammals...until the illegal hunting begins. I had a lot information for every scene because the director of the film was on board the ship with Paul Watson for the duration of the protection expedition. Carpe Diem Music; aldoshllaku.com; www.seashepherd.org
SYMPHONY NO. 1 FOR STRINGS: ANTARCTICA by Surtsey (2009) (Web site download only)
Dave Court is a Bath, U.K.-based electronic artist who goes by the name of Surtsey (derived from the name of a volcanic island formed in the 1960s off the coast of Iceland). This 30-minute minimalist work consists of five movements, including A Song for Rainfall, A Song for Snow, A Song for Ice, A Song for Wind and Respite. The swaths of sorrowful synthesizer strings combine elements of electronic ambient music with the string orchestra styles of Pēteris Vasks and Arvo Prt, in which each change in tone is a major musical event. The moods and sounds of Antarctica bring to mind the sadness and suffering in the music of these two East European Baltic artists, as well as in that of Henryk Greckis Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs), a surprise international hit in the 1990s for the Polish composer. While Antarctica may not offer the richness of sounds and variety found in the music of these world-class artists, it conveys a very strong melancholy and is about Robert Scotts 1910-12 South Pole expedition.
We asked Surtsey about his music and he told us, The piece was in part inspired by Robert Falcon Scott and the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition. It was originally written as a single 35-minute ambient work but was split into movements to emphasise the thematic changes. There was also originally a short reprise after the third track, tentatively entitled The Flag but I cut this from the release version as I was unsure about the way it interrupted the flow of the other pieces. The titles refer to the worsening weather conditions that the party encountered, with the exception of the final track, Respite, referring to the brave sacrifice of Captain Oates and the tragic death of the rest of the party over the next two weeks, being a release from the perceived burden of their obligations and inhospitality of the continent. That piece ends with a series of coherent major chords which are intended to draw a stark contrast to the consistently minor and atonal themes of the rest of the movements. The work overall was written to evoke emotions of emptiness, isolation and helplessness, except the last track, which, ironically, was written to convey a feeling of hope. A motif is introduced halfway through the first movement and recurs in the second, third and fourth, but not in the fifth, in an effort to reinforce this. The other motivation was that Ive always harbored a fascination for the Antarctic, since I was a child. It seems to hold a powerful and menacing yet fragile beauty, which I find hard to explain. Download available free of charge under a Creative Commons License at www.monocromatica.com/netlabel/release/tube171.htm; www.myspace.com/surtseymusic
ANTARCTICLAND NATIONAL ANTHEM: ICE MASTER by Pietro Toppani Lutman (2008)
This is a 2-minute track of classical orchestral synthesizer music by Italian Lutman, inspired by the Battle Symphony by Beethoven, which commemorated Wellingtons victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Vitoria in Spain in 1813. Pietro told us about the piece in 2013: The background of the Antarcticland National Anthem is pretty crazy. In 2007, surfing the web, I found out the website of the government of Antarcticland. The government claims that Antarcticland is the oldest territorial dominion in the Antarctic, founded in 1821 by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. It is a State of fact, not recognized by U.N. I noticed that there was no national anthem and so I contacted the regent, proposing my music. He liked it and approved it as official national anthem. He also gave me the title of Ambassador as a sign of gratitudeI know it could sound like a joke but that is what happened. One day I hope to record the Ice Master with a real orchestra and a choir. www.antarcticlandgovernment.info
ANTARCTIC TRILOGY by Ben Richter (2008) (not commercially available)
Ben Richter is an American composer and accordionist from the New England area, whose work has been commissioned and performed by various ensembles and orchestras. He has also composed scores for films and sound installations for international museum and gallery exhibitions. According to his Web site, His music is concerned with peak experience, consciousness and transcendence, the intersection of memory and imagination, and the evolution of worlds and spaces. One of his works is Antarctic Trilogy for chamber ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano). It was premired in May 2008 by the Da Capo Chamber Players, Bard College, NY. In 2012 Ben told us: The piece was partly inspired by Lovecrafts (1931 Antarctic novella) At the Mountains of Madness, but really imagines the true-life experience and landscapes of Antarctica, with movements named after the three mountains, Erebus, Terror and Terra Nova. www.benrichtermusic.com
THE EXPLORERS: A CENTURY OF DISCOVERY - Original Television Soundtrack - Composed and Conducted by Lee Holdridge (2008)
The Explorers was a 90-minute 1988 television special aired on American PBS to honor the centennial of the National Geographic Society, produced by Nicolas Noxon and narrated by E. G. Marshall. It featured two dozen scientists and explorers from Alexander Graham Bell, one the founding principals of the Society to prominent scientific explorers of the day. The soundtrack music, never previously released, was composed by Lee Holdridge, an American composer whose early collaborations with Neil Diamond recordings led to the soundtrack for the popular Jonathan Livingston Seagull movie. Holdridge has scored numerous other movies and television series, composed classical concert works and worked with many major recording artists. He has received six Emmys, including one for this documentary for Outstanding Achievement in a Craft in News and Documentary Programming - Music.
One of the tracks is Antarctic Summer / Byrd Flies Over the South Pole, which portrays the first flight over the South Pole. The National Geographic society was one of the sponsors of Richard Byrds United States Antarctic Expedition, in which Byrd, as navigator and Bernt Balchen, the pilot and two others flew the Ford trimotor Floyd Bennett from Little America on the Ross Ice Shelf to the Pole. Byrd became an American hero and led four later Antarctic Expeditions. According to the CD booklet notes, Holdridge scores the segment with military-like snare drums and a musical march to reach the Pole. In 2010, Lee told us: The score for The Explorers was composed to the film. Each cue I wrote was scoring whatever the visual sequence on screen at that moment. Sometimes what I compose for a score might be in response to a request by the director. In the booklet notes, he further explains that I approach documentaries as if they are dramas, Im helping convey the story and the emotions, pulling the viewer deeper into the storyYou have to put your feelings into the filmYou work with the narration as if that too is part of the score. In a way, the narration is the solo and you are the underscore around it. Intrada ISE 1019
ON COURSE by Laurie Altman (2008)
Laurie Altman is an assistant professor of music at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. He has received many classical commissions for compositions and has performed as a jazz artist in numerous clubs and events worldwide. This CD is a compilation of his compositions dating from 1985 and contains the 13-minute, 3-part Suite, Three Antarctic Songs for Baritone and Piano, which includes the tracks On Course, Within Limitless Space and Does an Emperor Penguin Meditate. The baritone is Elem Eley, with Laurie Altman at the piano. The second piece is the 5½-minute On Course for Instrumental Octet, which includes flutes, clarinet, piano vibraphone, violin, maracas and conductor. Laurie told us that The Antarctic pieces found their inspiration from a trip that my wife and I took to Antarctica in February of 2006. The CD contains two On Course Pieces: An instrumental Octet and a setting of three Antarctic poems of mine for Baritone and Piano. There were numerous other pieces that emerged as a result of that trip as well.
According to the liner notes for Three Antarctic Songs, I became haunted with trying to find a sound that would take me closer to the emptiness, the vastness, the color and pristine stillness of that place. (Wide spacings; few clusters; a joining of some – ancient and new). The two outer pieces of the set, On Course and Does an Emperor Penguin Meditate are short and relatively straightforward in their presentation. Within Limitless Space truly attempts to capture the emptiness and vastness to which I alluded earlier. The three falsetto insertions were almost like a voice, Shackletons perhaps, speaking (da lontano) from the sea, a faint ember, seemingly to nowhere. On Course, the instrumental octet, is the most overtly programmatic work on the CD. It is to be heard with the breeze in your face, fourteen knots of speed underfoot, all attended by weather, ship motion and the natural elements of light, birds, ice and seals all around. Structural content is almost song-like: AABCA with an intense and dramatic ostinato mantra carrying the piece and its players forward and On Course. It is for me a tone painting, a work of color and vibrancy, never wavering in both its intensity and relentlessness. The cover photograph of misty blue-grey pancake sea ice was taken by Lauries wife, Jeannine Hummel, on this 2006 trip with National Geographic.
Lyrics for On Course, about being in the Drake Passage: The thrust, the push forward,Steady, Port Ten, Starboard Five, pitch and roll, a wave, the hint of a breeze, Midships, getting there, vacuous space. Waiting, observing, fingers chilled, tears, the wind, frigid, unremitting, Steady, the sky, grey, painted on, sculpted, an Albatross alone in search of, diving, drifting, Port Ten, Seals floating, the thrust, the push breathless, surrounded all sides, water spraying, Starboard Five, everything moving, Steady, forward, getting there, fleeting, head wind, getting there, the thrust, the push, getting there, forward, forever, On Course. On Course.
Lyrics for Within Limitless Space, about being in the Weddell Sea: Within limitless space, an ice field blue, white and grey. Four a.m., a sky, textured, tufted with light shards. Pin pricks, crystals expanding, rolling, compressed, broken, blue, a Petrel in flight, seemingly, to nowhere. Within limitless space, The weight of an iceberg, below itself, rolling, calving breaking apart, the eye sees beginning, limitless space to be filled (a music score), the horizon. A Chinstrap Penguin, floating sideways, seemingly, to nowhere. In a turn a mountain broken off, something larger, before the sea, yielding to nothing but itself. A lone Weddell Seal, asleep, awakens to space, limitless (no less tomorrow than today). Warmed by the sun deep in a dive, seemingly, to nowhere.
Lyrics for Does an Emperor Penguin Meditate?, on Booth Island: Thirty five days, molting, tall upon snow and ice, frigid, a promontory, wind, fifty knots, barely, a quiver. Determined, elemental proof of something so unique, a way of being. Do you question As you wait. Do you Dear Penguin, ever Meditate? Albany Records TROY1041; www.albanyrecords.com; www.lauriealtman.com; (See also DANZA, DANZA by Laurie Altman and Anders Miolin (2014) and CONVERGENCE – Music of Laurie Altman (2013) in the Individual Songs section.)
MUSIC FROM SEVEN CONTINENTS Vol. 3 by the Cincinnati Boychoir (2008)
Founded in 1965, the Cincinnati Boychoir, directed by Randall Wolfe, gives numerous local subscription concerts and has performed with the Vienna Boys Choir, symphony orchestras, and gives concerts for community organizations as well as touring internationally. Their latest CD includes four song tracks related to the seventh continent, Southward, The Maids Lament and The Ice King by Gerald S. Doorly and Humpback Whales by Wendy Mae Chambers. The Morning was the relief ship sent to resupply Robert Scotts Discovery Expedition of 1901-04 and during its 1902 voyage to Antarctica, the third officer, Lieut. Gerald Doorly, a talented pianist and entertainer, and the chief engineer, J.D. Morrison, as lyricist, collaborated on a collection of songs that were performed during musical evenings on the ships piano, accompanied by riotous noisemaking. More in the vein of Victorian parlour songs than sea shanties, the songs were published in 1943, apparently in a very tame version of the originals. Wendy Mae Chambers is a New Jersey-based pianist and composer who travelled to the Antarctic Peninsula in 1999 and recorded a solo piano CD ANTARCTICA SUITE, which included Humpback Whales. Randall Wolfe told us that in concert The boys make sounds of whales and dolphins (and can imitate the sounds remarkably well), while some boys pour water from one plastic pitcher into another and also back and forth between plastic glasses, while other boys make bubble sounds with their lips. We ask the audience to close their eyes and imagine travelling underwater to Antarctica. The boys love this music! www.cincinnatiboychoir.org; (see also THE SONGS of the MORNING: a Musical Sketch by G. S. Doorly (2002) in this section below and also ANTARCTICA SUITE by Wendy Mae Chambers (1999) in the following Non-Classical, all or significantly Antarctic section.)
ELEPHANT by Stefano Ianne (2008)
Ianne is a Ravenna, Italy-based composer of modern symphonic music, at times reminiscent of minimalism and a more pastoral Philip Glass. With three CDs, Iannes music is rich with melodic strings and quiet arpeggios. This CD, largely themed about a boy and an elephant, was recorded live at the Dal Verme theatre in Milan by the theatres resident orchestra in 2007. It has the track Amundsen and we asked Stefano about it in 2009. He said: Yes, the track Amundsen is related to the polar explorer Roald Amundsen. When I was young, I had intentions to be an explorer and Ive studied Amundsen. His story is wonderful and his passing away, which happened in order to try to find Umberto Nobile in the North Pole, is truly mysterious. Nobile was an Italian explorer whose dirigible-type airship crashed during the return flight from the North Pole in 1928. Many international search and rescue planes were used in the rescue operation. Polar hero Amundsen was on one of planes, which disappeared and was never found. Sconfinarte; www.ianne.org; www.myspace.com/stefanoianne
TERRA INCOGNITA by Gareth Farr (2007) (live concert only)
Gareth Farr is an award-winning New Zealand composer, percussionist and performer who has written music for orchestras, dance, theatre, musical comedies and TV. His music was also heard at the opening of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. During 2005-06 Farr travelled to Antarctica through New Zealands Artists to Antarctica programme and followed up with the 27-minute Terra Incognita, written for bass voice, choir and orchestra. Its an elegant work with very melodic choral and orchestral backing and numerous changes in pace and dynamics to reflect the events portrayed. It has our vote for one of the top pieces of classical Antarctic music for repeated listening. The lyrics include passages written by Robert Scott on his fateful South Pole Expedition of 1910-12 and also include excerpts from the diary of Frank Debenham, a geologist on the Expedition. Poet Paul Horan collaborated on the overall lyrics and the final section of the work includes his Goodbye Larsen B, a global warming commentary about a large part of the West Antarctic Ice sheet that disintegrated in 2002. The work premired in Wellington in April 2008 with soloist Paul Whelan, the Orpheus Choir of Wellington and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paul MacAlindin. The concert was part of the Exploring Antarctica programme of the NZSO, which also presented other musical, scientific and film events, with videos by Mike Newman, which also accompanied Terra Incognita. While the work has not been commercially recorded, it was available for listening on the Soundcloud Web site. garethfarr.com; www.drumdrag.com; soundcloud.com/paul-macalindin-conductor/terra_incognita
ANTARCTICA SAGA (AMUNDSEN TO THE SOUTH POLE by Mike Hannickel (c. 2007) (Web site download only)
Mike Hannickel is a composer and music director in Californias Rocklin Unified School District, specializing in elementary and junior high band and orchestras. He has also conducted his compositions in Hollywood-area studios and scored for independent movies, documentaries and other productions. Two of his school compositions for wind band include the 3-minute regal march Antarctica Saga (Amundsen to the South Pole) and the more playful 2-minute Penguin Promenade. While not issued on a commercial disc, the two pieces have been recorded as demos and are available for free download and/or listening at the Web sites mentioned in this listing. Mike told us in 2009: Since my publications are mostly for school-aged musicians, I often try to incorporate some historical, scientific, or literary component so teachers will be able to use the music as a jumping off point for other lessons. Antarctica Saga was also an opportunity for young bands to sensibly use non-traditional instruments and sounds (water glasses, etc.). www.curnowmusicpress.com; www.jwpepper.com
STRING THEORY and CINEMATIC WINGS by Jeffrey Gold (both 2007) (Web site download only)
Gold, based in Utah, is a multi-talented film producer, composer, playwright and university film/theatre educator. From an early start as a published physicist and mathematician, while still an undergraduate, his films, compositions and plays have premired in both the U.S. and Britain and won many awards. His collection of instrumentals on String Theory includes the tracks Shackleton (Theme) and Shackleton (South Georgia Island). Cinematic Wings has Shackletons Return and Antarctica by Air. All of these are beautiful, lush, majestic pieces with rich symphonic strings. Jeffrey told us that The motivation for the tracks is the inspiration that Antarctica alone generates. There are people drawn to Antarctica for reasons they do not understand; I am one of those people. I suppose it is the pristine serenity and Shackletons adventure is the best survival story in existence. www.jeffreygold.com
HEROES: MUSIC FOR BRASS by Kerry Turner (2006)
Kerry Turner is an American composer, horn performer and music teacher, based in Luxemburg. He has won many awards for compositions and has held principal horn positions with numerous symphony orchestras. He is a member of the internationally acclaimed chamber brass group, the American Horn quartet. This CD is a recording of Turners music by the Flexible Brass, a group of European musicians who play in various orchestras and groups. According to the liner notes, one of the tracks is Heroes, written in 1997, for 13 brass and percussion, which is a 3-movement tone poem for large brass ensemble and pays homage to three inspiring people in history who have displayed undaunted courage. The first part is the 5½-minute tribute, Sir Ernest Shackleton and the other two parts are for Saint Stephen and Amelia Earhart. The notes explain, Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) was one of the most indomitable and, in some ways, the most luckless of the Antarctic explorers of the early twentieth century. In 1914, as captain of The Endurance, he and his crew were forced to abandon ship when it became trapped and pulverized in the Antarctic pack-ice. Unable to communicate with the rest of the world, Sir Ernest lead his men to a bleak, barren beach on Elephant Island. From there he and six of his men sailed a small lifeboat almost 1000 miles across stormy, frozen seas to South Georgia Island where he and two others scaled mountains in order to reach a tiny whaling station on the other side. He returned to Elephant Island aboard a self-chartered steamer to find all of his crew alive and well. In the face of total catastrophe, Sir Ernest Shackleton risked all dangers to bring his entire crew back safely to England. The CD cover reproduces the iconic photo, by the expedition photographer Frank Hurley, of the Endurance beset in the ice.
Kerry explained to us in 2013: I wrote the work The Heroes as a commission from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Lyon. They wanted something which would celebrate great moments in aviation history. I chose Emilia Earhart as my subject, and therefore it is the finale of the work. But I decided that I wanted to add a couple more of my personal heroes, and luckily they were alright with that. I have always been fascinated by unsung heroes, i.e. people throughout history who have performed incredible feats and daring-do, but who have somehow passed under historys radar. At the time, mid-90s, Shackleton had not yet been rediscovered. Shortly after my work came out, a new biography about him appeared on the shelves in New York. And then, there was this spectacular exhibit at the New York Museum of Natural History, including his famous boat which he sailed to Elephant Island. But I had actually written the music before this exhibit came out. Anyway, this is the reason I chose Shackleton as one of my heroes. I have always been a huge fan of his and his adventures. Phoenix Music Publications PMPCD1001; www.kerryturner.com
1ST SONCINEMAD FILM MUSIC FESTIVAL OF MADRID SYMPHONIC CONCERT –Composed and Conducted by Trevor Jones (2006)
This live concert of extracts from Trevor Jones film music was one of the first concerts of the first International Film-music Festival, held in Madrid in 2006. Jones is a British-based TV and film composer who has composed films for over 90 television and film projects and his later film work included major projects such as Excalibur, The Dark Crystal, The Last of the Mohicans, Cliffhanger, Notting Hill and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. One of his film scores was for Britains Central TVs 1985 historical drama series, The Last Place on Earth, directed by Ferdinand Fairfax. The series was a 7-part TV dramatization of the competing Roald Amundsen Norwegian and Robert Scott British South Pole Expeditions of 1910-12, based on the book of the same name by Roland Huntford, who had a strong anti-Scott bias. The 42-minute orchestral score from the 1985 LP seems to have never been officially issued on CD and the 24 minutes of excerpts included on this CD as Last Place on Earth – Suite may be the first commercial digital release of any of this music. The lush orchestral tracks from the concert include Last Place on Earth Main Theme, Snow Mistress, Norwegian Theme, Chamber Ensemble at Mabel Beardsleys Soiree, Message to the Public, an extended Axel Heiberg and Closing Titles. CMMP Ltd. CMR2006-3; www.trevorjonesfilmmusic.com; (See also THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH – The Original Soundtrack Recording from Central TVs Production by Trevor Jones (1985) in this section.)
THE PEOPLE THAT TME FORGOT - Film Score by John Scott (2006)
This is the full orchestral soundtrack for the 1977 U.K. movie of the same name, directed by Kevin Connor, as not all the tracks were used in the movie. It was a sequel to the 1975 film The Land That Time Forgot, in which a German U-boat sinks a British vessel during WWI, picks up the survivors and ends up in the south polar seas at the continent of Caprona, populated by terrifying dinosaurs and apemen. In this sequel, another expedition sets out in 1919 to rescue the colleagues who were previously lost and finds a tropical oasis in the middle of the Ice. Both movies are based on the 1918 Caspak trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The two brief Antarctic-related tracks on the CD are the dramatic Crossing the Ice Wall, and Return Across the Ice Wall, this time a far more relaxed musical passage.
John Scott is an internationally-known musician, composer and orchestra conductor whose first film soundtrack dates to 1965. As a musician, Scott played the flute solo in the iconic Beatles song Youve Got To Hide Your Love Away (from the movie Help) and was principal saxophonist on the James Bond Goldfinger movie soundtrack. He has won three Emmy Awards and since 2006 has been the Artistic Director of the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra. Scott also wrote the soundtrack score for the William Kronick-produced, written and directed documentary film about The Transglobe Expedition, led by Ranulph Fiennes. This team circumnavigated the globe along its polar axis from North to South Poles, being the first to do so, finishing in 1982. JOS Records JSCD 132; www.josrecords.com; (See also TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH - Original Soundtrack Recording - music composed and conducted by John Scott (1988) in this section.)
ICELIGHT by Michelle Ende (2006)
Michelle Ende is a Tampa, Florida-area resident and began her musical training at a young age with piano and organ and later continued with conservatory training in composition and orchestration. Her classical and choral works have been recorded by the Bay Area Philharmonic and the Bay Area Chamber Works, which specialize in local area composers. She is now a professor of International Economics. With over 20 CDs, her output has been prodigious, particularly in the last ten years. This CD is the last of three Planetary albums and consists of four long ambient tracks taking us into the mysterious fogs, ice and twilight of Antarctica. From the liner notes: Fog: Within this landscape there exist vast caverns of fog, lifting images in and out of sight. The landscape varies in its shades of grey and white and fog moves over the ice in a creeping fashion revealing magnificent towers of ice, vast caverns and glacier valleys. Icelight: No sunlight or moonlight. Only icelight, a kind of half light in which all things appear grey; another shade of ice as it were. Small points of light drift through the overcast clouds, but it is only a halo; no real light or warmth. Chiaroscuro: From this darkness of clanking ice and strange noises, the signs of Spring come drifting in slowly. Icelight gives way to new light; sunlight, warm light, life light. The most sprightly and melodic of the tracks is Penguins: The only life here are the penguins atop the ice. Only they break up the general sameness of the icescape. Cold winds huddle them together; the only source of warmth. Michelle told us in 2009 about her inspiration for the music: I was exposed to Happy Feet (the movie), March of the Penguins (the movie) and had just finished watching a documentary on Scott and Shackleton and I was moved by the beauty of Antarctica. www.annuitmusic.com
SHADOW DANCES - GUITAR MUSIC BY NIGEL WESTLAKE - Played by Slava Grigoryan (2006)
Australian Grigoryan (a native of Kazakhstan) recorded this performance of fellow Australian Nigel Westlakes Antarctica – Suite for Guitar and Orchestra in 2004 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The guitar concerto was completed in 1992 and had its origin from his soundtrack to the IMAX film of the same name. The four movements, totalling 23 minutes on this CD, rework musical ideas from the film, as well as developing others not included in it. The four tracks are The Last Place on Earth, Wooden Ships, Penguin Ballet and The Ice Core – Finale. ABC Classics 476 5744; www.rimshot.com.au (Nigel Westlakes web site)
PLANET EARTH - Music from the BBC TV Series – music composed and conducted by George Fenton (2006)
BBCs massive 11-part television documentary about the earths various and extreme habitats goes from pole to pole and oceans to mountains. The ICE WORLDS instalment includes the following lavish symphonic themes performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra: Discovering Antarctica, The Humpbacks Bubblenet, Everything Leaves but the Emperors, The disappearing Sea Ice, Lost in the Storm. EMI 0946 381891 2 1; www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/planetearth
DREAMINGS by Gondwana Voices (2006)
Gondwana Voices is Australias national childrens choir, for ages 10 to 16, established in 1997 by artistic director/conductor Lyn Williams to perform new and traditional music, which showcases the country and its peoples. It has traveled internationally and is committed to commissioning works from Australian composers. On this disc is also Principal Guest Conductor Mark OLeary, who is the founder and director of another Australian childrens choir, Young Voices of Melbourne. The CD contains an Antarctic-related piece, Australian Daniel Walkers ode to the Southern Oceans wandering albatross, The Wanderer. According to the liner notes, the composer writes, The Wanderer is about living your dreams. The inspiration of this piece was the albatross, a lone traveler soaring on the Antarctic winds, his destination wherever the currents may take him. I have always been in awe of these magnificent birds, and the text I have written in some way pays homage to their grace and determination. The lyrics are: Let me go where the wind will go, let it take me over southern shores. I will ride on the ocean air, I will travel across ice and foam, far from home. And where no road will take you, where few have gone before, its far beyond the ice-floe far below where my spirit calls. Antarctic land! land of unearthly light, where pale horizon escapes eternal night. Wumara, warawara. Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC 476 9093; www.gondwanavoices.com.au; (See also BIRRALEE 10th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT LIVE (2005), referenced in this section.)
ELEMENTAL: IMPRESSIONS OF THE NATURAL WORLD by Mary Doumany (2005)
Mary Doumany is a Victoria, Australia-based composer, harpist and singer who has performed with the Melbourne, Sydney and Queensland Symphony Orchestras as well as internationally. With a repertoire covering music for opera, ballet, orchestra and jazz, she also has a great interest in improvised music. Her harp playing was included in the soundtracks for the movies Shine and The Truman Story. Elemental was her first CD of original solo harp compositions and was written for a 36-string lever harp. One of the tracks is Ice. According to Marys CD liner notes, The harp has a timeless quality to its sound. It is one of the oldest instruments and some have said that the first harp was created out of sinews across a turtle shell. For me, the act of playing (striking strings made from animal gut, with my bare hands) has a rawness and immediacy that belies the ethereal sound I create. Much like ice: It looks magical, and yet it can wreak havoc, as it has done in the Northern Hemisphere this past winter. I believe that the harp invokes the sounds of the natural world most effectively. Mary told us in 2011 about the track: Its based on Ice in a geographical setting, so yes, both Antarctica and the Arctic. I certainly wasnt thinking about ice cubes from the refrigerator! This track had its Antarctic performance premire in February 2011, being played by another renowned Australian harp soloist, Alice Giles, who travelled to Antarctica in early 2011 on an Australian Antarctic Division Arts Fellowship. She is head of the Harp Area at the Australian National University, and according to her University Web pages, went on the Australian ship Aurora Australis to the Australian bases, Mawson and Davis Stations, to perform and record music especially written for the journey, as well as music that was heard in the Antarctic 100 years ago. Alice is the granddaughter of Dr. Cecil Madigan, who was a member of the 1911-14 First Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Alice was the first Australian professional musician to perform in Antarctica and her musical presentations were arranged to celebrate the Centenary of the First Australasian Antarctic Expedition. www.alicegiles.com; www.aliceinantarctica.wordpress.com; www.music.anu.edu.au/aliceinantarctica
SHOULD THIS BE FOUND: SIX SONGS ON SCOTTS LAST EXPEDITION by Perry Goldstein (2005) (Web site download only)
Perry Goldstein is Undergraduate Studies Director in the Department of Music and Director of the College of Arts, Culture and Humanities at State University of New York at Stony Brook. As a composer, his music has been heard in many countries and he specializes in saxophone and other wind instrument works. This 34-minute opus consists of six vocal pieces about the phases of Scotts tragic Terra Nova South Pole Expedition of 1910-12, including The Voyage Out, Land at Last, Penguins, Impressions on the March, In Winter Quarters and Summit, the Pole and Beyond, performed by the United States Military Academy Band of West Point, New York, directed by Col. Thomas Rotondi. Jr. The soprano is Sergeant First Class MaryKay Messenger. The song texts were compiled by the American novelist Richard Powers from Scotts own eloquent words, written in his classic expedition journal. While a melodic, operatic treatment of the history of the Expedition may not be quite the expected vehicle to portray the physical hardships encountered in Antarctica, it continues in the trend of contemporary historic opera and is a worthy addition to the Antarctic repertoire. It would be interesting to imagine a stage performance or multi-media presentation of this work. Perry told us in 2009 that I encountered the Scott story by chance while watching American Public Television one day many years ago. The documentary was especially moving when it described the letters Scott wrote about his men and to his wife when it was clear that he wasnt going to survive. I thought at the time that it would make a very moving set of songs, and years later I had the chance to try my hand at it when I was commissioned by the West Point Band to write a set of songs. The text was compiled from Scotts diaries by Richard Powers, a friend and acclaimed novelist. The performance, including text and program notes, is available for free download at www.usma.edu/band/recordings/found.htm
WORKS by Brian Bennett (2005)
This is a 4-CD box set of four of Brian Bennetts film scores, which includes the soundtrack of GREAT NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD, a 2002 Christmas/New Year BBC Natural History film produced by Peter Crawford and narrated by the ubiquitous Sir David Attenborough. One of the tracks in this visit to various landscapes of the earth is South to Antarctica, a sweeping orchestral theme portraying the icy mysteries of the continent. Brian Bennett, in addition to having won many awards for his film and TV compositions, arrangements and productions, was awarded the OBE from the Queen of England in 2004 for his services to music. Brian is also a drummer and member of Britains iconic rock group, the Shadows, which began as the backing band for Cliff Richard in 1959. They became one of the most successful acts in Britain in the 1960s and went on to great acclaim as an independent instrumental group with countless records. www.brianbennettmusic.co.uk
JOURNEYS by Young Voices of Melbourne (2005)
Young Voices of Melbourne is an Australian choir, founded in 1990, by its director, Mark OLeary. With 130 singers between 6 and 18 years of age, it has traveled internationally and is committed to the performance of new Australian music. One of the tracks on this disc is the 6½ minute Shackleton, for 3-part voices and piano, by the Sydney, Australia composer and performer Paul Jarman. The piece is from his song cycle Turn on the Open Sea, which pays tribute to the adventurers of the sea. It was commissioned for the Sydney Childrens Choir in 2001. According to the liner notes, The triumphant story of Sir Ernest Shackletons Endurance expedition to the Antarctic in 1914 has become one of the popular tales of modern exploration. Against all odds, Shackleton and his men survived a two-year ordeal, trapped without a ship, during a freezing winter in the most remote and unexplored region of the globe. Thanks to intuitive leadership and incredible persistence, Shackleton not only returned to Europe, but did so without losing a single crew member. The impossible boat journey across the great Southern Ocean in the 20-foot James Caird, and the successful navigation of South Georgia remains the greatest quest in the annals of the sea. On returning to England, several of the crew enlisted to fight on the red fields of Flanders, and within weeks, two men perished in battle. The song is a very beautiful hymn to the irony of their return – simple, elegant and one of our favourite Antarctic melodies. Lyrics are:
Old man, looking out to the sea, This time hes leaving, Windswept hair and strong old bones, Now gently fading no longer sailing.
Oh many years ago, can you remember? The haunting cry of a ship that drowned, Beneath the ice floe of the Weddell Sea.
Times were hard, but we made it over, Made it over, they wonder why, Through the cold, but we made it over, Made it over, theyll never know.
Two years trapped in the southern sea, Far from our homeland, Roaring waves and wailing winds, May well defeat us, but hopes were high. Oh please tell me why, were most forgotten, Far away from a world at war, Who needs a hero, Who needs to know?
Times were hard, but we made it over, Made it over, they wonder why, Through the cold, but we made it over, Made it over, theyll never know. Why, why, did we have to come home to war? Why, why, why? Try, try, tell me what are we fighting for? Try, try, try.
Then, on the red fields of Flanders, All men were fallen, A bloody war, fought on every shore, Brought pain and sorrow to a sailing man.
But I still hear the steam whistle blowing, Twas the day of wonders, Frozen tears and heartfelt cheers, Never forgotten, We made it over.
Times were hard, but we made it over, Made it over, they wonder why, Through the cold, but we made it over, Made it over, theyll never know.
Why, why, did we have to come home to war? Why, why, why? Try, try, tell me what are we fighting for? Try, try, try.
Why, why, did we have to come home to war? Why, why why? Try, try tell me what are we fighting for? Try, try, try.
We made it over! We made it over! YVMCD006; www.yvm.com.au; (See also NEW LIGHT NEW HOPE by Gondwana Voices (2003) and BIRRALEE 10th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT LIVE (2005), referenced in this section.)
BIRRALEE 10th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT LIVE (2005)
Brisbane, Australias Birralee Voices is a community-based organization of nine choral ensembles, largely for children and includes ages 5 to 25. It was formed in 1995 and is directed by Julie Christiansen. It has travelled internationally, won awards and promotes a variety of cultures, while promoting Australian composers. Their anniversary CD includes Paul Jarmans Shackleton, which is reported to be one of the most widely performed choral works in Australia. According to the booklet notes, It doesnt seem to matter how many times Shackleton is performed around this country and overseas, young people love to sing it and audience members love to hear it. A second Antarctic-related piece on the CD is Australian Daniel Walkers ode to the albatross, The Wanderer. According to the composer, The Wanderer is about living your dreams. The inspiration of this piece was the albatross, a lone traveler soaring on the Antarctic winds, his destination wherever the currents may take him. I have always been in awe of these magnificent birds, and the text I have written in some way pays homage to their grace and determination. The lyrics are: Let me go where the wind will go, let it take me over southern shores. I will ride on the ocean air, I will travel across ice and foam, far from home. And where no road will take you, where few have gone before, its far beyond the ice-floe far below where my spirit calls. Antarctic land! land of unearthly light, where pale horizon escapes eternal night. Wumara, warawara. www.birralee.com; (See also NEW LIGHT NEW HOPE by Gondwana Voices (2003), JOURNEYS by Young Voices of Melbourne (2005) and DREAMINGS by Gondwana Voices (2006), referenced in this section.)
ANTARCTICA by Elizabeth Brown (2005) (not commercially available)
Elizabeth Brown, a New York (Brooklyn)-based composer and flautist, is a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient and has composed for various commissions. One of her pieces is Antarctica, a 7-minute alto flute solo with prerecorded sound accompaniment. While it has not been released on CD, Elizabeth provided a recorded copy of her performance of it. The flute seems an ideal instrument to convey ethereal Antarctic impressions and the background instruments, windscapes, breathing and vocalizations provide some great atmospherics. In 2008 Elizabeth provided us with her program notes for her composition: During the winter of 2004-05, Sara Wheelers book Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica was my bedtime reading. I started to dream about Antarctica, and this music was born in those dreams. I chose alto flute because of its range and timbre, and the taped portion consists of natural sounds recorded in my Brooklyn studio. Antarctica was commissioned by Patti Monson, who premiered it on July 16th, 2005, at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute at Mass MoCA. www.elizabethbrowncomposer.com
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS Original Score by Alex Wurman (2005)
Whether a cynical marketing ploy or a desire for cultural adaptation, the English version of this French film has serious narration by Morgan Freeman and a studio orchestra playing a pleasant New Age soundtrack by composer Wurman. There are titles such as The Harshest Place on Earth (played on not so harsh-sounding harps, flutes and tinkling piano), and other musical excursions such as Walk Not Alone, The March, Walk Through Darkness, First Steps and Arrival at the Sea. The soundtrack sounds great with the film but as a self-contained listening experience is a bit too sweet to convey convincingly the harsh Antarctic home of the Emperor penguins. The film became a huge hit, particularly for a documentary and the English version won the Oscar for best documentary feature film of 2005. Milan M2-36131; www.marchofthepenguins.com; (See also LA MARCHE DE LEMPEREUR by Emilie Simon (2005) in the following Non-Classical, all or significantly Antarctic section.)
AMSTERDAM – Brass Band Music of the Netherlands (2005)
This compilation CD of tracks from various composers, played by the accomplished Dutch brass band, Provinciale Brassband Groningen, conducted by Siemen Hoekstra, includes Antarctica, by Carl Wittrock, a Dutch composer and conductor (b. 1966). The liner notes explain that Carl Wittrock became inspired by huge ice fields surrounding the South Pole. Colourful and majestic sounds provide the composition with a fascinating view of this 6th continent. This composition is a free impression of the spectacular scenery in the Antarctic. Melodies are linked together to convey the various aspects of the landscape. These melodies together with their simple harmonic accompaniments make this work pleasant for both the listener and the musician. Carl told us in 2007 that The main reason was the impressive nature. It is very beautiful, but also untouchable and dangerous. The composition was made as a sort of movie music without movie. Gobelin Records 05.002; www.gobelinmusic.com; (See also ANTARCTICA – Best Selections for Brass Band (2012) and other recordings of this piece in this section.)
INTRODUCING THE FANFARE BAND - Fanfarekorps Koninklijke Landmacht (2003)
The track Antarctica, by Carl Wittrock, is also on this Dutch compilation CD of brass band music by the Royal Netherlands Army (FKKL) Fanfare Band, conducted by Jan Nellestijn. Gobelin Records 03.001 & 03.002; www.gobelinmusic.com; (See also other recordings of this piece in this section.)
NATALE by Banda Colloredo (2002)
The Philharmonic Colloredo di Prato is an orchestra, formed in 1893, based in Colloredo di Prato (Udine), Italy. This CD has their wind band version of Carl Wittrocks Antarctica. www.filarmonicacolloredo.it; (See also other recordings of this piece in this section.)
ANTARCTICA - Carolus Magnus Ingelheimer Kaiserpfalz Blser (2000)
This is a German disc of various modern instrumental music by Carolus Magnus Ingelheimer Kaiserpfalz Blser, an Ingelheim-based, German wind orchestra conducted by Peter Vierneisel. The CD is named after the title track, Antarctica, by Carl Wittrock, which gets a more nuanced and subdued treatment than the brass band versions. GEMA ACO CD 10400; (See also other recordings of this piece in this section.)
AUBADE: Organ Music by Ohio Composers: Karel Paukert, Organ (2004)
This is a CD of solo organ recitals by Paukert, a distinguished teacher, concert performer and the long-time Curator of Musical Arts at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Included on the disc is the 6½-minute track Erebus by Monica Houghton, an award-winning composer and composition teacher for the Cleveland Institute of Music Department of Preparatory and Continuing Education and Joint Music Program with Case Western Reserve University. Her music has been performed internationally. Erebus was written in 2003 as a tribute to her older brother, a geographer and mountaineer who passed away in November 1979 in the tragic crash of the Air New Zealand plane that was on a sightseeing flight over Antarctica. It crashed into Mount Erebus in the McMurdo Station area and all 257 people on board were lost. According to Monicas note in the CD booklet, In Greek mythology, Erebus was the son of Chaos and the father of Aether (brightness) and Hemera (day). Erebus and his sister Nyx (night) were also said to be the parents of Eros, the god of love, and of Charon, the ferryman at the river Styx. Often, Erebus is referred to simply as the place of shadows. Mount Erebus was so named by the British explorer James Clark Ross, who discovered it in 1840. The worlds most southernmost volcano, Mount Erebus is situated on Ross Island, adjacent to McMurdo Sound, on the New Zealand side of Antarctica. The mountain rises directly from the sea to an astonishing altitude of 12,444 feet, where, on a clear day, a plume of smoke can be seen emanating from its summit. My brother had both a professional interest in and a personal love of mountains. I have tried to write a piece of music that will do honor to my brothers memory, and at the same time convey a sense of the awe and majesty that is characteristic of such a great mountain as the one that took him away from us. The Cleveland Museum of Art/Azica ACD 71229; www.monicahoughton.com
MUSIC TO PICTURE by Brian Bennett (2004)
This CD is a compilation of Brian Bennetts great film and television music from TV mysteries, documentaries and films in various musical styles, spanning thirty years. Also included are full tracks that did not make it to the final productions of other broadcast works. Included is the melodic, orchestral The Shackleton Variations, described in the CD booklet as Brians musical interpretation of Ernest Shackletons heroic Antarctic explorations. Brian Bennett, in addition to having won many awards for his film and TV compositions, arrangements and productions, was awarded the OBE from the Queen of England in 2004 for his services to music. Brian is also a drummer and member of Britains iconic rock group, the Shadows, which began as the backing band for Cliff Richard in 1959. They became one of the most successful acts in Britain in the 1960s and went on to great acclaim as an independent instrumental group with countless records. FLYCUB20108; www.brianbennettmusic.co.uk
THE HAROUN SONGBOOK - CHARLES WUORINEN SERIES by Charles Wuorinen (2004)
This is a collection of excerpts from Wuorinens opera Haroun and the Sea of Stories, which is based on author Salman Rushdies 1990 childrens book of the same name. Rushdie wrote the book as a fable and allegory after the well publicized fatwa that led to his life of escape underground. The story revolves around a professional story teller who loses his gift of gab. His son then goes on adventures to return his fathers livelihood. The music on the CD, for four singers (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass-baritone) and piano accompaniment, was written by Charles Wuorinen, an acclaimed modernist composer, pianist and conductor who was the youngest composer to win the Pulitzer Prize in music in 1970. The lyrics are by English poet and journalist James Fenton. One of the adventures is a polar trip with the short track To the South Pole. Sample lyrics: Its getting even colder And the waters are losing their colour. Were going the right way! We can tell! Before it was filthy! Now its Hell!...You can stop a cheque. You can stop a leak or three. You can stop traffic, but You cant stop me. To the South Pole. Full speed ahead to the South PoleTo the South PoleThese are the waters of neglect. These are the seas of disgrace. Give me a year and I expect I could clean this place. Albany Records TROY664; www.charleswuorinen.com
MIRRORS OF FIRE - Australian Guitar Originals - Played by Tim Kain (2004)
Australian Kain, together with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, perform (in 1997) Nigel Westlakes Antarctica - Suite for Guitar and Orchestra, a 22-minute guitar concerto completed in 1992 that had its origin from his soundtrack to the IMAX film of the same name. In four movements, it reworks musical ideas from the film as well as developing others not included in it. Tall Poppies TP169; www.tallpoppies.net
The same recording of Antarctica - Suite for Guitar and Orchestra, with Tim Kain, is included in OUT OF THE BLUE (2004), a compilation of three works by Westlake, performed by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Porcelijn. ABC Classics ABC 462 017-2; www.rimshot.com.au
MUSIC FROM SEVEN CONTINENTS Vol. 2 by the Cincinnati Boychoir (2004)
Founded in 1965, the Cincinnati Boychoir, directed by Randall Wolfe, gives numerous local subscription concerts and has performed with the Vienna Boys Choir, symphony orchestras, and gives concerts for community organizations as well as touring internationally. The CD includes four lively song tracks about the seventh continent, Antarctica, Penguins, Exploring and Memories. Texts were by Bill Manhire (a New Zealand university professor and poet), from the Book of Job and from the writings of Antarctic explorers Apsley Cherry-Garrard and Ernest Shackleton, with music composed by Carlton Young, an American professor, editor and composer of sacred music. Mr. Young told us that I've been fascinated with the subject since childhood, e.g., the explorations of Richard Byrd. My recent interest in Antarctic explorers and explorations began in 1999 with my visit to the Antarctic Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand. Cincinnati Boychoir programs had featured six of the continents, but not Antarctica. I agreed to compose a setting, and Mr. Randall Wolfe, Choir Director, suggested some texts, which I supplemented with my own research online and in the standard bibliography, particularly the biographies. www.cincinnatiboychoir.org
ANGELS IN AMERICA – Music From The HBO Film – music by Thomas Newman (2003)
The soundtrack to this miniseries television film, which is based on the Pulitzer prize-winning political Broadway play of the same name, includes the soothing orchestral instrumental track Mauve Antarctica. The play/film has a polar connection through its Angel Antarctica. Nonesuch 79837-2; www.nonesuch.com
NEW LIGHT NEW HOPE by Gondwana Voices (2003)
Gondwana Voices is Australias national childrens choir, for ages 10 to 16, established in 1997 by artistic director/conductor Lyn Williams to perform new and traditional music, which showcases the country and its peoples. It has traveled internationally and is committed to commissioning works from Australian composers. One of the tracks on this disc is the 5½ minute Shackleton, a very moving, beautiful song by the Sydney, Australia composer and performer Paul Jarman. The performance by choir and piano is especially enriched by the accompaniment of a string section. The piece is from his song cycle Turn on the Open Sea, which pays tribute to the adventurers of the sea. It was commissioned for the Sydney Childrens Choir in 2001. It is a bittersweet tale of the survival Sir Ernest Shackletons Endurance Expeditions Antarctic expeditioners and their return to a world still at war. On this disc, the conductor is also Mark OLeary, who is the founder and director of another Australian childrens choir, Young Voices of Melbourne, which performed the same piece on one of their CDs. Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC 472 822-2; www.gondwanavoices.com.au; (See also JOURNEYS by Young Voices of Melbourne (2005) and BIRRALEE 10th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT LIVE (2005), referenced in this section.)
ANTARCTICA - NHK Television 50th Anniversary Nankyoku Project (2003)
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), Japans sole public broadcaster, commemorated the 50th anniversary of TV broadcasting in Japan in 2003 by establishing an HDTV broadcasting station in Antarctica in 2003. Located at Syowa Station, Japans base, this was Antarcticas first such station and the first time a film crew stayed there for more than a year. 153 live programs were made, including the showing of a solar eclipse, distributed to the Discovery Channel in North America, auroras and natural scenery. The commemorative CD (Japan Version) contains some very melodic orchestral tracks, accompanied by various exotic Oriental musical instruments plus a jazzy solo guitar track, conducted by Yoko Matsuo. Titles include Horizon, White Wind, Dry Valleys, Silence and Dawn. As we havent seen the TV programs, its not easy to relate the very pastoral-sounding CD music by itself to the Antarctic, without the visuals. Toshiba-EMI Ltd. Eastworld TOCT-25014
ICESCAPE FOR ORCHESTRA by Chris Cree Brown (2002)
Chris Cree Brown is the Director (Academic) of the School of Music and Senior Lecturer at University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, as well as the composer of a variety of music. The 16-minute work resulted from a trip to Antarctica in 1999, supported by the Artists to Antarctica programme of the New Zealand Antarctic Institute (Antarctica New Zealand). His first work produced under this programme was UNDER EREBUS (2000), a 15 minute electroacoustic piece, that according to the liner notes was an attempt to create an expressive work of sonic art that reflects my personal interpretation of the environment of Antarctica and my experiences there. The range of sounds includes walking on snow, skuas, radio communications, wind, seals, penguins and a whiteout. Other Antarctic compositions by Chris include Circulus Antarcticus, a dance commission with Bronwyn Judge, a choreographer who went down to The Ice as part of the 2000 Artists to Antarctica programme and Antarctic Heart, music to go with a video by the sculptor Virginia King, who was the other artist to travel to Antarctica in 1999 under the Artists to Antarctica programme. www.music.canterbury.ac.nz/CCBrownlink/chrispers.htm
MUSIC FOR THE SCOTIA CENTENARY (2002)
The 1902 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under William Bruce was a successful, but today under heralded, two-year voyage of discovery during which Coats Land, along the Weddell Sea, was discovered. The expedition was also the first to use a motion picture camera in Antarctica as well as the first to document the use of bagpipes to serenade emperor penguins (by Gilbert Kerr). To celebrate the centenary of this expedition, The Royal Scottish Geographical Society, The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, B.B.C. Enterprises and piper Ian MacInnes collaborated to produce this CD.
The first half of the disc consists of seven traditional Scottish country dance tunes with titles such as Antarctica Bound, The Ice Cap, The Piper and the Penguin played by Neil Barron and his Scottish Dance Band. The main event, however, is a 24-minute orchestral suite, South, by Dundee composer Gordon McPherson, played by the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, conducted by Nicolae Moldoveanu. It was commissioned by the orchestra, the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and supported by the Scottish Arts Council and has now been performed internationally. From an appropriately windy opening through some jangly, icy dissonances, this performance can take a proud place amongst the very few recorded orchestral pieces that have attempted to portray the moody, icy seventh continent. RSCDS CD032; www.rsgs.org
THE SONGS of the MORNING: a Musical Sketch by G. S. Doorly (2002)
The Morning was the relief ship sent to resupply Robert Scotts Discovery Expedition of 1901-04. During the Mornings 1902 voyage to Antarctica, the third officer, Lieut. Gerald Doorly, a talented pianist and entertainer, and the chief engineer, J.D. Morrison, as lyricist, collaborated on a collection of songs that were performed during musical evenings on the ships piano, accompanied by riotous noisemaking. More in the vein of Victorian parlour songs than sea shanties, the songs were published in 1943, apparently in a very tame version of the originals.
The present hearty and robust recording was undertaken as a Discovery centennial project and the Chorus contains all the adult male descendants of Gerald Doorly, along with professional colleagues and interested friends. The CD booklet includes the lyrics and words of the spoken passages between songs. All royalties from the sale are to be divided between the Dundee Heritage Trust and the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust for their work on the original Expeditions historic artefacts. Reardon Publishing; www.reardon.co.uk
ETERNAL FATHER - SHACKLETONS HYMN by Dulwich College Chapel Choir (2001)
This is a CD of hymns sung by the Dulwich College Chapel Choir of London, England, directed by Michael Ashcroft, with organist John Carnelley. One of the tracks is Eternal Father, Strong to Save, written in 1860 by William Whiting, with music by Rev. John Dykes. Its now known as the traditional mariners and sailors hymn and also as the Navy Hymn. According to the liner notes, The hymn Eternal Father was sung at the memorial service for Ernest Shackleton, at St. Pauls Cathedral on Thursday March 2nd, 1922. Shackleton was a pupil at Dulwich College from 1887-1890. It was also sung in 2011 at the whalers cemetery in Grytviken, South Georgia, when Frank Wilds ashes were laid to rest beside the grave of Shackleton. Wild was one of the most trusted expeditioners on Shackletons Endurance Expedition of 1914-1917 and was a stalwart of five Heroic Age Antarctic expeditions in the early 1900s. He was left in charge of the group of men who were stranded on Elephant Island when Shackleton made his famous crossing to South Georgia for rescue. BHSS 0461 CD
THE LIVING EDENS by Laura Karpman (2001)
This is the soundtrack from the American PBS television series about the natural wonders of the world that was broadcast over 1997-2001, produced by Alastair Fothergill, with narration by Peter Coyote, Linda Hunt, Sally Kellerman and James Coburn. Laura Karpman, the Los Angeles-based composer of the music, has won four Emmy awards during her career, including two for episodes of The Living Edens series. She has scored for many other films and television programs, has won additional awards and has also composed for opera, classical and other concert music. Included on the disc is the 4-minute orchestral track South Georgia Suite as well as the 2-minute CD closer South Georgia End Credits. Laura told us in 2009 that We were thinking of a very classic approach, along the lines of a modernist Vivaldi winter, when asked about the instrumentation and musical styles used in the tracks. This music was from the episode South Georgia Island: Paradise of Ice and the production crew spent eight months of filming around the island, spread over two years. South Georgia is an isolated sub Antarctic island in the South Atlantic and is home to the worlds greatest concentrations of fur seals, southern elephant seal, King penguins and albatrosses. www.laurakarpman.com
INTO UNCHARTED SEAS by John Hearne (2001) (not commercially available)
John Hearne, a British composer/singer/conductor based in Scotland, was commissioned by Dundee Orchestral Society to write an overture to commemorate the centenary of the launching in Dundee of Robert Scotts Antarctic ship RRS Discovery in 1901. The ship itself has been preserved in Dundee, whose Symphony Orchestra premired the 13-minute piece in 2001. It is a dramatic and undulating score, portraying the rough and tumble of the seas the ship must have sailed through in its long voyages. Although the piece has not apparently been released commercially on CD, we are grateful to John Hearne and Scottish Music Centre for making it available to us. www.scottishmusiccentre.com
SEA STAR by Martin Kiszko (music) and Anne Ridler (words) 2001
Martin Kiszko, of Polish-British origin, is a Bristol, UK-based composer who has orchestrated scores for over 200 films and TV productions, including works for the BBC and ITV. Anne Ridler (1912-2001) was an editor and librettist, considered to be Britains leading female poet. Sea Star is a 27-minute choral-orchestral work, performed by the Spiritual Sounds Festival Orchestra & Choir at Clifton Cathedral (Bristol) and conducted by David Ogden.
The composer-orchestrator, Martin Kiszko, told us: The cantata was inspired by an Antarctic voyage I made in 2001 as well as from the desire to write a work about humankinds journey from the sea to space. While the words were completed first, the score remained incomplete for several years and the liner notes explain that A turning point for the musical birth of Sea Star came in 2001 when I visited Antarctica. For the first time many of the images that Anne had created in the poem were experienced first hand: ice covered worlds, floes and hummocks, the stillness or energy of the sea, the vast sky; the slow bubbling of ice thawing and cracking or the sound of ice shelves calving into the sea causing waves to break against the shore. Sea Stars first tutti orchestral chord, followed by the ebb and flow of gentle strings represent the first beats heard and the aftermath of such a calving in the Antarctic panorama. Other sections of the score aim to emulate the pattern of the landscape – the textures of snow and ice, the sky and changing light – these images assisted the interpretation of the text. Sea Star is a journey of even greater proportions than my Antarctic expedition. It travels from the depths of the oceans with its nascent aquatic life-forms, through land and sky to the far reaches of space where other waterworlds exist in the icecaps of Mars and ice-belts of Saturn. As the characters in the text ascend these levels, it is as if they are on a quest to understand their destiny.
Anne Ridlers text for the icy, Antarctic-influenced section of the cantata, subtitled The Earth, follows:
But while ice covers your world, You do not wake. Cowled in darkness, Uttermost depth of sleep. Ice built of water – water built into solids, Condensed to crystal, unique in all the moving worlds, Yet cousin to other constellations: Ice moons, ice planets, plunging comets. You do not wakeCowled in darkness, Uttermost depth of sleep. On the surface, a dazzling whiteness; Journeying inward, multiple rings of ice terrains; Floes and hummocks, pinnacles, bastions, Fractured and folded.
Martins web site also mentions that during his 2001 Antarctic trip, he composed, performed and claimed a world first by for a spoof Antarctic National Anthem (someone had to do it!) As to a recording of it, Martin advised us that As for the Antarctic National Anthem – this is a spoof piece recorded in Antarctica on video and not available Im afraid. HOXA HS 2052-LE; www.martinkiszko.com
SHACKLETONS ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE – Original Giant Motion Picture Soundtrack Composed by Sam Cardon (2001)
Cardon is an American Emmy award-winning composer, who also worked on a 2002 Winter Olympics project. The IMAX films superb opening iceberg panorama is not to be missed, and the juxtaposition of historic photos of the Endurance Expedition with the present-day recreation flows seamlessly throughout this first-class film. The film score, played by the Northwest Sinfonia, conducted by Kurt Bestor, provides a variety of music: majestic orchestral themes, marching band music, melancholic Celtic pipes, fiddles, banjos and a Hovhanessque horn solo, reflective of the era and the activities the music portrays. Musical tracks include, among others, Wintering in the Pack, Hope and Survival, Into the Unknown/A Stern Night, A Grim Landfall and On to South Georgia. A more informative liner/booklet with notes about the music, the Endurance and filming expeditions would have been a welcome inclusion with the CD. WGBH Music (BMI)/ White Mountain Films Music JR74222
SHACKLETON – Original Score by Adrian Johnston (2001)
This was a two-part four-hour TV dramatization of Shackletons Endurance Expedition, directed by Charles Sturridge and featuring the prominent British actor Kenneth Branagh in the title role. Although said to be thoroughly researched, the film received some criticism for spending too long on the pre-Expedition details and not nearly enough time on The Ice, Elephant Island, South Georgia or the final rescue. The attractive orchestral sound track by British composer Johnston is performed on CD by the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Terry Davies. Track titles portray scenes such as Sighting Ice, Locked in the Ice, Antarctic Night, Five Miles a Day, Sighting Land and Cracking Ice. Channel 4 Music C4M00172
ANTARCTIC SYMPHONY (SYMPHONY No. 8) by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (2001)
Of special interest to classicists, the British Antarctic Survey and the London Philharmonia Orchestra commissioned prolific British composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies to compose the Antarctic Symphony, his 8th Symphony, for its premire in May 2001 at Royal Festival Hall, London, U.K. Sir Peter conducted the London Philharmonia Orchestra at the performance. In 1997-98 Sir Peter spent three weeks at Britains Rothera Base on the Antarctic Peninsula experiencing life there. The BAS said, Through this commission we hope to raise awareness of Antarctica as a unique scientific laboratory among people whose interests normally lie within the Arts. In turn we at BAS very much look forward to learning more about the world of serious music. Sir Peters eloquent Antarctic diary is available at his web site. A CD recording and/or downloading of the symphony, once available on his web site, has been discontinued. The 41-minute recording by the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003 provides a range of sounds from dissonances to melodic passages, reflecting the composers impressions and observations of his trip.
A live performance of this symphony, by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paul MacAlindin, was part of a 2008 concert in Wellington, N.Z. that was included in the Exploring Antarctica programme of the NZSO and which also presented other musical, scientific and film events. It can be heard at: soundcloud.com/paul-macalindin-conductor/antarctic-symphony
A stylistically similar companion piece, the 21-minute High on the Slopes of Terror, was composed in 1999 for the National Association of Youth Orchestras and was the first musical work resulting from Sir Peters Antarctic trip. The title refers to the extinct volcano on Ross Island near McMurdo Sound, Mt. Terror and the virtuoso work was recorded in 2001 by the U.K.s Chethams Symphony Orchestra, the youth orchestra of Chethams School of Music.
In 2007, the Purcell School Symphony Orchestra, Britains oldest specialist music school, based in the London, U.K.-area, premired Sir Peters Port Lockroy, Antarctica, for symphony orchestra. This 11-minute piece, with Simon Rattle conducting, was commissioned by the School for the opening of its new Music Centre. The subject of the symphony, Port Lockroy, on Wiencke Island on the Antarctic Peninsula, is a natural harbour and was used as the site of a British base for Operation Tabarin during the years of World War II and was staffed up to 1962. The now-restored base building is maintained as an historic site and is a very popular landing site for Antarctic tourist ships. www.maxopus.com; (See also ANTARCTICA by Chethams Symphony Orchestra (2010) in the Classical Antarctica: Ralph Vaughan Williams section.)
AUSTRALIA: EYE OF THE STORM – Music from the TV Series (2000)
Australia: Eye of the Storm was a 4-part Australian Broadcasting Corporation television documentary about the effects on Australias climate from the extreme climatic forces of the Pacifics El Nio and La Nia, Asian monsoons and the Southern Oceans Antarctic storms. The quiet music on this CD, by Australian composer Ricky Edwards, is performed by a small chamber orchestra and includes the tracks Albatross Flight, Antarctic Pack Ice and Penguin Walk, all too-brief, majestic musical vignettes of their southern latitude subjects. ABC Music 7243 524972 2 5
LULIE the ICEBERG - Music by Jeffrey Stock, Story by Her Imperial Highness Princess Hisako of Takamado of Japan (1999)
Based on the Princess childrens book, written after she saw a lone iceberg drifting off Greenland, the magical tale centers around a quest for the origins and destiny of life as seen through the eyes of an innocent and very brave iceberg, Lulie, as he embarks on a courageous ocean journey between the Arctic and the Antarctic, the two oldest living continents on the planet. One of the movements is entitled South Pole. Recorded at Carnegie Hall, the performance is narrated by Sam Waterston and the musicians include the Orchestra of St. Lukes, Betty Baisch's Choral Associates, Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Pamela Frank (violin) and Paul Winter (saxophone). This CD is hard to miss with the colourful iceberg, emperor penguins and humpback whales on the cover. Produced in co-operation with UNICEF and Icebridge, a forum of scientists and educators dedicated to the promotion of knowledge about the polar regions and the oceans. Sony Classical SK 61665
ON THE LAST FRONTIER by Einojuhani Rautavaara (1999)
This Finnish classical composer has become well known to North American audiences in recent years, particularly for his haunting 1972 Cantus Arcticus, an ode to the land of the Arctic Circle. On the Last Frontier (A Fantasy for Chorus and Orchestra, 1997) is based on the composer's interest, going back to childhood, in Edgar Allan Poes The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Published in 1837, this novella about Pym and a group of sailors marooned on a tropical island at the South Pole with a race of savages is considered to be seminal in Antarctic fiction and has spawned numerous like-minded stories. As Rautavaara approached his 70th year, he took the book's closing plot and developed his own rich musical themes of imagined lands not yet explored. Ondine ODE 921-2
WALKING WITH DINOSAURS - Music from the BBC TV Series - composed by Benjamin Bartlett (1999)
The BBC Concert Orchestra takes us back in time to the Mesozoic era when dinosaurs ruled the land. The soundtrack includes the rather short Spirits of the Ice Forest which explores the exotic woodland Antarctic - mirrored by a romantic theme tinged with Hispanic harmony and the peaceful Antarctic Spring. BBC Music 7243 523458 2 3
2000 TODAY - a World Symphony for the Millennium - composed and conducted by Tan Dun (1999)
An international consortium of television broadcasters commissioned this dynamic musical mosaic for a millennium satellite transmission. The music presents a combination of classical western instrumentation including the BBC Concert Orchestra, choirs, soloists, world instruments and chants to capture the poetic spirit of the worlds regions. Included is the percussive Antarctica. Sony Classical SK 61529
LUBOMR BRABEC PLAYS BACH IN ANTARCTICA by Lubomr Brabec (1997)
The CD title is somewhat misleading as this music was recorded in the Czech Republic; however, the liner notes indicate that classical guitarist Brabec performed these works on his 1997 trip to Antarctica on board a Greenpeace ship and at one of the bases. Just as Antarctica was unknown, not to mention unvisited, in J. S. Bachs day, Bach himself was only known to a narrow group of connoisseurs. I think there are certain parallels: the grandeur, monumental beauty and power of Bachs music, and the mysterious fascination and power of this mystic continent that belongs to no-one and yet everyone. In both these entities, Antarctica and Bachs oeuvre, we can sense the presence of something transcendent, something that goes beyond us. It was to the greater glory of this principle, God, that Bach wrote this music.
Brabec may be on to something here, as we await someone to lug a grand piano or bring a brass band to the shores of Antarctica for what might truly be the first professional recording of a musical performance on the continent. Supraphon SU 3338-2 131
FROM AUSTRALIA – John Williams, guitar (1994)
This CD of world premire recordings by Australian composers includes Antarctica - Suite for Guitar and Orchestra by Australian Nigel Westlake. Westlake wrote the score for the IMAX film Antarctica and later reworked it into this longer 1992 guitar concerto in four movements. Highlights are the stately Wooden Ships and a shimmering piece called Penguin Ballet, which captures emperor penguins frolicking beneath the ice. Sony Classical SK53 361
ON THE DOUBLE by various artists (1993)
This compilation CD of mellifluous wind band tracks from various composers is played by two Dutch bands, the Johan Willem Friso Kapel, a Dutch Armed Forces full band conducted by Major Gert Jansen, and the Muziekvereniging Crescendo, a fanfare band conducted by Danny Oosterman. One of the tracks played by the J. W. F. Kapel is Antarctica by Carl Wittrock, a Dutch composer and conductor (b. 1966). The liner notes explain that this composition is a free impression of the spectacular scenery in the Antarctic. Melodies are linked together to convey the various aspects of the landscape. These melodies together with their simple harmonic accompaniments make this work pleasant for both the listener and the musician. Band Music Centre BMC 88030-2; (See also other recordings of this piece in this section.)
ANTARCTIC SYMPHONY – various composers (1993)
This CD is a compilation by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation of existing older, non-Antarctic classical music, interspersed with the actual sounds of Antarctic wildlife and human activities on The Ice, in an effort to evoke a feeling of Antarctica. The music includes pieces by Vivaldi, Durufl, Boccherini, Roussel, Sibelius and Nielsen. The non-musical interludes include a kitchen sink of sounds of penguins, seals, petrels, skuas, katabatic winds, huskies, ships moving in ice, helicopters and radio room/flight operation conversations.
According to the liner notes, Antarctica is a wilderness most people have some idea of, though very few have been there. Perhaps Australians are more aware; Antarctica is closer to us, though still very inaccessible. We have a national responsibility for part of it, and part is a very large area indeed. Many of us will know someone who has been there, maybe even someone whose life was changed by spending time there. The race to the South Pole, lost to Amundsen by Scott and his party, the drawn out suffering and human loss as they tried to return – these are among the Australian epics, tales to children and remembered by adults.
The makers of this record havent visited Antarctica, though they received the sound recordings from people who have. For us, the sound effects were the introduction to the Antarctic world. As on the previous discs in this series, the idea is to appeal to the aural imagination, stimulating it with music and natural sounds, together and side by side.
The first paradox we found was that Antarctica seemed to demand the inclusion of some human sounds. In our other wildernesses, bush and sea, music provided the humanising element. In ANTARCTIC SYMPHONY there are even more bird and animal presences than in Sea Symphony, but the sounds captured on tape constantly remind the listener that any human presence is a struggle against the elements. We have introduced human voices for the first time, so that we can wonder that people are there at all.
Symphony mainly implies music from the European tradition. The sounds, rather than the music in this series, evoke the landscape, but it is no accident that music which can live with Antarctica was composed close to the northern, Arctic wastes
Paradox No. 2: the trackless wastes of ice and snow seemed to call for a wider, not a narrower range of music and musical emotions. A strange environment, so that strange music is not out of place, like Boccherinis startling eighteenth century phantasms of a Spanish city by night. Humour, from the dogs and their bluff handlers, releases an energy and directness typical of the music of Roussel, the ships officer turned composer. The seasons in Antarctica, we imagine, could hardly be like those of Vivaldis Venice, but his music, matching a poem describing an icy winter scene, seems right as our soundscape approaches the great southernmost continent ABC Music/Phonogram/Polygram 514 639-2
ANTARCTICA - The Film Music, composed by Nigel Westlake (1992)
The 37-minute CD of the score of the IMAX film Antarctica has thirteen mostly short orchestral tracks of various themes portrayed in the movie, four of which were developed into the previously mentioned guitar concerto. The CD is well played and recorded and the music, conducted by Carl Vine, conveys the dramatics of its theme titles. Tall Poppies TP012; www.tallpoppies.net; www.rimshot.com.au
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH - Original Soundtrack Recording - music composed and conducted by John Scott (1988)
This is the soundtrack for the William Kronick-produced, written and directed documentary film about The Transglobe Expedition, led by Ranulph Fiennes. Over a three-year period ending in 1982, the team circumnavigated the globe along its polar axis from North to South Poles, being the first to do so. The orchestral music is a pleasant listening journey and the Antarctic tracks include the titles Shackleton, Reaching Antarctica, On to the South Pole and The Scott Tragedy. Prometheus PCD102
THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH – The Original Soundtrack Recording from Central TVs Production by Trevor Jones (1985) (Vinyl LP only)
This is the 42-minute musical soundtrack for Britains Central TVs historical drama series, directed by Ferdinand Fairfax, featuring Martin Shaw, Susan Wooldridge, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Stephen Moore, Richard Morant, Sylvester McCoy, Pat Roach, Max Von Sydow and a young Hugh Grant. The series was a 7-part TV dramatization of the competing Roald Amundsen Norwegian and Robert Scott British South Pole Expeditions of 1910-12, based on the book of the same name by Roland Huntford, who had a strong anti-Scott bias. The grand orchestral music was composed and conducted by Trevor Jones, a British-based TV and film composer. He has composed films for over 90 television and film projects and his later film work included major projects such as Excalibur, The Dark Crystal, The Last of the Mohicans, Cliffhanger, Notting Hill and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The tracks on the record include scenes such as Main Theme, Snow Mistress, Kathleen and Scott, Norwegian Theme, Scott and Wilson Collaborate, Chamber Ensemble at Mabel Beardsleys Soiree, The Departure of the Terra Nova, The Fram Heads South, Forty-mile Dash, The British Set Forth Across the Barrier, Axel-Heiberg, The Furthest South, Ski Race, The Great Nail, Death on the Glacier, In Memory of Soldier, Message to the Public, The South Pole and Closing Titles. The full soundtrack does not appear to have ever been officially issued in CD format. Island Visual Arts ISTA 8; www.trevorjonesfilmmusic.com; (See also 1ST SONCINEMAD FILM MUSIC FESTIVAL OF MADRID SYMPHONIC CONCERT – Composed and Conducted by Trevor Jones (2006) in this section.)
DAS OPFER (THE SACRIFICE) by Winfried Zillig (1937) (appears to be unrecorded)
This opera was based on an original prize-winning play, Captain Scotts Expedition to the South Pole, which was completed in 1930 and premired successfully at the Hamburg State Opera, by unbalanced German physician and writer Reinhard Goering (no relation to his infamous WW II namesake), who pursued themes of mans self-determination and perseverance in his writings. In 1936 he began the libretto for the opera to be based on his play, with music by German atonalist Winfried Zillig. Called The Sacrifice, it was first performed in 1937 but had only three performances, although it furthered Zilligs musical career. The operatic work was revived in West Germany in 1961 and presentations included penguins as a Greek chorus to the dissonant score, which is still in print and available for purchase through music publishers on the Internet.
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Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content:
END OF SUMMER by Jhann Jhannsson, with Hildur Guðnadttir and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (2015)
Jhann Jhannsson is an award-winning Icelandic composer and performer who has scored his minimalist, neo-classical, electronic music for theatre, documentaries and for well-known feature films such as The Theory of Everything and Sicario. His first short film, as director, is the 28-minute End of Summer, for which he also composed the soundtrack. This is haunting, ambient music with instruments, electronics and vocalizations. It is in four parts, with tracks entitled Drake Passage, Saint Andrews Bay, Elsehul and Prion Island.
According to his Web site, The soundtrack to End of Summer is an emotional, enduring listen and a compelling experience. Forming a soundscape as broad as the view it was inspired by yet equally heartwarming, devotion to the music will slow down time and provide a moment of harmony within times of change.
Shot on black and white super 8 film, End of Summer is a hypnotic and slow-burning journey through the austere landscapes of the island of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Filmed as a series of mostly static tableaux over a period of 20 days during the waning days of the Antarctic Summer, the film is a startling look at life at the edge of the world. The film is shot on very slow 35mm stock normally used for filming title cards, which was cut down to super 8 format. The film is informed by the philosopher Timothy Mortons idea of dark ecology - in which the old ideas of nature as an object of beauty and the privileging of the human is disputed. Without narration and with a soundtrack that blends cello and voices with Jhanns field recordings from the voyage, the film maps and explores the terrain of an increasingly fragile region.
Accompanied by rich and detailed field recordings of the surrounding this footage makes a perfect foundation for Jhanns musical compositions, performed together with fellow musicians and friends Hildur Guðnadttir and Robert A. A. Lowe. The varying use of cello, voice, synthesizer and electronics creates a listening experience that reflects both the vast beauty of the quiet scenery and the necessary cautiousness of its inhabitants. As if gliding through the steep ice, its rough edges and the harmonious water movements, organic arrangements are patiently devolving into voice and electronic based ambience that adds warmth to the icy, artefact laden environment.
In an interview in the Montreal Gazette on Nov. 18, 2015, Jhann said that, Because the landscape is so beautiful already, if you just start to put music on it, it could just become sentimental. I wanted to have music bring out something that isnt there. End of Summer expands the way I want to express myself as a composer. Its a piece of visual music that has this narrative and conceptual dimension to it. Sonic Pieces PATTERN002; www.johannjohannsson.com
QUEEN MAUD LAND by Katya Sourikova (2015) (Web site download only)
Katya Sourikova, raised in St. Petersburg, Russia and London, England and now based in Berlin, Germany, is a jazz pianist who has recorded and played internationally. Named after the wife of Norways King Haakon VII in 1930 and claimed by Norway in 1939, Queen Maud Land is a territory in East Antarctica. It is now part of the current Antarctic Treaty System and was one of the last Antarctic areas to be explored due its isolation and difficult access from the coast.
According to a quote on a sales download site for the album, In 2010, a performance of Katyas music in a Berlin Jazz club caught the attention of Latvian Cellist Ruslan Vilensky. One particular track, Queen Maud Land, which also featured twice on Katyas third album, Ivans Dream, seemed to lead her music in a new direction. Vilensky encouraged Sourikova to at first create arrangements of some of her earlier music and then later compose directly for chamber ensemble. He assembled an amazing group of musicians together in his hometown of Riga, Latvia, to make a recording over the 2011-2012 New Year. Shortly before the recording, it was realised that the recording would exactly mark the occasion of the 100-year anniversary of Robert Scotts fateful 1911-1912 mission to reach the South Pole. So came the idea for a narrative to be woven around the music, which could ultimately be performed not just as chamber music, but in a theatre setting. The names and order of tracks on this album outline the narrative: Twilight: Robert Scott and his wife spend time together in Christchurch, NZ before his departure to Antarctica. Queen Maud Land: Arrival on the frozen continent. Aurora - Aurora Australis - the Southern Lights visible above Antarctica. Honours Pathway: with reference to the book Hagakure. Winds of Time: Perils of Antarctic landscapes. Journey to the Other World: Loss of hope, and the realisation that death is imminent. In the Dark and Glaciers. A stage script has already been written for this purpose, which uses excerpts of the letters Robert Scott wrote to his wife during his mission. Perhaps the most powerful is his very last, written as he lay freezing to death, unknowingly just a few miles from relative safety, To My Widow. www.katyasourikova.com; (See also IVANS DREAM by Katya Sourikova (2011) in the Individual Songs section.)
ANTARCTICA SUMMER – Original Documentary Score by Benjamin Shadows (2015) (Web site download only)
This is an album of twenty-five short instrumental tracks in a relaxing New Age style, based on Antarctic places, scenes or wildlife, with titles such as Antarctica Summer Sunset, The Southern Ocean, Ross Sea, Anvers Island, McMurdo Sound, Port Lockroy, Ice Cap, Ross Ice Shelf, Southernmost Continent, Cold Desert, Penguins and Seals, Covered in Ice, The South Pole, Deep Freeze, Too Cold for Habitation and Melting Glaciers. No information found on the artist or recording.
ANTARCTIC CIRCLES by Lucy Bergman (2015)
Antarctic Circles was an exhibition of songs, photographs and sculptural books about Antarctica, held during October 2005 at the Barbican Library in London, U.K., presented by artists Adele Jackson and Lucy Bergman, who are based in Kirklees, U.K. In addition to being an artist and arts development manager, Adele has been an Antarctic expedition photographer. In the 2015-16 tourist season, she will be one of four people running the Port Lockroy visitor centre and post office in the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the most visited sites in Antarctica. Lucy Bergman is a visual artist and project manager in film and graphic arts, particularly for creative skill development.
As part of the overall Antarctic Circles project, Lucy composed and sang on her similarly titled 5-song EP. She told us about the tracks: These five songs have been written in response to the Antarctic Treaty and the landscape and wildlife it protects. The songs are part of a body of work called Antarctic Circles, a collaboration between artists Adele Jackson and Lucy Bergman. Gateway: This song is about making the journey into Antarctica and how this experience is akin to passing through a portal between one plane of existence into another. It is also a meditation on how life carries us forward into unknown territories and we have no way of knowing how long we have to experience its beauty. Albatrossa: Written for the Great Wandering Albatross who can spend years and years out at sea and are all too often dragged to their deaths by long line fishing. Sung from the point of view of the wife of the Albatross as she waits for her husband to return to her. 1959: Titled for the year the Antarctic Treaty was initially signed, this song is about the need for man to conquer new territories, create boundaries and organise all that is wild and untouched. I read somewhere that if all the Antarctic ice were to melt, it would shift Earths rotational axis and we would spin out of orbit. Right Whale: Written in response to the near extinction of a particular species of whale named the Right Whale by hunters, as they were the right whale to kill for oil. I felt that this poor species (whose numbers are thankfully now beginning to recover) deserved to take back its name. Under Ice: Inspired by the Technicolor universe of breathtaking plants and creatures that live under the Antarctic ice. Amazing that an environment, which is so dangerous and harsh for humans and most creatures, can provide the delicate balance necessary to support such a variety of so much intricate and resilient life. www.fluxperpetua.com; www.antarcticartist.com; www.adelejackson.org.uk
THE SHACKLETON EXPERIENCE by Karl Schmaltz (2015)
According to his Web site, Karl Schmaltz is a 19-year old Wisconsin, U.S.A.-based engineering student who spends his summers writing music while living on a rural Wisconsin farm. He strives to write unique music and believes that music should tell stories. In his debut album, The Shackleton Experience, he shows just how that can be doneThe Shackleton Experience is a concept album that drops the listener back over 100 years to embark on a journey with Sir Ernest Shackleton aboard the Endurance and experience first-hand one of the most legendary stories of survival. As each stage of the journey progresses the music adapts to the mood and complements the atmosphere of the voyage. The liner notes further explain that, After considerable research, writing, and experimentation, I decided on a British narrative set to a high-energy rock music track with subtle interludes, build-ups, and thundering transitions.
The eight tracks of punchy rock/progressive metal include the following descriptive titles about the iconic 1914-16 Expedition: Men Wanted, Into the Weddell Sea, Winter Months, Ocean Camps, Escape from the Ice, The Boat Journey, Across South Georgia and The Rescue. Karl further explained the project for us: The reason I did this project was that I wanted to do something different musically, and at the time I was learning about Ernest Shackletons Endurance expedition in school and thought that would be a great story to use. So I spent a long time studying the story and wrote a script that encompassed the whole journey, then put that over the top of some rock music that fit the energy and emotions of the journey. www.shackletonexperience.com
VIENTO by Lawrence English (2015) (limited edition Vinyl LP and Web site download)
Lawrence English is a Brisbane, Australia-based media artist, live performance artist and composer, with many recordings to his credit. This current album, (including a limited vinyl issue of 400 discs) of two soundscapes from field recordings, includes the 19-minute Patagonia and 16-minute Antarctica. In 2010, Lawrence was a guest visitor to Antarctica with the Argentine Antarctic Division, which included a stormy and windy stopover of several days in Rio Gallegos in the Patagonian region of Argentina. His Antarctic Peninsula trip included visits to the Argentinean Marambio and Esperanza bases. Lawrence told us about his trip: I was very fortunate to be invited to Antarctica by the Argentine Antarctic Division as an artist in residence. I am a huge admirer of the environment and animals that exist on that great continent. I dearly hope that they can persist with the same vigour as they have the past few hundred years in light of all the climatic shifts happening down there.
According to his album publicity, Lawrence said that The Antarctic recordings were made during two blizzards at Marambio and Esperanza bases. During the blizzard in Marambio, the temperature dropped to -40C (with windchill) which made recording particularly challenging. The wind battered the bases structures and telecommunications equipment, making a range of unusual tonal phase drones, which you can hear in these recordings. The blizzard at Esperanza was mild by comparison, but still strong enough to coat penguins in layers of snow as they huddled together during the worst of the wind storm. Listening back to these recordings I am struck by the sheer physicality of the wind. Its rare that you feel physically reduced by the motion of air, but in both Patagonia and Antarctica that is just how I felt. A small speck of organic dust in a howling storm. www.lawrenceenglish.com
SHACKLETONS ENDURANCE – The Story in Words and Music by Brian Hughes and John MacKenna (2014)
This CD tells the story of Ernest Shackletons famed 1914-16 Endurance Expedition to Antarctica, in alternating narration and instrumental musical sketches that interpret the various events and moods of the story. The work was commissioned by Athy Heritage Centre Museum in County Kildare, Ireland to commemorate the Centenary Year of the Endurance Expedition. The Athy Heritage Centre Museum also hosts the annual Shackleton Autumn School in honour of Ernest Shackleton, who was born nearby. According to the introductory liner notes by Alexandra Shackleton, Ernests granddaughter, Telling the story through music as well as prose is very appropriate; words were of seminal importance to Ernest Shackleton (who wrote poetry), but he was also aware of the impact of music in maintaining morale as evidenced by the importance he gave to the ships gramophone and to Husseys banjo, which he described as vital mental medicine. The music was composed by Brian Hughes, who also features prominently on the Uilleann pipes and whistles, with narration by John MacKenna.
The Irishness of the music is pervasive in the use of plaintive pipes, whistles, violin, piano, harp, percussion and the backing of the Monasterevin Gospel Choir on the last track. Shackleton was born in Ireland, though he lived most of his life in England, and the liner notes point out that half the crew of six that sailed in the readapted lifeboat, James Caird, from Elephant Island to South Georgia in the iconic rescue mission, was Irish. The well-played seven musical tracks, each from three to five minutes in length, include South to the Open Seas, Breaking Through, Winds and Tides, Antarctic Tears, A Friends Farewell, The Sound of Survival and The Flag of the Adventurer. The world premire of the live multi-media presentation of this work took place in Carlow, near Dublin, in October2014. www.shackletonmuseum.com
PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR – Music from the Motion Picture (2014)
Directed by Simon J. Smith and franchise veteran Eric Darnell, this DreamWorks Animation feature film continues with the escapades of a group of four New York Central Park Zoo penguins. After a flashback to the Antarctic origins of these penguins, voiced by Werner Herzog, director of the Antarctic documentary Encounters at the End of the World, the birds encounter the evil scheming plans and mutation ray of the octopus, Dr. Octavius Brine, miffed at losing his prominent position to penguins. Drawing from references to James Bond films and set in locations around the world, the film engages with witty dialogue and plenty of action. The soundtrack was composed and produced by Lorne Balfe, a Scottish composer who has worked on many Hollywood and U.K. films and television programs. He won a Grammy Award in 2008 for film soundtrack production for The Dark Knight and has been nominated for many other awards. The music on this soundtrack is performed by a large studio orchestra and big band brass, as well as by the Bratislava Symphony Choir. One of the early tracks is Antarctica, related to the origin of the movies heroes, and the other tracks are named after 15 species of penguins by their scientific, Latin names. The music is exuberant, paralleling the films action, often flavoured with a taste of secret agent mystery. A second CD of music, composed by Mike Himelstein and Alex Geringas, includes Christmas music performed by the Penguins. SONY Classical 88875050652
THE AGE OF EXPLORATION by Rory Danger and the Danger Dangers (2014)
Rory Danger and the Danger Dangers is a theatrical rockabilly group based in New Orleans, U.S.A., consisting of nine members with established careers in various other groups who came together to make this CD. Fronted by lead vocalist and saxophonist/clarinetist Aurora Nealand, an enormously talented traditional New Orleans jazz musician, they began their collaboration in 2010 and have performed various themed shows since then. This is their first record and it is built on the story of Ernest Shackletons Endurance Expedition of 1914-17, in which various songs, ranging from rockabilly surf to folk styles are built around the explorers spoken diary comments as he types them. According to the groups publicity, their cover designer stated, This record is insane...Think rockabilly circus with ties to the Shackleton exploration, danger, true love, danger, teenage make-out sessions, danger, Paul Simon with a sprinkling of danger. I generally like the music I do CD covers for, but this is probably the most spectacularly insane project Ive been involved in. The album cover shows the group as Victorian-era explorers, the inside has a photo of old explorers with a gramophone playing a record to penguins, and the back cover has the iconic photo of two of Australian Douglas Mawsons expeditioners fighting against fierce winds near their huts.
Marc Paradis, one of the groups singers and guitarists, explained the album further for us: We chose the Antarctic exploration theme after a personal interest I have in Ernest Shackletons expedition was brought to the attention of the group. I detailed his ordeal and they were taken by the story, it somehow bringing to mind themes wed already begun to touch on in our writing. Additionally, and regardless of direct connection to the theme of individual songs, we felt the age of exploration was a fitting theme for a band like us. We are misfits, we rarely are together, and great risks are taken at every show. It is both specific and vague, but we all felt strongly about the Antarctic explorer vibe and are very happy with the results of our efforts. Please continue to enjoy the record and spread the word to your music loving friends and fellow Antarctic enthusiasts. Jinggao Record RD0111; www.rorydanger.com;
FORWARD by Simon Slator (2014) (Web site download only)
Simon Slator is a Tamworth, U.K-based electronic musician who specializes in long conceptual ambient pieces. In 2003, Simon issued his album Antarctica, which had the long tracks Mount Erebus and Antarctica. Eleven years later he has now issued Forward, a 43½-minute drone piece, complete with backdrop winds. It was inspired by Norwegian Roald Amundsens expedition to the pole over 1910-12, which became the first to reach the South Pole.
According to his album notes, Antarctica has always been a place that has fascinated me and, back in 2003, I recorded an album called Antarctica based on the sights and landscapes of our southernmost continent. The music was both grand and powerful, but also barren and windswept. To this day, the album remains among the most popular and acclaimed of my early ambient compositions. When I began working on new music early in 2014, I hit upon the idea of making a return visit - only this time, I would approach it from an explorers point of view. Id been inspired to create this piece after reading the story of Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who led the first successful expedition to the geographic South Pole. In doing so, I aimed to capture his first landing, his approach and his goal all in one piece. The album title comes from a translation of the Norwegian word fram, meaning forward. Fram was the name of the vessel that carried Amundsen and his team to Antarctica and, given the first-person perspective and linear progression of the piece, I thought the word summed it up perfectly. www.simonslator.co.uk; auralfilms.bandcamp.com/album/forward; simonslator.bandcamp.com; (See also ANTARCTICA by Simon Slator (2003) in this section.)
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by Steve Stearns (2014) (Web site download only)
Steve Stearns is a Seattle, Washington-based musician, composer and sound designer who has composed music for independent films and commercials. This album is his soundtrack for an imaginary film about American science fiction/ horror author H. P. Lovecrafts 1931 novella At the Mountains of Madness. This story of a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition has become a classic. The expeditioners discover the remains of a subterranean ancient civilization and meet the horrors of its still-existing monsters. The eerie, dark ambient electronic music tracks, including some heavier rock interludes, include titles such as Antarctic Apocalypse, Teke-Li-Li, The Specimen in the Lake (Shoggoth Carpenterii), The Curious Cave Paintings, Heartbeat in the Abyss, and The Stalking of Professor Lake.
Steve told us that The album was originally developed as a score for the independent movie K2, about an attempt to climb the titular peak a few years back. The filmmakers ended up using a different composer when they took the project in a different direction, so I ended up changing the tracks a little to make them more of a horror film concept album. Ive always liked the Lovecraft story, and its setting meshed perfectly with that of K2 so it was a natural fit. submarine.bandcamp.com/album/at-the-mountains-of-madness
ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Plan 9 (2014) (Web site download only)
This is the soundtrack for New Zealand filmmaker Anthony B. Powells multi award-winning documentary of life in the Ross Island region of Antarctica, which premired in 2013. It follows the lives of people on their assignments and jobs over a year on McMurdo Station and Scott Base and the time-lapse scenic cinematography is stunning. Anthony has worked in Antarctica since 1998 and the project took him ten years to complete. Music was provided by New Zealands Plan 9, a trio composed of David Donaldson, Steve Roche and Janet Roddick. They have worked together since the 1980s and formed Plan 9 in 1992. The award-winning group has contributed music for the Lord of the Ring films, The Hobbit, as well as for other film, television and theatrical productions. The very sympathetic, folksy music on the album mirrors topical titles such as Arrival, Off to Work, Why We Come Here, Dry Valleys, 24 Hour Sun, Penguins, Ship Offload, Last Plane, Grader with Snow, First Sunset, Mummified Seal, Winter Crazy, Scent of Flowers, Return of the Sun, Your Turn to Leave and Leaving the Ice.
The groups David Donaldson told us about the films music: It didnt seem to want a full orchestral score (as well as not having the budget) as a lot of the film is about the people as much as the grandeur. We thought the use of folk instruments and style was in keeping with the tone of the film and the history of Antarctic exploration. We have quite a good collection of folk instruments from around the world that we can play in our own way. It seemed the perfect job to use them on. We used a smallish string and horn section to fill out the music for the bigger visual scenes. I remember seeing the Inuit film Atanarjuat - The Fast Runner years ago and it used Didgeridoo in the score. It worked really well. www.plan9music.co.nz; www.kickstarter.com/projects/antz/antarctica-a-year-on-ice-documentary-feature-film
ANTARCTIC ODYSSEY by Eric Bettens (2014) (Web site download only)
Eric Bettens is an award-winning Belgium-based composer and electronic/acoustic keyboard instrumentalist who has performed internationally with orchestras. Since 2002 he has contributed soundtracks to over 30 films and documentaries. In 2010, he was part of a multi-disciplinary team of 57, including photographers, scientists and artists who went to the Antarctic Peninsula with the Ocean Geographic Society to retrace the steps of Ernest Shackletons 1914-46 Endurance Expedition to the Antarctic. A photo exhibition was presented in Sydney in 2013, followed in London and New York. In May, 2014 a live multi-media musical performance, Antarctic Odyssey, with mixed choir, films and light show with the projects music was presented in Namur, Belgium.
Eric told us that The goals to this expedition were cinematographic (make a book and film with animals, landscapes, etc.), scientific and historic (we followed the same route as Sir Ernest Shackleton). I wrote the music for the different pictures of the films, and for the exhibition that took place in Sydney last year. I wrote also a show about Antarctica and the music. The enjoyable soundtrack album of the music for the film/presentation traces the voyage from Ireland to South Georgia. This is big music with a large sonic palette that includes big reverberant drums and percussion, synthesizers, guitar, operatic vocals and Carmina Burana-like choirs. Track titles include Fast Moving, Leaving Ireland, Icescape, In the Sky, Penguins Parade, Revolt, Austral Night, South Georgia, Ocean Crossing, and Memories of Molchanov (the ship). www.eric-bettens.com; www.antarctic-odyssey.com
STILLNESS SOUNDTRACKS by Machinefabriek (2014)
This is the soundtrack for a series of five video films by Dutch multi-media artist Esther Kokmeijer who visited Greenland and the Antarctic Peninsula in 2013. Her videos depict the majesty and solitude of the frozen oceans and landscapes. The accompanying peaceful, ambient soundtracks by Machinefabriek (aka Rotterdam, Netherlands-based graphic designer and electronic musician Rutger Zuydervelt) perfectly match the powerful visuals. The video was released as a limited edition USB flash drive with a separate downloadable CD of the music. The Antarctic tracks include two Chinstrap pieces, Stillness #3 (The Protector, Antarctica), Stillness #4 (Yalour Islands, Antarctica) and Stillness #5 (Lemaire Channel, Antarctica). Esther told us about the project: Every year I work a few weeks on a ship that travels from the far North to the far South. I work in the expedition team as an expedition photographer to document the journey, give lectures, but also have to give a hand with landings and tours on Antarctica - for me a unique chance to see this incredible nature. Glacial Movements GM022; www.machinefabriek.com; www.estherkokmeijer.nl
NORTH / SOUTH by Cheryl E. Leonard (2014)
Cheryl Leonard is an award-winning California-based composer, performer and instrument builder, specializing in natural object instruments and performances. In 2008-09 she went to the Antarctic Peninsulas Palmer Station American scientific base on a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundations Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. Her resulting CD, CHATTERMARKS (2009), was a presentation of the raw sounds of penguins of various ages, various forms of floating and melting ice, elephant seals and even a storm.
This current disc, in a hand-crafted cover, is a CD of recordings made with naturally occurring marine objects and incorporating marine sounds from the Arctic Ocean and from the Antarctic Peninsula. The Antarctic-themed tracks include the 6 to 9-minute pieces Greater than 20 Knots, Ablation Zone, White on White and Lullaby for E Seals, played on Adlie penguin bones, Antarctic limpet shells, stones and kelp flutes, combined with recordings of Antarctic winds, brash ice and southern elephant seals. www.allwaysnorth.com; www.musicfromtheice.blogspot.com
THE ICE SUITE by Co.Sonance (2013)
Co.Sonance is an Australia-based multi-media performing group, formed in 2009, which consists of established artists Karena Wynn-Moylan, composer, arranger and narrator for this album, Ken Naughton, violinist (acoustic and electric), Cye Wood, violist and violinist, and Grayson Cooke, digital imagery (in performance). According to the groups Web site, The Ice Suite is an exploration of the imagined inner dialogues of Robert Falcon Scott as he journeys through the Antarctic to his doom. Using programmed studio composition, live instrumental performance, spoken word and live mix visual projections, the audience is enveloped in a multi layered audio visual experience. Rather than tell the tale of Scotts ill fated journey, the audience can enter the physical and emotional landscape of the man who led himself and four of his men to a cold and futile death, exactly 100 years ago to the day after the event. The work is an exploration of how a linear narrative can be fragmented into moments of imagery and passages of words and music by the interplay of programmed fixed progressions of digital sampling of both music and imagery while live instrumentalists and spoken word instinctively react and interplay to the theme.
This 54-minute album was recorded from a live show in May 2013 at Byron Theatre, Byron Bay, Australia. The three tracks of mind-bending music and mesmerizing sonics that portray Scotts fateful South Pole journey include Terra Nova, Dog Sled and The Passage.
Karena told us about the project in 2015: The Ice Suite took three composers two years to develop and a year for the digital art to be compiled. We can only perform it at festivals or special events because of its theme but those familiar with the Antarctic or the story of Scott have been overwhelmingly positive about it. Because Ken and Cye work by improvising within boundaries in live performance, each show is a little different - Grayson, also does a live visual mix of the digital imagesOur violinist Ken found his violin de-tuned itself slightly as we got to the end of our performance - we think due to the rather aggressive air conditioning in the theatre! www.theicesuite.com
FREEZE EM ALL by Metallica (2013) (Web site download only)
Metallica, a Los Angeles, California-based heavy metal/thrash rock group, formed in 1981, has been one of the top live performers and recording artists of its genre and has won many Grammy, Billboard and other awards. In December 2013, they made history by becoming the only band to perform concerts on all the continents in the same year. They performed a concert at Argentinas Carlini Station (formerly known as Jubany, first established in 1953) on King George Island, part of Antarcticas Shetland Islands, off the Antarctic Peninsula. The group, their equipment and their Latin American contest-winning fans, sponsored by Coca-Cola Zero, were transported to the base by the Dutch-managed expedition vessel Ortelius. The concert was played inside a clear dome at the bases helipad and the audience was reported to have included about 120 people, including fans, ship crew and scientists and personnel from Carlini and neighbouring bases. In order to conform to sound control regulations, the concert had no amplification and apart from live drums and was transmitted to the listeners via headphones. A video was to be available later and the 10-song, hour-long downloadable concert audio was included for purchase on the groups Web site. www.metallica.com
MUSIC FOR WERNER HERZOGS ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Henry Kaiser & David Lindley (2013)
This is the instrumental soundtrack, by two master American guitarists, for German filmmaker Werner Herzogs Encounters at the End of the World, an award-winning documentary about the scientists and support people who work in Antarctica, largely in the McMurdo Sound area, released in 2007. The music combines lots of drones with country roots and plenty of slide guitars and violins. Particular Antarctic titles include Over the Ice, Flight to New Harbor, Platelet Ice, Still Underwater, Seals on Ice, Greenhouse Gases, Back in Shackletons Day, McMurdo Barn Dance, Frozen Fingers, Happy Campers, Ice Cave Raga and Scelsi on Erebus.
David Lindley is an iconic award-winning American string multi-instrumentalist who has recorded as a sideman with the cream of California and other American rock artists from the early 1970s to the present. He is arguably best known for his guitar and vocals on the track Stay, with Jackson Browne on the Running on Empty album, a #3 charting Billboard record in 1978.
Henry Kaiser is a prominent and prodigiously recorded California-based improvisational avant-garde guitarist who first went to Antarctica in 2001-02 on a U.S. National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Program grant. He recorded his guitar playing at McMurdo Station and at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and later returned to work as a research diver and underwater cameraman on two documentaries, including one of his own and for Werner Herzogs Encounters at the End of the World. Kaisers Antarctic diving and filming experiences may now be among the broadest in the field.
Henry Kaiser also produced an earlier DVD of his guitar music, A BUNCH OF GUITAR SOLOS (2003), in which he used the South Pole marker as a guitar slide, performed inside an ice cave on Antarcticas active volcano, Mt. Erebus, and filmed scenes of the Icestock Music Festival at McMurdo Station. Fractal Music 2013A; (See also UNDER THE ICE – Live at 21 Grand by Henry Kaiser (2008) in this section and SOLO ACOUSTIC ON BEARDSELL GUITARS by Henry Kaiser (2011) and BLUE WATER ASCENT by Henry Kaiser (2007 in the Individual Songs section.)
BOND STREET BRIDGE PRESENTS THE EXPLORERS CLUB: ANTARCTICA (2013) and
GREAT GOD! THIS IS AN AWFUL PLACE EP – THE EXPLORERS CLUB: ANTARCTICA by Bond Street Bridge (2013) (Web site download only)
Bond Street Bridge is an Auckland, New Zealand-based alternative folk band started in 2008 by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Sam Prebble. An interest in piracy and exploration stories led to a more focused obsession with Antarctic exploration of the Edwardian era. This was followed up with a road tour over 2012-13 of the multi-media performance of The Explorers Club: Antarctica. The shows publicity presented it as follows:
Theyve torn up the Bible and eaten the dogs - Auckland alt-folk outfit Bond Street Bridge present tales of courage, endurance and Edwardian pluck in their multimedia song cycle The Explorers Club: Antarctica. Inspired by the incredible stories of Captain Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton, songwriter Sam Prebble has recruited a band of seasoned folk musicians from the Auckland underground and produced a series of stirring vignettes drawn from the diaries and letters of these stalwart adventurers. Tales of shipwreck, frostbite, and stiff-upper-lip survival in the snow are presented in a combination of spoken-word storytelling and original folk songs. Performances range from ethereal to foot-stomping; arrangements run the gamut from delicate vocal harmonies to dramatic percussive explosions. The performances are fortified by projected heritage photographs, taken by the explorers themselves nearly a century ago, and now used here with the kind permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library. Combined with original mixed-media illustrations from Auckland artist Emily Cater, these images bring these legendary characters and stories of early 20th Century Antarctic exploration to life. 2013 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of Captain Scotts ill-fated Terra Nova expedition, with news of the explorers death reaching the world via the port of Oamaru in February 1913. Bond Street Bridge have taken this show on a 25 date tour throughout the country to mark this anniversary, including a special show in Oamarus historic precinct on the 7th of February. The tour has also included sold-out shows in the Wellington and Auckland Fringe Festivals, a feature appearance at Dunedin Fringe Festival Club, and an award for best music in the 2013 NZ Fringe Festival Awards. With a band of road-hardened troubadours, rousing stories of icy adventure, stunning heritage photographs and beautiful original illustrations, audiences can expect to be transported back to a time when the ice was unforgiving, the pole was untouched, and if the worst came to the worst, one could always eat the dogs.
A 19-minute, 5-track EP of the songs was made available via download in July and the full CD was issued in October 2013. The group described the EP on its Web site as follows: Recorded live on stage and in the studio for your edification and entertainment, this EP records the story of Captain Scotts arrival at the South Pole in 1912. Hoping for priority and a safe run home, the British party instead found that Amundsens team had won the race. These songs, based on the diaries and letters of Scott and his men, tell the tale of their final doomed effort to return to the safety of Hut Point.
The full 42-minute studio album is described as: Songs from the stories of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Captain Scotts British Antarctic Expedition and Sir Ernest Shackletons Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition are remembered and celebrated through original folk songs. Tracks include The Third Man, Great God! This is an Awful Place, Oates: Tragedy All along the Line, The Means to the End, The Wreck of the Endurance, Water Sky, Sixty Below, Its All in the Game, Play On and The Lost Men.
Sam explained his interest in Antarctica to us: Here in New Zealand theres always been a strong interest, as youre probably aware, in wilderness exploration and the Antarctic in particular. My parents were mountain climbers and wilderness guides in the 70s, and I grew up learning to sail wooden boats on Wellington Harbour with my friends, so these stories were all around.
Travelling around the country playing folk music, Ive also come across many visible connections to the expeditions that used New Zealand as their jumping-off point - Lyttelton Harbour has a thriving folk scene and the little museum there was a treasure trove before the earthquakes. Down in Port Chalmers in Dunedin – Scotts final port, if you like – theres an old pub on the wharf called Chicks Hotel. We play there every time we pass through Dunedin and it struck me at one point that this would have been one of the pubs where the crew of the Aurora would have sat, waiting for the money to come through so they could fix their ship and head back to McMurdo Sound to collect the shore party theyd left behind.
I also work in libraries - I drive a mobile library around West Auckland - and thats given me a chance to spend a lot of time with the published narratives of the expeditions. Scotts diary, Worsleys books, Cherry-Garrard, of course, and Mawson, they were all stunning writers, as Im sure you know well. Between the writing and the photographs that are held in collections here in NZ, I had a treasure trove of material to draw on when I wrote the songs. I also went into the poetry that Scott and Shackleton were reading out there on the ice - Browning, Tennyson, Kipling and of course, your own Robert Service - and that gave me some more angles on what these explorers may have experienced.
What I havent done yet is go there myself - Id love to and there are several artist residencies as Im sure youre aware, but what with playing shows and organising tours, I havent gotten around to applying for them...Its on the list, however! Banished from the Universe Records BAN014; www.bondstreetbridge.com
600 YEARS IN A MOMENT (2013) by Fiona Joy Hawkins; ICE – PIANO SLIGHTLY CHILLED (2007) by Fiona Joy Hawkins; ANGEL ABOVE MY PIANO by Fiona Joy Hawkins (2006)
Fiona Joy is an Australian painter and pianist whose 2006 CD of romantic New Age piano presents a suite of Antarctic Interludes, which includes Crystal Desert, Dance of the Penguins, Flight of the Albatross and Angel Above My Piano. Her 2007 CD, with added percussion and accompaniment, contains Antarctic Wings, a perkier sounding reprise of Flight of the Albatross from her 2006 disc, as well as Snow Bird, a vocal version of the same piece. Her 2013 album is an exploration into time and history, with orchestrated piano and backed with ancient instruments from around the world. It includes the re-arranged track Ancient Albatross and Antarctica, which has a North American Hopi drum accompaniment.
Fiona Joy told us in 2007 about her recent trip to Antarctica and its influence on her music: I went out of New Zealand and into Hobart, Australia on an Orion Expedition Cruise (2005) - we went to the Antarctic Continent – most boats only go from South America to the Peninsula. I believe that less than six boats go there each year – we went to the lowest latitude you can sail to. The boat was fantastic and had two pianos on board – thus I could write as I looked out the window. As I am a conceptual writer, I need subject matter, and Antarctica is perfect to write music about. In my mind I captured what it is like, I hope other people agree – I guess its always something personal. I have to be honest, there were several places I went that I could hear no music whatsoever – it was simply too desolate and there was too much hardship (Scotts Hut) – but the beauty of the ocean, the glaciers, the sunset, the mountains and the wildlife were irresistible to write about. Fionas Antarctic video clips, including scenes of her playing the piano on the ship, have appeared on www.youtube.com (use Penguin Whisperer in the search box). Little Hartley Music FJH002 (2006 disc); FJH003 (2007 disc); FJH014 (2013 disc); www.fionajoyhawkins.com; www.littlehartleymusic.com.au
ANTARCTICA: ONE WORLD, ONE FAMILY by Lauren Alaina (2013) (Web site download only)
In May 2013, SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida opened the largest expansion in its history, Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin. This exhibit combines interactive ride technologies with views of the lives of 230 penguins and their recreated Antarctic habitats, including 50-foot glaciers and thousands of glass icicles. Its all owned by the worlds largest private equity firm, Blackstone. To mark the opening, young award-winning country singer Lauren Alaina recorded the perky, anthemic new theme song, Antarctica: One world, One Family. Sample lyrics: Sometimes the world seems vast and unknown, Icy and wild as the wind blows, Standing together, were never alone, One world, one family. Crystal and silent, night fills the skies, Lost in the mist as the snow lies. But there is wonder, a rainbow away, In the light of each others eyes. Come share a dream with me, And youll be, Breathless with wonder. Beyond an icy chill, Time stands still, One world together. Its just a world away, Beyond the light of day, Antarctica, Where home is family. Together we will thrive, Our dreams survive, One world forever. Its just a world away, Beyond the light of day, Antarctica, Where home is family.
Alaina was the runner-up on the tenth season (2010-2011) of the long-running television talent showcase, American Idol. The song was available for free download from the SeaWorld Web site. seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando; www.laurenalainaofficial.com
ANTARCTICA by Redgloam (2013)
Redgloam (a.k.a. as Kidron Cool) is an electronic/downtempo/chillout music artist from the Spokane, Washington area. Her current album publicity describes Antarctica as: The land of secrets hidden well within glacial masses. The land where day can last for a half-year, and night too. Endless white realms, as open as mysterious. Come make your own discoveries with these graceful tunes. The tracks have titles such as: Aurora Australis, Sun Dog, Blue Ice, Party at Vostok, Fire at McMurdo, Snow Dance, Midnight Sun, Calm Southern Ocean, Polar Night, Alone at the Bottom of the World and South Pole. Kidron Cool told us about the record in 2013: I am really interested in the Arctic and Antarctic. I was fascinated at how desolate Antarctica is, and what it must feel like to be in peace at the bottom of the world. I wanted to create a mood of wonder and awe, and peaceful serenity that one would expect to feel when down there. United Studios Corp. USC-CD-1301.0104; uscu.unitedstudios.ru/2012/12/redgloam-antarctica.html
OF WATER AND ICE by DJ Spooky (2013)
DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid (a.k.a. Paul D. Miller is a New York, N.Y.-based composer, musician, writer, lecturer and multi-media artist who has had international performances and presentations of his works. His current CD was produced as part of the Artist in Residence program, The Met Reframed, organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which was launched in 2012-13. It includes commissions, workshops and world-premire performances. According to the Museum of Arts Web site, Of Water and Ice is a composition for string quartet and video that evolved out of Paul D. Miller's large-scale multimedia work Sinfonia Antarctica. Of Water and Ice is a music/video exploration of the composition of ice and water and our relationship to the vanishing environment of the arctic poles. The show was presented as a commissioned concert by the Museum in March 2013. Antarctic-themed tracks on the disc include the 4-minute Antarctic Rhythms (Invincible Hip Hop Mix) and 5½-minute Antarctic Dawn. The violin, cello, sound effects, hypnotic rhythms and electronics showcase some very hot music for a warming polar climate.
In 2009 Paul D. Miller presented The Science of Terra Nova, which was about the changes in Antarctica related to global climate change, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, a presentation incorporating his Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica. According to his Web site, In December 2007 and January 2008 Paul D. Miller went to Antarctica to shoot a film and make a large scale multimedia performance work that will be an acoustic portrait of a rapidly changing continent called Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica.
Millers 2011 Ice Music was a CD of a live multi-media performance of his music during the 2011 Art + Environment Conference at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, with members of a string quartet from the Reno Philharmonic. The symphonic and electronic music was an interpretation of both environments of the Arctic and Antarctic. The music was a companion piece to Millers 2011 book, The Book of Ice, which combined history, science and politics of Antarctica and humans relationships with the natural world. www.djspooky.com; (See also ICE MUSIC by Paul D. Miller/ DJ Spooky (2012) and TERRA NOVA: SINFONIA ANTARCTICA by DJ Spooky (2008) in this section.)
ANTARCTICA (2010), ANTARCTICA 2 (2012) and ANTARCTICA 3 (2013) by Deep Chill Network
Deep Chill Network is the electronic ambient music project of Maryland, U.S.A-based Stephen Philips. He is a multi-instrumentalist who has been recording as Deep Chill Network since 1990 as a solo project and with occasional collaborators. Over the year she has produced countless CDs of ambient, relaxation and drone music on various themes. These two CDs of minimal drone music have individual tracks named after various places and geographic features in Antarctica and the subantarctic. ANTARCTICA has the tracks Gondwana, Amery, Weddell, Amundsen, Balleny, Crozet, Le Kiosque, Annenkov and Antarctica. ANTARCTICA 2 has the titles Shackleton, Mawson Sea, Ekstrom, Amery, Voyeykov, Archer Rock and Zavodovski. ANTARCTICA 3 has various tracks named after dates in time from the late 1890s to the late 1980s. Dark Duck Records DDR 250, DDR 257 and DDR293; www.darkduck.net
ANTARCTIS by Lazer Kontinent (2012) (Web site download only)
Lazer Kontinent is the solo project of electropop/ambient musician and producer Kirill Junolainen, based in Saint Petersburg, Russia and Turku, Finland. He began his work in 1989 with industrial electromusic and has since toned down the styles. This instrumental album about Antarctica has the tracks, The Last Expedition, Ice Desert, The South Pole, Research Station, Terra Australis and Icerunner. Kirill told us about the music in 2014: I was always interested in the beauty of Antarctica and the North Pole. This is because northern nature (and Antarctic, too) has left a deep impression for me. For the main part of my life, I lived in Murmansk (one of the northern cities in the deep North of Russia). Since childhood, I have seen all the beauty of northern nature, listening to stories of polar explorers. Once was at the North Pole itself - vast expanses of snow and ice, the northern lights, severe frosts. This has pleased me since childhood. Now it often finds place in my music. I love everything that has to do with the extreme north and the extreme south (Antarctica). This is my alter ego! datarocket.bandcamp.com/album/antarctis; soundcloud.com/junolainen;
THESE ROUGH NOTES by Bill Manhire, Anne Noble, Norman Meehan and Hannah Griffin (2012)
These Rough Notes is the collaboration of a writer, photographer and two musicians, which resulted in a music CD and a book of Antarctic poetry and photographs as a memorial to Robert Scotts fateful South Pole expedition of 1910-13 and to the victims of the 1979 air crash of a tourist flight over Mount Erebus. Also included is a section on themes of current Antarctic exploration and science. The 14 tracks on the 40-minute CD include Forecast, Scott Sets Out, At the Pole, Scott Dying, Scott Dead, from Going Outside, Erebus Voices: The Mountain, Erebus Voices: The Dead, The Scholars Song, Forecast, Erratic, The Blue Flower, The Polar Explorers Love Song and Dry Valleys: The Scientists Song. The music was composed by and played by pianist Norman Meehan, an Associate Professor at the New Zealand School of Music and the vocalist is Hannah Griffin, a Wellington, N.Z.-based jazz vocalist. The lyrics are by New Zealands inaugural Poet Laureate and writer, Bill Manhire, based on themes from Scotts own diaries. Ann Noble, the photographer, is a Professor of Fine Arts at Massey University. The musical tracks are very calming, lyrical and pastoral, if such a term can be applied to Antarctic moods. There are also various musical accompaniments from clarinets, violins, cello, percussion, whistles and pipes. Victoria University Press
THREE LAST LETTERS (In Memoriam of Capt. Scott, Dr. Wilson and Lt. Bowers) by Craig Vear (2012) (Web site download only)
Craig Vear is a British electroacoustic composer and musician who won an Arts Council England Fellowship, in conjunction with the British Antarctic Surveys Artists and Writers Programme, to spend three months over 2003/04 on British bases in the Antarctic Peninsula area. This resulted in his 2005 multi-media CD and DVD Antarctica, which included a small book of his diaries and other commentaries, a CD of recorded Antarctic wildlife sounds, ice breaking and glacial melting, and a video. His current piece, Three Last Letters is a 33½-minute theatrical presentation commissioned by the Vale of Glamorgan Festival commission (Cardiff area, U.K.), which premired in May 2012. Written for three male voices, bass clarinet, cello and electric guitar with prerecorded, treated music from a string sextet, it incorporates passages from Robert Scotts diaries, whose ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition for the South Pole sailed from Cardiff, Wales in June 1910.
According to Vears Web site, Three Last Letters is a music composition that imagines the last moments in the mind of Scott before he dies in the tent, alone. It will be created using facts and suppositions surrounding these last moments and will include a library of found materials: Text from the final entries in Scotts diary, the final letters home from Scott, Bowers and Wilson, Antarctic field recordings from my BAS composer residency in 2003-4, music materials (specifically We Love the Place, O God, and Sea Slumber Song by Elgar) and other sound and music that take the minds of the audience to this lonely place.
These materials are the basic elements of the composition and will be subjected to a number of treatments. A bespoke software score will be developed using these found textual materials (score and words) as the visual elements. The role of the musician is to contribute to a sense of place, they will respond to the on-going visual and aural score through improvisation using their voice or their instrument. Each musician has a responsibility to a narrative exposition - however abstract this may be - but the main concern is to take the mind of the audience to this other place: a dimension for their minds eye to wander.
In performance the audience will sit in the round in near darkness. They will face the centre of the circle where the musicians perform: the three instrumentalists sitting facing out with the vocalists standing above them, each pair sharing laptop scores. The performers will be lit with a tight focused blood-red lantern from above evoking the famous Antarctic Pyramid Tent, and the ghostly presence of the other.
Surround sound speakers will encircle the audience, at times immersing them in the immensity of white sonic space, or shrinking perception towards the claustrophobic sense of being in the tent. The mix of the live ensemble (fragments of melodies, held chords, spoken text, word play), the disembodied voice of Scott, the ghost sextet, processed and treated recordings and a soundscape created from the found sound library will be diffused live. The experience will be vivid, phenomenal and touching, offering a variety of possible interrelationships generated by the open work process. (See also ANTARCTICA by Craig Vear (2011) and ANTARCTICA - Musical Images from the Frozen Continent by Craig Vear (2005) in this section and SUMMERHOUSES by Craig Vear (2009) in the Individual Songs section.)
AURORA PASSAGE by Douglas Quin (2012) (live concert only)
Canberra, Australia was the setting of the first live performance, in August, of this multi-media presentation, scored for voice, piano and prepared recordings of polar sounds by American Douglas Quin, a sound designer, composer and associate professor at Syracuse University, N.Y. who has extensively recorded the natural sounds of Antarctica. The project was in collaboration with the Australian National University School of Music and ABC Classic FM, originally created for the ANUs 2011 Antarctic Music Festival and Conference. The 52-minute work incorporates archival imagery from Douglas Mawsons Australasian Antarctic Expedition, which began in 1911, and readings from the diary of Bert Lincoln, a crewman on the SYAurora, the ship used during 1912-13 to resupply the Expedition. Excerpts from the diary were read by Vincent Plush, a composer and broadcaster, with piano performed by Arnan Wiesel, Head of Keyboard at the ANU School of Music. The concert was the final one of a series of events of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australias Extreme Film and Sound exhibition, celebrating Australasian Antarctic Expeditions. (See also POLAR SUITE (2011), FATHOM (2010) and ANTARCTICA (1998) by Douglas Quin in this section and UNAMUNO by David Rothenberg (1997) in the Individual Songs section.)
ENTER SUNLIGHT by Ocean Camp (2012)
This is an album of experimental electronic, ambient/industrial instrumental music with polar influenced track titles, including Enter Sunlight, Beneath the Ice, Journey at Sea, Closing Floes, Exit Sunlight. The music is described on one sales site as follows: An experimental sonic research inspired by the exploration of the Antarctic continent at the beginning of the 20th CenturyA study in nine musical pieces, each with its own character and intention, together forming a text, more visual than descriptive, about the transient presence of man in that place of overwhelming extremes that is the Antarctic.
Of note, Ocean Camp, the projects name, was also the name of one of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackletons ice camps, set up by the crew of the Endurance on November 1, 1915, after they abandoned their ship, which had been trapped in pack ice.
Lorenzo Bona, the composer and artist, told us about the music: I started working on this project with no clear intention of making an Antarctic-themed CD. But getting more and more into it, I realized I was being deeply influenced by an interest in early Antarctic exploration, the conquest of the South Pole, etc., and the classic reads that came with it (Shackletons diary, Lansings reconstruction, Hurleys pictures...). So, to explain further, this album is more about rediscovering these great themes (of ultimate discovery, uttermost loneliness, great heroics, etc.) in the soundscapes I was creating, than about trying to fit the music to some pre-defined decision of making an Antarctic Soundtrack. Each piece started as a sonic performance which sometimes rang true with what in my mind could have been a good musical representation of how I pictured a particular event or emotional landscape. For instance Water Where She Stood was inspired by the sinking of the Endurance. Dawn Patrol recalls the freezing, silent hour, just before the sun comes up, of a man on patrol-duty on the ice. All that said, I myself prefer to be free of any too strict a description of a musical piece, so as to be free to have my own imagination work with it. That may be why I tried to keep any reference to a specific Antarctic event somewhat hidden, only sometimes hinting at it in the chosen titles, so that the musical work could be enjoyed independently. www.oceancampmusic.com
SCOTTS MUSIC BOX – Music From Terra Nova – The British Antarctic Expedition (1910-1913) by various artists (2012)
This is a 2-disc collection of songs recorded in the early 1900s and represents a sample of the hundreds of 78s that were taken along for entertainment for Robert Scotts British Terra Nova Expedition, which had as its primary objective the first arrival at the South Pole. Early flat disc recordings were first made in the U.K. in 1898 by the newly founded The Gramophone and Typewriter Company, an offshoot of a company formed by inventor and developer of the flat phonograph, Emile Berliner, in the United States. By the early 1900s, the technology had developed considerably and records with sales of a million copies were being made by popular artists such as Enrico Caruso.
According to the liner notes, The Gramophone Company was a thriving business with branches in Germany, France, Russia, Italy and elsewhere, and its board of directors saw Scotts expedition to the Antarctic as an excellent opportunity for publicity for the company. In addition to lending them two HMV Monarch gramophones (one of which was kept in the Cape Evans base-camp hut with Scott, the other later moved to the Northern partys smaller hut at Cape Adare) they provided several hundred records – still mostly single-sided in those day – ranging right across the catalogue, from red label celebrity classical recordings to the most popular musical hall performers and songs from the latest musical shows. This album presents a programme of recordings likely to have been selected, including some that we know from the diaries of the men on the expedition were definitely in the collection.
According the liner notes, the music indicated a difference in tastes: It seems that the serving men of the ships company generally liked the records of songs from the musicals, dance tunes and musical hall items, especially comic songs and sketchesThe officers, however, apparently preferred something more cultured like stirring ballads and operatic arias. The music on the two discs, originally recorded over 1902-10, is generally programmed similarly, ranging from popular and musical hall tunes on the first CD to mainly classical on the second. Artists include singers such as Margaret Cooper, George Robey, Harry Lauder, Clara Butt, Edward Lloyd, Enrico Caruso and Nellie Melba. The still-scratchy tracks were mastered and restored from original recordings in EMIs archives, the successor to The Gramophone Company.
In addition, there are two bonus tracks, The Dash for the South Pole, a recitation by Ernest Shackleton in June 1909 about his 1907-09 Nimrod Expedition (one of two separate versions he recorded), and Tis a Story That shall Live Forever, a song recorded in 1913 by Stanley Kirkby as a tribute to Scott and his men, reflecting the mass of public sympathy following the news of the fate of the teams South Pole journey. The CD cover has the interesting photograph by expedition photographer Herbert Ponting of Chris the Husky, standing on the Antarctic ice, listening to Captain Scotts gramophone, reminiscent of the iconic His Masters Voice publicity photo of the The Gramophone Company. EMI Records 5099964494920. (See also both the Classical: Ralph Vaughn Williams section and the end of this Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section for descriptions of the Shackleton and Kirkby recordings.)
ELEPHANT ISLAND featuring Mara TK by Lucky Paul (2012) (Vinyl EP)
Lucky Paul (Paul Taylor) is an electronic music artist from New Zealand, now based in Los Angeles. He is also the drummer for award-winning Canadian pop artist (Leslie) Feist. This 4-track EP has the song Elephant Island, which pays homage to Ernest Shackletons 1914-16 Endurance Expedition and the drift on the floe. With lyrics, vocals and production by fellow New Zealand musician Mara TK, the 4-minute the track sails along with floating vocals, underpinned with synthesized bass and percussion. Three other subdued versions of the track include a piano dub version and two remixes by British artists, Ossie and Midland MO. Somethink Sounds STSEP005
ICE MUSIC by Paul D. Miller/ DJ Spooky (2012)
DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid (a.k.a. Paul D. Miller is a New York, N.Y.-based composer, musician, writer, lecturer and multi-media artist who has had international performances and presentations of his works. This is a CD of a live multi-media performance of his music during the 2011 Art + Environment Conference at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, with members of a string quartet from the Reno Philharmonic. Polar tracks include Ice Sonification, Arctic Rhythms Quartet 1 and the 4-minute Antarctic Rhythm Quartet 1 (invincible hip hop mix). This well-recorded, dynamic, modern instrumental music has synthesizers, looped arpeggios and a string quartet, at times reminiscent of American minimalist Philip Glasss perpetually moving music. The music is a companion piece to Millers 2011 book, The Book of Ice.
According to the Nevada Museum of Arts Web site, Paul D. Millercreates bridges between sound art and contemporary visual culture. Through music, photographs and film stills from his journey to the Antarctic, along with original artworks, and re-appropriated archival materials, Miller uses Antarctica as an entry point for contemplating humanitys relationship with the natural world. Based on The Book of Ice -part fictional manifesto, part history, and part science book - this exhibition combines video footage of past performances with graphics and dynamic data visualizations related to climate change in the Earths polar regionsMiller is the musical genius behind Ice Music - a series of symphonic compositions and electronic quartets that interpret the environments of the Arctic and Antarctic.
According to Millers own Web site, Antarctica, the only uninhabited continent, belongs to no single country and has no government. While certain countries lay claim to portions of the landmass, it is the only solid land on the planet with no unified national affiliation. Drawing on the continents rich history of inspiring exploration and artistic endeavors, Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky has put together his own multimedia, multidisciplinary study of Antarctica. Book of Ice is one aspect of this ongoing project.
In light of climate change and tireless human enterprise to be present everywhere on the planet, Miller uses Antarctica as a point on entry for contemplating humanitys relationship with the natural world
Using photographs and film stills from his journey to the bottom of the world, along with original artworks and re-appropriated archival materials, Miller ponders how Antarctica could liberate itself from the rest of the world. Part fictional manifesto, part history and part science book, Book of Ice furthers Millers reputation as an innovative artist capable of making the old look new.
The site further explains that In December 2007 and January 2008 Paul D. Miller went to Antarctica to shoot a film and make a large scale multimedia performance work that will be an acoustic portrait of a rapidly changing continent called Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica. Sinfonia Antarctica transforms Millers first person encounter with the harsh, dynamic landscape of Antarctica into multimedia portraits with music composed from the different geographies that make up the land mass. Its about the environment, sound, hip hop, electronic music and what it means to be a composer in the 21st centuryMillers field recordings from a portable studio, set up to capture the acoustic qualities of Antarctic ice forms, reflect a changing and even vanishing environment under duress. Coupled with historic, scientific, and geographical visual material, Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica is a seventy minute performance, creating a unique and powerful moment around mans relationship with nature
In 2009 Paul D. Miller presented The Science of Terra Nova, which was about the changes in Antarctica related to global climate change, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, a presentation incorporating his Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica. In 2010 Paul went to the High Arctic for his Arctic Rhythms/ Ice Music project with Cape Farewell, a charitable organization working to encourage artists to produce art based on scientific research, to engage the public in global warming issues. According to his Web site, I am in the High Arctic creating a series of drafts for several compositions that Ill eventually turn into several string quartet pieces, a gallery show, and a symphony out of the experience. Im looking at how to collect impressions of the landscape, distill the material into something that I can use in the compositions (visually, sonically, and for writing as well), and arrive at a point where sound and art can create portraits of whats going on up here.
His Web site further explains: The Arctic compositions Ive been working on are based on a place where Nature is a commons, owned by no one. My first Antarctic symphony project was an acoustic portrait of Antarctica as a place that has no government, and is under a kind of Terra Nullius context – the Arctic Rhythms project will take that path and go further along. So many countries claim the Arctic. I want to make music a way to reflect on this, and move beyond it. Today, concepts like land and territory are becoming more and more abstract – the internet has radically changed the way we relate to both concepts. The commons in our information economy-based global culture is just as intimately linked to climate change in the Arctic and Antarctica as anywhere else in the world. In Terra Nullius – the legal concept of land considered ownerless property is usually free to be owned – how do we portray that in music? Under international law, no country owns the North Pole, or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it. The five surrounding states – Russia, The United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark, have exclusive economic zones but under the United Nations Convention on the Law of The Sea, theres a lot of possibilities that the Arctic could be opened for exploitation in a way that Antarctica never can. Thats what these compositions will look at – how music can reflect some of the basic realities facing us in this time of massive change and theyre a signal, like the glaciers I watched this morning, that we need to really think of everything as being more connected than we realize. www.djspooky.com; www.myspace.com/djspooky; www.nevadaart.org; (See also OF WATER AND ICE by DJ Spooky (2013) and TERRA NOVA: SINFONIA ANTARCTICA by DJ Spooky (2008) in this section.)
THE GIANT by Ahab (2012)
Ahab is a Stuttgart/Heidelberg/Mannheim-based German doom metal band, formed in 2004. Their third album follows two previous ones that had ocean and whaling themes. This concept album is based on Edgar Allan Poes novella, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Published in 1837, the story about Pym and a group of sailors marooned on a tropical island at the South Pole with a race of savages is considered to be seminal in Antarctic fiction and has spawned numerous like-minded stories. One of the CD tracks is the deeply descriptive Antarctica - The Polymorphess. Lyrics: A strong current setting, with heavy gales and fog, many a strange thing written, down in the Captains log. Clouds of a snowy whiteness foreshadow immense fields of ice. South, where the giant sleeps, motionless, cold and proud. Eternal, two worlds collide, senses go numb. Sleeping, dreamless aeons and aeons. Will he ever dream again? Antarctica the Polymorphess plays her game of bloody dice. She is so ragged and broken, yet shatteringly adorable, many words have been spoken, her ways purely impassable. To the west: icebergs, four hundred fathoms high, our passage south is doubtful, O Father, hear our mournful sighs. This gigantic creature tossed its vast bulk across our thole board, seizing one man – instantly lost, Peters plunged the blade and roared. Clouds of a snowy whiteness, foreshadow immense fields of ice, Antarctica the Polymorphess plays her game of bloody dice. Shes so ragged and broken, yet shatteringly adorable, many words have been spoken, her ways purely impassable. Napalm Records NPR 426; www.ahab-doom.de; www.myspace.com/ahabdoom
ALLS WELL by Jake Wilson (2012)
Jake Wilson, a trained classical violinist and pianist, is a British composer and folksinger/guitarist who has recently released Alls Well, a cycle of songs imagining the final thoughts of Captain Scott and his polar party, as they faced their deaths on the return journey from the South Pole in 1912. The songs have been fully endorsed by the Scott Polar Research Institute as part of the official Scott centenary celebrations, and have been described as a cultural masterpiece for the centenary. The album has been produced by the English folk fiddle legend Dave Swarbrick, a member of iconic British folk/rock group Fairport Convention, and is dedicated to the memory of Jakes mother, and his close friend, the novelist and childrens writer, Russell Hoban, both of whom died in 2011. Jake has been performing the songs through the centenary period at a number of key locations, including the Scott Polar Research Institute, the Natural History Museum, the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Swansea Museum, Cheltenham College, Exeter Cathedral and Plymouth City Museum.
The 25-minute CD has five tracks titled Home, Maybe Some Time, Alls Well, Sleep in the Cold and Black Was the Flag, which are sung forthrightly with masterful guitar accompaniment, each from the point of view of one of the five South Pole expedition members. The CD booklet includes lyrics and notes about each song. The front and back of the CD cover include the two iconic photographs, taken by team member Birdie Bowers, of the dejected group at the South Pole after they arrived and found that the competing Norwegian expedition had beaten them to the Pole. Sample lyrics of Black was the Flag, sung from Robert Scotts imagined point of view: White were the nights, and white were the days, White was the path that we trod all the way, White were our thoughts, as we hauled and we dragged, But black was the flag, black was the flagRed was the blood of the ponies that we drove, And white was the snow that it stained. Blue was the sky so clear above, But black, black was their painBlack was the flag that fluttered at the Pole, But red, white and blue, Red, white and blue, Is my soul.
Jake told us about the project in 2012: A couple of years ago, I was looking for something to read at my parents house and pulled an interesting-looking book off the shelf - which proved to be an early edition of Scotts Last Expedition. I found Scotts journal so gripping that I started reading everything I could lay my hands on about the Terra Nova expedition: the published journals of the other expedition members, their biographies, accounts like The Worst Journey in the World. At that stage I thought that maybe I would write my own little book about it, or perhaps try and make a documentary (my usual work is researching BBC art history television documentaries). Even after I had written the first song, Black was the Flag, imagining Scotts reaction to discovering one of Amundsens black marker flags near the South Pole, it wasnt clear to me that I would write any more. Then in April 2011 my mother was suddenly diagnosed with advanced cancer and died only a few weeks later. Seeing how bravely she behaved in the last weeks of her life made me feel very differently about Scott and his polar party - it turned them from icons into real people. In the months after my mothers death, I realized that I wanted to write a song for each of the other members of the polar party (Evans, Oates, Wilson and Bowers) and started working hard on this project. When I was part of the way through the process, and felt it was realistic that I might manage to complete the set, I contacted the Scott Polar Research Institute, and their very positive reaction kept me going. I was also helped enormously by two people who I think are geniuses in their fields: the cult novelist and childrens writer, Russell Hoban, who was one of my closest friends, and encouraged me a lot until his own death late last year; and the folk fiddle legend Dave Swarbrick, who produced the live recordings of the songs and has made it possible to release the CD. Thanks to the support of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Ive been able to perform the songs as part of the recent official centenary celebrations and also to reproduce key images and documents from 1912 on the CD packaging and in the accompanying booklet. Its also very heartening that the project has been so warmly received by descendants and relatives of the original team-members, including Edward Wilsons great-nephew, David Wilson, and Captain Scotts grandson, Falcon Scott.
In 2013, Jake gave us an update of his recent trip to Cape Evans on Ross Island, Antarctica: My expedition to Captain Scotts Hut to perform my songs there was a success – youll remember I was granted special permission from the NZAHT (New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust) to play all of my album ALLS WELL there, if I was able to reach it. I actually managed to get to Cape Evans on 3rd March, 2013 and had the one perfect day of the whole month I was at sea: blue sky, sunshine, no wind, temperature only -13 degrees, and Mt. Erebus clearly visible. The conditions couldnt have been better, and I was able to play all of the songs from my collection ALLS WELL in different areas of the Hut, relevant to the man the song was for. It really was a truly extraordinary experience, and the Hut was unbelievably atmospheric and peaceful. Ive just posted the first edited video of one of the performances at my website. Im now working on a longer documentary about the whole project, which will include all five performances. Jake Wilson Music JWM0001; www.jakewilsonmusic.com
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by H. P. Lovecraft, read by William Roberts (2012)
This is a 5 hour, 4-CD set of a reading of American science fiction/ horror author H. P. Lovecrafts 1931 novella At the Mountains of Madness. This story of a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition has become a classic. The expeditioners discover the remains of a subterranean ancient civilization and meet the horrors of its still-existing monsters. NAXOS AudioBooks NA0090
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS – Sketches for the H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast by Reber Clark (2012) (Web site download only)
Reber Clark is a Chicago area-based freelance composer, arranger and performer, with particular interest in concert band and wind ensemble works. As a trumpeter, he has performed in bands for many internationally known performers. This CD has 27 short instrumental tracks, including various sinister sound effects, based on themes from Lovecrafts 1931 novella of a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition that meets unimagined horrors in an ageless, underground city beneath Antarctic ice. Reber told us that The H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast commissioned me to do some music for them. This was one of the episodes they requested. I have been a fan of Lovecraft since I was in high school and enjoyed the chance to do this for them. www.reberclark.bandcamp.com; www.reberclark.blogspot.com; www; www.hppodcraft.com; www.hplovecraft.com
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by Allicorn (2012) (Web site download only)
Allicorn is a British electronic musician, artist and software developer with a great interest in American writer H. P. Lovecrafts science fiction and horror mythology. Allicorns current CD is based on themes from Lovecrafts 1931 novella At the Mountains of Madness, the story of a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition and the horrors it encounters in caverns under Antarcticas ice, which has become a classic. The thematic instrumental tracks include Intro (Antarktos), The Expedition, South Orkney, Aurora, McMurdo Sound, Across the Ice, The Old Ones, Forgotten by Time, Thaw, Dead City, Polar Warning, In Crystal Gulfs Below, The Interns Story and The Primal White Jelly. Allicorn explained the background of the CD to us: Im rather an H. P. Lovecraft fanatic, to be honest, and this is the third album of Lovecraft-inspired material Ive published. This latest, which Ive been gradually working upon for quite some time, grew out of my particular fascination for Lovecrafts short poem Antarktos, especially since Ive also been working on composing music to accompany a reading of the full Fungi From Yuggoth cycle from which it originates. Then again, Ive known that my buddies over at Yog-Sothoth.com were planning a new audio game of Lovecraft-inspired role-playing this year based on the Beyond the Mountains of Madness campaign book from Chaosium. Together, those two things probably contributed to finally getting started on an At the Mountains of Madness album. The story itself fascinated me for years, mind you. The absolute remoteness of it all is what gets me, particularly, I guess, the Antarctic being not just remote in sheer distance but in practical accessibility and also remote in experience, in contrast to the inhabited parts of the world. Its very alien, strange - remote from common day. FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH by Allicorn (2012) (Web site download only) is a CD of the 36 spooky sonnets of H. P. Lovecraft, largely written over a short time in late 1929-1930. The poems are read by Paul Maclean, underlain by Allicorns musical backing. One of the sonnets in the group is Antarktos, which hints of unknown things buried deep in the Antarctic ice. Issued by U. K.s Innsmouth House. www.allicorn.com; www.allicornuk.deviantart.com; www.yog-sothoth.com; www.innsmouthhouse.com
ANTARCTICA by ystein Jrgensen (2012)
ystein Jrgensen (a.k.a. Ambient Fabric) is a Norwegian musician who has moved from metal/hardcore to production of numerous experimental CDs. His current record of contemplative, dark ambient drone soundtracks has pieces titled Antarctica, Ice Drift, Snowstorm, Iceberg, Antarctic Night, Aurora Australis and Snowstorm (Part 2). ystein commented on his CD for us: I have had this idea in mind for a long time, always been fascinated by Antarctica, the coldness, isolation and the beauty so my idea was to create some pictures with soundscapes, and try to capture those elements. oysteinjorgensenmusic.wordpress.com; ambientfabric.wordpress.com
ANTARCTICA by Mark OLeary, Jeff Herr and Sren Kjrgard (2012)
Mark OLeary is a veteran Cork, Ireland-based jazz guitarist and composer who studied in the U.S. and has played and toured with many top international musicians. In recent years he has worked in post-rock, ambient styles with electronic/processed sounds and participated in films and soundscapes for art projects. On this CD of ambient music, he is joined by Sren Kjrgard, a Danish pianist and Jeff Herr, a percussionist from Luxembourg. The instrumental tracks include Antarctica, Aurora, Searching for Scott I, II and III, Beneath the Frozen World (J. Cousteau), Shackleton, Endurance, Polheim (Amundsen), Trans-Antarctica and Ice Station.
Mark told us that the liner notes best explain the reason behind the recording: It is said one of the first men to have discovered the landmass of Antarctica, Royal Navy Master Edward Bransfield originated from Balinacurra, a short distance from the Church where Antarctica was recorded. While we herald Amundsen and his exceptional achievement of reaching the South Pole first, we also reminisce on the heroic bravery of Captain Robert Falcon Scott. His expedition was not in vain, numerous scientific experiments were enacted and his bravery is a source of inspiration to many of the adventurers that endeavor to embrace the challenge that Antarctica poses. The bravery of Shackleton and his comrades in the face of adverse conditions, to go to extreme lengths to save his colleagues, provided a staple source of inspiration to courage for the men fighting in the Trenches on the Western Front and indeed today, he is still lauded. We also think of Sir Edmund Hillarys Trans-Antarctic commonwealth expedition and how technology started to have an impact on the excursion, albeit the capacity to contend with hostile conditions still had to be figured into the equation and it does take a special kind of individual to thrive in this kind of environment. The expedition of Jacques Cousteau in the 1970s was one of the first times where we could get close to the terrain, ornate icebergs and figurative underwater scenes juxtaposed with sea life, as well as an aerial panorama with vastness of ice as well as engaging with the wildlife. We also recently have encountered Werner Herzogs documentary, which in a way, encapsulates the psyche of the individual who can survive in such a desolate terrain in extreme conditions for a prolonged period. Antarctica has captured the imagination of the masses for nigh on two centuries and it has the capacity to create challenges for science and exploration, as well as pose a subject matter for media and art for many years to come. Tibprod TIBIT025; www.markoleary.eu; www.myspace.com/markolearyjazz; www.myspace.com/jeffherr; www.sorenkjaergaard.com
6954S-13512E by Lauki (2011) (Web site download only)
Mikel Lauki is a Barcelona, Spain-based composer and sound technician, whose 5-track EP of ambient music and the title piece are named after co-ordinates in Antarcticas Wilkes Land, close to the border of Adlie Land. Mikel told us in 2013 about the EP: All the phases of the creation of this album (and maybe of all of my work) are inspired by the polar desert landscape. Somehow, it vibrates very deep with some inner place of my psyche. When I watched the film Encounters at the End of the World (Herzog), I was very impressed with the images, and wanted to work on what would be a soundtrack that evoked these. The name used is the coordinates of Tierra Adela, which is the biggest piece of ice on earth. My working formula is based on the sampler and the recordings of stringed instruments, greatly modified until I get textures in constant change, as fractals of an ice crystal. I guess this is very personal and maybe for some people, evokes something totally different.
According to descriptions in his Web sites, the title is described as follows: 6954S-13512E - Coordinates scribbled on a map, lost, then recovered in the world of dreams. In the coldest region, the promise of breaking through the inner ice. The polar desert, another frontier of our planetary existence, a territory where only fools and heroes dare to go.With the juxtaposition of classical music set to fractured digital manipulation, 6954S-13512E is characterised by crystalline nets of microsound, glitch and computer sounds that break upon contact with the delicately analog melancholy of rubbed strings. The contrast of these two ingredients is stark, like ice melting in the hot summer sun. The ice is fragile and vulnerable, inevitably melting away quickly in the intensity of the heat. For this EP, the five short tracks reference this beautifully as the modern classical melodies are quickly melted into droplets by the electronic glitches, evaporating in just fifteen minutes. The beauty is in the collapse... lauki.bandcamp.com/album/69-54-s-135-12-e; music.audiogourmet.co.uk/album/69-54-s-135-12-e
POLAR OPPOSITES: AMUNDSEN, SCOTT, and the RACE FOR THE POLE created and told by Lawrence Howard (2011)
MAWSONS METTLE: Alone On the Wide Shores of the World created and told by Lawrence Howard (2010)
SHACKLETONS ANTARCTIC NIGHTMARE: The True Story of the 1914 Voyage of The Endurance created and told by Lawrence Howard (2009)
According to its website, Portland, Oregons Portland Story Theater was launched in 2004 to bring the urban community together for a unique performance experience, telling original tales that stimulate the mind and rouse the heart. Our vision is to enrich, inspire, challenge and expand our world through the narrative artsPST delivers engaging, true stories for adult audiences. We are a grass-roots operation, committed to creating original work and building awareness and appreciation for narrative. Portland Story Theater provides a unique live theater experience where the artist and the audience are always making direct eye-to-eye contactPSTs mission is to find the meaning in the mundane, and to illuminate the universal through personal narrative. We strive to make the narrative arts an integral part of Portlands rich cultural identity. One of the co-founders and storytellers is Lawrence Howard, the creator of the Armchair Adventurer Series. Lawrence told us in 2011 about the CDs: My dad was a great fan of the Shackleton story and I just grew up with it. I read (Alfred) Lansing when I was a teenager and it was a thing that my dad and I shared and talked about quite a bit. I started telling stories professionally in 2001. After my dad died, it just came to me that I would tell the Shackleton story as a tribute to him. That was very well received and I saw that there was a hunger for these kinds of stories of courage and fortitude. My reading and research led to Mawson, who is so little known outside those of us who are interested/obsessed with Antarctic history. Once I created the Mawson story, it just sort of seemed obvious that I had to cap off the series with Amundsen and Scott. The third Antarctic CD is called POLAR OPPOSITES: AMUNDSEN, SCOTT, and the RACE FOR THE POLE and tells the story of Amundsen and Scott and the 1911-12 race to the pole. I told it and recorded it last January 2011 but Im just now getting around to editing it and preparing to release it (in 2012).
The stories are very clear, vivid, down-to-earth presentations, which are easy on the ears of the listener. The well-known Shackleton story is an epic of survival on the frozen ocean, the miraculous boat journey to South Georgia, the trek over the mountainous backbone of the island to the safety of the whaling station and the eventual rescue of all the expeditioners. The history of Douglas Mawsons Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14 is less well-known. On a scientific dog-sledging journey, Mawson lost his two companions through misfortunes and the story of his battle to return to base alone, through starvation and deprivation, is one of ultimate bravery and perseverance. The story of the Race for the Pole is explained not so much from the point of view of a race but rather, explains in a gentle, humourous way, the personalities of the two leaders and the national cultures of the era. Lets hope the series continues with other outstanding stories of Antarctic exploration. www.portlandstorytheater.com; www.lawrencehoward.name
POLAR SUITE by Douglas Quin (2011) (live concert only)
Douglas Quin is a sound designer, composer and associate professor at Syracuse University, N.Y. who has extensively recorded the natural sounds of Antarctica. This 14-minute piece had its premire in November at Syracuse University, N.Y., part of a multi-media workshop, sponsored by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Written for string quartet and active electronics, it used digitally processed samples from Quins Antarctic nature and other sound recordings, integrated with electronic treatments and acoustic instruments. The acoustic stringed instruments were played by the internationally famed San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet, aided by an electronic sound processor called the K-Bow, which can trigger various musical and sound effects from the natural sounds being sampled. One of the difficulties of touring the piece will be its repeatability since the sounds may be different in every performance due to differences in performer mechanics and gestures. (See also AURORA PASSAGE (2012), FATHOM (2010) and ANTARCTICA (1998) by Douglas Quin in this section and UNAMUNO by David Rothenberg (1997) in the Individual Songs section.)
SPACES OF ANTARCTIC by Pulsacium (2011) (Web site download only)
This is an album of electronic drone/ambient music by Chelyabinsk, Russia-based Dmitry Romanov. According to his Web site album notes, Dmitry Romanoff is the unique participant of the project. He characterizes his style as cold ambient. The album Spaces of Antarctic has been recorded from desire to plunge into the world of the most mysterious and not enough searched continent of Earth - Antarctica. The nature of Antarctic attracts with snow-white beauty and frightens with mysteriousness at the same time. Only little part of people was possible to get acquainted with the nature of this ice continent alive. The album Spaces of Antarctic draws sound landscapes of Antarctic, aspiring to pass its atmosphere and mentally to ship the listener in this fine ice uncertainty. Tracks Boundless Spaces of Antarctic, Peaks and Land-Ward represent abstract landscapes, among which snowy silent deserts, tops of icebergs, shouts of gulls on coast. Two remaining tracks are devoted to separate geographical objects. The track Sovetskaya carries the name of the same subglacial lake in Antarctica; Erebus is named in honour of the most southern volcano on the Earth. Listen to the album, include the imagination and plunge into an atmosphere of the unthinkable. archive.org/details/Pulsacium_2011_Spaces_of_Antarctic; www.last.fm/music/Pulsacium; www.7hz.ru/d04.html
NANKYOKU TAIRIKU (ANTARCTICA) - Soundtrack (2011)
This double CD set is the musical soundtrack of a 10-episode Japanese television drama series, which ran from October to December 2011, made to commemorate Tokyo Broadcasting Systems 60th anniversary. The story is based on the 1958 first Japanese Antarctic Expedition, which ended up stranding a pack of 15 sled dogs on the continent over a winter season, two of which had survived when the team returned a year later. The tracks are largely very melodic instrumental New Age and pop-flavoured orchestral music, occasionally interspersed with more dynamic and dramatic tracks. Anchor Records UZCL-2020/21
HAPPY FEET TWO – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2011)
This is the soundtrack to the 3D movie sequel to 2006s Happy Feet. The Emperor Penguin, Mumbles, the star of Happy Feet, is now the father of Erik and there are new character arrivals on the Antarctic scene. After the colony is trapped following an iceberg collapse, Erik and the other chicks must find a way to rescue it. While the plots may be confusing, the movie benefits from two comical krill and more feats of endearing tap dancing. The songs are a mixture of adaptations from existing tunes and a few new ones, which include compositions from singer Pink, and vocals from the cast and choirs, including the Sydney University Graduate Choir. The songs in the first half of the disc ranges from funky to operatic, while the second part has more subdued orchestral tracks and arrangements by John Powell. As a note, the music for one of the tracks, Rawhide, has another polar connection: it was composed by Dimitri Tiomkin, an icon of the Golden Age of Hollywood films, who wrote also the spooky soundtrack for The Thing (From Another World), a 1951 movie about an alien monster found at an Arctic research base, which later became the model for the 1982 Antarctic cult horror film The Thing, and its 2011 prequel. WaterTower Music WTM39268
THE THING - Music from the Motion Picture by John Carpenter (2011)
This is the re-recorded CD release of the soundtrack of the popular 1982 Antarctic science fiction movie by director John Carpenter, in which a buried alien is thawed after being discovered in the Antarctic ice. It comes back to life at an Antarctic base and is able to take on the appearance of the resident dogs and people, as it attacks them. The original orchestral and synthesizer music to the film was composed by the veteran of many Western scores, Ennio Morricone. He did not compose the music directly to picture cues, but composed pieces of music inspired by film cuts he had been provided, based on the concepts of isolation, desolation and vulnerability. Many of the tracks on the original The Thing soundtrack CD were not used as cues in the movie and the film contained three electronic drone tracks composed by John Carpenter, with Alan Howarth, which were added to Morricones music for scene continuity and did not appear on the original soundtrack CD. This current CD is a new recording, made by Alan Howarth, with digital orchestrations by Larry Hopkins, of the original Morricone orchestral and synthesizer scores, including the three Carpenter/Howarth tracks that were included in the original film score. The music was sequenced to fit the chronology of the events in the film, which the original CD soundtracks did not follow. BSX Records BSXCD 8895
THE THING – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2011)
THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE – Original Soundtrack to the Film by Simon Fisher Turner (2011)
This is a restored documentary release by the British Film Institute Film Archive of original films of the fateful 1910-13 British Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole, led by Robert Scott. Although Scott and his team were beaten to the Pole by the Norwegian expedition, led by Roald Amundsen, his death and that of his four companions have become iconic for their show of valour against impossible odds. The Expedition was documented by its photographer and cinematographer, Herbert Ponting, who was already an experienced photographer but at the time was still a newcomer to cinematography. Shorter, early versions of his Expedition films were released in 1911 and 1912 and re-edited in 1913 after Scotts death had been confirmed and publicized. Ponting lectured and toured with his films during the First World War but interest faded. Ponting again re-edited the film in 1924 as the 2-hour long The Great White Silence and in 1933 produced another 75-minute version, with sound, known as 90 South. The current 106-minute restoration includes footage from the earlier films and has a new electronic soundtrack of ambient/industrial sounds by veteran British musician Simon Fisher Turner. A former child actor in movies and TV, Turners music career has ventured from pop to avant garde and he scored numerous films for British film director Derek Jarman. The stand-alone soundtrack recording includes two CDs of interesting sounds that include quiet contemplative electronic drones and other brooding effects, interspersed with Scott-era banjo snippets, recorded string scrapings from a quartet and other musical instruments. Although much of the sound seems depressive and joyless, it is a mesmerizing listening experience with enough variety to keep up interest. The CD is attractively packaged in a parchment jacket, with a booklet outlining the composers enthusiasm, when he was requested to work on the project and his subsequent progress on it. Soleilmoon SOL 176 CD; www.simonfisherturner.com
MR. POPPERS PENGUINS - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Rolfe Kent (2011)
This is the soundtrack music for the film, based very loosely on a 1938 book by Richard and Florence Atwater of the same name. The film is directed by Mark Waters and features Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino and Angela Lansbury. A divorced upwardly mobile businessman receives six unwelcome penguins from his father. His ex-wife and children arrive for a birthday party and are smitten with the penguins, but to the detriment of his work. The film has garnered both hot and cold reviews, based on opinions of Jim Carreys performance. The music is by Rolfe Kent, a California-based British composer, who has scored many prominent movies and TV programs, including Legally Blond I & II, About Schmidt and Nurse Betty. The pleasant melodic, orchestral music, like the film, is not polar in focus, but the last track on the disc, A Family in Antarctica, at least gives a formal nod to the continent. Varse Sarabande 302 067 103 2
UNTITLED # 272 (ANTARCTICA VARIATIONS) by Francisco Lpez (2011) (USB flash drive only)
Francisco Lpez is an award-winning Spanish experimental sound artist, who works with urban sounds as well as with the wilderness. He has had decades of experience in research fieldwork in biology and has participated in concerts and sound installations with galleries and festivals internationally. His recorded sound pieces have been released by over 200 record labels worldwide. The current work is a limited-edition of 300 flash drives. Recorded in mp3 format, it is a 24-hour recording, in 8 separate tracks, made from hydrophones under the 100-meter thick Ekstrm Ice Shelf off the coast of East Antarctica, near Germanys Neumayer Station III. Francisco told us: I just find those sound environments, in their specific texture through the audio streaming, quite thrilling. I also think theyre perfect material for the idea of the variations that I carried out in this piece. www.franciscolopez,net/index.html; www.somnimage.com
ANTARCTICA ENCORE by Frozen Orchestras of Lost Sound (2011) (DVD only)
The liner notes of this limited-edition DVD describe it as A cross-modal improvisation in 4 movements with words, sounds and visual media to describe and evoke the spirit of the journey that Frances Hatch made to Antarctica in 2005. This 26½-minute DVD presents Journey and On Location, the 2nd & 3rd movements, taken from the debut performance of this collaboration on 18th February 2010 at Bournemouth University, U.K., in which two musicians, Cathy Stevens (violectra and percussion) and Udo Dzierzanowski (guitar and computer), responded to images and photographs previously created by Frances Hatch, all inspired by her 2005 visit to the Antarctica Peninsula. Frances Hatch is an established Dorset, U.K.-based visual artist who also collaborates on projects with musicians. In 2005 she visited the Antarctic Peninsula, which led to a book of her paintings and commentary, Drawn to Antarctica, as well as other exhibitions, including a 2005 CD, Improvising Antarctica, of improvised music based on images and photographs of the 2005 trip, by four musicians, including the two on the DVD. Udo told us in 2011: The work began soon after meeting artist Frances Hatch, who had traveled to Antarctica. Working together eventually lead to Frozen Orchestras. On the DVD, starting slowly, the two musicians spiritedly float their way through the creation of a wall-size sketch of Antarctic a shoreline, in an interesting multi-media voyage. www.franceshatch.co.uk; (See also IMPROVISING ANTARCTICA by Cathy Stevens, Udo Dzierzanowski, Karen Wimhurst, Steve Harris (2011) in this section.)
ANTARCTICA by Pollux (2011); ANTARCTICA (RE-MIXED) by Pollux & Golgotha Communications Ltd. (2011) (Web site download only)
Two albums of chilly, introspective ambient music with tracks on the first album such as Antarctica, Bored (Frozen Version), -30 Is Hot; Circle (All Is Ice Version), Borealis and Glacial Wind. The second album is a remixed version with new titles such as Antarctica (Ice shelf Collapse Mix), Glaciation, Bore and Freeze and Penguin Society. Pollax (a.k.a. Arnaud Barbe), based in Grenoble, France, told us about the tracks: Honestly, I dont write sounds inspired by themes but when I finish a song, it inspires in me a theme. Sirona Records Siro111; www.pollux0.com
ANTARCTICA EP by Sanderson Dear (2011) (Web site download only)
Sanderson Dear has been a Toronto, Canada-based DJ since 1987 and a music producer/writer of techno and minimal, ambient music since 2001. His 5-track EP has the tracks Parasomnia, It fell From The Sky and three mixes, totalling 21 minutes, of the ambient track Antarctica, that pulsate and drip in an unrelenting, hypnotizing tempo, not unlike a glacier on its path to the sea. Sanderson explained the music to us: Id started writing the song It Fell From The Sky after rewatching John Carpenters The Thing awhile back. I wanted to compose a piece to encompass aspects of that movie. Id left it alone for a year or so and started piecing together a second tune at the time, unrelated, called Parasomnia, based on another flick and decided this one would work well with the first. Thats when I decided to theme an EP around Antarctica. Parasomnia doesnt really give you much of a glimpse but it deals with the paranoid aspect of things when a person or persons are isolated from civilization for long durations. The title track came about because I wanted to tie all the songs under an umbrella and thought it was perfect to complete The Thing reference by writing a tune about the continent itself: crisp, cold and clean. Arjen Schat and David Roiseux further expanded on both with their remixes. Arjens especially captures the expansive nature of Antarctica, while Davids is the perfect sequel to my original mix. www.myspace.com/stasisrecordings; www.stasisrecordings.com
THE ANTARCTIC by the Chimneys (2011) (Web site download only)
The Chimneys are a Brooklyn-N.Y. based quartet, led by banjo-playing Alex Greiner. Their first recording is a 4-song EP about the first expeditions to the South Pole, in 1911-12 and the rivalry between Robert Scotts British explorers and Norwegian Roald Amundsens group. The 23-minute concept record has the tracks Amundsens Dream, At Polheim, Terra Australis and Salt of the Earth. The first songs two are about Amundsen, the third about Robert Scott and the last is about Apsley Cherry-Garrard, one of Scotts expeditioners, known for his long trek with two others to collect emperor penguin eggs, described in his landmark book The Worst Journey in the World. The songs are a wonder of quirky vocals and tempos, backed by banjo, mandolin, accordion and other rock instruments. www.myspace.com/chimneys; chimneys.bandcamp.com/album/the-antarctic
ANTARCTICA EP by Andrey Subbotin (2011) (Web site download only)
Andrey Subbotin is a Russia-based progressive house/techno electronic DJ and artist. His current EP has a 23-minute suite of three energetic instrumental dance pieces titled Antarctica, Iceberg and Ross Ice Shelf. www.myspace.com/djandreysubbotin; www.andreysubbotin.all.dj
ANTARCTICA by Craig Vear (2011) (Web site download only)
Craig Vear is a British electroacoustic composer and musician who won an Arts Council England Fellowship, in conjunction with the British Antarctic Surveys Artists and Writers Programme, to spend three months over 2003/04 on British bases in the Antarctic Peninsula area. This resulted in his 2005 multi-media CD and DVD Antarctica, which included a small book of his diaries and other commentaries, a CD of recorded Antarctic wildlife sounds, ice breaking and glacial melting, and a video. This new recording consists of 57 minutes of electroacoustic soundscapes not previously issued and includes Iceberg (Rothera Point), Uranus Glacier (Adelaide Island), Katabatic Wind (Sky Blue), Adlie Penguins (Jenny Island) and R.R.S. James Clark Ross Hold #2 (Lemaire Channel). Gruen Digital GrDl 089/11; www.myspace.com/craigvear; www.ev2.co.uk; (See also THREE LAST LETTERS (In Memoriam of Capt. Scott, Dr. Wilson and Lt. Bowers) by Craig Vear (2012) and ANTARCTICA - Musical Images from the Frozen Continent by Craig Vear (2005) in this section and SUMMERHOUSES by Craig Vear (2009) in the Individual Songs section.)
ANTARCTIC MUSIC by Michael Mollura (2011) (Web site download only)
Michael Mollura is a Los Angeles, California-based theatre and film composer, who began his career writing for off-Broadway productions in New York. He has written scores for two movies which premired at the 2010 and 2011 Sundance Film Festivals. The music on this album is the soundtrack for a private 36-minute DVD, Antarctica - Inner Journeys in the Outer World, made in 2009 by Dr. Robert Romanyshyn, a philosopher, author and psychotherapist at Pacifica Graduate Institute, near Santa Barbara, California. The DVD consists of haunting still photos of the mountains and ice of the Antarctic Peninsula coast, accompanied by the soothing, spiritual narration of Dr. Romanyshyn. As a stand-alone soundtrack, the 38-minute, 6-track suite begins as a calm minimalist ambient piece and in the final tracks picks up steam, culminating in a very melodic interplay between piano and violin. According to the publicity for a workshop given by Dr. Romanyshyn in Cincinnati in 2011, The Melting Polar Ice: Inner Journeys in the Outer World, the presentation, which drew on the video and music, will explore the intertwining of psyche and nature in the context of the ecological crisis of the melting polar ice. The Web announcement of another of Dr. Romanyshyns seminars said: The DVD unfolds the grounds for a radical eco-psychology based in the power of this Antarctic landscape, to restore the broken aesthetic connection between the flesh of the human body and the flesh of the world. As it reveals the awe-ful Antarctic beauty of stillness and silence, it taps into the feeling function as, perhaps below the radar of mind, our natal bond to the world. www.michaelmolluramusic.com; www.mythopoetry.com/mythopoetics/scholar11_video_antarctica.html
ANTARCTIC THE MUSICAL by Dugald McLaren and Dr. Dana Michelle Bergstrom (2011) (live theatre)
According to the Australian musicals Web site, Antarctic The Musical will be a major cultural event during the Antarctic Centenary Year (2011-12), celebrating 100 years of Australian Antarctic explorationAntarctic is a story about the lives of a small contemporary expedition during their year down south and of a love that develops unexpectedly. Imagine a place so hauntingly beautiful that it gets into your soul, yet so unforgiving, to venture out unprepared means death. Now imagine traveling to this place with only nine people youve just met with no chance of going home for a year. Youre just thrown into the mix. You work, you play, you struggle, and you live and love. And where is this place? Antarctica in the 21st Century. Youre down south for peace and science and your life will never be the same againThe expeditioners work hard, party hard but at all times they must follow the hard rules, developed over generations to keep people alive. The rules are simple: never say die, be true to yourself and kind to others, and always tell someone where youre going The music and lyrics were written by Australian singer/songwriter Dugald McLaren (a.k.a. Mac Lauren), with the book and production by Dr. Dana Michelle Bergstrom, an ecologist. Both have extensive Antarctic experiences. Allan Jeffrey and Leiz Moore will direct the show and Charlie Hull will be the musical supervisor. Opening night was to have been October 20, 2011 at Princes Wharf No. 1, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and there was to be Workshop Performance in February 2012. www.antarcticthemusical.com; www.maclaurenmusic.com
60 SOUTH by Second Thought (2010)
Second Thought was the solo musical project of keyboardist/electronic musician and artist Ross Baker, based in the U.K. He has been composing and recording since 1999 and has been recording under his own name since 2011. His fourth record of ambient music is bookended by themes of classic Antarctic horror novels.
The opening track is the ethereal, bird-like 4½-minute Tekeli-li, named after the cry of the giant white birds in the Southern Ocean near the South Pole in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, by the American macabre mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe. Published in 1838, it is a classic of Antarctic fiction and tells the tale of A. G. Pym, a young man who stows away on a whaling ship, which is wrecked on its way to the Southern Ocean. Pym and another survivor are then rescued and marooned on their way to the South Pole. They manage to escape on a small boat, which hurtles into a mysterious chasm blocked by a large white shrouded human figure and giant white birds overhead, crying Tekeli-li!
The ending track is the arpeggiated, brooding 7-minute At the Mountains of Madness, based on American science fiction/ horror author H. P. Lovecrafts 1931 novella of the same name. Its the story of a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition, which has become a classic. The expeditioners discover the remains of a subterranean ancient civilization and meet the horrors of its still-existing monsters.
Other tracks on the album have frosty titles such as Ice Shelf, Clouded, Snow, Degrees, Meltwater, Gone Forever and Icebergs. According to Rosss Web site blog notes, This electronic tapestry paints an image of life in the cold Antarctic Circle. Some tracks reflect the Lovecraft tales sense of unease and mystery, while others drift along more pleasantly, reflecting the grand majesty of the Antarctic landscape and the sea that surrounds it.
Ross explained the reason for the record: My girlfriend lent me a book by H. P. Lovecraft and the first story, At The Mountains Of Madness, really inspired me with wonderful vivid descriptions of the Antarctic landscape; so much that the music I began to write at the time seemed to reflect that, so I took the idea further and themed the whole album around it. Ambientlive Records ALR3092; www.secondthought.co.uk/sehitlpress.htm
LAPTOP DAYDREAMING VOL. 1 by Iaki (2010) (Web site download only)
Iaki (Barrocal) is an Andorra-based singer and musician who has made several experimental vocal-only demo CDs, followed by others in which Iaki pairs his vocals with everyday objects (non-instrument instruments) to create alternative and sometimes spooky universes. This third demo CD has five separate pieces, one of which is the 26-minute Frozen Symphony. The five tracks of Frozen Symphony include: Voices in the Wind: A Hidden Message, Interrupted Sleep: Monsters, Latitude 0: They Told Me What Happened Here, Midnight Sun and Antarctic Nights: Aurora. The music is haunting, underlain by a steady, blowing wind with otherworldly voices weaving mystery throughout.
Iaki explained his music to us in 2012: You see, on a realistic level, I wrote/recorded that piece on a snowy day and the whole city of Toulouse (where I was living at the time) was covered in snow, so I guess that would have started that whole mess! But of course, this piece has a story, more or less. The first movement, Voices in the Wind: A Hidden Message, is just someone listening to the wind and hearing the voices of all the explorers who had come to Antarctica and died there. The second movement, Interrupted Sleep: Monsters, is about being under the ice and hearing the rumble of dinosaurs or something like that, as they sleep. The third movement is sort of like an extension of the first one. The fourth and fifth movements, Midnight Sun and Antarctic Nights: Aurora, are just about witnessing those phenomena (midnight sun and auroras). The main character of this piece would be a spirit wandering about Antarctica. There, all explained!
According to Iakis Web site, It is a minimalistic piece set in Antarctica. Divided into five movements, they express the magic that exists in seemingly still landscapes like those of Antarctica. Antarctica, The Sixth Continent of the Earth, its not just a cold place, Be careful not to awaken the Old Monsters, sleeping in the deep! If you listen carefully enough, the wind will tell you about the past, Learn how to look and you will see the Midnight Sun and Auroras. Antarctica is not a dead place at all. It is very much alive! The wind carries an ancient melody, The Frozen Symphony. https://www.sites.google.com/site/inakitheofficialpage; https://sites.google.com/site/ldv1referential/home
WHISTLERS AT ELLSWORTH STATION, ANTARCTICA 1957 (2010)
This is a very limited edition of 50 box sets described by the labels Web site as follows: Cramped and smothered in a small research station, nuclear war in your subconscious and freezing temperatures locking you in, you sit with your receiver listening...Recorded in Antarctica in 1957, Whistlers is an attempt to document the true song of the heavens; low frequency magnetic waves occurring in the ionosphere. Clicks, hisses, pops, screams and moans. Its all there, along with the voice of an enigmatic man introducing the selections he deemed worthy of recording. Unearthed in a dusty record store, this mysterious 3-sided acetate is being given new life by dd univers as a double 3 cdr boxset, including a bonus cassette tape, More Apparent Than Real, a 13-minute track on a transparent blue C27 inspired by and utilizing the sounds of the whistler recordings. We note that during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58, Antarcticas Ellsworth Station, on the western coast of the Weddell Sea, was used to record ionospheric radio noise and whistling atmospherics (whistlers), low frequency electromagnetic waves, to help in understanding radio wave propagation and geomagnetism. Dd Univers DU001; www.soundofadeaduniverse.blogspot.ca
SHACKLETON EP by Spookey Ruben (2010)
Spookey Ruben is a Toronto, Canada-based pop-rock musician/producer and experimental filmmaker. He has made numerous CDs since 1995 and has toured internationally. This 50-copy, 4-song limited edition EP has the 8-minute track, Shackleton, co-written with Carson Cohen, which is a very brief retelling of the epic story of Ernest Shackletons Endurance Expedition of 1914-16. The individual sub-themes include Prologue, Whistle as They Wave, Trapped by Ice, The Deep Freeze, Elephant Island and Epilogue. Sample lyrics of Trapped by Ice: Save your men, dont let them freeze to death, save your men just help them stay alive, stay long, stay long. Lantern shows, how to pass the time, the Ritz, gramophone Sundays, banjoman relieves the pain, seal and penguin meat for all, is there anything thats left to keep us from going, all is quiet! The CD package also includes an original drawing by Spookey and a beaded bracelet. Interestingly, the cover has a photograph of a bearded Ernest Shackleton, not from the Endurance Expedition, but instead from his 1907-09 Nimrod (British Antarctic) Expedition. Hi-Hat Recordings HAT 1001-2; www.spookeyruben.tumblr.com; www.myspace.com/spookeyruben
THE THING – Complete Motion Picture Score by Ennio Morricone & John Carpenter (2010)
This double disc CD contains the complete score for the movie The Thing, the 1982 Antarctic science fiction movie by director John Carpenter, in which a buried alien is thawed after being discovered in the Antarctic ice. While the original spooky electronic music was by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, director John Carpenter incorporated three of his own tracks as fill-ins into the movie soundtrack. The official 1982 film CD soundtrack, however, also included tracks recorded by Morricone for the movie but not used in it. The present CD set contain all of Morricones tracks from the movie, the extra tracks added by John Carpenter as well as unused alternates and longer takes and orchestral tracks. The CD package, issued in a limited edition of 500, has detailed liner notes about the movie plot, but its disappointing that there are no comments about the music or any discussion of the alternate or longer track versions. Cimmerian Records CRCD003
BI/POLAR by Bouvetya (2010)
Since 2008, Bouvetya has been the electronic music recording project of Dublin, Ireland-based Michael Jones, who has been active for over twenty years in writing and recording, and is currently involved in ambient music and soundscapes. Bouvetya (Bouvet) Island, the most isolated island on the planet, is a small uninhabited volcanic Peri-Antarctic Island in the Southern Ocean, off the coast of East Antarctica. It is a nature reserve and a territory of Norway. This recording was the first under the Bouvetya name and includes two icy-sounding Antarctic-related instrumental tracks. The 2-minute 54:25S/03:20E is named for the co-ordinates of Bouvetya Island and the 18½-minute Nyrysa is named for a lava shelf on the Islands coast, thought to have been formed in the late 1950s (a.k.a New Rubble or West Wind Beach).
Michael told us in 2012 that his decision to name my electronic music project Bouvetya was driven by the following: I was always drawn to remote sounding electronic music. Some peers who inspired me were, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Biosphere and Autechre who often evoked images of icy remote locations, as opposed to space, stars, and spaceships, which other electronic musicians such as Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis would conjure. I like islands! I live in Ireland and often seek inspiration travel to some of our outlying remote islands such as Arran, Valentia, Skellig, Michael, etc. I have always been fascinated by the polar landscape, the weather extremes, and the people brave enough to venture to these parts. I can merely write music based on the emotions I would feel under such circumstances. When I began to research Bouvetya, I was amazed that a nation (i.e. Norway) would even attempt to claim sovereignty on it considering it was not really possible to populate it, other than place a weather station on it. Also the shape of it on satellite photos, the hostility of the environment, I found very inspiring; and the fact that no other musician used it also helped.
My first album Bi/Polar was inspired by both polar regions, and two tracks on it namely 54:25S/03:20E and Nyrysa are both references to the remote island of Bouvetya in the South Atlantic. I guess my own electronic interpretations of an Antarctic sound would rely on producing cold sharp ambient sounds on the synthesizer to replicate ice forming, melting, and breaking. A lot of electronic music is very urban sounding, but can be very effective at inducing feelings of isolation and loneliness. I find the whole region very inspiring, although I do cover other subject matter in my music. www.myspace.com/bouvetoya; www.tunecore.com/music/bouvetoya
THE GRAND DESIGN by Day Six (2010)
Day Six is a veteran Dutch progressive metal rock band from Noord-Brabant, Netherlands, formed in 2002. This is a concept album about an alien spaceship found in Antarcticas Lake Vostok and the story follows the five weather scientists who discovered the ship. The 70 minutes of exacting, dynamic music ranges from epic arena rock to heavy metal. Robbie van Stiphout, the groups guitarist and vocalist, explained the theme of the CD to us in 2011: The idea for The Grand Design is based on the works of Erich von Dniken. The result of it is an album with a complete story, divided in different chapters. However, theres a main theme that can be sensed throughout the entire album, which is the disclosure of the existence of extraterrestrial life and contact. The story is about five weather scientists who uncover a long lost E.T. spaceship under the ice of Lake Vostok, Antarctica. They decide to enter the ship themselves, where they find the answers to the most fundamental questions of life and the existence and evolutionary process of mankind. Being enthusiastic and maybe a little nave as to cover-ups, they try to release their findings through mainstream media only to bump into government interference. Our scientists are locked up in mental institutions where agents try to erase their experiences from their memories and condition them with a self-image of a deluded mind. However, the powerful energies they felt inside the ship strengthened them with a strong sense of hope and telepathic capabilities. They start hearing voices in their heads from the others and from extraterrestrial beings. When alone in their hospital rooms, the scientists contact each other this way to devise a new plan of disclosure. Every track on The Grand Design is a separate chapter of this story and stands on its own, which gives us the freedom to put our live set-list in any order that seems best for any particular show. Lion Music LMC287; www.myspace.com/daysixweb
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS – A Live Audio Theatre by the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company (2010)
The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company has been performing live and producing recorded audio dramas since 1984, as a non-profit educational corporation, specializing in mystery and the supernatural. This disc is a 45-minute live theatre recreation of American science fiction/ horror author H. P. Lovecrafts 1931 novella At the Mountains of Madness, adapted for audio by Brad Stickland, with accompanying spooky music by Atlanta-based The Ghosts Project. This story of a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition has become a classic, in which the expeditioners discover the remains of a subterranean ancient civilization and meet the horrors of its still-existing monsters. www.artc.org; (See also AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company (1992) in this section.)
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by Nameless City (2010) (Web site download only)
A solo project of Hungary-based Peter Renner, this concept album of dark ambient, electronic music is based on the novella At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft, whose 1931 story of a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition and the horrors it encounters in caverns under Antarcticas ice has become a classic. Music titles include Antarctica, Mountain, Leng, Civilized, The City, Under the Ice and The Past. Nameless City, Renners name for the project under which he records his Lovecraft-inspired music, is considered to be the first story in Lovecrafts alien Cthulhu Mythos. www.myspace.com/namelesscity; www.namelesscity.eu; limitless-audio.com/blog/releases/limitless-015
THE CALL OF CTHULHU - AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS (BERGE DES WAHNSINNS) - Soundtrack by Erdenstern (2010)
Erdenstern is a Hamburg, Germany-based trio of musicians who, according to their Web site, professionally compose and produce soundtracks for role playing games. Our music resembles movie scores when it comes to being an emotional, musical backdrop for different situations, while we also take great care for the versatility in different game systems and the musical independence of the composition. This soundtrack is based on the 1999 role playing novel, Beyond the Mountains of Madness, by Charles and Janyce Engan et al., in which a 1933 Antarctic expedition is launched to unravel the mystery of the fateful story in H. P. Lovecrafts 1931 Antarctic novella At the Mountains of Madness. In that tale, a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition discovers the unmentionable terrors of a lost underground civilization. The various CD tracks, based on events in the sequel book, vary in styles from grand orchestral scores to quieter, jazzy interludes and spooky, fear-inducing music portraying monsters. The CD booklet notes are in French and German. We asked the group about their production of this CD and they replied: We have released this music in collaboration with a French publisher that has released a role playing campaign based on that story. In the U.S., Chaosium released a similar story as Beyond the Mountains of Madness; the players are part of the expedition, which followed, in search of the remains of their predecessors. Erdenstern 1100108-1; www.erdenstern.com; www.myspace.com/erdenstern
I, MOUNTAIN by Cana (2010) (cassette only)
Cana is the black metal solo project of Hampshire/Sussex, U.-K.-based Andrew Curtis-Brignell. Originally released in 2007 as a limited-issue EP, this 21-minute soundscape track is based on H. P. Lovecrafts 1931 Antarctic novella At the Mountains of Madness, in which Byrd-era Antarctic expeditioners discover the remains of an ancient civilization and meet the horrors of its still-existing monsters. The music begins with soft crystalline guitar, which slowly develops into the screeches and howls associated with the storys descent into terror and madness. DSR-EVIL-IV; www.myspace.com/cainaband; www.caina.150m.com
DECEPTION ISLAND by Bella Koshka (2010)
Bella Koshka is a Minneapolis, U.S.A.-based alt-rock quintet, fronted by a female vocalist and a violinist, who play dramatic, Gothic-flavoured, moody musical mini-dramas. The CD is named after Antarcticas Deception Island and according to their Web site, the music is a cinematic landscape and its echoing remains. A journey through time to an old, forgotten place. This is the epic tale of Deception Island. The tracks on the CD have Deception Island-appropriate titles such as Winter, Subterranean, Caldera, Pendulum Road, and Cathedral. The real Deception Island is a U-shaped still-active volcanic caldera that became a safe harbour for Antarctic sealers from the early 1800s and later became the site of intense whale oil processing in the early 1900s. Numerous small research stations have also been located there and it remains one of the top attractions for visiting tourist ships. www.myspace.com/bellakoshka; www.bellakoshka.com
THE COMPLETE RADIO FREE ANTARCTICA TAPES by The Owl Watches (2010)
The Owl Watches is the solo music project of Atlanta, Georgia-based guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Phil McKenna, aided by a few friends on other instruments. The CD booklet has a print of an Antarctic territorial claims map, a picture of an Emperor penguin and an historic explorers hut. The music is relaxed-sounding, experimental progressive jazz/rock and one of the free-form guitar tracks has the interesting title, Our Audience is Mostly Penguins and Scientists. Phil told us about the reason for the Antarctic setting: The idea for this, well, icy-themed album arose from a rather hilarious conversation involving gig horror stories. That set me thinking about what if a hapless band got stuck playing in Antarctica, miles from anywhere, and thus I concocted this little story:
Imagine if you will that The Owl Watches was an actual touring band, complete with a less-than-competent Reuben Kincaid-like manager. Said manager gets the brilliant idea of booking the band for a 5-night engagement at a scientific outpost in Antarctica, where he assures them their career will reach a new level of greatness. Eventually, the band packs up its gear and winter clothes and boards a C-130 transport headed for The Frozen White South.
Once there, the first 2 nights go less than swimmingly, with the audience bleating out requests for Celine Dion, Slim Whitman and obscure Albanian coal miners songs. Later, the band retreats to a secret storage room and discusses either firing their manager or staging an accident. Sensing that his untimely demise may be imminent, the manager absconds with both plane and pilot, leaving our heroes stranded. The scientists take pity on the hapless band after this bit of outrageous fortune, and radio for a new plane to get them back home. However, it wont be available for at least 2 days. Making the best of a bad situation, the band discovers a small radio station, Radio Free Antarctica a short distance away by dogsled. Radio Free Antarctica kept itself on the air against great odds, due in part to the generosity of the king of a small obscure island nation on The Dead Sea, and by station staffers siphoning gas for their generator from unsuspecting scientific outposts.
The last anyone knew, the band set up and recorded several new pieces that were being road tested or were in various stages of development, when during the last track, a horrific avalanche struck (which was rumored to have been deliberately started). The bands fate still remains a mystery; further compounding the mystery was the fact that the master tape reel was found several miles away by another expedition some months later. By some miracle, the tape survived and has been restored for your dining and dancing pleasure. 4 The Boids 4TB0001; www.myspace.com/theowlsmusic
ANTARCTICA by David Maranha (2010) (Vinyl LP only)
Portugal-based David Maranha, an organist, violinist and architect, has been playing avant garde jazz since 1986 as a solo artist, with collaborators as well as and with his group Osso Extico. This limited-release LP has a 20-minute track on each side consisting of hypnotic minimalist dirges with percussion, organ, strings and guitar. We asked David for the reason for the title of the record and he said: I guess it was the idea of arid white landscape. The press release on his website blog says: Like the great white expanse of the titular continent, it can be taken in simply as a glorious wash of sound; listen to it closely, however, and youll hear the smallest details jump out in high relief: a feather can move a mountain. Roaratorio Roar18; www.myspace.com/ossoexotico; davidmaranha.blogspot.com
ARCTIC/ANTARCTIC by Marcus Fischer (2010) (Web site download only)
Marcus Fischer is a Portland, Oregon-based musician and multimedia artist who explores sight and sound through music and film. His current album of ambient electronic music has three Arctic tracks and three Antarctic tracks. In between is the single track Tropica. According to his Web site, Arctic/Antarctic is centered around a series of guitar based improvisationsThe first 1/3 of the Antarctic portion is based on the slow shifting of loop points within a larger guitar loop. The rest of Antarctic contrasts with prior sections. Rather than using digital processes, this portion relies only on loops created using a system of modified analog cassette tapes. These cassettes were played back and rerecorded at a distance capturing some of the surrounding sounds such as cats moving about the room and hints of nearby construction. Marcus told us that The reason for the Arctic/Antarctic theme is, (beyond just being fascinated by the continent itself), taking the idea of different but similar landscapes and environments and translating that into textural music. On first sight/sound it can be stark and cold without much detail but the more you look/listen the details emerge and what seemed cold is now a little warmer. www.mapmap.ch; luxusarctica.wordpress.com
FATHOM by Douglas Quin (2010) (Vinyl LP only)
American sound recordist Douglas Quin has been recording Antarctic sounds since 1996, when he received a grant from the U. S. National Science Foundations Antarctic Artists and Writers Program to work in Antarctica. Recorded with the use of hydrophones (underwater microphones), this limited edition record has Arctic walruses and Beluga whales on the first side. The second side has sounds of icebergs and brash ice, recorded near Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell seals, leopard seals, orcas and ice fractures from McMurdo Sound on the second side. Recording is both an art and a science and according to the record labels Web site, The recordings have been gathered over a period of 15 years, capturing an extraordinary palette of sonic voices, events, spaces, and textures. To the human ear, these soundscapes are haunting and otherworldly; yet they are very much of this world - out of earreach. The tracks are minimally edited and are his first field recordings to be archived in vinyl. The record is packaged in an attractive cover with an artistic sleeve. The sleeve notes, by Ren van Peer state that The environments captured in sound by Douglas Quin, and presented on this album, are situated in areas at the exremes of the globe - they are not beneficial to human life. Compared to visual representations, however realistic those may be, they work on a different level. The recordings cut right through the armour of armchair content (reinforcing the notion that what we hear is more evocative than what we see). They make instantly clear that what you are listening to is an alien world. A world that is conjured up in staggering and disturbing detail before your very ears. TAIGA 11; www.taigarecords.com; www.dqmedia.com. (See also ANTARCTICA by Douglas Quin (1998) in this section.)
ANTARCTIC SUITE: LANDSCAPE by Steve Schalchlin (2009) (Web site video only)
Steve Schalchlin is a New York City-based composer, musician performer and actor. He has been nominated for and has and won many Los Angeles and New York theatre awards, including awards for the music and lyrics for two acclaimed off-Broadway pop gospel musicals. In 2008-09 he was on an Antarctic Peninsula voyage and was inspired to write his Antarctic Suite, which includes a superbly rousing but stately 4-minute theme, Landscape, about the rivers of ice and rivers of rock that amazed him.
Steve told us in 2013 about the background to the Antarctic Suite for piano, chorus, oboe and clarinet, composed during the trip: We were approaching the Continent from South America. It was 6 or 7 am. Off in the distance, I saw the tip of an island. I could see that it had a glacier. I remembered Glacier Bay in Alaska, and how monumental it was to see two or three of them. As we approached, I seemed to be the only person awake on board. Closer in, I saw an almost black tip of rock thrusting out from the snow, cut razor thin from the constant river of ice and broken rock that makes up a glacier. As we passed by, I noticed another glacier on the other side of the black razor tip. Side by side glaciers sharpening a mountaintop like a great craftsman forging a sword. Then another glacier. And another. And another. And another. I was running to and fro on the deck, filled with an overwhelming sense of Time. Of an unchanging land upon which no human can live because its just ice and rock. Untouched through the ages. I started counting them. Five, six, seven, 10. 20! I could scarcely breathe. But I knew I had to find a way to express it. Downstairs. A piano. I found what felt like the deepest, most sonorous part. Db. And then I thought of sailors and songs of the sea, remembering when I met Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, who was, at the time, obsessed with sea chanties - Theyre all in three. So, I started this rolling rhythm in three, and it all blossomed from that figure. I think back at what a privilege it was to write the piece as I was experiencing it. That became Antarctic Suite: Landscape, the first movement of an in-progress three movement piece. Movement Two: Peaks, Ice and Wind was inspired by how the wind and ice blew fiercely up and over the sharp, jagged mountain peaks. It features angular chords and gentle but piercing flute and string lines. These are demo recordings, using synths. The first movement, Landscape, stands on its own and is used as the background score to footage I shot of the island, from a video diary of the Antarctic, posted to YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ob9oa98nbk; www.bonusroundblog.blogspot.com
ANTARCTICA JAZZ by Alexey Bogolyubov (2009)
Alexey Bogolyubov is a young Kiev, Ukraine-based professional jazz pianist and composer who has recorded a CD and played internationally. Youtube has videos of a 15-minute live performance of his dynamic Antarctica Jazz suite for quintet, posted in 2011, which includes the tracks Iceberg, a Penguin Walks and Zodiac, based on his trip to the Continent on a tourist cruise. He told us in 2012: I was in Antarctica in 2009. And I was excited by what I saw, so I came back to my country and wrote a new musical program. www.myspace.com/alexeybogolyubovtrio
JASPER - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Florian Tessloff (2009)
Jasper, a penguin, is the leading character of a German television series of animated shorts by Toons n Tales, from the early 2000s. It was made into a feature-length film for the European market in 2008 as Jasper und das Limonadenkomplott, but the English version, titled Journey to the End of the World, has not yet been distributed in North America. According to the CD, Between the backdrops of the icy South Pole and a colourful harbour city, unfolds the adventure of the penguin brothers Jasper and Junior, who, with the help of 9-year old Emma, rescue the eggs of the rare Kakapo bird from the evil hands of Dr. Block. The dynamic orchestral score by Tessloff, performed by The Slovak National Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Allan Wilson, includes the short polar tracks More Icebergs and South Pole Adventures. Moviescore Media MMS-09019; www.moviescoremedia.com
CHEF OF THE SOUTH POLE – Soundtrack (2009)
Chef of the South Pole is a 2009 Japanese drama, directed by Shuichi Okita, about an Antarctic science research team, based at Japans Dome Fuji Station, which spends a year on The Ice. It presents a light-hearted look at the interplay between the personnel, with food being a focus, based on an autobiography by the Stations chef. This CD is the films short music soundtrack, at just 20½ minutes, covering a variety of styles from a sing-along whistling tune to classical and rock. Ki/oon Records KSCL 1441
TEKELI-LI – A Soundtrack to the Adventures of A. G. Pym by Psi Corps (2009)
This is a joint project of Russias Alisa Coral, a space metal musician and Australian Michael Blackman, who have also collaborated on several CDs under the band name Space Mirrors. According to their Web site, Psi Corps is a side project of Alisa Coral from Space Mirrors. The purpose of this project is to exploit a soundtrack to a book concept. It can be any style or genre, the main ambition is to transfer the feeling and images of the story into the music soundscapes.
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, by the American macabre mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1838, is a classic of Antarctic fiction and tells the tale of A. G. Pym, a young man who stows away on a whaling ship, Grampus, which undergoes mutiny and is finally wrecked on its way to the Southern Ocean. Pym and a mutineer are finally rescued by another ship heading south. Crossing through an ice barrier on the way to the South Pole, they are marooned on an island by its malevolent inhabitants. They manage to escape on a small boat, which hurtles into a mysterious chasm blocked by a large white shrouded human figure and giant white birds overhead, crying Tekeli-li!
The track titles refer to various chronological references in the story: Party at Barnards (Is Over), On Board the Ariel, On Board the Grampus, Tsalal, Further South and Tekeli-li. The manic music superbly portrays a troubled voyage and particularly in the closing track Tekeli-li, the swirling guitars, synthesizers and percussion propel us into the core of the raging maelstrom. The CD booklet also has colourful artwork showing the harrowed, shipwrecked survivors barely surviving on ice flows. RAIG R040; www.myspace.com/psicorpstekelili; www.spacemirrors.com; www.myspace.com/spacemirrors; (See also MAJESTIC-12: A HIDDEN PRESENCE by Space Mirrors (2008) in the Individual Songs section.)
CHATTERMARKS - Field Recordings from Palmer Station, Antarctica by Cheryl E. Leonard (2009)
Cheryl Leonard is an award-winning California-based composer, performer and instrument builder, specializing in natural object instruments and performances. In 2008-09 she went to the Antarctic Peninsulas Palmer Station American scientific base on a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundations Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. This CD is a presentation of the raw sounds of penguins of various ages, various forms of floating and melting ice, elephant seals and even a storm. According to Cheryls liner notes, I went to the Ice to create music using natural sounds and materials, but I began by simply listening. I needed to first experience, explore, and try to understand this unique place: its ecosystems, weather, landscapes and soundsSome of these field recording studies have been incorporated into my compositions, but many of them are fascinating and musical in their own right. The title of this CD seems very appropriate since the tracks do sound like friendly chattering, whether between penguins or seals and especially in the brash ice/iceberg tracks. A musical CD release was planned for 2010 and Cheryl told us it might be combined with a DVD of composed music and images. Great Hoary Marmot Music GHMM 004; www.allwaysnorth.com; www.musicfromtheice.blogspot.com
GLACIAL by Watchmenmk (2009) (Web site download only)
This electronic/dark ambient record, by a Serbia-based group has the tracks Antarctica pt 1, Antarctica pt 2, Glacial and Polar Crystals. The groups site describes the music as a soundtrack for a coming ice age. www.myspace.com/watchmenmk1; wmk1.blogspot.com
POLARIS by Juno Morse (2009) (Web site download only)
Juno Morse (a.k.a. Gregor Huber) is a Switzerland-based electronic musician whose album takes us to Antarctica through majestic soundscapes with track titles such as Frozen Animals, The Long Sleep, Dark Blue Water, White Noise, Glass Monolith, Floating Snowflakes, On Mount Erebus, Amundsens Last Outpost, and Light Crystal Cloud. According to his recording label Web site, When I was lying in summer 2009 under the sun of Provence in the pool, I read the word Polaris on the hose of the pool-cleaning robot. The name seemed awkward for this machine and seemed to be appropriate more for refrigerators or ice-machines. Apart from that the name also reminded me of the book Solaris of science fiction author Stanislaw Lem. This extraordinary book has been filmed already three times with rather little success, the last time in 2002. However, remarkable is the soundtrack by Cliff Martinez for this last film. It accompanies me since thenOn my search for Ice-music I only discovered one, but very important album: Antarctica by Vangelis. This work has been composed in 1983 for a film with the same name and is unmatched since thenInspired by Cliff, Vangelis and the pool-cleaning robot, I decided to compose an icy, sparkling, wide and still album. Gregor told us about two of his tracks in 2010: On Mount Erebus: While I was composing this part it reminded me of a song from Vangelis from his album China called Himalaya. So I looked for a significant mountain in the Antarctic. I found Mount Erebus and liked its shape and name. Amundsens Last Outpost: While I was combing through the massive information about Antarctica, I read about the expeditions and came across Roald Amundsen. I imagined his South Pole outpost to be very desolate and melancholic and that matched quite well to this part. Available from www.cdbaby.com and iTunes; www.hult.ch
WHITEOUT - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2009)
This is the soundtrack disc to the Antarctic who-done-it action movie of the same name, based on the main character from the Whiteout comic book series by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber. It features Kate Beckinsale as Carrie Stetko, a U.S marshal on Antarctica who has to investigate a murder on the continent, which may be related to a secret drilling project. The movie received tepid, or more appropriately, frosty reviews for the plot. The dark and dramatic orchestral soundtrack music, composed by John Frizzell, has tracks with titles such as Aurora Australis, Base Camp, Vostok Attack, Frost Bite, The Storm Approaches, Last Plane Out, and The Whiteout. Varse Saraband 302 066 986 2; www.whiteoutmovie.com
CINEMATIC MUSE by Brandon Visel (2009) (Web site download only)
Brandon Visel is a California-based film composer whose album consists of orchestral and acoustic music inspired for film. Included are two tracks, Antarctica 1 and Antarctica 2, which were part of the soundtrack music written for the 60-minute documentary film about artist Lita Albuquerques December 2006 large-scale art installation, Stellar Axis: Antarctica on the Ross Sea Ice Shelf near McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. The two tracks are meditational and Oriental-sounding and the soundtrack music on the documentary admirably conveys the sense of tranquility and grandeur of the wide, white flat landscape of the Ice Shelf. Lita Albuquerque is a California-based large-scale installation artist, painter and sculptor, known internationally for earth art in natural landscapes. Stellar Axis: Antarctica was funded under the U.S. National Science Foundations Antarctic Artists and Writers Program in 2006 and the project consisted of ninety-nine blue spheres being spread over the icescape, aligned with and mirroring the brightest stars in the sky above. This was a major logistical undertaking with three years of preparations and involved the manufacture of the spheres and assistance from an astronomer, photographer and cinematographer. The actual installation, documentation and dismantling took three weeks and was done under demanding environmental constraints and regulations. The event also included overhead filming and a performance by McMurdo Station staff portraying the motion of the stars at the poles. The progress of the whole enterprises was filmed over the years by artist and documentary filmmaker Sophie Dia Pegrum, also based in California. Sophia explained to us about the project and music: The Antarctic is a deeply affecting place, both geographically and philosophically. One of the most wonderful things about working on this project was working with the composer Brandon Visel, who captured the feel and grandeur of the experience beautifully. His score really became the adherence that the film needed. It is hard to express such a place of terrific violence and beauty visually. After coming back I felt almost hopelessly inadequate to represent the experience. Music tracks available from iTunes and CD Baby.com; a DVD of the film is also available via Sophia Dia Pegrum. www.brandonvisel.com; www.myspace.com/brandonvisel; www.77below.com; www.stellaraxis.com; www.litaalbuquerque.com; www.sophiadia.com
ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME by GrooveLily (under development in 2009)
GrooveLily is a New York, N.Y.-based vocal/violin/keyboard/drums pop/rock trio (Valerie Vigoda, Brendan Milburn, and Gene Lewin) that has been together since 1994 and in recent years has expanded to musical theatre, with successful collaborations in numerous musicals. A current project is Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, described by the group on its Web site as a one-woman fever-dream musical about a video games music writer who is contacted by Ernest Shackleton, who shares his Antarctic journeys with her as both struggle toward new horizons. Its based on a book by Joe DiPietro, with lyrics by group members Valerie Vigoda, who is also the sole actor and music by Brendan Milburn. In August 2009, early-stage workshop performances were held in Palo Alto, California and in October three more pieces were presented at a pub theatre evening in New York City. One of the songs from it, Were On Our Way, is a rousing banjo-backed sea shanty about leaving home, sung by Ernest Shackletons character (Brendan Milburn), who promises to find land and return to his darling wife, available from iTunes. Valerie Vigoda, the groups vocalist and violinist extraordinaire, told us in 2009 that We have been intrigued by Shackleton for several years, and are writing a one-woman musical in which the main character discovers and is changed by his amazing story. We just did a workshop and 3 readings of the show at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, which helped us immensely as we develop the piece. We are hoping that we can do a full production before too long, and incorporate some of the actual visuals from Shackletons Endurance journey as projections during the show. The rest of the music, we hope, will be available when we get farther along. www.groovelily.com
TICKET TO ANTARCTICA by KevOz (2009)
Kevin Osborn is a Chicago-based independent synthesizer/keyboard artist who has recorded many New Age and instrumental albums in various styles during the past ten years. His recent cruise to Antarctica inspired this album. Kevin explained to us: My wife and I went on an Antarctic cruise in January 2008, mostly because it was one of our last continents to visit; little did I know that it would become one of my favorite trips of all time! I had such a wonderful time there that I was inspired to create an album of music about my experiences on Antarctica. The wonderful sights, the sounds - whether it be choruses of penguins or just the calm near the Lemaire Channel, the feelings and emotions. Ive done my best to pour it all into an album. This is the first time Ive created an album based on my travel experiences and it probably wont be my last, as Ive had such a blast putting the music and artwork together. The CD liner notes further explain: The first cruise I ever took was a trip to Antarctica with my wife. You might be thinking, Why would you go there - wouldnt it just be freezing cold? What about the Caribbean? I must admit, it sounded strange to me at first, too. But, I got more and more psyched about it as our trip drew nearer. And by the time our boat left Ushuaia, Argentina, I just couldnt wait to see the great ice. As we passed through the rough waters of the Drake Passage en route to Deception Island (our first of several destinations), my excitement was building to a crescendo. Just what would I see? How would it feel? I knew it would be an experience Id never forget, and I just couldnt wait to get thereIn short, Antarctica is a place like no other on Earth – or, Im guessing, any other planet. Its equal parts beautiful, eerie, jubilant, and somber. And this is my Ticket To Antarctica. May it be yours, too. The 11 tracks include Ticket to Antarctica, Crossing the Drake Passage, Deception Island, Zodiac Cruise, Blue Ice, Penguin Dance, Antarctic Lullaby, The Last Continent, 20 Hours of Sunshine, Iceberg Maker and Return Voyage. Kevins Web site has a separate Antarctica section along with detailed travel notes to each track. www.kevoz.com
ANTARCTICA: THE MUSICAL by Dogmatic Music (2009)
Dogmatic Music is a quartet of teachers and musicians from the New South Wales region in Australia, which has been recording and entertaining in a variety of musical styles since 2004, with help from many other family members. They have performed at public and school events and their music and theatre pieces have been used by schools directly. Antarctica: The Musical is their fourth CD and contains 14 tracks with various Antarctic themes, including karaoke instrumental tracks for a sing-along. The song styles range from rock to country and rap. Titles include: Antarctica, 200 Million Years Ago, Aristotle Rap, The Sailors Song, The Seals Lament, Antarctic Anthem, Antarctic Fever, Crevasse, Shackleton, Scott of the Antarctic, Mawson Walked, Im a Whale and The Penguin Stomp. According to the CD booklet, The songs are easy to play and sing. Each one tells a story or carries a message about some aspect of Antarctica, from its formation and exploration, to its hostile but delicate environment and the creatures that inhabit it. Together, they present a unique, engaging and enjoyable learning experience. The CD comes with a songbook of music and lyrics, a classroom study guide and script/libretto for a primary school play with up to 17 narrators. The group told us in 2009: This music and play was written for upper primary school students as most study Antarctica as part of the Human Studies and Its Environment course in schools in New South Wales, Australia. Our music is meant to be fun, the idea being to engage students in music and drama while they learn about Antarcticas ancient and more recent history, the explorers, Antarcticas animals and environment. All upper level primary students (10-12 year olds) in New South Wales, Australia, are required to study Antarctica so its pitched at that level. One of our group, Paul McGee, was teaching the topic for years and found that students remembered more and engaged with the topic more through music and drama. KIA009; www.dogmaticmusic.net
SHACKLETONS VOYAGE by Eureka (2009)
Eureka is the 51-minute musical project of Germanys Frank Bossert, an established rock musician, who tells the story of Ernest Shackletons famous Endurance Expedition of 1914-16 in a series of 15, largely instrumental tracks, themed around the various phases of the Expedition and its survival stages. Frank told us in 2009 that I saw a documentary on the German/French TV channel ARTE in the year 2000/2001 and I was so fascinated by the story and the character of Ernest Shackleton that I had the idea of creating a concept album in an art rock style. It took a few more years to realise this.
In addition to a few tracks of narration by British thespian Ian Dickinson, there are veteran guest artists on vocals and instruments such as Uilleann pipes and whistle to provide a Celtic flavour, in keeping with the origins of some of the expeditioners. Track titles include The Last Adventure, Departure, The Challenge, Grytviken Whaling Station, Heading South, Icebound, Plenty of Time, The Turning Point, Going Home, Into the Lifeboats, Elephant Island, In Search of Relief, The Rescue and We Had Seen God. The music, in a progressive rock style with guitars and synthesizers, at times symphonic, matches the moods of the themes of the songs. Lyrics for Going Home: We lost our ship in a wasteland of ice. No time to look back if we want to survive. We missed our aim, but what still can be done is to save everyone. No glorious fame, ship and stores are gone, were left on our own – were going home! Were going home now – Our ship is gone but our will is strong. Well survive – Were coming home. Were going home now – No missions won but our hope is not gone. Well return – were coming home. We drag our boats through impassable heights. No time to waste – we just fight for our lives. We missed our aim – we just fight for our lives. We missed our aim, but what still must be done is to save everyone. No glorious fame, ship and stores are gone, were left on our own – were going home. Ironically, at that point they still had months of camping on ice, Elephant Island and the South Georgia rescue still ahead of them. There is also the poignant and arguably the most memorable track, Will You Ever Return, sung by a female trio, from the unusual point of view of Shackletons wife Emily (lyrics: So long ago, that I heard your voice, so long ago, that I felt your loving touch. All the tears that Ive cried for you, all the prayers that Ive sent, All the love that I feel, Can not bring you back home, All the fears that have passed, All the darkness around, can not give me an answer now – Will you ever return? So long ago, that I saw your smile, So long ago, that I fooled around with you. So long ago, that I held your hand, So long ago, that I danced around you. The CD includes a very complete booklet with Frank Hurleys famous expedition photographs illustrating each track, as well as track explanatory notes. The CD cover also has a Hurley photo of the Endurance, frozen in the ice. SPV 28022 CD; www.eureka-music.de
SONIC ANTARCTICA by Andrea Polli (2009)
Andrea Polli is a digital media artist who is an Associate Professor of Electronic Arts at the University of New Mexico and formerly an Associate Professor of Film and Media at Hunter College, part of the CUNY organization. According to her Web site, Her work addresses issues related to science and technology in contemporary society. She is interested in global systems, the real time interconnectivity of these systems, and the effect of these systems on individuals. Pollis work with science, technology and media has been presented widely in over 100 presentations, exhibitions and performances internationally, has been recognized by numerous grants, residencies and awards including UNESCO. She currently works in collaboration with atmospheric scientists to develop systems for understanding storm and climate through sound (called sonification). During the 2007/08 Antarctic season she spent seven weeks in Antarctica under the U.S. National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, recording interviews and videos with weather, climate and earth scientists and recording the sounds of natural and work-related mechanical and human activities. Areas travelled included McMurdo Sound, the Dry Valleys and the South Pole. The resulting CD, limited to 500 copies, presents 10 tracks, including recordings of helicopters and radio transmissions from the Williams Field landing area, sounds from Taylor Glacier, Castle Rock and Lake Hoare, weather balloon launching activities at the South Pole and polar philosophy from a cast of prominent researchers on their activities and on global warming. Gruenrekorder Gruen064/LC09488; www.andreapolli.com; www.gruenrekorder.de
UNDER THE ICE – Live at 21 Grand by Henry Kaiser (2008) (Web site download only)
Henry Kaiser is a prominent and prodigiously recorded California-based improvisational avant-garde instrumental guitarist who went to Antarctica in 2001-02 on a U.S. National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Program grant. He recorded his guitar playing at McMurdo Station and at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and later returned to work as a research diver and underwater cameraman on two documentaries, including one of his own and for Werner Herzogs Encounters at the End of the World. This recording is a 5-track live improvisation recorded in Oakland, California on June 8, 2008. While presented as a preview of Werner Herzogs Antarctic documentary, released in North America in June 2008, the 35-minute live performance was played to underwater scenes from Antarcticas McMurdo Sound, which were not included in the final version of the film. Along with the guitarist, five other musicians performed on various instruments such as percussion, saxophone, viola, trombone and bass. One of the musicians was Cheryl Leonard, an award-winning California-based composer, performer and instrument builder, specializing in natural object instruments and performances. In 2008-09 she went to the Antarctic Peninsulas Palmer Station American scientific base, also on a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundations Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. Henry Kaiser also produced an earlier DVD of his guitar music, A BUNCH OF GUITAR SOLOS (2003), in which he uses the South Pole marker as a guitar slide, performs inside an ice cave on Antarcticas active volcano, Mt. Erebus, and films scenes of the Icestock Music Festival at McMurdo Station. www.archive.org/details/kaiser2008-06-08.flac16; (See also MUSIC FOR WERNER HERZOGS ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Henry Kaiser & David Lindley (2013) in this section and SOLO ACOUSTIC ON BEARDSELL GUITARS by Henry Kaiser (2011) and BLUE WATER ASCENT by Henry Kaiser (2007) in the Individual Songs section.)
TERRA NOVA: SINFONIA ANTARCTICA by DJ Spooky (2008) (not yet released as a recording)
DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid (a.k.a. Paul D. Miller is a New York, N.Y.-based composer, musician, writer, lecturer and multi-media artist who has had international performances and presentations of his works. According to his Web site, In December 2007 and January 2008 Paul D. Miller went to Antarctica to shoot a film and make a large scale multimedia performance work that will be an acoustic portrait of a rapidly changing continent called Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica. Sinfonia Antarctica transforms Millers first person encounter with the harsh, dynamic landscape of Antarctica into multimedia portraits with music composed from the different geographies that make up the land mass. Its about the environment, sound, hip hop, electronic music and what it means to be a composer in the 21st centuryMillers field recordings from a portable studio, set up to capture the acoustic qualities of Antarctic ice forms, reflect a changing and even vanishing environment under duress. Coupled with historic, scientific, and geographical visual material, Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica is a seventy minute performance, creating a unique and powerful moment around mans relationship with nature
Using digital media, video, and high tech recording equipment, DJ Spooky will go to Antarctica and paint an acoustic portrait of this rapidly transforming environmenthe aims to bring Antarctica to the contemporary imagination by digitally reconstructing it: historical maps, travelers journals over the last several centuries, crystalline ices resonant frequencies, and the Earths magnet poles - will all be paints for the audio palette he will work with. Essentially, he will go to the continent and create a recording studio that will be portable enough to move all over the territoryFor the purposes of this project, the idea of looking at the places beyond the realms of everyday life in the industrialized 21st century world, puts the continent front and center into the idea of making a map of the continent in sound.
Sinfonia Antarctica will be an acoustic portrait of a rapidly transforming continent made of ice and condensation. In many ways, because there is little rain, the interior of the continent is technically one of the largest deserts in the world. What Sinfonia Antarctica proposes to do is explore the realm of fiction and ideas that underlie almost all perceptions of Antarctica - from the interior desert plains, to the Transantarctic Mountains that divide the continent, the Suite will take samples of the different conditions, and transform them into multi-media portraits with music composed from the different geographies that make up the land mass.
The work was commissioned by a number of international arts festivals and institutions and is played by a string trio with piano along with hip-hop and sampled digital accompaniment. With integrated Antarctic video projections, it has been performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) as well as by other local ensembles in the United States. The Alter Ego Ensemble has performed it in Europe and Australia.
In 2009 Paul D. Miller presented The Science of Terra Nova, which was about the changes in Antarctica related to global climate change, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, a presentation incorporating his Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica.
In 2010 Paul went to the High Arctic for his Arctic Rhythms/ Ice Music project with Cape Farewell, a charitable organization working to encourage artists to produce art based on scientific research, to engage the public in global warming issues. According to his Web site, I am in the High Arctic creating a series of drafts for several compositions that Ill eventually turn into several string quartet pieces, a gallery show, and a symphony out of the experience. Im looking at how to collect impressions of the landscape, distill the material into something that I can use in the compositions (visually, sonically, and for writing as well), and arrive at a point where sound and art can create portraits of whats going on up here.
Paul told us in late 2010: Im now in production on my Arctic project, which is part 2 of what I did with my South Pole scenario. www.djspooky.com; www.myspace.com/djspooky; (See also OF WATER AND ICE by DJ Spooky (2013) and ICE MUSIC by Paul D. Miller/ DJ Spooky (2012) in this section.)
ANTARCTICA ZEN (2008)
This is French disc, by Yiric Illians, in a Zen series of recordings of themed New Age and relaxing electronic instrumental music. The restful tracks include Antarctic titles such as Erebus Station, The Ross Barrier, Penguins Song, Polar Breath, Orcas, Iceberg, Ice Children and White Mountain. EMI Music France 509992659502 3
LES EXPDITIONS POLAIRES FRANAISES by Paul-mile Victor, Robert Gessain and Claude Lorius (2008)
This a 3-disc spoken-word package, by three eminent French polar explorers, academics and scientists, in their native French language. Paul-mile Victor (d. 1995) is well known for his 1934-35 traverse of Greenland and a year spent in the study of Inuit culture, for founding after WWII the Expditions polaires Franaises, Frances then-leading polar organization and for his Antarctic research from the era of the 1957 International Geophysical Year onwards. His CD covers both polar areas and there is a 17-minute Antarctic interview from 1962, which was conducted with students from a French school. Robert Gessain (d. 1986) was a doctor and ethnologist and was also on the Greenland expedition with P- Victor and his CD is related to Inuit culture, recorded in 1982. Claude Lorius has been a prominent glaciologist from the days of the 1957 International Geophysical Year and was notably involved with ice coring at the famed Russian Vostok Antarctic base. He became president of the Expditions polaires Franaises following the death of P- Victor. In 1992 he established the French Institute for Polar Research and Technology. Lorius CD contains a 1986 interview with French students about Antarctic science and there is a further segment recorded in 2006 related to the then upcoming 2007-09 International Geophysical Year. There is an extensive 48-page booklet with the box set, describing the background science and culture of their work and discussions.
This commercially released disc is a real gem for its record of significant polar activities from people who were directly involved. It sets an example for other nations to record and disseminate to the public the records of their own accomplishments, in whatever fields. Frmeaux & Associs FA 5211
ANTARCTICA - Music and Nature Sounds (2008) (Web site download only)
The Belgian Biosphere label specializes in relaxation music, including sounds of nature and environmental themes in various New Age styles. This disc includes both frothy and languid New Age and ambient-style instrumentals with titles such as Daybreak on the Ice field, Snow Dreams, Parad Ice, Flight Over the Antarctic, Iceberg, The Wild Continent, Crystal Desert , Glacier at Springtime and Love Season. Available on various music download sites such as iTunes. www.biosphere.com
SERVE CHILLED by Medwyn Goodall and Tim Rock (2008)
Cornwall, U.K.-based Goodall is a prolific master New Age composer, musician and producer of thematic CDs. According to the liner notes, his latest melodic work is inspired by a unique environment under threat from global warmingthe CD also incorporates the actual atmospheres of snowstorms, ice caves and under a frozen sea. The sounds of penguins, whales and seals weave in and out of the music as it takes you across a white world. The CD liner has a great photo of a sinister looking, weather-sculpted iceberg as well as penguins and seals on icy shorelines. MG Music MGCD105; www.mgmusic.ltd.uk
ANTARCTIC SONGBOOK by Ian Tamblyn (2008)
Ian Tamblyn is a veteran Ottawa-area musician, playwright and educator/guide on nature cruise ships, who has made trips to both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. During the 2007-08 Students on Ice Expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula, which included about 64 international students and 25 educators/chaperones, Tamblyn was the team minstrel. He told us that the songs were written for the most part on the expedition, with a few from his previous CDs. These songs are a tribute to Antarctica and according to the liner notes, added a whole new way of understanding, appreciating and digesting everything we were experiencing. Most of the students had them memorized before we returned to South America! And now we have this CD as a lasting memory, gift and legacy for the International Polar Year and our incredible journey of discovery to the bottom of the world. The tracks of melodic, acoustical folk-rock include such titles as Paradise Bay, Albatross, Gentoo Penguin, With the Whales-Deception Island and The Emperors. Students on Ice is a Gatineau, Qubec-based award-winning program led by Geoff Green, dedicated to providing high school and university youth with educational expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions, accompanies by world-class teams of scientists, environmentalists and other specialists. ITCD-2008; www.tamblyn.com; www.studentsonice.com; (See also GYRE (2009), ANGELS SHARE (2004) and THE BODY NEEDS TO TRAVEL (1997) by Ian Tamblyn in the following Individual Antarctic songs section.)
ELEGI FOR ROALD AMUNDSEN by Hornorkesteret (2008) (Web site download only)
This anniversary tribute collection to polar hero Roald Amundsen may well be one of the most original and unusual recorded musical portrayals of an Antarctic theme. Jonas M. Qvale is the founder and a member of Norwegian group Hornorkesteret, formed in 1999 as an experimental art project, which has played in concert halls, museums, in the woods, on mountaintops and contributed to films and theatre. He told us that I run a band called Hornorkesteret, The Norwegian Polar Orchestra, and we play soundscapes and experimental music on stringed reindeer antlers, stones, drums flutes, logs, ice, coffee percolators and other things. Our main musical concern is the forces of nature, and in particular how they are expressed in the Polar Regions. We have also been very inspired by polar exploration and the period from 1860-1920, when the last white areas on the globe were charted and conquered. We also find inspiration in the animals of the Polar Regions and their struggle to survive.
By amplifying the reindeer antlers with contact microphones, we are able to get a range of unusual sounds - from the underwater calls of Arctic and Antarctic animals like walrus, seals, various whales and penguins to creaking ship hulls, ice floes, ice shelves breaking off and howling winds.
We have just released an MP3 single commemorating the 80 years since polar hero Roald Amundsen disappeared in the Arctic with the seaplane Latham 47. The title track, Elegi for Roald Amundsen features the vocals of another great Norwegian polar hero, Fridtjof Nansen, taken from his speech at Amundsens funeral. Two other tracks related to Amundsen are included on this release, Mot Sydpolen (Towards the South Pole), an imagined soundtrack to the trek towards the Pole in 1911, and Mandolin Under et Vindu (Mandolin Under a Window), which looks at Amundsens youth and his early determination to make a name for himself in the Polar regions. Finally, a live version of the title track is included, recorded at the memorial monument at Amundsens birthplace in Borge, Norway at a memorial ceremony on the 18th of June 2008, complete with birdsong and rustling leaves.
Towards the South Pole is a wonder of feral squawks, bleats and percussion, underlain by a menacing bass and as marching music might be more than adequate to encourage anyone to trek to the Pole and back. www.hornorkesteret.no; www.myspace.com/hornorkesteret; The track Elegi for Roald Amundsen is also included in Hornorkesterets best of CD collection of mostly live recorded and a few studio tracks, FJR OG JERN (2011). Panot CD 002
An off-shoot project began in 2001 with Hornorkesteret recordings that were inadequate due to technical and other sound problems. These were organized along with material from other electronical sound sources under the cultural sharing network ORIGAMI ANTARKTIKA. According to their website, the goal is to freeze down, time-stretch, to punctuate or blur these sounds. To submerge everything in the black waters of Lake Vostok, perhaps never to come back, perhaps to become new soundscapes one day. The low activity of this unit is due to extremely cold temperatures. When things are frozen, the atoms dont die or stop moving, they just slow waaaay down. www.myspace.com/origamiantarktika
SOUNDS OF AUSTRALIA – THE NATIONAL REGISTRY OF RECORDED SOUND – National Film & Sound Archive (2008)
According to the CD booklet notes, The National Film and Sound Archives of Australia develops, preserves, maintains and promotes a national audiovisual collection as an Australian statutory authority created in 2008 from a previous non-statutory agency. The National Registry of Recorded Sound was begun in 2007 as a way of highlighting Australias rich sound heritage. Each year, ten entries are added to an ever-growing list of iconic sound recordings of all genres (not just recorded music but also spoken word, radio serials, advertising jingles and so on), from all periods and across all sound media. The CD presents various musical groups, indigenous musicians and Aboriginal songs. A puzzling inclusion is Sir Ernest Shackletons 1910 recording of My South Polar Expedition. This is the less well-known of his two recorded recitations about the British 1907-09 Nimrod Antarctic Expedition. This Expedition was not known as an Australian venture, although it did have several Australian crewmen and scientists (including Edgeworth David and Douglas Mawson, who later went on to Antarctic fame in his own right.) ABC 476 6812; www.nfsa.gov.au; (See also HISTORIC VOICES IX – The Voices Collection (2008) following in this section.)
HISTORIC VOICES IX - The Voices Collection (2008)
This CD of speeches by famous people such as Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein and Babe Ruth includes Ernest Shackletons My South Polar Expedition, a recitation from March 30, 1910 and the lesser known of the two separate recordings made by him. It describes the British 1907-09 Nimrod Antarctic Expedition led by Shackleton. Unfortunately, for a series such as this, the CD does not have any background liner notes to any of the tracks, indicating recording dates or the contexts of the speeches. Also on this disc is a 20-second excerpt track Reaching the North Pole by Robert Peary, from the recording The Discovery of the North Pole, which was recorded in 1910 by Peary about his expedition, which claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1909. This latter recording was on the reverse side of the first, better known 78 rpm recording made by Shackleton in 1909, A Description of the Dash for the South Pole. Saland Publishing SP180; (See also the compilation disc SINFONIA ANTARTICA/SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC (2009) in the Classical Antarctica: Ralph Vaughan Williams commentary section at the beginning of this Discography and THE VERY BEST HISTORIC VOICES (2007) following in this section.)
THE VERY BEST HISTORIC VOICES (2007)
According to the CD cover, the disc includes 25 rare recordings from some of the most important people at the turn of the 20th century, such as speeches from five American presidents, Commander Robert Peary (talking in 1910 about the discovery of the North Pole), Thomas Edison, Oscar Wilde, Harry Houdini, Buffalo Bill Cody and an 1890 speech by Florence Nightingale. Also included is Ernest Shackletons My South Polar Expedition, a recitation from March 30, 1910 and the lesser known of the two separate recordings made by him. It describes the British 1907-09 Nimrod Antarctic Expedition led by Shackleton. Also on this disc is the track The Discovery of the North Pole, which was recorded in 1910 by Peary about his expedition, which claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1909. This latter recording was the reverse side of the first, more commonly known 78 rpm recording made by Shackleton in 1909, A Description of the Dash for the South Pole. The CD was compiled by Bill Seper (Illinois, U.S.A.). Blue Denim Records 92107; (See also the compilation disc SINFONIA ANTARTICA/SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC (2009) in the Classical Antarctica: Ralph Vaughan Williams commentary section at the beginning of this Discography and HISTORIC VOICES IX - The Voices Collection (2008) in this section.)
ANTRTIDA - Silencio que agrieta el mar by Ruben Nievas (2007) (Web site download only)
Ruben Nievas is a Ushuaia, Argentina-based composer and keyboard/synthesizer artist and producer. His instrumental album, Antarctica - Silence that cracks the sea, was written for an educational documentary for children about Argentinas government activities in Antarctica, from logistics on its Tierra del Fuego shoreline to scientific and political endeavours on the continent. The album has multiple musical textures and hues, played in styles covering New Age, jazz, electronic and orchestral, with the addition of acoustic instrumental played by Ushuaian musicians. The interesting titles include Antarctic Odyssey, Co-existence from the Antarctic Treaty, First Footprints, Drake Passage, Uncertain Future, Voices Toward Tomorrow, Tierra del Fuego – Antarctic Door, Aurora Australis, Antarctic Peninsula, Time the World and Antarctica.
ANTARCTICA by Martin Villiger (2007)
Martin Villiger is a Baden, Switzerland-based composer and keyboard player who has produced numerous CDs and composed soundtracks for TV documentaries, in styles ranging from classical to pop. The music for this CD was made for the panoramic multi-media shows Antarctica and Land of the Penguins, produced by Heiner and Rosamaria Kubny, who photographed the landscapes and wildlife of the continent. The music ranges from quiet to animated, orchestrated New Age/pop underlain by cavernous, booming bass on some tracks. Tracks include titles such as Antarctica, Another World, Emptiness, To the Top, Far Distance, The Penguin Song, Atmosphere, Storm and After the Storm. Martin says on the liner notes: When I started composing for Antarctica, I had no idea how strongly this far-away continent would influence me. I had new melodies and ideas coming to my mind easily. You now hold the result in form of a CD, and I can say that there is a lot of soul and (despite the cold) warmth in it. Enjoy this music as it takes you on a journey to far away places. www.martinvilliger.com; www.myspace.com/martinvilliger; www.pinguine.ch
AUDIO FLIX: ARCTIC INVASION – DISK I (2007)
This is an audio theatre adventure, modeled on radio dramas of yesteryear. Futuristic lab-engineered military elites are sent to a mining operation in Antarctica to investigate temperature drops over the world. They encounter alien underground creatures as well as unfriendly miners who have their own secret digging activities and are wary of the military. The soundtrack and effects are by Oregon, U.S.-based producer John Pospisil. The concluding follow-up Disk II seems not to have been made. Audioflix 842994-012344
DEEP_FRIEZE by Sleep Research Facility (2007)
Sleep Research Facility is the solo project of Glasgow, U.K.-based ambient sound artist Kevin Doherty. According to his Website site, Sleep Research Facility explores notions of awareness and perception in the sub/unconscious listener. Focusing primarily on sound bereft of rhythm based energies, SRF(acility)s goal is to provide listening environments wherein the music simply adds texture to the silence. SRF entertains the idea that music can forgoe notions of compositional architecture, resulting in noise which draws attention away from itself, leaving room for the listener to focus on other things (or, focus on nothing at all). SRF puts emphasis on these aesthetics in the search for a kind of play me quiet sound suitable for listening to actively or passively depending on circumstances, creating an aural experience which guides the mind through gentle misdirection rather than forcing its attention, allowing listeners to drift in their own diversified thoughts.
His fourth CD of ambient sonics and soundscapes is based on the solitary bleakness of the Antarctic and the five long minimalist tracks are named for Antarctic geographic co-ordinates: 79S 83W, 72S 149E, 82S 62E, 86S 115W and 80S 96E. Kev told us in 2010 about the background of the music: Hmmmmm, what inspired the Deep Frieze album...? The Antarctic environment is so pure and motionless and (for the most part) still unsullied by mankind. Its a huge emptiness begging to be filled with stories and imagination. It evokes tranquility but harbours darkness and danger in its serene beauty as well. Its probably one of the last great unexplored regions of our planet, still holding deep secrets within its frozen wasteland. There is life there, as well as death. The co-ordinates for the track titles were chosen arbitrarily, but I looked to scatter them evenly and randomly across the map, hopefully representing the vast nothingness as opposed to anything that might be thought of as a tourist attraction. Who could resist exploring this! Either in person or artistically.
The Website notes to the CD state that The polar regions are awe-inspiring environments of inhospitable minimalism, and at the same time theres a beautiful serenity to be found in their uncharted bleakness as well. Theres a powerful purity and a timelessness to be found there: snow which has lain un-trampled for millennia and ice which formed eons ago; mountain ranges and deserts and rivers to be found if you look. Here deep, resonant, abyss-like tones shine forth from icy chasms below as whiteout blasts across the vast and largely uncharted expanse of emptiness above. Chilled, though not necessarily chilling. There is a certain comforting warmth in the encroaching slumber of hypothermia. Cold spring CSR72CD; www.myspace.com/sleepresearchfacility; www.resonance-net.com
ANTARCTIC by Mac Lauren (undated) (Web site download only)
Mac Lauren, from Hobart, Tasmania is an Australian singer-songwriter who has travelled his native land, designed and built green power units and been an electrical contractor. He overwintered in Antarctica and produced three songs from his experiences for his web site. Peace of Mind is a relaxing guitar/harmonica instrumental. The other two tracks are sung in a husky baritone and are very expressive of the strong emotions of beauty and longing brought out by The Ice. Lyrics to Antarctic: And the beauty of it all becomes clear, as we draw near. South of here theres an ocean as wide as any known. Grey mountains marching endlessly, the albatross above surfs the air, fortune we share. Antarctic, the beauty of silence, land of the storm. Lift off the deck into a perfect sky, perfect sky. Once around the ship and were climbing high. Around the horizon cathedrals float in a frozen sea. I recall her icy breath over me. Antarctic, the beauty of silence, land of the storm. Antarctic, the beauty of silence, land of the storm.
Lyrics to Return to Australia: Where have you been, long lost son? Finally, spring has come. Stretch the days. Draw the life, back to this land, this land of ice. Why does a world so cold, bring fire to the soul? This line on the map in the mess, reading daily, sailing south southwest. Moving an inch a day, slowly and surely coming our way. Red ship is in the bay. Stand by to R.T.A. Ill never leave you cold. Ill warm your heart and soul. Im tired of loving over the phone. Im meant to hold you. Im coming home. Red ship is in the bay. Im on for R.T.A. Ill never leave you cold. Ill warm your heart and soul, your heart and soul. Red ship is in the bay. Stand by to R.T.A. Were coming home. www.maclaurenmusic.com
CARTOGRAPHER by E.S. Posthumus, featuring Luna Sans (2007)
According to the liner notes, In 1929, the ancient map Piri Reis was discovered in Constantinople. The map is extraordinary because it depicts bays and islands on the Antarctic coast which have been concealed under ice for at least 6,000 years. What civilization was capable of such exploration that long ago? On Cartographer, we imagine that these explorers were from the tiny island of Numa in the Southern Indian Ocean. As advanced seafarers, they navigated every corner of the Earth. We have created a language unique to them and tell stories through song that describe their creation, discoveries and ultimate demise. Piri Reis (Admiral) was an Ottoman seafarer and cartographer who compiled a now controversial map of the world in 1513. The surviving part shows the coasts of Western Europe, Africa and the Brazilian regions of eastern South America. The South American outlines have been claimed by some writers since the mid-1960s to show an ice-free eastern Antarctic Peninsula coast, though this is unproven. Many others believe this interpretation belongs in the fantasy world of Von Danikens Chariot of the Gods.
The composers of the music are two brothers based in Los Angeles, California, with the unlikely-sounding names of Helmut and Franz Vonlichten, also reported to be pseudonyms for two real brothers who have written numerous soundtrack pieces for TV programs and film studios. The music on the disc is big orchestral World Music, largely with a Latin sound with some Mid-Eastern influences. The package contains two discs, one with vocals by the wonderful Luna Sans to lush instrumental tracks and the second has an even fuller all-instrumental treatment. Its great listening, but with the tropical flavour, it takes a great imagination to pretend that any of the lands portrayed musically could be overlain by miles of ice today. Wigshop Records WS2237; www.esposthumus.com
ANTARCTICA SUITE by Hunter Johnson (2007) (Web site download only)
Hunter Johnson is a California-based musician who grew up in Southeast Asia and moved to Portland, Oregon for his high school years. He has worked independently as an artist and producer for musical projects and for television. This downloadable suite of 13 melodic, instrumental synthesizer pieces began as musical impressions for the paintings and photographs of the visual artist, J. J. LHeureux, also based in California. LHeureux has visited the continent five times and has been an Antarctic expedition artist with Quark Expeditions. The themed track titles will be familiar to any Antarctic visitor and include Wilderness Theme, Encounter with Sea & Ice, All Ice Melts, Penguins in Paradise Bay, Frozen Rivers, Walk to the Rookery, Dawn Down Iceberg Alley, White Wilderness, Lemaire Passage, Ice Caps Melting, Crossing the Circle and Zodiac Exploration. In late 2007, Johnson accompanied LHeureux and a Swiss filmmaker on board the Golden Fleece, a 65-foot motor sloop, which circumnavigated South Georgia, and is composing background music for the video adventure. www.hunterjohnsonmusic.com; www.jjlheureux.com; www.penguinspirit.com
ANTARCTICA by Gill de la tourette (2007) (Web site download only)
De la tourette (Steven Tevels) is a Belgian native and electronica artist. His 39-minute, 6-track Antarctica is a bleak, minimalist ambient work and according to the web site, is a concept CD dedicated to the experimental pioneers who discovered and explored Antarctica...The first impressions of an untouched mighty new land. Extreme circumstances, never ending icy winds, random noisy silence, white absolute monochrome landscapes, hunger, cold, no daylight in winter, the suffering, tiredness and isolation...An audiosonic story, a melodic journey through a world of dissected and strangely reassembled tones. On first listen, these soundscapes could easily sound like a stuttering mess, but give it time and the stutters become a string orchestra and the glitches become the delicate sound of a glockenspiel ca080; www.clinicalarchives.blogspot.com; www.myspace.com/gilldelatourette
ANTARCTICA by Metamorfrozen (2007) (Web site download only)
This dynamic 80-minute ambient work, containing 10 instrumental tracks, on a Polish net label dedicated to industrial, dark ambient, power electronica and experimental music, is especially for all explorers of Polar landscapes. Titles include Metamorformation, Polar Plateau, Snow Petrels Over the Pole, Diamond Dust, Dark Days Under Mount Terror, Aurora Australis, Subglacial Lakes, Winds Over the Cold Emptiness, Ice-o-lation and Mountains of Madness. No information on the artist in the Web site. KEMn53; www.kaos-ex-machina.pl/promotions
ERNEST SHACKLETON BIG BAND ORCHESTRA (2007 and 2005) (Web site downloads only)
The ESBBO is the ambient recording project of the Lille, France-based artist who records under the name of Kaneda. His eight-track, 41-minute Artic Opera from 2005 is described on the Web site as polar ambient...a journey into Antarctica with sounds from ice and sea. The seven-track, 46-minute Rest in Ice from 2007 is described as polar, always polar. In 2009 Kaneda told us: The reason for the Ernest Shackleton Big Band Orchestra is really simple. In fact, since I was very young, Ive always been fascinated by Antarctica and other very cold places. I started producing ambient music a few years ago and had no name for the project. I just used my surname, Kaneda. After a concert, I asked a friend about his feelings. He just said that it was polar. No other words...that was the only word he could say about my music. So I found that polar was accurate and I searched for a name. While I was looking at a video about Ernest Shackleton, I realized that the technology didnt allow his team to record sounds but only pictures. I imagined that Ernest Shackleton is still alive and continues his journeys through polar lands and Im his sound engineer. www.knd.world.free.fr; www.myspace.com/kanedafeatmoineau; www.archive.org
ENDURANCE by Irezumi (2007)
Irezumi is a former techno artist, based in France, who has created an album of richly desolate ambient music based on Shackletons Endurance Expedition. Haunting voiceovers on several of the tracks add to the imagined reality of the drama on ice, water and land, as portrayed in the music. A six panel digipak of bleak black and white photos, of what looks like Frank Hurleys photographs of South Georgian mountains and glaciers, adds to the listening experience. As to the reason for the CD, a representative of the record label told us that, Irezumi read some stuff about Shackleton, I think he also saw some documentaries. And it was enough for him to make an album. Snowblood Snow01; www.myspace.com/irezumimusic
TILL ANTARCTICA by Elisa Korenne (2007)
Till Antarctica may well be one of the catchiest, upbeat, cant-get-it-out-of-your-head Antarctic tunes weve come across. Its the theme song for the play Antarctica, which was written by Carolyn Raship and premired at the New York City Fringe Festival in 2007. The play is about two schoolgirls who meet at school and plan to go to Antarctica to find the magnetic South Pole. Elisa Korenne is a New York-based singer/composer with numerous songwriting awards to her credit. While the song has not yet been commercially issued on a CD, we are eager to see take its rightful place as one of the greats of recorded Antarctic tunes. A song sample may be heard on the myspace website listed below. Sample lyrics: Blue ice may freeze our feet, Blubbers all there is to eat, Im with youNo matter where you want to go, Ill stay by your side, you know, Ill see it through, Ill stay with you, Till Antarctica. If penguins steal our sleeping bags, You break your legs on the icy crags, Im with you. The wind could wail loud and cold, Snow blindness could take hold, Im with you, Im with you. Elisa told us that I haven't been to Antarctica (the only continent I haven't been to!) and I hear its incredible. My images of Antarctica come from a variety of sources. Mainly, they come from the text of the play itself. The song was almost an accident. I was at a writing retreat trying to write a musical, and I was procrastinating. I read the play, and figured I ought to at least write a song based on it as a fun exercise if I wasnt going to be writing my musical. The other places my images come from are photographs Ive seen of my friend kayaking the Arctic and photographs of the Endurance journey in Antarctica. www.elisakorenne.com; www.myspace.com/antarcticatheplay
ANTARCTICA - Nature Recordings by Global Journey (2007)
Global Journey is a music, audio and video programming and distribution firm, dedicated to many and various lifestyle and nature themes, with offices in the U.K. and U.S. Its CDs are composed and performed by professional musicians and artists and the firm specializes in non mainstream markets. The Antarctica CD is a 51-minute presentation of wind, pounding water, storms and various wildlife sounds. According to the liner notes Antarctica is a place of such raw beauty and unspoilt landscapes, a stunning wilderness of great importance. The polar experience is one of awe inspiring imagery from the Southern Lights (Aurora Australis) and whale-watching to the amazing penguin colonies and the glacial configurations. Global Journey CD GJ3715; www.global-journey.com
ANTARCTICA - A Portrait in Wildlife and Natural Sound (2007)
Originally released on LP in 1971, this 48-minute British CD is a collection of 16 tracks of natural Antarctic sounds, including penguins, seals, birds, ice movement, blizzard, spring, rough seas and huskies. It was recorded over 1969-70 and produced by the then British Antarctic Survey meteorologist/filmmaker and later author, Edwin Mickleburgh. He has provided an extensive liner booklet with copious notes about the nature and wildlife of each recorded scene. Saydisc CD-SDL219; www.saydisc.com
THE ANTARCTIC BALLADS by Cliff Wedgbury (2006)
Cliff Wedgbury is a Cork, Ireland-based literary writer and performing artist and broadcaster who has produced his own folk song tribute to the heroes of the Golden Era of Antarctic exploration of the early 1900s. According to the liner notes, he was originally inspired as a youngster in 1956 when he visited the R.S.S. Discovery, the ship used on Robert Scotts 1901-04 first Antarctic expedition, which was then docked in London, England. In 2009, Cliff told us that My interest began one hot summer Sunday afternoon when my late father took myself and my older sister up to central London from our home in the suburbs, to visit Capt. Scotts first Antarctic ship Discovery, which was berthed at that time on the Thames. After that visit and the stories he told us of Antarctic exploration, I saved up my pocket-money and purchased a second-hand copy of South With Scott by Lt. Teddy Evans. As a teenager I learnt folk guitar, and began writing songs, but it is only in the past nine years that I wrote the Antarctic ballads, spurred on by reading, Unsung Hero by Michael Smith, about Irishman Tom Crean. I sang at the unveiling ceremony of his statue by his two surviving daughters. I also sang my ballads below decks on Discovery with Scotts grandson, Edward Wilsons nephew David, and Lt. Teddy Evans son Broke. Last November (2008), I sang at the Shackleton Museum in Athy, Co. Kildare. The CD has 12 tuneful songs, sung in an earnest, earthy baritone voice with guitar accompaniment. Titles include five ballads, The Ballads of Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Teddy Evans, Of The Invalid and Tom Crean. Other songs include Soldier, Soldier, Where The Icebergs Flow, Sailor Boy, Sweethearts and Wives, Daddy Will You Tell Us, Emilys Song and Each Dawn Seems So New. The CD comes with a booklet with the Scott and Shackleton histories, all the song lyrics plus music notation for The Ballad of Ernest Shackleton and The Ballad of Tom Crean, who was a hero of both Scotts and Shackletons expeditions. www.myspace.com/cliffwedgbury
ANTARCTICA SONGS by The Aquatic Ape Theory (2006) (Web site download only)
TAAT is the alter ego of San Diego-based Jim Behrens. This collection of folksy roots rock was recorded at the Australian Antarctic base, Davis Station and mixed onboard the supply ship RSV Aurora Australis. Tracks include White White (sample lyrics: White white, everywhere you look is white, Sunlight comin up from below. My face is turning red, its time for me to go to bed and dream of dreams of home. Ive been puttin in my time of workin on the line, and in this strange empty place filled with snow, day turns to night, someone forgot to turn off the lights.), Sun Dogs, Amery, Vegemite and In a Tent (In a blizzard).
We asked Jim in 2008 about the background of his music and he provided the following remarkable biography: I am a geophysicist, and was fortunate enough to spend two summer seasons working in Antarctica as a post-doc at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. I made a website during my second season (2006-07) where you can learn about the project and day-to-day life in the Antarctic: http://loose-tooth.ucsd.edu. At the top of the science page there is a link to a YouTube video I put together that gives a good summary as well. On the links page there is a link to photographs from the 2005-06 season, when the songs were written and recorded.
I brought my guitar and harmonicas, along with a bare-bones recording rig, during that first season, 2005-06. I spent two solid months living in tents on the Amery Ice Shelf as part of a 6-person field team, which is when I wrote the songs and lyrics. We were collecting seismic data by laying out geophone arrays and setting off small charges of dynamite, to measure the thickness of the ice and the depth of the seawater beneath us. One of the women in the team (Marianne Okal) was a classically-trained violinist, she brought a mandolin which she played wonderfully, and we wrote the music to Amery together, and she wrote her part for Sun Dogs. The album cover photo is a timed self-portrait of us posing in front of the midnight sun out on the ice shelf. We spent the final month of the season based back at Davis Station, where I stayed up late many nights to record the tracks in an empty room in the science building. The hard walls and high ceiling created a nice natural reverb. There is a band hut at Davis as well, and there were a surprising number of musicians down there that season. I set up and recorded the drum tracks in the hut one afternoon, after most everything else had been recorded to a click track. I played all the instruments except for some of the mandolin parts. I mixed the songs during the two-week icebreaker transit back to Hobart, Tasmania, and sent them off to get mastered once I returned to California.
The lyrics for White White, Sun Dogs, and Amery are my interpretations of and meditations on life on the ice shelf: being so far from home and spending the holidays with a small group of relative strangers; the overwhelming beauty, remoteness, and hostility of the environment; the interpersonal conflicts as well as the camaraderie; the mental and physical strain that accumulated over two months out there. I came up with the bridge for White White while on a long snowmobile transit one fine morning. The line sun dogs, halos, iridescent rainbows refers to the unusual atmospheric optical effects that occur in the cold, clean air down there. One night when I got out of my tent around 2 am and a low fog had settled on the ice shelf, there were sun dogs projected into the fog that looked to be about 10 meters away from my face. Astonishing. Vegemite is about me learning to love the stuff. The expedition was run by the Australian Antarctic Division, and so there was an endless supply of Vegemite. I wrote that one in about 10 minutes, and recorded the guitar and vocals on the first take. In aTent (In a Blizzard) is actually two overlapping ambient sound recordings, made with the internal mic on my laptop, in two different tents on successive nights during a week-long blizzard. I had intended to record some spare, simple guitar to go with it, but ran out of time. I brought gear down again for the second season, but it was shorter, and when I was at Davis Station I had many more opportunities to get out on long multi-day hikes in the local area, which I couldnt pass up. I made time for music as well, but was mostly jamming with the other musicians at the base, and never really got any substantial recording done.
Well thats probably more that you wanted to know, but its not often that someone asks me about the music I make, which is my true passion in life. I always travel with at least a guitar, and am always writing songs as I go. I got about halfway through a proper album earlier this year, but had to put it on hold – Ive been at sea in the Arctic now since May, but all the background noise on a ship makes it a bad place to record. Anyway, Ill be back home soon, and back to my studio with new songs in my head. www.jimbo.cc
HELLO ANTARCTICA by Max Marlow and Ma5kin3 (2006) (Web site download only)
Max Marlow is a German electronic musician whose 26-minute Hello Antarctica suite of five ambient tracks contains some appropriately sinister, icy themes that would be ideal background soundtracks for a creepy movie involving escapes through deep glaciers, crevasses and underground caverns. Metro024; www.retropublik.net; www.myspace.com/maxmarlow
THE COLDEST PLACE ON EARTH by Green Bean Music (2006)
Green Bean, based in Evanston, Illinois was formed in 2002 by teacher Bill Corrough and songwriter/producer Ryan Bassler to create enjoyable musical productions for students, teachers and parents. Their web sites says that, Kids want to hear and sing songs that their big brothers and sisters listen to, not songs that sound like what adults think they like. There are twelve musicals in their CD catalogue and this is a great one, about Antarctica, with the tracks The Coldest Place on Earth, Race to the Pole, Ice Formations, Antarctic Penguins, and Which Way is North. The up-beat songs are in three sets, with the first performed by Green Bean, the second has vocals by a group of children and the third has instrumentals only, for a sing along. The performance package also includes a data disc with the lyrics, music, spoken parts for the musical presentation and additional information about Antarctica with Web site references. Ryan told us that, Our music company has been writing 2-3 musicals a year, and one of the recurring themes has been the Continents, so Antarctica was bound to happen sometime. Probably one of the only times you'll hear 200 kids singing about Ernest Shackleton. Polyholiday Records phcdr206; www.greenbeanmusic.com
BLOODY SEA by Merzbow (2006)
Merzbow is a Japanese experimental electronic music project begun by Masami Akita in 1979. Alone or with numerous collaborators, he has released numerous CDs as well as books and articles about subcultures and recently, animal rights. Music may be a generous description of his abstract synthesizer mosaics, which might otherwise be described as noise. The present CD is a three-part Anti-Whaling Song, which may take more than three listenings to absorb. The sound is harsh and difficult to listen to, in keeping with the harsh, bloody and unpleasant topic.
The CD cover notes present a strident polemic against so-called Japanese scientific whaling in the Antarctic, which begins: In November, 2006, the Japanese whaling fleet will set sail for the icy waters of Antarctica. Their target - 50 Humpback Whales, 50 Fin Whales and almost l000 Minke Whales. In the next l6 years, unless this obscene scientific whaling program, known as JARPA 2, is stopped, the Japanese whaling fleet will slaughter l7,000 Minke Whales, 800 Humpbacks and 800 Fin Whales. The murder of these beautiful creatures spells the end of the global moratorium on the killing of whales as Japans so-called scientific whaling is nothing more than a commercial killing operation. The Japanese Government subsidises its whaling industry with thousands of dollars each year. Japanese warehouses are piled high with mountains of unused whale meat. School children are given whale hamburgers and sausages in an attempt to turn them on to eating whale meat. The truth is that the market for whale meat in Japan is almost non-existent. Yet still the Japanese Government pursues its deadly agenda of turning the worlds oceans into a slaughterhouse for whales. Old whalers who worked in Antarctica in the fifties, when thousands and thousands of whales were killed, cannot wipe the memories of the hideous slaughter from their minds..
Tell your family, friends, workmates that the whales will die unless we, the people act. There is legal action which can be taken to stop the slaughter. There is hope. Miracles can happen, but we must create the magic. The whales demand no less. The great mind in the waters is calling on caring humans to ensure their survival. This call is nothing less than the crossroads of our humanity, our survival. Do it! VIVO2006022CD; www.merzbow.net
DARK ADVENTURE RADIO THEATRE PRESENTS H. P. LOVECRAFTS AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS (2006)
The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society (of Glendale, California) has adapted one of Lovecrafts best regarded stories in the form of a spooky 75 minute radio play in the way it might have been produced in the 1930s. If you ever thought that early life oozed out of a tropical Antarctica, then this is for you. The story, originally written in 1931, appeared as a serialized edition in Astounding Stories in 1936 and was published as a novella in 1939. Byrd-era Antarctic technology is combined with unbounded sci-fi imagination in a university Antarctic expedition gone wrong. Despite the exaggerated imagery, this classic story asks a good question – how far should science go for the sake of curiosity? It concludes that some things are better left unearthed. www.cthulhulives.org
HP Lovecraft was also the name of a 1960s eclectic Chicago and later Marin County, California folk rock/ psychedelic band, which issued two records in 1967 and 1968. Both were issued as a CD package in 2000 and the second, HP LOVECRAFT II (1968) contains the track At the Mountains of Madness. Apparently about a bad acid trip, no Antarctic content is discernible, despite the notable title. Collectors Choice Music 314542821-2; www.collectorschoicemusic.com
HAPPY FEET - Music from the Motion Picture (2006)
The Warner Bros. film about Mumbles, the Antarctic penguin who cant sing but can tap dance up a storm became an early box office success and won the Oscar for best animated feature film of 2006. The recycled dance music of the soundtrack is sung by many currently hip singers but unfortunately there was no apparent attempt here to create fresh music that would be Antarctic in lyrics or mood. Warner Sunset/Atlantic CD83998; www.happyfeetmovie.com
IMPROVISING ANTARCTICA by Cathy Stevens, Udo Dzierzanowski, Karen Wimhurst, Steve Harris (2005)
According to the CDs liner notes, This is a live recording of music, spontaneously composed at an hour-long event at the Study Gallery, Poole, UK on November 29th 2005, in which the above musicians, along with a group of artists, responded to images and photographs previously created by Frances Hatch, all inspired by her recent visit to Antarctica. Frances Hatch is an established Dorset, U.K.-based visual artist who also collaborates on projects with musicians. In 2005 she visited the Antarctic Peninsula, which led to a book of her paintings and commentary, Drawn to Antarctica, as well as other exhibitions, including a 2011 DVD, Antarctica Encore, of visual media and additional improvised music based on the 2005 trip, by two of the musicians on this disc, known as Frozen Orchestras of Lost Sound. On the 2005 CD, starting slowly, the four musicians, on violectra, guitar, clarinet and drums/percussion, bang, crash and spiritedly float their way through 63 minutes of what must have been an interesting multi-media voyage. www.franceshatch.co.uk; www.frozenorchestras.com (See also ANTARCTICA ENCORE by Frozen Orchestras of Lost Sound (2011) in this section.)
ANTARCTIC JOURNAL – Original Soundtrack composed by Kenji Kawai (2005)
South Korean director Yim Pil-Sung has made an Antarctic mystery and psychological thriller about six expeditioners crossing the continent. After they find a journal from another expedition that disappeared 80 years ago, turmoil and terror abound. The soundtrack is pretty bleak and bare, likely matching the mood of the film, which has not yet caught any publicity in North America. Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. MHCP 840
ANTARCTICA - Musical Images from the Frozen Continent by Craig Vear (2005)
Vear, a British electroacoustic composer and musician, won an Arts Council England Fellowship, in conjunction with the British Antarctic Surveys Artists and Writers Programme, to spend three months over 2003/04 on British bases in the Antarctic Peninsula area. The result was the multi-media Antarctica, which includes a small book of his diaries and other commentaries, a CD of recorded Antarctic wildlife sounds, ice breaking and glacial melting, and a DVD. The DVD includes an electro-acoustic composition comprised of original field recordings of wildlife, mechanical and human sounds, portraying the interactions of the people with their environments. Enlighten Entertainment Ltd.; www.ev2.co.uk; www.myspace.com/craigvear; (See also THREE LAST LETTERS (In Memoriam of Capt. Scott, Dr. Wilson and Lt. Bowers) by Craig Vear (2012) and ANTARCTICA by Craig Vear (2011) in this section and SUMMERHOUSES by Craig Vear (2009) in the Individual Songs section.)
LA MARCHE DE LEMPEREUR by Emilie Simon (2005)
This is the soundtrack for the French film of the same name by Luc Jacquet (English title: March of the Penguins), a soaring flockumentary about the harsh frozen world of Emperor penguins. The original French version of the film has actors cutely voicing penguins while the English version has narration by Morgan Freeman and a different soundtrack. The original French film music, by Simon, a French singer and instrumentalist, is in an electropop New Age style with English vocals, reminiscent of Icelandic singer Bjrk. Some of the song titles include The Frozen World, Antarctic, Baby Penguins, Aurora Australis. All is White, Footprints in the Snow. Barclay 9827008. There is also a version of this disc with the English title MARCH OF THE EMPRESS (2005) Milan M2-36276; (See also MARCH OF THE PENGUINS Original Score by Alex Wurman (2005) in the preceding Classical Antarctica commentary.)
VOICES OF HISTORY 2 - Arts, Science & Exploration (2005)
In this second set of vocal recordings of famous people from the British Library Sound Archive, there is a 3.48 minute recitation by Ernest Shackleton titled A description of the dash for the South Pole, recorded on June 23, 1909. Shackleton very briefly outlines the British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition of 1907-09, which he led and which was the first to scale Mount Erebus and send men to the South Magnetic Pole. Shackleton and three others came within 112 miles of the South Pole itself, before conditions made them turn back. He ends with a quote from Robert Service, famous for his poetry of Canadas northern Yukon area. British Library NSACD 19-20; www.bl.uk/soundarchive; (See also the compilation SINFONIA ANTARTICA/SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC (2009) in the Classical Antarctica: Ralph Vaughan Williams section and LET US NOT FORGET – A Tribute to the Phonograph - Historic Speech Recordings (1973) in this section.)
TERRA NULLIS – A Tribute to Antarctica by Lebensessenz (2004) (Cassette and CDr)
Lebensessenz (Newton Schner Jr.) is a Ponta Grossa, Brazil-based neoclassical pianist/composer who recorded these pieces over two nights with a video camera. This limited edition cassette of 500 is, according to his Web commentary, an hypnotic journey through the imaginary cold lands of Antarctica, through primitive and melancholic neoclassical piano music with slow and repetitive melodies, like a transcendental minimalism. Reflections about this dying land, which is going to be a myth. Frost now becomes as water, and the humans will die, swimming in their own poor objectives, dying by the natural revenge of Mother Nature. The four solo piano tracks of the Suite are called Glacial Horizon, The Ice Beyond the Icethe Coldness Beyond the Cold, The Oblivion at the Antarctic Material and Spiritual Sizableness and Terra Nullis. Dunkelweg Productions DWP005
YETI SOCIETY by Harald Grosskopf (2004)
Harald Grosskopf is a veteran German drummer/percussionist and composer in the electronic music world for his own groups as well as a performer with other artists. His fifth solo album, with an iceberg on the back cover, has Shackletons 1914-16 Endurance Expedition to Antarctica as its overall theme. The interesting, tuneful beat-heavy tracks include Circumspection, Bravery, Elephant Island, Endurance, South Georgia, Broad Liquids and Endeavourance. Harald explained to us in 2009 the reason for his general Antarctic theme on the album: I was very much inspired by reading the incredible logbook/diary of Sir Ernest Shackleton. His strength and intelligence made them successfully cross, in a tiny lifeboat, the damned cold southern ice sea for more than 600 miles, with most primitive navigation tools, in rough seas with bad sightings (upon sun and stars) and saved his comrades lives, after another year of several painful tries, with the loss of just one man out of thirty somethingMost thrilling! Groove GR 110; www.haraldgrosskopf.de
HIDDEN LANDSCAPE: LAKE VOSTOK by various artists (2004)
Eight Australian musicians have each contributed a track of ambient music in this disc dedicated to Antarcticas largest subglacial lake. It is located under more than two miles of ice and believed to be up to 15 million years old. The water in the lake, from the melting of the underside of the ice sheet, may be up to one million years old. The dark toned music on the disc, while not a bubbly listening experience, captures well, the timeless and languid nature of water hidden over frozen eons of time. These would be great soundtracks for cinema. Track titles include some very descriptive themes: Silent Voices of the Extremophiles-Bright Steel Blind Waters, Under a Blue Sun, Atlantis Blueprints and Beneath the Lake-Subatomic Movements. The 72-minute CD was compiled by Australian ambient musician and promoter Zac Keiller and includes one of his own pieces, Beyond the Ice-Submergence-Exploration. He told us in 2008 that I was watching a documentary on Lake Vostok one day and the idea of the lake inspired my imagination. I thought that the premise would lend itself to some fascinating sound pieces, and luckily it all worked out. Dreamland Recordings (no record # given); www.dreamlandrecordings.com
LAKE VOSTOK by Sternenspringer (2004) (Web site download only)
Sternenspringer is the musical project of two Frankfurt, Germany-based ambient/techno electronic musicians, Jrgen Rieger and Gerd Neusser. This 23-minute, 4-track work, Lake Vostok, named for Antarcticas mysterious subsurface lake, has the following description in the Web site: icy textures and tricky rhythmic elements fill the range, that sternenspringer span in each track - a movie for the big screen in four aural scenes. The duo told us in 2008 that for the Sternenspringer music we are looking always for a kind of topic. In this case we read an article in a newspaper (journal) and were fascinated about this natural phenomenon and decided to create some techno/electro tracks. We hope the music mirrored this unique natural spectacle. Tonatom.038; www.tonatom.net; www.sternenspringer.de
BIRD SONGS IN THE ANTARCTIC INCLUDING SOUTH GEORGIA & FALKLAND ISLANDS (2004)
Recorded from the Explorer II, this 31-minute British CD has tracks of 24 birds and penguins recorded from the Antarctic Peninsula area, South Georgia, Falkland Islands and Ushuaia. Mandarin Productions MP CD5; www.mandarinproductions.com
MUSIC FROM CHRISTOPHER KULIKOWSKIs RETROGADE by Stephen Melillo (2004)
Quickly shot in a short time with a low budget, this sci-fi film stars Dolph Lundgren. Its about a group of scientists, travelling back from the future to the present time, who land on the Antarctic pack ice, where the polar research vessel, Nathaniel Palmer, is chasing a comet and has itself become trapped in the same ice. Throw in some deadly extraterrestrial bacteria and mutinous space travellers, and things are not looking good on board the ship. Unfortunately, the film has had no exposure in North America and may have limited distribution/availability on DVD. Although the CD package is bare bones with only a track listing, Stephen Mellilos entire score, including the track Antarctica, is suitably spooky and may be better than the film. Mellilo, an American conductor, educator and composer, has scored over 950 works for films, ensembles and symphonies and his work has been nominated for Academy and Emmy awards. Stormworks; www.cdbaby.com
ANTARCTINA by YNEY (2004)
This CD of instrumental tracks related to Antarctica was recorded in Moscow by a trio of established avant-garde Russian musicians (Yuri Orlov, Andrei Kireev & Igor Shaposhnikov). The bouncy, though repetitive, percussive electronic music has titles such as Appearance from Above, Stroll, Flight over the Continent, Fly Out, Return to Bosom and Light of the Antarctina Star. While the CD booklet is in Russian, the track titles are also listed in English. Electroshock Records ELCD 041; www.electroshock.ru
T & Ts REAL TRAVELS IN ANTARCTICA - Original Soundtrack Music composed and recorded by Thomas Downie (2004)
A 23-minute disc containing 12 themes with titles from numerous places along the Antarctic Peninsula, such as King George Island, Deception Island and Lemaire Channel. The short melodic orchestral sounding pieces are from T & Ts Antarctica DVD of a 2004 Peninsula trip on board the M/V Orlova. TTRT004; www.ttrealtravels.com
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, music by Harald Kloser (2004)
As much we always look forward to the very rare movie set in Antarctica, this one could have just as easily been based in a desert or in a jungle. The Antarctic became irrelevant to the theme of aliens fighting it out in a pyramid built deep in the ice by three ancient cultures. The eerie instrumental soundtrack music, similar to that of another spooky Antarctic movie, The Thing, contains a tune entitled Antarctica and likely the first and only musical track ever to be named Bouvetya Island, the most isolated island on the planet, in the Southern Ocean. Varse Sarabande 302 066 605 2; www.avp-movie.com
ANTARCTICA by Simon Slator (2003) (Web site download only)
Simon Slator is a Tamworth, U.K-based electronic musician who specializes in long conceptual ambient pieces. This album consists of two tracks, the 15-minute quietly hypnotic, bell-toned Mount Erebus, named after the second highest mountain in Antarctica and the southernmost active volcano on earth, and the 24-minute soft drone piece Antarctica. Simon told us about the tracks in 2014: Ive always had something of a fascination about Antarctica - more so the pristine and untouched sights on the continent. Its like a slice of the mystique here on Earth. Reading about, and observing pictures of the Antarctic landscape was the main inspiration of these two tracks. www.simonslator.co.uk; simonslator.bandcamp.com; (See also FORWARD by Simon Slator (2014) in this section.)
SEA OF GLORY Americas Voyage of Discovery - The U.S. Exploring Expedition 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick, read by Dennis Boutsikaris (2003)
While CD audio books are otherwise not being listed in this music Discography, this 5-CD, 6-hour package is the exception, and is a superb invitation/teaser for reading the book by Philbrick. According to the cover notes, The U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842 was one of the most ambitious undertakings of the nineteenth century. They discovered a new southern continent, which Wilkes would name Antarctica. They were the first Americans to reach the treacherous Columbia River; the first to chart dozens of newly discovered islands all across the Pacific. The story pivots around Charles Wilkes – a self-destructive dynamo who undermined his own prodigious feats by alienating his crew and officers, fighting battles with his sponsors, and jealously guarding what should have been a proud national legacy.
Polar historian Laurence Kirwan described the U.S. Ex Ex as the worst prepared and most controversial expedition to sail the Antarctic seas (ref. Lonely Planet Antarctica). Although Antarctic exploration was only part of its mandate, it managed to follow 1250 miles of East Antarctic coastline, later known as Terre Adlie and Wilkes Land, making, arguably, the first east continental sighting just days before the French Expedition under Dumont dUrville. CDs 2 & 3 cover the voyages to the South Shetland Islands and along the Adlie Coast, respectively. Penguin Audiobooks 80023-6; www.penguin.com; (See also FAIR WINDS AND A FOLLOWING SEA by The Boarding Party (2003) - The Old Peacock - in the following Individual Antarctic songs section.)
ANTARCTIC MOSAIC by Maurizio Bianchi (2003)
Italian composer of sonic dissonance, Bianchi has produced a 74-minute two-part collage and pastiche of electronic sounds and noises. According to the English translation of his Italian liner notes, Being eager for immaculate spaces and for spheres of pure sentiment, I felt need to take inspiration from the so-called frozen continent, the unique place in which the human presence doesnt completely contaminate the habitat yet. The hostile surroundings and the prohibitive temperatures rendered possible the perpetuation of the most uncontaminated and stimulating frozen paradise. Yes, this is the most appropriate term as probably, in the beginning, Antarctica was an immense park or paradise; but after the post-Flood upsetting events (from the autumn of 2370 BC onwards), when unexpectedly and suddenly the temperatures fell many centigrade degrees, all at once this continent became cold, turning into the present Antarctica. All of this is well emphasized in the first track called Antarctic, while in the second one, Mosaic, the listeners mind is projected into the immediate future, when, after the decontamination process of human presence on the Earth, the temperatures will return milder. Maybe even the ex-frozen continent will be colonized in a peaceful and rational manner by the New Earths members, a new human society which will transform the whole planet into a wonderful Paradise, to eternal glory of He Who from the beginning proposed that this is how it must be. To all of you, current members of that future New Earth, a warm and enthusiastic Have a good listening! EEsT Records 15MB015
VOSTOK by Craig Padilla (2002)
Padilla is a northern California-based electronic musician and performer with a preference for older analog synthesizers. Vostok is a relaxing, 51-minute single-track ambient instrumental. As with Antarctica, nothing much changes for long stretches of time, but also nothing stays the same. According to the liner notes, Inspired by the mysterious depths of the hidden lake under Antarctica, VOSTOK is a haunting voyage into an unknown space filled with wonder and awe. Padilla masterfully crafts a subterranean soundworld, transforming electronic instruments into subtle abstract beauty that feels no less organic than inorganic, in this visionary longform ambient work. Padillas own liner notes describe it as music realized in contemplation of the inner stillness reflected by a distant, sub-glacial lake beneath Antarctica. Jewel-like and crystalline, yet dark, cool, and ancient the muse of Lake Vostok flowed through me like a resonant glacier. Now this unique, vibrant soundscape flows to you. I hope that you find the vision and sonic space as riveting and transforming as I have. Peace.
Craig told us in 2007 that I hope you are enjoying the musical atmosphere. I remember when I recorded that piece: I had just read a fascinating article in WIRED Magazine about how satellites had discovered an unknown lake underneath a lot of ice. According to the article, once it was discovered, scientists theorized that the hidden lake may contain many keys to the origins of life since the water was uncontaminated by our atmosphere for millions of years! So, they began to drill a hole down to the water when they suddenly realized that by doing so theyd expose the lake to our atmosphere, and so they stopped the drilling by a few meters of hitting the water!
It was a very interesting story, to say the least! (Also during that time, I had been listening to some long-form ambient music that was nice, but not too terribly interesting from a musical/long song stand-point.) So, a day or so later, I went into the recording studio to create a long-form ambient piece that could be heard during sleep, but it also had to hold the interest of the listener. In other words, I didnt want to create wallpaper ambient music. I wanted to make music that wasnt distracting so somebody could study or sleep with it on in the background, and at the same time it had to be interesting so that somebody could sit down and just listen to it from beginning to end and enjoy the experience (and I think I was quite successful!)
I recorded the track live in one take! The light wind sounds and heavy slow-moving glacial bass lines made me think of the article I had just read; and the rest is history! This track was unlike anything I was recording at the time, but I really enjoyed it and still do! (And thankfully, so does my wife!) Spotted Peccary Music SPM-1401; www.craigpadilla.com
ANTARCTICA REVISITED by Mr. I, Gary Huntbatch and Anise Abdulla (2002)
British Columbia, Canada-based teacher and musician-entertainer Mr I (Yurgen Ilaender) has produced many CDs about geography and science for kids. He told us, I have worked in Montessori pre-schools for nearly twenty years now. Antarctica is a popular Montessori theme. The children can study an environment not spoiled by man. Lots of wonderful things happen in the classroom. The songs came from several years of teaching the young children about Antarctica. The CD includes 17 tracks with titles such as Land So Far Away, Antarctica Song, Seals, McMurdo Station, Food Chain, Crusty Krill and An Ice Rap. The CD was completely redone is 2007 and reissued in 2008 with new vocals and instrumental tracks under the title of ANTARCTICA. ANT-6 and ANT-7; www.childmusicmri.com; (See also ALL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD by Mr. I, Gary Q & the Rainbow Singers (2009) in the following Individual Antarctic songs section.)
ELEPHANT ISLAND by Adam Schabtach (2002)
There is an eye-catching cover photo of the bleak ice-coated island of Shackletons legendary 1914-16 Endurance Expedition, taken by a retired Rear Admiral of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The musical content comprises a single 66-minute synthesizer piece composed and recorded in a continuous improvisation. Its pretty much just a long drawn out monotonic ambient dirge - not an awful lot going on there, which in its way may well be echoing the survival routine of much of the Expedition. ATOM CD 17; www.atomiccity.com
MARTY QUINN PRESENTS THE CLIMATE SYMPHONY by Marty Quinn (2001)
According to its Web site, Design Rhythmics Sonification Research Lab works with scientists and museums to turn information and data into music. Why music? Not only do we love music, but it just so happens that music is composed of a very rich palette of qualities upon which data may be mapped and thereby perceived by the brain through the auditory channel. Music stimulates cognition and memory, and offers those who are blind or visually handicapped the opportunity to understand information and gain knowledge in new ways. By working with scientists who are shedding new light on our world, and the museums and centers who are helping to disseminate it, we seek to create innovative, pleasurable and accessible audio information presentation solutions for the public to get it by hearingThe DRSRL is a new direction in the synthesis between science, music, and the arts. We provide sonification services to enhance the scientific public outreach efforts for research groups throughout the world. Its principal is New Hampshire-based computer scientist and composer/percussionist Marty Quinn.
The present CD is a four-part lecture presentation of How 110,000 years of Earths ice core data was mapped into music, including the 7½-minute Symphony itself, an arpeggiated synthesizer/percussion track that goes through its paces at increasing speed over time.
Ice core samples were taken from the Greenland Ice Sheet by a team led by Dr. Paul Mayewski, Director of the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Changing concentrations of eight major ions taken from the ice samples, over time periods, outlined the history of atmospheric circulation through changes in the continental ice sheets. Various ion concentration data values were then related to pitches and different instruments, as they varied time. Sun and ocean cycles, volcanic activity, the earths wobble, changing tilt and elliptical orbit were also introduced through other instruments with changing pitches and beat variations.
The Climate Symphony multi-media presentation was originally premired in 2000 at The American Museum of Natural History in New York, where pre-show music derived from sonified radar scans from Antarcticas Ross Sea Ice shelf were also presented. In 2000, it was also shown at the National Science Foundation in Washington by invitation of the Directors Office of Public Affairs and the Office of Polar Programs and has had later presentations. The Climate Symphony is also included on Marty Quinns compilation CD of musical mappings of other natural data, MUSIC OF THE EARTH, SUN, PLANETS & SPACE – Volume I (2005); www.drsrl.com
TIME TRAVEL IS LONELY by John Vanderslice (2001)
Vanderslice is a San Francisco-based indie folk-rock artist/story teller and producer. His second CD is a concept album about his apparently fictional brother, who is a snow-trapped programmer at an Antarctic geology field camp. The nine diary entries in the liner notes reveal the mental decline of the brother, particularly after he loses his computers E-mail connection and hard drive to a virus. The songs, while not Antarctic in content, echo this state of regression, which ends with visions of Tiananmen Square and the sinking of the Kursk submarine. At first, the diarist is lucid: I am not going to say its cold here, and I wont tell you about the vast, infinite emptiness that draws every sad lonely feeling out of your breathless soul and drops it on the bluish snow, right at your polypropylene boots. Later on, his mind wanders: I am going crazy. I crawl out of my hut to scrape my windows, I cant bear to be stuck in a white frosted box with nothing but the shortwave. The sun crests up around 9 pm and fades after an hour or so. Have I told you about whiteouts? USGS survival manual: a polar hazard where all horizon definition between land and sky, solid ground & coast, vanishes. We are in a whiteout. A little girl has been coming by at night, she lives at McMurdo Base, (which seems far) but she comes to talk she tells me my station is an ECHELON relay base. I need to look into this. She said I should smash it up! Ahh youth. I need to talk to you soon. The CD cover has a striking but spooky drawing of a blue, black, white ocean frozen ocean scene with reddish sky with a silhouetted Endurance crushed in the ice. The CD itself is embossed with a crevassed modern van superimposed over the wreck of the Endurance. Barsuk Records bark17; www.johnvanderslice.com
WHALE CHASING MEN - Songs of Whaling in Ice and Sun by Harry Robertson (2001)
Harry Robertson (1923-1995) was a native Glaswegian who immigrated to Australia in 1952, worked during 1950-51 as an engineer with the Norwegian whaling fleet in the Antarctic and wintered over at South Georgia. He became a seminal influence in the Australian folk movement of the 1960s and made the above-titled LP in 1971. Through the efforts of his widow and friends, the LP was released on CD in 2001 by Australias National Screen & Sound Archive as its first folk reissue. Through spoken introductions and instrumental accompaniments, the songs and chanteys mince no words about the gruesome, hard scenes of the whaling experience and Antarctic references abound. The lyrics of the Antarctic track, The Antarctic Fleet, are:
I went down south a-whaling, to the land of ice and snow, And eight-and-twenty pounds a month, was all I had to show, For being on a little ship like sardine in a can, And eating salty pork and beef, they stewed up in a pan.
Chorus: Heigh-ho!
Whale-oh, Wi the Antarctic fleet, Ive got a drip upon me nose and Im frozen
in the feet.
South Georgia is an island, it is a Whaling Base, And only men in search of
whales, would go to such a place, No entertainment does exist unless you make
home brew, Then we would have some singing and, wed have some fighting too.
Our gunner came from Norway, like many of the crew, And others spoke wi Scottish tongues, as Whalers often do, But when the ship was closing in to make the bloody kill, The Scotsmen and Norwegians worked together with a will.
We sailed down to the Weddell Sea where the big Blues can be found, We chased between the icebergs and, we chased them round and round, And when they couldnt run no more, and fought to draw their breath, Our gunners shot harpoons in them, till they floated still in death.
For months we sailed the ocean, and wearied with the toil, Of slaughter and of killing just to get that smelly oil, And when the savage storms blew and snow kept falling down, I often wished that I was back, in dear old Glasgow town.
Its twenty years since Ive been there, and I wont go there again, I didnt like the climate but, I liked the Whaling Men, And even in the sunshine now, when I walk along the street, Ive got a drip upon me nose, and Ive still got frozen feet. ScreenSound Australia CD/SSA/WC0022; www.nfsa.afc.gov.au; (See also FOLKLORIC RECORDING: Folk Songs Sung by Harry Robertson and Don Henderson (1967) in the Individual Songs section.)
THE ICESTOCK 2001 PROJECT (2001)
The first music compilation disc from Antarctica includes live performances at the Coffee House and the Womens Soire at the U.S. McMurdo Station. Organized by G.W. Krauss, the project was a labour of love, undertaken and completed by volunteers. While the cold weather and dry air may cause numb fingers and warped musical instruments, Icestock has now become an annual musical festival on New Years Day. The inaugural CD manages to cover a lot of ground, or should we say, icy terrain, through various styles over the 24 tracks. Information available at: kuwona@bigfoot.com
NEUSCHWABENLAND by Allerseelen (2000)
Allerseelen is the musical project of veteran Austria-based musician Gerhard Petak (a.k.a. Gerhard Hallstatt and Kadmon) and live performances include other musicians. The sound on this record is a dark electronic/industrial rock and the largely instrumental tracks are infused with a militaristic and heavily percussive beat. The CD has a cover of the outline of Antarctica and is named for the part of East Antarctica originally claimed by Norway and then claimed by Germany in 1939, named after their expedition ship, Schwabenland (Swabia). The Germans undertook a large-scale aerial photography program and became notorious for dropping darts inscribed with swastikas, over their flight paths. That era also has also been associated with a mythology of secret bases and Antarctic UFO developments. Aorta AORCD05; The music was remastered and released in 2008 as a limited-edition double vinyl record set, with four additional songs. Gerhard told us in 2011: I was interested in this concept and started to record songs inspired by the topic. Ahnstern 7; www.myspace.com/allerseelen
BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6 - AONOROKUGO - Original Soundtrack by the Thrill (2000)
Originally the name of a Japanese manga print comic book series, Blue Submarine No. 6 became a four part video animation TV program in 1998 and was reported to be in planning for a live-action movie. Based in the near future when the oceans have flooded most of the earths coastlines, the series villain/ rogue scientist has a base of operations at the South Pole and is trying to induce a polar switch with the aid of the South Poles geothermal energy, in order to teach his brand of humanity to mankind. War later ensues on Antarctica, with the good guys on Blue Submarine No. 6, part of a peacekeeping force, leading the way to confront the enemy. Antarctica, meanwhile, has been transformed into the tropics. The series finally ends with the pole shift stopped and an uneasy truce for the sake of humanity. Japanese big band/rock group the Thrill, formed in 1990, provides some very energetic music for the series. Toshiba-EMI Futureland TYVY-10036; www.thethrill.info
PENGUINS ON THE MOON by Sack Trick (2000)
The British Sack Trick is a revolving group of comedic musicians, in the vein of the late 1960s Bonzo Dog Band. This CD is a heavy metal/music hall/rock musical about a group of penguins in Antarctica who take a spaceship to the moon. However, the moon is not the tropical paradise they imagined and tiring of moon dust cheese and anxious for a meal of fish, our intrepid explorers returned to the only place they ever truly called home, having proved themselves to be real lunar chicks. An entertaining and well played musical trip, with illustrated cartoon lyrics, from a group of crazies. The CD was reissued in 2009 on its 9½ year anniversary and Chris Dale, the albums narrator, bassist/guitarist told us in 2009 about the reason for the original CD: The motivation was at first something quite random. We wanted to do an abstract concept album, and thought up two themes, penguins and the moon, just because they didnt normally match. But then we got quite involved in the whole plot and concept and did a lot of background reading into both penguins and the moon. What started off as a bit of a joke, went quite deep in the end. ORG 212; Raw Power Records RP-017; www.sacktrick.com
VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY Dedicated To The Memory Of Robert Falcon Scott by D. E. Farmer/Soulspace Music (2000)
Arizona-based composer and musician Farmer has recently issued this CD of contemporary, romantic instrumental synthesizer music as his score to an imagined movie about Scott's 1911-12 tragic South Pole journey. What a marvellous story, and what a testament to the indomitable human spirit! I hope that the music somehow can act as a memorial of sorts to Robert and Kathleen Scott. The 11 tracks include titles such as Entering the Ice Pack, Winter at McMurdo Sound, Tea at Mabel Beardsley's, Beat the Norwegians: The Race is On!, Arrival at the South Pole: January 1912, Kathleen Scott's Theme. mp3.com 39391 and 167618; www.soundclic.com
WHITE OUT by Johannes Schmoelling (2000)
Schmoelling is a former member of Tangerine Dream, an internationally successful German recording and touring synthesizer/electronic music group formed in the late 1960s. The current CD is a remixed and expanded version of the 1990 original. The 10 melodic instrumental tracks include titles such as White Out, Navigators Chatter, Icewalk, A Great Continent, A long Way Home. In his web site, Schmoelling explains his idealistic intuition that electronic music can create a spacious open landscape via the detour of the Antarctic.
The sounds that I have used and changed will in no way deny their origin. They are noises; the sound of a sonar, the crackling and squeaking of radio sets, machines, the far-away screeching of birds – and if we close our eyes, then with each noise we immediately connect to some image of a landscape or surroundings. For me, this was a reason to compose entire noise passages – a kind of foundation out of which the music actually is born.
In a scientific book on the Antarctic, I read of an optical phenomenon, which occurs under certain conditions of temperature and of the air: WHITE OUT. It is a loss of space sensation. The white erases space, sky and earth flow into each other, a space without depth and without horizon is created.
Maybe a concept album is nothing else but a voyage, a departure to another place, which slowly uncovers itself, a shore that comes closer and piles up as a mountain of ice. Arrival, first announced over the radio, the whirr of machine noises, entertainment music filling up the crewmens room.
Suddenly (where on the map appeared just an immense white spot), there is firm ground under your feet and you see: garbage, food throwouts, tin cans, as if to be preserved for eternity, discarded oil residue and a tire rut leading to the horizon, where an industrial complex arises, and then unconsciously, the feeling that here, at the very end of the world, a war announces itself, that the machines are already in position, that the fronts are lined up, and when you look around, there is the oldest landscape in the world (a war with the purpose of eradicating the history of nature: WHITE OUT.)
As I finalized the work on the album, Reinhold Messner and Arved Fuchs departed for the Antarctic. Not like before (as was still done in the last century) to remove the white spots from the map nor with the aim (as at the turn of the century) to hoist the flag of every which country, but solely because of the landscape itself, purely because of its being such and nothing else (at the present time).
And I thought that as a child, even in my wildest dreams, it never occurred to me that just taking a walk could one day become a political act. Viktoriapark VP 00-1; www.johannesschmoelling.de
This CD is a solo project of Briton Kev Fox, who explains in his web site: The three titles on A Distant Memory of Home were composed specifically for an event that took place in June 2000. Adelie Penguin 1993:207 is now a permanent exhibit in Cheltenham Museum as an interesting piece of Antarctic history. It was brought to England as a stuffed specimen by Edward Wilson, returning from his first Antarctic Expedition in 1904, but for many years he stood on a window ledge in Shurdington Village School. He was donated by the Wilson family, as a memento of the local hero, when he failed to return from the fatal attempt on the South Pole with Captain Scott in 1912.
Between June 2nd and June 4th 2000 the Penguin revisited the Village for a weekend of celebrations and over the three days I performed the tracks on A Distant Memory of Home under the watchful eye of the penguin himself, in the 14th century village church.
Intending to portray a longing for the far-off icy wilderness of Antarctica the title piece was recorded live on Saturday 3rd June. The two remaining tracks were written to represent the penguin in his element (On the Ice Floe) and in his display case (In the Museum Case) and were recorded live in Jaguar Sound Studios, using only sources and themes from the title track.
The three pieces move through the freezing winds and seas of the South Polar regions and as the memories fade into the dusty solitude of a glass case, the sounds of the white continent still echoing in the distance.
AAR002; www.ochre.co.uk/90south
THE BARRIER SILENCE by 90 South (1999)
The CD title was taken from Dr. Edward Wilsons poem of the same name, written during Scotts Terra Nova South Pole Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13. The CD was recorded in a studio at Cheltenham, U.K., home of Dr. Wilson and has as its cover a Wilson painting of Hut Point, headquarters of Scotts first Antarctic Expedition of 1901-04. The back cover has a photo of one of the motor sledges used on the Terra Nova Expedition. A final Antarctic reference is included in the liner notes with a photo of Admiral Byrds airplane, Floyd Bennett, landing at his base, Little America at the Bay of Whales. The two instrumental Antarctic tracks on the CD include Hut Point and Cape Crozier, the latter a reference to the destination of the 1911 mid-winter polar journey described by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in his famous book, The Worst Journey in the World. The music, by Kev Fox, is a guitar/synthesizer/percussion-based ambient sound. Ochre Records OCH014LCD; www.ochre.co.uk/90south
SUBANTARCTICA – Atmospheric Works Volume One by Rudy Adrian (1999)
Rudy Adrian is a Dunedin, New Zealand-based ambient/electronic musician and sound engineer, who has made independent albums as well as soundtracks and designs for television productions. Subantarctica, originally produced in 1990 and re-released in the present extended form in 1999, was part of a national multi-media project, Art in the Sub-Antarctic, for the Southland Art Gallery & Museum at Invercargill, N.Z. This involved many artists going to two of the subantarctic islands claimed by New Zealand, Campbell Island and Auckland Islands. As official composer, Rudy spent a week on the uninhabited islands, which are World Heritage sites, have rich biodiversity and are said to be home to half the worlds seabirds. The track titles for the peaceful, ambient music include Winds from Antarctica, Adrift, Shining Sea, Afterwards, Clouds over the Horizon, Cloud Formations and Dreams of SubAntarctica. RAH001; www.rudyadrian.magix.net
THE CENTURY IN SOUND (1999)
In this set of recordings of actual speeches or people reminiscing about events from 1901-1999, taken from the British Library National Sound Archive, there is an excerpted 1.54 minute recitation by Ernest Shackleton titled 1909 Expedition to the South Pole. The original 3.48 minute recording was made on June 23, 1909, in which Shackleton very briefly outlines the British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition of 1907-09, which he led and which was the first to scale Mount Erebus and send men to the South Magnetic Pole. Shackleton and three others came within 112 miles of the South Pole itself, before conditions made them turn back. This excerpt ends with Shackleton saying the British flag has flown over both the North and South Magnetic Poles, followed by the main theme from Sir Edward Elgars Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1. NSA CD 8; (See also the compilation SINFONIA ANTARTICA/SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC (2009) in the Classical Antarctica: Ralph Vaughan Williams section.)
FROST 79 40 by Andreas Ammer, F. M. Einheit, Pan Sonic and Gry (1999)
This is a 1998 live recording at the German Stadttheater Oberhausen and is a musical and spoken (in German and English) presentation of Robert Scotts diary from his polar expedition and the tragic return attempt after his team reached the South Pole in 1912. The recording takes its title from the latitude of their final resting place. Ammer is a German freelance writer, television journalist and radio and stage playwright. Einheit (Frank Martin Strauss) is a German electronic musician and percussionist who has issued solo CDs as well as collaborations with others. The 25 tracks, of varying length, are backed by various electronic and industrial soundscapes providing a suitably bleak and dark musical backing to the narration and singing. F. M. Einheit told us in 2009 about the reason for the production: We were curious why people do such things in order to bring fame home to the fatherland. Funny idea. There will be a re-release in spring 2010. FM 4.5.1 9185-2; Available from iTunes; www.fmeinheit.org; www.myspace.com/fmeinheitfmeinheit
ANTARTICA by Gale Revilla (1999)
Gale Revilla is a prolific Nevada-based composer and synthesizer artist with over 20 spiritual New Age CDs in her catalogue. This one includes titles such as Horizons, Crystal Storms, The Lost City, Ice Goddess, Antartica, Aurora Australis, Adelie Coast and Leviathan Temple. Her assistant informed us that Gale had studied about Ancient Civilizations from many books for decades. One of her favorite topics was Atlantis and the Ancient land of Lemuria. Those were the foundations that motivated her to compose the Antartica, Lost Continents and the Mystic Lands albums. Another of her favorites in Ancient Civilizations and Empires was, Ancient Egypt. This brought on her motivation to compose her award winning album Series, Pharaohs. Another album that deals with the Dark Age Empires and Dragons is her album, Draconis. Her Native American albums deal with her ancestors and their dying ancient language. So three were composed in dedication to her ancestors of centuries past: Day of the Wolf, Liquid Visions and Whispering Winds on the Red Road. Morning Star Records; www.galerevilla.com
ANTARCTICA SUITE by Wendy Mae Chambers (1999)
Wendy Mae Chambers is a New Jersey-based musician who visited the Antarctic Peninsula in 1999 as a tourist and subsequently recorded a CD of piano solo compositions inspired by her trip. The 13 instrumental tracks, which Wendy Mae said were modelled after Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition, include titles descriptive of the wildlife and sights she saw, such as Blue Ice, Penguin Rookery, Albatross, Waltz of the Krill, Chinstrap Penguins, Humpback Whales, Weddell Seals and Skua. The chiming chordal and percussive sounds of her piano are very evocative of the various images she sets out to portray. www.wendymae.com
ANTARCTIC ARRIVAL - a Tribute to a Frozen Land by Valmar Kurol and Marc-Andr Bourbonnais (1999)
This Montreal, Canada-produced CD contains ten thematic instrumental pieces in New Age/light rock/classical styles, based on Kurols three visits to Antarctica in the 1990s. Titles include Antarctic Arrival, Never Mind the Icebergs, Flight of the Albatross, Antarctica World Beat Theme, Underwater Waltz, Penguin Stroll, Seekers of the Pole, Aurora Australis, March of the Glaciers, White Winter Curtain. There are also bonus tracks with vocal renditions of two of the instrumentals. The CD is available from mtl.ant.soc@sympatico.ca, www.antarcticarrival.com, or by download on iTunes and Amazon.com.
THE JUPITER MENACE - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Synergy (1998)
The Jupiter Menace was a 1984 American film documentary of questionable science, narrated by George Kennedy, about the devastating effects of the planet Jupiter on Earth during planetary alignments. The soundtrack of synthesizer music is by Larry Fast, a U.S.-based synthesizer musician, composer and electronics designer who has recorded under his project name Synergy. He has also worked with many international acts such as Peter Gabriel, Yes and Hall & Oates. The CD has two short synthesizer instrumental Antarctica-related tracks, The Mystery of Piri Reis and Return to Admiral Byrds Camp. Piri Reis was an Ottoman-Turkish admiral whose 1513 world map has been alleged to show part of the Antarctic Peninsula coastline. The program hints that the only way the coast under the present ice cap could have been known was if the continent had been free of ice at the time the map was made. It also implied that the periodic build up of ice at Admiral Byrds Camp at his 1928 Little America Base, i. e. the South Pole region, would lead to a toppling and shift of the globe. Chronicles 314 558 047-2
ANTARCTICA by Douglas Quin (1998)
This is a CD of natural sounds from the field produced by Douglas Quin for the Wild Sanctuary series of wildlife recordings. Stereo/surround microphones were used to record Weddell and leopard seals, orcas, and emperor and Adlie penguins. Of special note are the creaks and groans heard from the Canada Glacier and Wind Harps from the Taylor Valley. The liner notes say that To create this kind of magic with natural sound takes time, enormous patience, perseverance, and a keen compositional sense to make lyrical the material heard on this album. Sounds from the Antarctic present the ultimate test. Miramar 09006-23113-2; (See also THE DREAMS OF GAIA by various artists (1999) and MUSICWORKS 69 (1997) in the Individual Songs section.)
ANTARCTIC by Mnica X (1998) (Vinyl LP only)
Mnica X is a veteran Spanish DJ and music promoter/performer who has garnered European and international success with her touring. This is one of her earliest singles records and has the three tracks, Antarctic, No Frost (Extreme Cold Version) and Antarctic Melody. Beginning with frosty winds and chants of cold, the electronic disco music is surprisingly subdued for the genre. The record cover has a catchy purple/blue hue with a photo of icebergs, overseen by a pair of staring, icy eyes. Monica X told us in 2008 that the reason for the Antarctic record was that this place is so far from Spain and we thought about this concept one summer with hot weather, so we did it to refresh our lives. Dixland Records MX DIX 012; www.djmonicax.com
TRAVELLERS TALES FROM ANTARCTICA by David & Phil Massey (1998/1996)
This British CD of instrumental synthesizer New Age music is part of a collection of Relaxation, Ambient and World Music. The liner notes explain: Perhaps the most awe inspiring region on earth – Antarctica. Her beauty, mystery, and presence has called to adventurers for eons and yet she still remains the most unexplored continent on or planet. This spiritually expansive Travellers Tale will unfold visions of space, grandeur and virgin beauty through a magnificent season of superb musical observation. Some of the track titles include, Ice Bergs, Vinson Massif, Alone at the Pole, Glacier, Penguin, The Coldest Place on Earth. Northstar Music NSMCD 146; www.northstarmusic.co.uk
THE PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1995)
This is the soundtrack for a feature-length cartoon tale, directed by Don Bluth, with voices by Martin Short, James Belushi, Tim Curry and Annie Golden. A shy Adlie penguin must present his potential mate with the perfect pebble but is thrown into the icy ocean by an evil rival. He is captured and caged on a freighter and with the help of a streetsmart fellow penguin, they escape and travel back to Antarctica before the mating ceremony starts. The songs are by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman. The first part of the disc has the songs with orchestrated vocal tracks and the second half is largely instrumental, with backing by the Irish Film Orchestra and The Irish Chamber Choir, prominent musical organizations, both locally and internationally. Although there were no standout hit songs from the movie, the CD is a very pleasant listening experience. Kid Rhino R2 71995
ANTARTIDA by John Cale (1995)
This is a musical soundtrack to a Spanish-American film by Manuel Huerga, not so much about Antarctica as a place but rather, as a state of mind. Cale is a former member of the rock group Velvet Underground. The music consists of short, sparse, haunting, melodic themes - Antarctica seems perfectly suited to be a source of inspiration for minimalist composition. Les Disques du Crpuscule TWI-1008
The theme song for this soundtrack has its origin in a Cale song, Antarctica Starts Here found on his solo recording PARIS 1919 (1973). Reprise/Warner Bros. Records Inc. 2131-2
A newer version of this song is also found on Cales PARIS SEVEILLE (1992), a collection of his soundtracks and music for ballet. MASO CD 90042
A live solo vocal/piano performance by John Cale of this song, recorded at the Zeche Bochum club in Bochum, Germany in March 1984 was released on the double CD album JOHN CALE AND BAND LIVE (2010); MIG 90302 2CD/ LC 23370.
The same song, Antarctica Starts Here, was covered in a 1992 mini CD, CANDY ON THE CROSS, by David J. MCA Records MCADM-54424
Austin, Texas-based indie rockers Okkervil River also recorded Antarctica Starts Here on their album of cover tunes, GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES MIXTAPE (2007), which was only available as a free download on their band Website at release time. www.myspace.com/okkervilriver.com; www.okkervilriver.com
ANTARCTIC EP by Static Resonance (1995) (Vinyl LP only)
This solo record project of Netherlands-based Johanz Westerman has the coldly numbing electronic/techno tracks Cold Finger (Live at Antarctic), Message from Antarctic and Theme of Thee Iceberg. Prime Records Prime 040
ANTARCTICA by Ian Tamblyn (1994)
Tamblyn is an Ottawa-area Canadian pop-folk artist and currently an Arctic tour lecturer. This recording is associated with the CBC radio documentary, Notes from the Bottom of the World, based on his trip to McMurdo Sound. The instrumental music is a combination of New Age/folk-rock/jazz influences played with crystalline, vibrant instrumentation, at times including penguin brays and Weddell seal squeals. Titles include The Weddell Planet, Erebus Ice Caves, Out on the Ice Fields, Eds Still Diving. One especially memorable song is The Penguin came from Pittsburgh. Attractive emperor penguin cover picture. North Track Records NTCD3. In the U.S. this CD is available as NorthSound NSCD 29532; www.tamblyn.com
ANTARCTICA by Richie Beirach (recorded 1985, issued 1994)
Beirach is an American jazz artist who improvises on elements of eclectic modern music. This solo piano Antarctica Suite, according to the liner notes, unlike the musical pablum that assaults us daily, isnt programmed to make you consume or conform. Only feel. Titles include The Ice Shelf, Deception Island, and Neptune's Bellows. ECD 22086-2
ANTARCTICA - The Last Wilderness by Medwyn Goodall (1993)
Goodall, who lives in Cornwall, England, has recorded many CDs for the Dutch New Age music label, Oreade Music. Its a pleasure to hear one of the few all-Antarctic CDs we have come across. There are six extended synthesizer and other instrumental pieces with titles such as All White, Endless Emptiness and Snow Kingdom Forever. Dreamy, peaceful music and gentle to the ears but were not entirely convinced we've been transported to Antarctica through the music. Mar 3812
POLAR SHIFT - A Benefit for Antarctica by various artists (1991)
A compilation of New Age instrumental and vocal music dedicated to the conservation of Antarctica. Performers include a number of single-name artists such as Vangelis, Yanni, Enya and Kitaro, along with ET's John Tesh. A very enjoyable, soothing palette of sounds. Informative liner notes give references for further reading. Private Music BMG2083-2-P
DEVOTION - THE BEST OF YANNI by Yanni (1997)
The instrumental Song for Antarctica, specially recorded for the previously-mentioned Polar Shift CD, is also found on several of Yanni's discs, including this hits compilation. Private Music 01005-82153-2
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company (1992)
The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company has been performing live and producing recorded audio dramas since 1984, as a non-profit educational corporation, specializing in mystery and the supernatural. This disc is a 37-minute recreation of American science fiction/ horror author H. P. Lovecrafts 1931 novella At the Mountains of Madness, adapted for audio by Brad Strickland. This story of a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition has become a classic, in which the expeditioners discover the remains of a subterranean ancient civilization and meet the horrors of its still-existing monsters. www.artc.org; (See also AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS – A Live Audio Theatre by the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company (2010) in this section.)
NUNATAK GONGAMUR by Thomas Kner (1990)
Kner is an internationally active award-winning German audio-visual media artist/electronic composer. His first CD, out of print and unavailable commercially, was an ambient collection of 11 untitled pieces that were based on Robert Scotts tragic South Pole Expedition of 1911-12. The CD cover has an old photo of a sledge team with their dogs and ponies and a copy of a few of Scotts last written words. According to reviewer Ned Raggett in the Web-based All Music Guide, Kner's composition falls somewhere between a requiem for the loss and waste of the expedition and a haunting, extremely inhuman evocation of the endless snow and ice fields of Antarctica that the core members of the expedition struggled through and died in. The swathes of deep echo and occasional crumbling rhythm create an aura of paranoid fascination, at once weirdly soothing and increasing the nervous tension every chance it gets. When Kner adds variety to the music, the effect can almost be shocking - consider the sudden distorted whines on the third and fifth tracks, which with its slight echo treatment and the rumbling background moans could almost be a disturbing cry for help. Other times, tones barely lurk in the mix, only on the edge of hearing, like being caught in an endless cavern where something curious hides in the dim distance. The killer touch is the use of space throughout the album - silences of various lengths maintaining the air of mysterious threat. This is a powerful description of music that consists of electronically treated gongs and cymbals, but the CD is a captivating soundtrack for desolation. BAR 002; www.koener.de; www.thomaskoner.com
ANTARCTICA by Vangelis (1983)
Synthesizer music from Koreyoshi Kuraharas film of the same name (the Japanese name is Nankyoku Monogatari). It told the story of the 1958 first Japanese Antarctic Expedition, which ended up stranding a pack of 15 sled dogs on the continent over a winter season, two of which had survived when the team returned a year later. Best song is the title track, Theme from Antarctica, which still remains the definitive Antarctic mood music. Nothing else from the eight tracks on the disc matches this magnificent throbbing and pulsating piece, which is the perfect accompaniment for sailing down the pristine Lemaire Channel or Gerlache Strait. Many amateur videos of the Antarctic have probably borrowed this theme for background music. Polygram/Polydor 815732-2. An original Japanese issue of the CD (Polydor 3112-22) has the classic photo of two dogs on the cover while newer issues have small silver or blue outlines of Antarctica. Rare and pricey limited-edition, bootleg or promo CDs of Antarctica may occasionally appear for sale on Web auction sites, which contain the full score of 24 tracks, which has not been commercially released. These discs include further variations of the main theme, as well as shorter soundscape interludes and a few longer pieces. One of these also has two Suites of shortened track compilations and even a disco dance remix of the title track, with howling dogs in the background. Arkhan Records issued a limited edition of 50 CDs of the 24 tracks in 2001. In 2013, the original CD was issued in a special Japanese K2HD mastering edition. Polydor 8157322K
THE THING by Ennio Morricone (1982)
This is the soundtrack to the popular Antarctic science fiction movie of the same name by John Carpenter, in which a buried alien is thawed after being discovered in the Antarctic ice. It comes back to life at an Antarctic base and is able to take on the appearance of the resident dogs and people. Morricone has composed many highly regarded film themes but this orchestral and electronic noodling, appropriate in the film, is less interesting as stand-alone CD music. Varse Sarabande VSD-5278.
The soundtrack from the original 1951 movie, The Thing From Another World, on which the 1982 movie was based, was released for the first time on the CD THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2005), FSM Volume 8, No. 1. It was reconstructed from composer Dimitri Tiomkins own acetate copies of the soundtrack since the original master tapes were no longer in existence. The booklet notes state that Tiomkin never again worked in the genre, and reportedly carried an antipathy towards this project – believing that he was at his best creating beautiful melodies rather than such bellicose sounds. The 1951 movie setting was an Arctic, rather than Antarctic base and was adapted from a 1938 short story by John W. Campbell, Who Goes There?.
VIRUS – Original Soundtrack Recording (1980)
In the Japanese-produced movie Virus, a plane crash releases a deadly virus that destroys mankind, with the exception of a group of scientists in Antarctica. They must find a cure and save themselves from infection, as well as from a nuclear catastrophe. Directed by Kinji Fukasaku, but featuring many American and international stars – Glenn Ford, George Kennedy, Edward James Olmos, Robert Vaughn, Chuck Connors, Bo Svenson and Olivia Hussey. The movie soundtrack includes songs largely written by Teo Macero, performed by the London Philharmonic orchestra and numerous prominent musicians such as Janis Ian, Chick Corea, Larry Coryell and David Sanborn. As stand-alone music, however, the pleasant musical styles, ranging from symphonic to pop and jazz fusion/funk, dont convey anything coldly Antarctic or menacingly viral. FJCM-011
IO SONO MURPLE by Murple (Vinyl LP - 1974) (CD reissues - 1992 & 2002)
Italian prog-rock group Murples only recording (I am Murple) was a concept album of largely keyboard-led instrumentals, with a few vocal tracks, that tells the tale of an Antarctic penguin who leaves home looking for paradise and winds up, apparently happily, in a zoo. The colourful CD booklet features drawings of icebergs and a mass of penguins. Mellow Records MMP 121 (1992 reissue) and Akarma AK 1035 (2002 reissue); www.murple.it
JALTA, JALTA the Musical by Alfi Kabiljo and Milan Grgić (1973 - Vinyl LP) (2005 – CD)
Jalta, Jalta (Yalta, Yalta) is a Croatian hit musical that premired in Zagreb in 1971, with music composed by Alfi Kabiljo and lyrics by Milan Grgić, two highly reputed and talented Croatian artists in their fields. The story takes place at Yalta, Ukraine during the early 1945 Yalta Conference at which Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin carved up Eastern Europe for the imminent post WW II era. In the musical, while the Big Three leaders are having discussions, the remaining delegates, generals and personal valets to the leaders notice a green spot developing in Antarctica on the map of the world. As they argue over many things, a bomb interrupts the proceedings and the green spot keeps growing. After much mayhem, the generals say they just wanted to know if there are grass and flowers there. After being told yes, they convince everyone they dont want to divide up the green spot and they are happy that there is one piece of land on earth that doesnt belong to anyone and will not be divided. All the songs are robustly sung, melodic pop/operatic performances, sounding like a Croatian Fiddler on the Roof meeting the Red Army Mixed choir. One of the tracks on the record is the 2-minute Na Antartik (On Antarctica). LP: CBS Records/ Suzy 70131; CD: Hit Records/ Suzy
LET US NOT FORGET – A Tribute to the Phonograph - Historic Speech Recordings (1973) (Vinyl LPs only)
This is a three-LP set of original Edison Cylinder Recordings of various famous figures such as Thomas Edison, American presidents Taft (speaking in 1908 about Enforced Insurance of Bank Deposits, Rights of Labor, a topic currently appropriate) and Teddy Roosevelt, singer Sophie Tucker, Babe Ruth and others, from recordings of the early 1900s. Included is the 4-minute track Lt. Ernest Shackleton: Journey to the South Pole in 1907. The record label indicates it was recorded in the Antarctic. We have not verified the recording and assume this is the same Shackleton Nimrod Expedition track mentioned previously above in this section in VOICES OF HISTORY 2 - Arts, Science & Exploration (2005). Yorkshire Records 27026
QUICK, BEFORE IT MELTS - Music From The MGM Motion Picture - Composed and Conducted by David Rose And Other Selections by David Rose and His Orchestra (1965) (Vinyl LP only)
This 1965 film, directed by Delbert Mann, featured George Maharis, Robert Morse, Norman Fell and Michael Constantine. It was a comedy based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Philip Benjamin, following his visit to Antarctica as a NY Times reporter during the International Geophysical Year. Lonely Antarctic researchers, women on The Ice, a reporter, a photographer and a defecting Russian scientist were the ingredients for romance and intrigue.
According to the album cover notes, Quick, Before It Melts is an uproarious farce comedy. Its fast-paced action, romantic and scientific, takes place above and below the frigid wastes of the South Pole and makes for one of the most hilarious motion picture hits of the yearAdding to the general hilarity are Milton Fox, an irresistible, scene-stealing penguin and a seal who never forgives an attempt to take his temperature in the interest of scientific research. Quick, Before It Melts is everything the title suggests, a fresh, spontaneous comedy in the most unusual setting ever filmed.
The recording has four short instrumental tracks from the film: Theme from Quick Before It Melts (The Happy Penguin), Run, Fiddle, Run, Now That I Know and The Stripper, composed by David Rose, a prominent Emmy award-winning American composer and orchestra leader who wrote themes for many well-known TV series. He also worked with Red Skeltons television comedy show for over 20 years. The instrumental track, The Stripper, one of Roses best known pieces, had been written in 1958 and became a #1 hit on Billboards Top 100 listing in 1962. According to the LP notes, As it appears in the film, The Stripper melody sounds as though it were written specifically for this screen presentation, and the combination of film comedy and musical background make it one of the funniest sequences in the entire production. SE-4285
THE SOUNDS OF ANTARCTICA by Hank Curth (1965)
New Zealands Kiwi Records was a related activity of A.H. & A.W. Reed, book publishers and began producing records to supplement its publications. According to the New Zealand Governments online history site, Under the Kiwi label more than just songs and music were recorded. In the 1960s people experimenting with new home hi-fi gear bought almost anything - recordings of bird songs, steam trains and even the sound of ice in Antarctica. Musicolour products such as The Sounds of Antarctica were early examples of multimedia publishing – a record package with colour books. - Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd.. According to the foreword, this Musicolor book brings together a collection of color pictures and sounds which contain the essence of Antarctica and which will bring back memories to those who have served there. It is also hoped that it will help to give their friends an appreciation of conditions on that vast continent where so many scientists, servicemen and technicians from many nations all over the world assemble each year to continue their explorations. The book was based on an idea by Lt. John Arthur Jaminet and was written by and many of the photos taken by Hank Curth, a Roving Reporter for the American NBC broadcasting company, who had logistics help provided by the U.S. Naval Support Force. Curth briefly describes bases in the McMurdo Sound area, the work of icebreakers, local activities by men in Antarctica today and yesterday as well as their dogs and describes various landscapes and wildlife. The 17-minute mini LP record that is part of the package was recorded by Curth and includes sounds of penguins, seals and skuas, an icebreaker making its way through ice, creaking of shore ice, airplane take-offs and flights and an interview with a New Zealander about huskies. Kiwi KM-3; www.nzhistory.net.nz
TIS A STORY THAT SHALL LIVE FOR EVER by Stanley Kirkby (1913) (78 rpm single only)
Stanley Kirkby (born James Baker) ( was a British baritone, who recorded under several pseudonyms and was reported to have issued the largest number of records in Britain over 1900-1930, including the WWI hit in the U.S., Its a Long Way to Tipperary. In 1913 he recorded Tis a Story That Shall Live For Ever, a song with orchestra and recitation in memory of Robert Scott and his fallen comrades in their ill-fated 1910-12 South Pole journey. The words were written by Lawrence Wright and Paul Pelham. The flipside of the Zonophone disc, mentioned below, is another sung by Kikby and the same authors, the melodramatic Be British. The lyrics of Tis a Story are: What a glorious tale again is told, Of heroism grand, Of British men with British hearts, Out in the Great White Land, A band of heroes, brave and rue, See standing, side by side, Amidst eternal ice and snow, All faithful till they died.
Chorus: Tis a story that shall live for ever, As long as the world shall be, Of the men who died side by side, Over the frozen sea; All honour to the Sons of England, Inscribed shall be each name, In letters bold of brightest gold, On the Nations Scroll of Fame. Tis a Fame. What a glorious lesson to be learnd, The memry shall remain, Their great and noble sacrifice, Can never be in vain, And tho no sculptured monument, Can mark their resting place, Their deeds have raisd a monument that time cannot efface. Chorus: Tis a story that shall live forever, As long as the world shall be, Of the men who died side by side, Over the frozen sea; All honour to the Sons of England, Inscribed shall be each name, In letters bold of brightest gold, On the Nations Scroll of Fame. Tis a Fame.
Recitation after second verse: I can see a sturdy little ship, Breasting the ocean wave, I can see a little band of men, Eager, strong and brave, I can see the Ice-bound coast line, Of that grim and silent shore, And then the icy desert, Where the deadly blizzards roar, The last farewells are spoken, For some of them must go, Into the unknown perils, Of a wilderness of snow. And then a blank as months go by, And who can tell the tale. Of how that gallant band of men - Succeeded, but to fail, Of one who bore up till the last, Then left without Goodbye!. Just the words - Im going out, Then staggered out – to die, No wailing at their cruel fate, No counting up the cost, But just the simple message left – We took the risk – and lost!
Chorus: Tis a story that shall live forever, As long as the world shall be, Of the men who died side by side, Over the frozen sea; All honour to the Sons of England, Inscribed shall be each name, In letters bold of brightest gold, On the Nations Scroll of Fame. Tis a Fame. 23903 Edison Blue Amberol; also on Zonophone Record 1050, X-2-42486, manufactured by The Gramophone Co. Ltd., Sydney, NSW, Australia; www.cylinders.library.ucsb.edu; Ref: Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, p. 578. Another version of this song was recorded by Robert Carr, a British baritone who was a contemporary of Stanley Kirkby. Record not verified. KAL E 2071 5; Pioneer 124; (See also SINFONIA ANTARTICA/SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC (2009) in the Classical Antarctica: Ralph Vaughan Williams section for recordings of this song.)
THE BOUNDING BOUNDER aka ON THE BOUNDING SEA or THE SOUTH POLE by Harry Lauder (1909 and 1910) (78 rpm singles only)
Sir Harry Lauder (1870-1950) was a Scottish singer and humourous entertainer of the early 20th century music hall era and achieved fame internationally and toured the U. S. 22 times over 3 decades. His song, The Bounding Bounder, written by Lauder and Randolph King, is a sea ditty that sandwiches between two sung choruses, accompanied by an orchestra, the first-person narrated story of Seaman Lauder meeting Shackleton in a pub and going on an Antarctic expedition with him, which apparently at least reaches Antarctica in two of the recorded versions. Today, the word bounder no longer conveys the aura of snooty Victorian class reproach that it once did, in a family of similar pejoratives such as cad, rogue, knave and scoundrel. The 1910 Edison British version is a longer, more complete version of the story than the 1909 Victor/Everest versions, which were reported to have been recorded Dec. 12 at Camden, New Jersey, U. S. A. 1909 recording: Victor 70010; Victor 55121-B; Everest Scala 883; 1910 British recording: 12119 Edison Amberol; www.victor.library.ucsb.edu; www.archive.org; www.cylinders.library.ucsb.edu
A third version of this song with longer story similar to the 1910 Edison version, indicated as being recorded on Sept. 30, 1909 as Zono X42940, is available on a compilation CD of Harry Lauder songs issued by W. J. Clark, FOO TH NOO (2002). WINDYRIDGE Windy CDR11; www.musichallcds.com
The Victor version of the song is available on another compilation CD of Harry Lauder songs issued by Mark Best, OLD TIME VICTROLA MUSIC PRESENTS SIR HARRY LAUDER #1 (1996); www.earlyrecordings.com
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Individual songs entitled Antarctica or about The Ice also appear on the following commercially or privately available discs. The styles range from New Age to thrash/heavy metal:
AX ANTARCTICA by various artists (undated)
This is a Brazilian CD that seems to be a promo for Brazils Antarctica brand of beer (cerveza), with its iconic logo of two standing Adlie penguins facing each other on the front cover. Other penguins in the liner notes are jazzing it up with musical instruments in tropical scenes. The ax/soca-style music is irresistibly hot hot hot. Alive Records
AU COEUR DE LANTARCTIQUE by Amthyst (2015)
Amthyst is a Montreal, Canada-based progressive, alternative francophone rock group, formed in 2011. Their first album has the 5½-minute track Au Coeur de lAntarctique (To the Heart of the Antarctic) and the 3½-minute Jusqu lAntarctique (As Far as the Antarctic). Both of these strongly melodic, power-rocking songs plead a yearning to be in the Antarctic solitudes and for the self-realization it brings. Patrice Roby, guitarist and pianist told us about the album in 2016: We are just concerned by human activities on environment - actual weather just being one symptom of it. This combined with daily lives: stress/traffic/disconnection from natureand there you get some songs. www.reverbnation.com/amethyst1band; amethyst1band.bandcamp.com
POLICE ENCOUNTERS by FFS (2015) (Single release) (Web site download only)
FFS is a recently-formed high-profile group that released its first album, FFS, in 2015. It was collaboration between award-winning Scottish rock group Franz Ferdinand, which has been touring and recording since 2002, and the iconic Los Angeles, California-based Mael brothers (Ron and Russell) who have been performing with their quirky, theatrical musical group Sparks since the early 1970s. According to the groups publicity, one song that did not make it for their album and was issued as part of their Police Encounters single release is the infectious 3-minute Antarctica, about a relationship that has gone cold. Sample lyrics: I can barely feel my fingers anymore, Since the continental drift (uh huh), How quickly things can shift in front of me, All this ice flow and drift (uh huh). To know you was a gift, Before the continental drift, How quickly things can shift, And now Antarctica It was always Acapulco around you, Temps kept rising somehow, It was always tank top weather, Sunlight glaring somehow, And now Antarctica. www.ffsmusic.com
SEVEN FROZEN SEAS by My Own Cubic Stone (2015) (Web site download only)
My Own Cubic Stone is the solo project of France-based Marc Garin, who has been creating musical sounds and dark, ambient electronic music since 2009. His current disc, with tracks named after northern and southern polar oceans, includes the 7½-minute Ross Sea, the 10-minute Amundsen Sea and the 11-minute Bellingshausen Sea, which are all are located along the west side of Antarctica. www.petroglyphmusic.bandcamp.com/album/seven-frozen-seas
SOUTHBOUND HEART by Jeremy Poland (2015)
Jeremy Poland is a Minnesota, U.S.A-based rock vocalist/guitarist/percussionist whose energetic and melodic solo album has the 3-minute love song Antarctica, written by guitarist and album producer Lantz Dale. Jeremy explained the background of the track: Being from Minnesota, the weather is typically cold most the year...I believe the song was written on one of those cold nights. Antarctica is such a desolate/remote place in the world that I wanted a warm love song. Im from the school of thought that the listener puts his or her own meaning to music. It makes it much more fun! www.jeremypolandmusic.com
ANTARCTICA AND OTHER DESTINATIONS by Mak Murtić and the Croatian Radio Television Jazz Orchestra (2015) (Web site download only)
Mak Murtić is a London, U.K.-based tenor saxophonist, composer/arranger and leader of his jazz orchestra, Mimika. This is a group of young musicians which began with a Balkan-influenced sound but has now incorporated urban and avant-garde styles in its music and has based its musical themes on concepts of science fiction and world human experiences. They have played extensively in the London-area jazz scene. This album contains material written by Mak for the Croatian Radio Television Jazz Orchestra and played by them. One of the tracks on this concept album of science fiction and world themes is the 11-minute instrumental, Antarctica, a slowly building, multi-toned and tempoed piece featuring dreamy vocalizations by Anabela Barić and Maja Rivić.
Mak explained the background of the track for us: The reasons were several. Firstly I am very interested in geology and natural history in general and particularly in Antarctica. Due to its isolation and hence the lack of human intervention, Antarctica still remains one of the least touched areas (at least land masses) on Earth, so I kept coming back to the idea of Antarctica as a concept not only being an interesting natural place, but a very human state of mind. I envisioned Antarctica as a place in its own rhythm, excluded from the rest of the global affairs (both in human and other terms). I think in the composition, the basic premise is that this is the moment without society, where a possible natural order takes the mind into a higher level of consciousness, not concerned with the everyday but with the (at least in the human experience) ever present. One moment, or place I found particularly interesting are the Antarctic Dry Valleys with the seemingly unearthlike landscape. www.makmurticensemble.com; soundcloud.com/mak-murtic-composer
SOUTHLAND by Rdiger Lorenz (2015)
Rdiger Lorenz (d. 2000) was an Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany-based electronic musician and synthesizer collector who made numerous independent records on his own home-based label, beginning in the early 1980s. This album, originally released in 1984 as Syncord RL 003, has a grid-lined outline line of Antarctica on the cover. One of the tracks is the 7-minute title track, Southland (Antarctica), which musically embeds the continent in quiet swaths of mystery and contemplation. bureau b BB 194
THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE, VOLUME I AGAIN by TJ Hill (2015) (Web site download only)
TJ Hill is a San Diego, California-based keyboardist, guitarist and singer whose reflective, New Age-style 3-track EP has the unusually titled 4½-minute contemplative piano-based track, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. According to its Web site, The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is an inter-disciplinary committee of the International Council for Science. SCAR is charged with initiating, developing and coordinating high quality international scientific research in the Antarctic region (including the Southern Ocean), and on the role of the Antarctic region in the Earth system.
According to TJs Web site, The Fibonacci sequence is a pattern that occurs in nature; everything from pine cones, to sea shells, to flower petals, and more. It reveals that under the surface of what looks like a beautiful piece of natures art is order and structure. I am a big fan of structure in music composition, but I dont want the end result to feel structured. I want it to feel beautiful and inspiring. My hope is that you will experience beauty in a new way while listening to these tracks. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is about yearning for solitude, and being willing to go to far off places to find it.
TJ told us further about the reason for the track name: The inspiration for the piece was the search for solitude and being willing to go to a far-off place to find it. Antarctica seemed like the most far-off place to go for solitude. Ive ended a little bit of digging and found a few aunt Arctic related acronyms, and landed on Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research as the title. Ive never been to Antarctica but I would really like to go someday. www.tjhmusic.com
ADVENTURE SPORT MUSIC by Johannes Hofbauer (2015)
Johannes Hofbauer is a Karlsruhe, Germany-based cyclist, electronic music composer and producer. He started out creating music for cycling but has branched out to include music for other sports and physical activities on numerous albums. This CD has the 3-minute frisky, rousing Antarctic Sled Dog Race. Johannes explained the album for us in 2015: I am a sport musician and I try to compose music for all kinds of sport and in 2010 I made the official music for the Tour de France. The idea behind Adventure Sport Music is a sound journey into many territories - you can climb in the Mountains, swim in open water or if you like, have an Antarctic sled dog race. We note that the last dogs used in Antarctica were removed from the continent in 2004 to conform to the Environmental Protocol, in order to protect indigenous wildlife. www.johannes-hofbauer.com
PACĺFICO by the Noises (2014)
The Noises are a Madrid, Spain-based pop rock group and their third album has the melodic, rocking 3-minute song Antrtida. The group told us about the track in 2015: Its about an expedition to Antarctica and finding yourself on the way. Warner Music Spain 2564630894; www.thenoises.es
DEAD COMPUTER BLUES by Sigmatropic (2014)
Sigmatropic is an Athens, Greece-based indie rock band, formed in 1997 by Akis Boyatzis, originally as an electronic solo project and which developed into a full group. The group has made numerous CDs, tours throughout Greece, playing festivals and performing with international artists. Their current album, about the decline of civilization, has the 4-minute The Clouds of Antarctica. Sample lyrics: The clouds of Antarctica have spread through the world, Please make a guess and live to the end, To see how the world ends, you need to use your lever, For the clouds of Antarctica want to stay there foreverThe clouds of Antarctica have sneaked in my air, Theyve spawned seeds and stones - Im one of them, The true meaning of winter is found in the mist, The clouds of Antarctica are todays hidden beastIt takes a brain cataclysm, to chase the clouds away, It takes a new god to wake up in a clear day, It takes a new math to hide them in the desert, It takes a new grammar to see them gone foreverThe clouds of Antarctica, See them gone forever!
Akis Boyatzis, the groups vocalist, guitarist and bassist, told us about the track in 2015: As a songwriter, I have been obsessed with the plaguing of our world by a dark ages-type of orchestrated motivation for the individual towards a protected heaven where freedom of movement and expression are not the choice. Antarctica is to some (and to me, by the way!) an iconic destination. In The Clouds of Antarctica, however, the continent is a no-mans land, pretty much in H. P. Lovecrafts fashion. In the song narrative, Antarctica is a seed bed of seducing ideologies for a laissez-faire set of hidden conservative ideas from where, cold clouds travel away, spreading, even sitting over the tropics. The message of a frozen, freedomless protected heaven is delivered to everyone. The neoliberal destruction of humanity has just started. Inner Ear INN104; www.sigmatropic.gr; innerear.bandcamp.com/album/dead-computer-blues; soundcloud.com/sigmatropic
WHO OWNS ANTARCTICA? by the Rushmores (2014) (Web site download only)
The Rushmores are a Detroit-area, Michigan-based indie rock trio. While their latest 4-song EP doesnt have any direct Antarctic-themed songs, the group explained the title of the album for us in 2015: Basically we were just sitting around after finishing a joint, talking nonsense. We started talking about Antarctica for some reason and a question arose, Who owns Antarctica? Being that we are always thinking of song and album titles, we immediately knew that was an album title. www.therushmores.squarespace.com; soundcloud.com/therushmores
ANTARCTICA IS MELTING by Future Folk Orchestra (2014) (Web site download only)
Future Folk Orchestra is a Riga, Latvia-based world music rock band. It incorporates both electric and traditional acoustic instruments in its music, which blends original songs with folk and other musical influences from many countries and sources. One of the tracks is the 6-minute instrumental Antarctica is Melting!, an intricately played progressive folk rock testimonial to the menace facing the continent.
Andrejs Grimms, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, explained the concept of the album for us in 2015: A short philosophic background for our album Antarctica Is Melting: The melting of the Sixth Continent is created - in our judgement - by mental separation of society. It means painful lack of friendship, the priority of business relations, money, colleagues or partners who are not friends, etc. In one word - it means a total coldness, real ice walls among people. The only possibility to save Antarctica in that case is very simple and true friendship. Of course, we know the physical reason of melting...ecological problems, the huge development of industry - it is closely connected with the same lack of friendship...if someone likes to watch it deeper than it looks at the first moment. So - Antarctica and its melting is not just a symbol, it is a real fact that happens. Our album - if you have it - it is a possibility to find bridges among people, nations, continents - to save friendship, to save the Sixth Continent. www.facebook.com/FutureFolkOrchestra
SIBERIAN WINTERS by Shattering Ice (2014)
This is the second EP from Shattering Ice, the solo, black metal project of Aarhus, Denmark-based Alexander Matthiasen. One of the tracks is the 4½-minute, sombre Curse of Antarctica. Sample lyrics: The cold seas of the south, the lost lands of frost and snowWere all born into this world, this world of emptiness and sorrow, A world filled with ice and cold, Despair growing strong every dayWe all have the curse of Antarctica, it will kill us allAn ice shelf breaks off, But what does it matter? We all have to die. And we all shall die, no future, No better life.
Alexander told us about the track in 2015:The reason for it is pretty much just symbolic. Well, all the songs are kinda winter-themed, so Antarctica kinda makes sense at that point - though, the title itself is a reference to walking alone, forever in a place like Antarctica in the soul, like, your mind is in this state of constantly looking for people to care. So Antarctica is a symbol in the song for a mindset/way of being. shatteringice.bandcamp.com
SONG FOR ANTARCTICA by Ellen Watt (2014) (Web site download only)
Ellen Watt composed and sang this heartfelt 3½-minute song as a tribute to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 and recognized as a milestone in international government cooperation. (Sample lyrics: Antarctica, Were singing the song for Antarctica, take good care of our spaces.) The song was produced for Our Spaces, a U.K.-based charity commission. Led by a distinguished international board of directors, the Foundation for the Good Governance of International Spaces was created in 2009 as a legacy of the Antarctic Treaty Summit to advance education, raise awareness and promote research regarding governance and management of the global commons. www.ourspaces.org.uk; www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxZOGz5tiH4&feature=youtu.be
BELOE BEZMOLVIE (WHITE SILENCE) by Steny Lda (2014)
Steny Lda (Walls of Ice) is a Moscow, Russia-based atmospheric instrumental post-metal rock band. Their publicity describes their second album as dedicated to the power of northern and Antarctic cold and the grandeur of eternal winter, as a single canvas with atmosphere of estrangement, gloom and reign of northern frost, winter and primal nature. The liner notes have photos of overpowering icebergs and an iconic photo of Ernest Shackletons ship Endurance, stuck in the ice. Tracks include such upbeat titles as Ice Storm Carrying over the Earth, Drifting Icebergs in the Mist Bearing Doom and Gloom, Boundless Snowy Expanses, Cold Earth, The Icebergs Drifting in a Fog and Bringing Loss and Destruction and Cold of the Earth. Slow Burn Records BURN 018-14; stenylda.bandcamp.com
ARCTIC // ANTARCTIC by Inyourface (2014)
Inyourface is a Grenada, Spain-based earth-friendly hardcore metal band. This is their first album and it has such message-laden polar tracks as the quiet instrumental Iceberg, Polar (sample lyrics: Only together we can make it, stop it. Lets help the sea, the sacred polar sea.) and Planet Abyss (The sun doesnt rest, clouds dont cover us. A world without ozone is to burn.) The group told us in 2015 that the name of Arctic // Antarctic is very important for us. We think the ecosystems of each place (northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere) should be the first places to preserve. These places are the hearts of the earth. These two lands have control and regulation over the waters of the oceans. We depend on these places for being alive. www.inyourfaceofficial.com; inyourfacees.bandcamp.com
HARMONIE – Musique de Relaxation (2014)
This is an album of very melodic New Age instrumental music for relaxation from France, based on geographical place themes, played on piano/guitar/flute/synthesizer, One of these is the multi-part, 8-minute Antarctic Solitude (Glacier in the Spring, North Pole, Antartica, Distant Country). Although there are no musical credits indicated on the CD, the music was composed by Manu Maugain, a highly regarded accordionist, composer/arranger and teacher, based in France. Since beginning his performing career in his early teens, Manu has also recorded countless themed accordion records in many styles. RDM CD800; www.manu-maugain.com
EXPEDITIONS by Ocean Districts (2014)
Ocean Districts is a Tallinn, Estonia-based post-rock, progressive metal instrumental quartet formed in 2011. Their first CD about explorers and exploration is a mixture of prog-metal and atmospheric rock with titles such as The Horizon, Arctic Circle, Expedition, Vessels, Endurance, Aurora, Seven Summits, Ataraxis and Discovery. The groups guitarist, Martin Lepalaan, enthusiastically told us about the 3-minute Endurance: Yes indeed! The song was named after E. Shackletons ship. We even used some video from his expedition as our album teaser. www.oceandistricts.com; oceandistricts.bandcamp.com; soundcloud.com/oceandistricts; www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYrkuCgxqSA
ANTARCTICA IN COLOUR by Tigers on Trains (2014)
Tigers on Trains is the Long Island, N.Y.-based indie rock duo of Mason Maggio and Christian Van Deurs who have made three albums of soaring light rock over eight years, though this album is largely a Maggio solo project. Although there are no direct Antarctic-themed songs, the title of the album is interesting for the Antarctic metaphor in that it presents a fuller, more rocking tone to previous acoustic work, described by reviewer SowingSeason at sputnikmusic.com as adding new splashes of creativity to a once plain white canvas. www.tigersontrains.bandcamp.com
WINTER by Christian Scalas (2014)
Christian Scalas (aka Kryss Hypnowave) is a Lanusei, Italy-based sound designer/engineer and ambient/electronica experimental musician. His first album has the quiet, breathy mysterious sounding 4½-minute instrumental Antartika. AY JASRAC DQC-1222; soundcloud.com/christian-scalas-1
ANTARCTICA by Outrageous Fun (2014) (Web site download only)
Outrageous Fun is a garage rock/ rockabilly trio from Atlanta Georgia. Their current 4-song EP has the 8-minute psychedelic-sounding multi-part track Antarctica. Sam Hellmann, vocalist and guitarist, who has since relocated to Montreal, Canada, told us about the reason for the track: Thanks for giving our track a listen. I wrote the song during a massive ice storm Atlanta had a couple years ago. It basically shut down all infrastructure. I was spending a lot of time alone and bummed out, but I had finally made plans with some people. That was ruined because of the ice. I remember lying down distraught in the snow really late one of those nights around 3 am or something and looking at the stars. I felt like I was completely detached in a sort of peaceful way, and I got a vague melody in my head. So I went back inside and messed around with a guitar until that main riff came out. I pulled up a picture of Antarctica to try and get in the right mood to write something meandering, lonely, and cold-sounding and thats what I came up with. The lyrics I wrote later, right before I moved to Montreal (where I live now). Theyre about being stuck in a very cold place and being alone/ having all the hard work I put into relationships in Atlanta falling apart from being too far away. I pulled up that same picture of Antarctica when I wrote the lyrics. The picture has this station in it that they had to keep rebuilding because snow would accumulate and cause the whole thing to collapse. Its like an analogy for having to continuously repair a relationship. Its called the Halley Research Station (on the Brunt Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea). outrageousfun.bandcamp.com
SWITCHBLADE by Switchblade (2014) (Web site download only)
Switchblade is the solo project of Padua, Italy-based electronic musician Riccardo Giacomazzi. His current album has the 3½-minute instrumental Antarctica, about which Riccardo told us: Antarctica is the attempt to transpose into music a sense of loneliness and helplessness. I called the track in this way because Antarctica reminds me these feelings. switchbladepd.bandcamp.com; soundcloud.com/switch-blade-music
ANTARCTICA by In To the Hindhollows (2014) (Web site download only)
Sean Patrick Mayfield is a Santa Rosa, California-based lo-fi electronic musician and filmmaker. His current album of ambient music has two tracks with direct Antarctic themes, the 6-minute South Georgia and the 20-minute Antarktik, both darkly brooding ambient drone pieces. Sean Patrick explained his album title for us: Id say Ive had an interest/fascination with the continent for a while now, starting, I think, with John Carpenters The Thing, followed by documentaries, books (e.g. Alfred Lansings Endurance), and generally anything else I can get my hands on. The songs on the album are a mix of old songs, years old and recent, from this year, and I put them all together after finding a common theme among them. For me, the common theme is a feeling of loneliness and isolation, and thats where I started exploring a sort of literal and figurative connection to Antarctica. Big, glacial, solitary music. The opening track title (So Much Nearer Home) comes from a Robert Frost poem, Desert Places. I found the poem when the album was almost done, and felt like it was saying what I was with the album, only better than I could.
Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast, In a field I looked into going past, And the ground almost covered smooth in snow, But a few weeds and stubble showing last.
The woods around it have it - it is theirs. All animals are smothered in their lairs. I am too absent-spirited to count; The loneliness includes me unawares.
And lonely as it is that loneliness Will be more lonely ere it will be less - A blanker whiteness of benighted snow With no expression, nothing to express.
They cannot scare me with their empty spaces Between stars - on stars where no human race is. I have it in me so much nearer home To scare myself with my own desert places.
www.intothehindhollows.com; intothehindhollows.bandcamp.com/album/antarctica; www.sean-mayfield.net
BAPHOMET PAN SHUB-NIGGURATH by Unaussprechlichen Kulten (2014) (CD) and MADNESS FROM THE SEA/DWELLERS OF THE DEEP by Unaussprechlichen Kulten/After Death (2012) (CD and Vinyl LP)
Unaussprechlichen Kulten is a Santiago, Chile-based death metal rock group. Formed in 1999, it has toured internationally and has based its musical oeuvre on the literary works of American science fiction/horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The Baphomet Pan album has the 3½-minutre Kadath in the Cold Waste (Tekeli-li Part II). In these sample lyrics, we have been forewarned of danger: In the icy vastness, that no man has trodden, It is better that men know nothing of Kadath in the icy vastness. The Madness From the Sea album has the 4½-minute Tekeli-li (The Pit of the Shoggoths) which tells of the horrors that lay at hand. Sample lyrics: Tekeli-li, The pit of the Shoggoths, Shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, Temporary eyes forming and unforming as pustules of greenish lightOld Pnakotic whispers About dreaded Kadath In the Cold Waste Beyond abhorrent Leng.
These songs are based on both the cry of the giant white Antarctic birds in the 1838 book, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, by the American macabre mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe, as well as on the cry of the monstrous Shoggoths in At the Mountains of Madness, American science fiction/ horror author H. P. Lovecrafts 1931 novella about a Byrd-era Antarctic expedition that experiences terror in a long-lost ancient city.
Joseph Curwen, guitarist, vocalist and spells told us about the Kadath in the Cold Waste (Tekeli-li Part II) track: Well, first of all, you must listen to the first part, called Tekeli-li (The Pit of the Shoggoths), taken from The Madness From the Sea album, split with After Deaths Dwellers of The Deep. Lovecraft, to make a tribute to Poes work, in At the Mountains of Madness uses the same sound to describe the scream of a Shoggoth, who would have learnt the same expression from its own creators. Baphomet Pan: Dark Descent Records DDR113CD; www.darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/baphomet-pan-shub-niggurath; Madness From the Sea: LP: Iron Pegasus Records I.P. 071, CD: Proselytism
THE NAVY LARK Series Nine (2014)
The Navy Lark, the longest running comedy program in British radio history, was a concoction about the antics of the crew of HMS Troutbridge, on the BBC airwaves from March 1959 to July 1977 with 15 series. This box set of ten CDs of episodes from July to November 1967 includes Back from the Antarctic, broadcast on July 2, 1967. This caper has the Troutbridge, apparently returning from Antarctica, with a flotilla of various ships in tow. The program theme music was composed by harmonica virtuoso Tommy Reilly and by James Moody. This episode also appears in THE NAVY LARK Volume 18 (2006). BBC Audiobooks; www.bbcshop.com; (See also THE NAVY LARK Series Seven (2011), NAVY LARK Series 4 Volume 2 (2008), NAVY LARK VOLUME 18 (2006) and NAVY LARK Series Two Volume 1 (2004) in this section.)
WINDS OF ANTARCTICA – CONTEMPLATING CREATION and WINDS OF ANTARCTICA – POLAR CONCERT by Leo Golub and Sergio Medina (VocalMusic) (2014) (Web site download only)
Two 3-minute tracks of soothing New Age music from Argentinean musicians, recorded with environmental sounds from Argentinas Marambio Base on the Antarctic Peninsula. The publicity notes describe the tracks as an assembly between nature; winds and albatrosses in an endless song combining with orchestral sounds that try to scale the majestic scenery around usHere the wind is the main character. Wind is a unique feature of the south polar continent. Surges at any time, with speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour. Antarctica is one of the few inhospitable places that exist in the world and a marvel of creation that deserves to be contemplated. We invite you to enjoy the Antarctic Sound. www.cdbaby.com
CITYJAM by Pat Coldrick (2014)
Pat Coldrick is an acclaimed Dublin, Ireland-based classical guitarist and composer, known for his sensitive and expressive playing in many styles. He has done session work, has toured and played festivals and appeared on national radio and television. His current album of classical and modern pieces has the smooth, shimmering 6-minute track Antarctica. According to the liner notes, Antarctica is probably still one of the most dangerous and beautiful places on Earth. Its awesome beauty, vast expanses of unexplored territory and its solitude are an overpowering reminder to us all of our own insignificance. It has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. As I wrote this piece, I really felt I was there, totally alone, immersed in this wilderness of serenity and extreme harshness. Hopefully you will, as I did, get the sense of being there. Pat told us further about the background of the piece: What I try to do with music is...paint pictures, so to speak, and take the listener right to the centre and immerse them in the music. This I did with Antarctica, a place I have always been fascinated with, its awesome size...beauty...tranquility...its desolationits hidden dangers...but above all its glory and reminder of how glorious this planet really is. Sonatina Records; www.patcoldrick.com
ANTARCTIC JAZZ by Jacky Bullfrog (2014)
Jacky Bullfrog is a Reutlingen, Germany-based solo artist who makes music in many styles, including rock/blues/electronica and jazz music. One of the songs on his site is the 5-minute Antarctic Jazz, an hypnotic electronic and percussive track with trumpet solo. Jacky explained the track for us in 2014: Antarctic Jazz is the coolest kind of Cool Jazz. www.jackybullfrog.com; www.reverbnation.com/musician/jackybullfrog4
BIPOLAR WINTER by Scanning Antarctica (2014)
Scanning Antarctica is a Massachusetts-based progressive power/ metal rock group with an intriguing name and a picture of a tree growing on an iceberg on the CD cover. While there are no directly-themed Antarctic songs on the groups first album, Jeffrey Crocker, the vocalist, told us that The name revolves around a piece of music that I had written many years ago. And the theme is loosely used throughout the album to join the songs together. I have always been fascinated with the idea of what Antarctica is and was. When I wrote the piece...I could only think about panning my vision through a vast, untainted landscape filled with mountains and frozen plateaus...that BARELY allows me to be there. Its the place in our world of functionality that we cannot seem to truly get a handle on. Its mysterious purpose is fully in control and humanity is not even a footnote in its want. www.scanningantarctica.com; scanningantarctica.bandcamp.com
ANTARCTICA (MIXTAPE VOLUME IV) by Thrilogy (2014) (Web site download only)
Bristol, U. K.-based Thrilogy has produced a 67-minute mixtape of house music, Antarctica. One of the record labels owners, Matt Wolf, told us about the yin and yang of the title: The mixtape was called Antarctica because the artist recently released a song on my label called Arctic. soundcloud.com/thrilogy; www.wolfrecordsmusic.com
ANTARCTICA by Rhythm of Mankind and Nature (2014) (Web site download only)
Rhythm of Mankind and Nature is the electronic musical project of Saint Petersburg, Russia-based musician and producer Roman Pavlov. Since forming this project in 2000, he has recorded many albums of ambient, New Age, chillout and meditational music for his own account as well as for international distributors. The 8-minute single track Antarctica is a quiet reflection of the peaceful side of the Continent. Roman told us about this piece: Transas company has ordered the soundtrack to its presentation and I recorded it. Antarctica was in a light arrangement for video background and is an original arrangement. I try to use mysterious sounds, sometimes light, sometimes dangerous, but I wished to keep a romantic atmosphere at all times. I hope I did. www.romanmusic.ru; www.roman-pavlov.ru
THE AVIATRIX DEMO COLLECTION VOLUME 3 /LOST GARDEN GNOME HOTLINE (Limited Edition EP) by Trance To The Sun (2014) (EP CD and Web site download)
Trance to the Sun, led by guitarist Ashkelon Sain, was a darkwave rock group, based in Santa Barbara, California. The group issued seven albums and toured over 1990-2001. It was led by composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ashkelon Sain who is now based in Portland, Oregon. A new version of the group has recently been formed and issued a 4-song demo EP. One of the tracks on it is the spookily atmospheric and enchanting 7-minute Lost Garden Gnome Hotline, about stolen garden gnomes that were later discovered in many parts of the world, including a large group in Antarctica. Sample lyrics: Four thousand were discovered in Antarctica, near the base of Vinson Massif. Knocking their heads on the icereports are flooding insomething just below the surface, threatening to rise, like a steam vent on a snow capped volcano, and freeze there, condensed! Ashkelon explained the track for us: Antarctica fascinates me for many reasons. I was recently watching a documentary which explained the way that deciduous plants may have evolved there a million years ago. Our new song Lost Garden Gnome Hotline essentially rides atop the fundamental question of where do we go when we die? But it is analogously seen through the mystery of what happened to someones tragically stolen garden statue. Ingrid Luna Blue vocalizes as the call-taker, announcing that which is known. There are lost garden statues all over the place. Apparently they have a will of their own, or they are under the influence of some divine guidance (we are never quite sure). We took a large number of them to Antarctica in the lyrics...the place where the vast majority of these lost treasures have gone...near the base of Vinson Massif. Below Sea Level Recordings #140; trancetothesun.bandcamp.com; www.ashkelonsain.com
ANTARCTICA by Stuart Revnell (2014) (Web site download only)
Stuart Revnell is a London, U.K.-based light rock musician/producer who began as a solo performer and released his first EP in 2008. His latest recording is the plaintive hook-laden, 3½-minute single track Antarctica. Stuart told us about the song: Im a singer/songwriter, and a couple of years ago I started playing around on the guitar, and for some reason (who knows where these ideas come from!), I started singing something which became the chorus for the song. I didnt think anyone had done a song called Antarctica before, so I liked the idea, and started writing a song around it. The idea I had was that there are so many places in the world which are classed as romantic, and as such, the expectation is that a relationship will be strong in these places - Paris, Venice, Rome, etc. The idea of the song is about what would happen if you were somewhere where you only had each other, without all the packaged romantic elements - Antarctica seemed to fit, and the word sings really well too! www.stuartrevnell.com; soundcloud.com/stuartrevnell/antarctica
RED UFO by Octagrape (2014) (Vinyl LP and Web site download)
Octagrape is a San Diego, California experimental arty/garage rock band. Their first full-length album has the 5-minute track South Pole/ Summer. Glenn Galloway, vocalist and guitarist told us in 2014 that South Pole/ Summer is supposed to be a sing-along summer song about a place that doesnt get much summer. Glenn was formerly a member of the group Trumans Water, which recorded its own polar track, Equatorial Antarctica, on the CD TRUMANS WATER (2001). octagrape.bandcamp.com
TEKELI-LI by The Great Old Ones (2014)
The Great Old Ones are a Bordeaux, France-based dark and extreme/hard rock group, which formed in 2011. Their second album is named after the cry uttered by a monstrous shuggoth in H. P. Lovecrafts 1931 Antarctic novella, At the Mountains of Madness, and originally uttered by Antarctic birds in Edgar Allen Poes 1837 seminal novella, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Sbastien Lalanne, the bassist, told us that the Antarctica track, and the whole album Tekeli-li, is based on the H. P. Lovecraft text, At the Mountains of Madness. If you dont know this, it is a weird tale/ horror story that takes place in the Antarctic. This 1931 horror novella is considered a major work in the American writers canon. Track titles such as Antarctica, The Elder Things, Awakening and Behind the Mountains tell the story, through heavy metal music, of an Antarctic research expedition that finds a lot more than it bargained for in the horrors of a timeless lost city beneath the mountains of Antarctica. AO-019; www.thegreatoldonesband.com; thegreatoldones.bandcamp.com; soundcloud.com/thegreatoldones
MOLLOW by the Emersons (2014)
The Emersons is a Stockholm, Sweden-based electrojazz/hiphop electronica project, which began in 2007. Led by producer and arranger Jakob Norgren, numerous guests appear on this instrumental album of big band horns and various other instruments. Many of the tracks feature the alto sax and clarinet of the since-deceased Herbert Nordlund. One of the tracks is the 3½-minute infectious Antarctic Lullaby, with its growling low-toned sax interlude. Jakob explained the origin of the track to us: I made the tune maybe five years ago. I was randomly processing a horn sample from my composition Forest Eyes, from the album East of the Arctic Circle by Jakob Norgren Big Band Splash, and came up with the sound that starts Antarctic Lullaby. I experienced the sound as very cold and tried to keep that feel with the other sounds I added. After I had added the baritone sax, the title Antarctic Lullaby just came to me as an association to the music. WIME WMM008; www.theemersons.se; www.jakobnorgren.se
HIDDEN FROM VIEW by Fishy & Peron (2014) (Web site download only)
Fishy (a.k.a. Eivind Rnning) is a Sandefjord, Norway-based drum and bass electronic musician who collaborated with Peron, a Bristol, U. K.-based musician for this EP album of atmospheric chill-out music. One of the tracks is the 8-minute South Pole, for which Fishy explained the background: Well, there really is no particular reason, just that North Pole was the first track on the EP and South Pole is the last track. And I did both with Peron, so they kind of fit together. I think they have a fresh cold feel - like a nice cold beer. omnimusic.bandcamp.com/album/fishy-hidden-from-view-ep; soundcloud.com/fishy-1
ARCTIC SUNRISE by Kerani (2014)
Kerani is Netherlands-based keyboardist and spiritually-influenced musician whose music is for those who need some diversion from our erratic and dizzying society, according to her Website. In 2013, she wrote score for two Antarctic documentaries made by the NOW (Dutch Institute for Scientific Research), Antarctic Inspection and Rothera. Her current album of polar and ice themes has the 10½-minute stately, symphonic Far Away From Home, about Robert Scotts ill-fated South Pole Expedition of 1910-12, with subtitles, The Antarctic Dream, Voyage Over the Ross Sea, March on the Pole, Shattering of Dreams, a Wearisome Return, and the End Cannot be Far (Quote from his Diary) and Heroes Forever! Kerami told us about the piece: While I was writing music for this album, I did a lot of research by watching documentaries about the Arctic and Antarctic regions, I read a lot of articles and that is when I came across the true story of Captain Robert F. Scott. I also found old pictures and excerpts from his diary. This whole event moved me to such an extent that I decided to put it to music. Far Away from Home recounts Scotts journey from New Zealand to his ill-fated death. Stemra KM1403; www.kerani.nl; soundcloud.com/kerani-music
LIQUID DREAMS by Nebula Dogs (2014) (Web site download only)
Nebula Dogs is a Florianpolis, Brazil-based psychedelic indie rock group, formed in 2012. One of the songs on their debut album is the melodic and atmospheric 3½-minute Antarctic Sun. The group told us about the track: Our album aims to tell a story through the songs and with this one we wanted to depict some feelings of desert-like loneliness experienced by the character. Also, we use to express things through essentially opposite images (Antarctic - cold; sun - hot); its sort of an aesthetical aspect of our music. soundcloud.com/nebula-dogs
DIE REISEN by Visonia and Dopplereffekt (2014) (Vinyl LP only)
This is a collaborative 3-track EP album by two electronic producers, Chile-based Visonia (a.k.a. Nicolas Estany) and Dopplereffekt (a group led by Detroit-based Gerald Donald). One of the tracks is the 5-minute quietly moody electro/ambient piece Antarctic Love. Trajectory 1017
DANZA, DANZA by Laurie Altman and Anders Miolin (2014)
Laurie Altman, a former assistant professor of music at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, moved to Zurich in 2010. He has received many classical commissions for compositions and has performed as a jazz artist in numerous clubs and events worldwide. This CD includes pieces in a variety of styles as solos and duets, with Laurie on piano and Anders Miolin on a custom-made 13-string guitar he co-developed with luthier Ermanno Chiavi. Anders Miolin is a Swedish-born composer and guitarist who is professor of guitar at Zurich University of the Arts. One of the tracks is the 8½-minute Antarctic Convergence for Guitar and Piano. According to Lauries liner notes, The cold, jagged blue ice edge of Antarctica, its vastness, emptiness and spirituality, inhabit this piece, written while travelling on a National Geographic ship (on a trip to Antarctica in 2006). Guild GMCD 7410; (See also CONVERGENCE – Music of Laurie Altman (2013) in this section and ON COURSE by Laurie Altman (2008) in the Other Classical section.)
CONVERGENCE – Music of Laurie Altman (2013)
Laurie Altman, a former assistant professor of music at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, moved to Zurich in 2010. He has received many classical commissions for compositions and has performed as a jazz artist in numerous clubs and events worldwide. This CD is a compilation of varied jazz-based solo and small group pieces composed over 2005-06, including Laurie on piano on the three tracks with small group accompaniment. One of these is the 8½-minute Antarctic Convergence, for tenor saxophone, piano and double bass. According to Lauries CD liner notes, Antarctic Convergence was imagined and completed in 2006. Its beginnings occurred aboard the Endeavor, a National Geographic ship that my wife Jeannine and I were traveling aboard during a trip to Antarctica in 2006. I became haunted by trying to find a sound - something to bring me closer to the emptiness, the vastness, the color, the cold, and the pristine stillness of that remarkable placeThe improvised statements of the three instruments become personal commentaries; dialogues within a void; assertions of place, temperature, incline and conclusion.
In 2008, Laurie issued a previous CD, ON COURSE, which had the 13-minute, 3-part Suite, Three Antarctic Songs for Baritone and Piano, which includes the tracks On Course, Within Limitless Space and Does an Emperor Penguin Meditate. The baritone is Elem Eley, with Laurie Altman at the piano. The second piece is the 5½-minute On Course for Instrumental Octet, which includes flutes, clarinet, piano vibraphone, violin, maracas and conductor. Laurie told us that The Antarctic pieces found their inspiration from a trip that my wife and I took to Antarctica in February of 2006. The CD contains two On Course Pieces: An instrumental Octet and a setting of three Antarctic poems of mine for Baritone and Piano. There were numerous other pieces that emerged as a result of that trip as well. NEOS 11315; www.lauriealtman.com; (See also CONVERGENCE – Music of Laurie Altman (2013) in this section and ON COURSE by Laurie Altman (2008) in the Other Classical section.)
HADOPELAGIA by Kaioni (2013)
Kaioni, now using by his actual name, Jerome, is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based solo singer/musician. He creates spiritual, conceptual electronica and acoustical music. His current album was inspired by water and the deepest layers of the oceans. One of the tracks is the soothing and reflective 6-minute instrumental Antarctica, played on guitar and other stringed instruments, with Oriental-sounding influences. In 2015, Jerome told us that What originally led me to Antarctica was the knowledge that we have only charted about 5% of the Ocean, at most. That draws a parallel with the places above water that we have not charted - the mystery that presents. Antarctica seems untouchable by many, even if it isnt. Its at the geographic South Pole. It is covered in ice and has not been explored as much as, say, Ancient Egypt or anywhere else on Earth. Ocean Ice! That Ocean Ice is another thing that pulled me to it - as my music is largely ecological in nature, especially EcoLectronica - to see it melt, to know what is happening about that ice cover falling away - it is an intense thing. So many meeting points at the nexus of Antarctica. The more I create from my own supposition and perception about mysterious, fulfilling Antarctica, and the more I learn about it from reading about it, the more I want to learn about it in conversation with those that DO know about it. Explorers, visitors, scientists, etc. I will love to go there one day. There is always more to say! Especially about this. All I have are books, as I havent been there yet. jeromecreative.bandcamp.com; www.reverbnation.com/kaioni
CAR TALK #1352: BOUNCING ACROSS ANTARCTICA (2013) (Web site download only)
Car Talk is an award-winning American radio call-in show originating from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and originally produced on National Public Radio from 1977 to 2012. It is still being aired from voluminous highlight archives. Hosted by real brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, known as Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, the duo gave out automotive repair advice to phone-in callers. However, the program really revolved around humour and human foibles, as viewed by the wisecracking and self-deprecating hosts. This particular program, which aired on Dec. 28, 2013, had an episode with caller John from the U.S. McMurdo Station in Antarctica. He complained about a hard, bumpy ride in his Delta snow terrain vehicle. The brothers advised him to turn the pressure as low as possible in the massive rubber tires. www.cartalk.com; www.npr.org
ARCTICA by jazzarctica (2013) (Web site download only)
Jazzarctica is a New York City-based jazz trio composed of bassist Mike Parker and trumpeter Bryson Barnes who began playing together in 2007, along with Paris-based drummer Tim Campanella (Eric Hamell is the drummer on this record). According to its Web site, The group draws inspiration from the vast, frozen icescapes of the arctic: the interplay between motion and stillness; power and calm; hard grooves and open space; the composed and improvised. Their album starts with the quiet 1½-minute Antarctica Prelude, followed by the harder-edged 5½-minute Antarctica.
Bryson further explained their music for us in 2014: Our inspiration came chiefly from our interaction as individuals, and a major element of the sound seemed to emanate from our use of space. Since there were only three instruments (and no chord instrument) we had a lot of opportunities to experiment with melodic and rhythmic balance, as well as cultivating open textures. These seemed to imply the idea of a vast open physical space - one that may appear placid but is really shifting beneath the surface. Commonalities between our music and the Arctic environment became apparent to us, and we embraced this chilling and beautiful landscape as inspiration for further development of our sound. We felt that the imagery of an open Arctic landscape lent itself well to our sound for other reasons as well: in the chilling cold, all sounds are suddenly sharper, the quietude suddenly deeper. The intimacy of our sound dovetailed with this way of listening, I think. The first tracks, Antarctica Prelude and Antarctica, were further inspired by the construction of the word itself: the prefix anti-, which etymologically serves as the prefix to arctica in this case, implies opposite, and the idea of Antarctica as some kind of parallel but opposite Arctic provided fertile ground for further thought and artistic creation. I hope this brief explanation helps you to understand where our minds were artistically. jazzarctica.bandcamp.com; www.brysonbarnes.com; www.mikeparkerbass.com
WILLKOMMEN IM LICHT by Harpyie (2013)
Harpyie is a Lhne (North Rhine-Westphalia), Germany-based medieval/folk/gothic hard metal band that incorporates a violin and bagpipes in its sound. Their second album, Welcome to the Light, includes the hard rocking 4-minute Antarktika and 2-minute Antarktika Epilog. Metalville MV0042; www.harpyien.de
POSITIVELY AWKWARD by Encourager (2013)
Encourager is a punk quintet from Seattle, U.S.A. Their 3-song EP of energetic and melodic rock has the track, Scott of the Antarctic. Hard to catch the lyrics, but theres choruses of Youre an iceberg. www.encouragertheband.com
EARTH FESTIVITIES by Rewo (2013)
Rewo (a.k.a. Ren van der Wouden) is a Netherlands-based electronic/ambient musician who has been composing and producing music since 1993. He has released numerous instrumental albums since 2005 and his current release has the 7-minute bubbly, arpeggiated Antarctica Festivities. Ren told us in 2014 that this record was inspired by the films of the 2006 BBC television documentary series, Planet Earth and the 2011 follow up series, Frozen Planet. SynGate CD-R RW02; rewo.bandcamp.com; www.renevanderwouden.ne; rewo.bandcamp.com
WORLD MUSIC by Earth Essence (2013) (Web site download only)
This is one of a large series of California, U.S.A.-produced music albums of meditation and New Age-type instrumental music albums. It has the inspirational sounding 3-minute Antarctica.
MELODIC PERCEPTION by Tropical Bleyage (2013)
Tropical Bleyage is the psy/trance electronic music project of Belgrade, Serbia-based producer and musician Pavle Perovic and DJ Marko Graovic, formed in 2005. With several album releases since 2011, the current one has the 8-minute windblown, fast-paced Antarctica. The group told us about the background of the track in 2014: Well, for most of the tracks, we named them after its done and hear what we associate with it and then give the name. For this particular one, my sister was entering the room when I was making it and said, Hey, this sounds like Antarctica, you should name it like that. So who knows, mate; also the music is associated with some cold places and stuff like that so its the proper name I think. www.tropicalbleyage.com
GLOBE TREKKER – EPIC - Music from the TV Series (2013)
Globe Trekker is a British adventure travel TV series produced by Pilot Productions, which began in1994. Its hosts and production team visit exotic locations around the world and dig deeper than the normal tourist destinations. One of the features of the internationally distributed program has been its global-influenced background music and the show has produced many CDs of music. One of the tracks on this CD, which covers themes of international places, events and people, is the peppy orchestral 2-minute instrumental Antarctic Voyage by Michael Conn, a frequent contributor to the series. Pilot Film and TV Productions GTCD12; www.globetrekkertv.com
MUSIC FOR VIDEO GAMES by mr.teddybear (2013) (Web site download only)
Mr.teddybear is a Paris, France-based ambient/electronic musician with a fondness for video games. His current album of atmospheric sounds has the 2-minute Antarctic, with hypnotic repeating piano and wind. He told us in 2014 about the album: Music for Video Games is an album dedicated to all those places virtually visited in video games. I just chose the most common places. Antarctic is one of the rare ones actually inspired by one game, Prisoner of Ice, which is a very old point and click adventure game on Mac, inspired by H. P. Lovecrafts universe. mrteddybear.bandcamp.com
PEOPLES WORLDWIDE by Kasa Remixoff (2013) (Web site download only)
This an album of one basic instrumental track, remixed eight times to represent the seven continents plus the Arctic, by Vadim Kasap, a Ukraine-based electronic/techno music producer. Included is the multi-tempoed 6-minute Peoples WorldWide (Antarctic). kasaremixoff.blogspot.ca
SMOKERS DIE YOUNGER by DJBastart (2013) (Web site download only)
Originally from Kaliningrad, Russian Federation, DJBastart (a.k.a. Alexey Orlov) is a Koenig City, Germany-based, electronic music producer, originally from Kaliningrad, Russian Federation, who has been involved in various alternative and hip hop electronic projects since 1994 and has worked solo since 2007. He mixes various cultural and musical heritages with new sounds and influences. His current album has the 5-minute track Antarctic Monkeyz, an eclectic barrel of musical fun, ending with simian sounds and clapping. Alexey told us about the track in 2014: Its very simple! I have worked for many years and enjoy Antarctica! These are my thoughts and impressions and feelings! soundcloud.com/djbastartdj; djbastart.bandcamp.com
PUMPER by Goofyfooter (2013)
Goofyfooter is a Melbourne, Australia-based crossover surf/psychedelic instrumental rock group, formed in 2011. One of the tracks on their current 4-track mini CD is the 5-minute guitar workout, Ship Sandwich. The groups publicity describes the song: Glenn (Allen, guitarist) was inspired to write this epic tale after visiting the Sea Shepherd fleet in Williamstown, touring all of their ships and chatting with the crew members. Its an un-dance-able soundtrack to the recent incident in the Antarctic Ocean, where two large ships from the Japanese whaling fleet attempted to crush and sink the MV Bob Barker and covers a great deal of sonic territory, from peaceful whale songs to maritime explosions! Glenn Allen further explained the track for us in 2014: I was inspired to write the tune Ship Sandwich after visiting the three ships in the Sea Shepherd fleet that were docked here in Melbourne, Australia. This was just after theyd returned from their 2012-13 campaign and they were heavily damaged by the Japanese whaling fleet. To walk on the decks and see the damage first-hand was quite alarming - large sections of 2 plate steel buckled like tin foil, steel communications masts folded like drinking straws. The crew members recounted and showed footage of the actual events that caused this and it left a lasting impression. Goofyfootermusic GFM003; www.goofyfootermusic.com.au
SWORD OF ANTARCTICA by Night Assembly (2013) (Web site download only)
Sword of Antarctica is this unidentified groups only recorded song to date and according to its Web site, Night Assembly is a Dark Atmospheric Metal music project started in 2013. Sample song lyrics: I know the spirits of the frozen desert. I slept in the ice a million of years. I was awakened on December Fourteenth. If the last Terra Incognita is dead, the rule of nations falls into its dusk, a unified new world will emerge from South Pole. Ive set in fire the Great Blaze of the South, I follow the path of polar lights, I hold the Sword of Antarctica... nightassembly.wordpress.com
PORTRAIT # 10 by Dino Soldo (2013)
Dino Soldo is a California-based multi-instrumentalist who plays all the keyboards, string and wind instruments in this palette of smooth world jazz. Since the late 1980s, Soldo has toured with and played sessions with internationally known musicians such as Ray Charles, Lionel Richie, Elton John, Leonard Cohen, Beyonc and Cyndi Lauper. In addition, he has recorded many of his own albums. This album has many tracks named after colours, including the plaintive 5-minute Antarctica White. Dino explained the track for us in 2014: I wrote it for a good friend of mine. She was going through quite a difficult period, where she faced a ton of rejection and alienation. During that time she wrote me a letter, saying that she wouldnt mind leaving everything behind and living in Antarctica. I wrote this for her. You can hear most of the time, two instruments exchanging solitary notes in the song. When I think of the song, I think of that lonely but beautiful time. TobaccoBagg Records tbg-68010; www.dinosoldo.net; dinosoldo.bandcamp.com
PERFECT SENSE by Agwabom (2013) (Web site download only)
Agwabom is an unknown California-based artist whose comedic music album includes quirky, satiric songs recorded over 25 years. One of the tracks is the 4-minute Good Morning Antarctica, a loungy jazz instrumental, over which the announcers voice reports increasing temperatures in Antarctica, up to 144, with apparent sounds of people hotfooting it in the warm climate. www.agwabom.com
BURNING LEAVES OF EMPTY FAWNS by Fankz (2013) (Web site download only)
Fankz is an Italian rock group, formed in 2003. Their current album of melodic punk/hard rock has the 3½ minute song The Saviour of the South Pole. Ricky, the groups vocalist and guitarist, explained the track for us in 2014: I wrote this song thinking mainly to the theme of looking inside, what others see when they look at us, and how to find ourselves through choices that sometimes seem, for our loved ones and friends, absurd or extreme, and how these are able to bring to our life new unexpectedly paths. I preferred to use, as a metaphor of this thought, the animals of Antarctica, because I think there are some similarities with the modern life in our modern society. In any case, Im never too specific in the texts, with respect to the issues discussed, because I prefer that each listener has his answer and his personal journey in the songs. www.fankaz.com
ARKTICAL RECORDS – SHORT CIRCUIT by Digikal Roots (2013) (Web site download only)
Digikal Roots is a Huddersfield, U.K.-based dub music producer whose current album has the 3½-minute bass/drums/keyboard dubstep/reggae-influenced track Antarctic Dubbin. Digikal explained the track for us in 2014: I was reading a blog by a person who had been living in what looked like a testing station in the Antarctic, for some reason this blog mentioned my radio station. So I was under the assumption that the person there had some kind of internet connection and was tuning in. This got me thinking about if this person was out there living for months on end with no contact as such other than a dub station. This would be quite surreal, lonely, spiritual. This inspired me to make Antarctic Dubbin. www.reverbnation.com/digikalroots; soundcloud.com/digikal-roots
SOUNDS OF THE NORTH by the Small Axe People (2013)
The Small Axe People is the musical project of Ray Hurford, a London, U.K.-based former publisher of reggae magazines, a book author and a music producer of version and dub instrumental reggae music. He has issued a series of stripped-down instrumental dub music albums since his first in 2001. The present one is devoted to snow and ice, with the titles Ice Man, Snow Flake, Snow Storm, Frozen Spirit, Ice Axe, More Snow, The Big Freeze, Cold Snap, Snowball, North Pole Skank and Cold Spell. The last track is the 4-minute drums/bass/organ riff, South Pole Shuffle. Since this south polar location is not known for its northern sounds, we asked Ray about it and he advised: The South Pole being opposite to the North Pole leads to the south - and you will probably have noticed its the last track. Hence a shuffle to the south!!! The next stop on this musical journey. SAP 016; www.small.axepeople.com;
Ray also advised of a reggae-South Pole rarity: Do you have a Karl Walker/Keith Walker tune in your collection - a must! Stronghold (On the South Pole). The Karl/Keith Walker tune is very rare, and as far as I know not on any LP/CD. I would think that the tune is the first reference to the South Pole in reggae music. The 3-minute trumpet-driven Stronghold (On the South Pole) by Karl Walker with Tommy McCook & the Supersonics (1966), Soft Touch pre Wirl KW 1269, is available to see and hear on YouTube, as a rotating 45 single.
ANTARCTICA EP by Tiger Tsunami (2013) (Web site download only)
Tiger Tsunami (a.k.a. Christian Parker) is a London, U.K.-based electronic music producer. His current album has the 4-minute post-dubstep track Antarctica, as well as a remixed vocalized version by Nuages. With their smooth clipped samples, both tracks provide a warm yet coolish, hypnotic listening experience. tigertsunami.bandcamp.com/album/re-antarctica-ep
FORGET YOUR FRIENDS by Forget Your Friends (2013) (Web site download only)
Forget Your Friends is an experimental newgaze rock group from the Los Angeles, California area. Their debut album has the tough but catchy sounding 3-minute track Antarctica. Pony Curtis, vocalist and guitarist told us about the track in 2014: I would like to state that I never want to take away what the listener may feel the song is about, by impressing my own thoughts on the track. I want the song to be about whatever the listener wants it to be about, everyones own take on it, I love it that way. So if you might hear it differently please dont let my words change it for you. The song was written about cold people that are stuck in a dark place that eventually end up alone, so when we thought about what might be the perfect metaphor for cold dark alone, Antarctica seemed perfect! soundcloud.com/forget-your-friends
DIMENSIONATA by Cymphonic (2013)
Cymphonic is the ambient music solo project of The Hague, Netherlands-based electronic musician Stanley Swinkels. His fourth album has the deep and mysterious-sounding 7-minute track Lake Vostok, named for Antarcticas best known and largest subglacial lake, which itself was named for Russias nearby base, Vostok Station. Stanley explained the making of the track for us: I usually start a track by experimenting with some basic layers and then tune in into the atmosphere of this initial experiment. In this track I wanted to use some female voices which represent for me dark, hidden sirens of the waters. By imagining and associating what this track evokes while creating it, the dark, cold and icy underwater vibe made me think of an area such as Lake Vostok. I searched for pictures and read about this Lake and then I chose a fitting title: this somewhat mysterious and (for some) eerie ambient is intriguing for me (to create). Over the 2012-13 research season, after scientists drilled for many years through over 13,000 miles of ice, water samples were finally obtained from the lake. Gene tests of the organisms found in the water have shown a variety both known and unknown organisms and their significance is still under consideration and the subject of further research. Databloem DB046-2012; www.cymphonic.nl
BOOMBOX by OkyDoky (2013) (Web site download only)
OkyDoky is Beirut, Lebanon-based electro instrumental hip hop artist. Active since 2008, he has done live shows in New York in recent years and has collaborated with European artists. His debut album has the unrelenting rhythms of the 2½-minute tracks Lake Vostok and a remixed version, Lake Vostok (Radio KVM Remix), named after Antarcticas largest and best known subglacial lake. OkyDoky told us about the track in 2014: I was inspired by Lake Vostok in the news the last year, especially when Russian scientists announced they had found bacteria at 4 km below the ice. A whole other universe. okydoky.bandcamp.com
ANTARTICA by Leo Quinteros (2013) (Web site download only)
Leo Quinteros is a Santiago, Chile-based songwriter and musician who has forged a solo recording and performing career since 2003, with support from accompanying musicians. His latest album, in Spanish, has the track Antartica, a thoughtful-sounding Latin-flavoured folk/pop song that starts quietly but later turns on the percussive heat. Leo explained the significance of the song to us: Antrtica is the name of my fifth album that contains a track of the same title as well. The right way to say it in Spanish is Antrtida, but in Chile we got used to calling it Antrtica as a result of the English language influence. So it is a Chilean expression. The reason or background for using Antrtica as a concept has to do with different things, but in a nutshell is a metaphor for the end of a relationship. I was raised through the Pinochet era. For a military government, Antrtica was a very important topic, so it would appear everyday on the weather report, they talked about Chilean Antarctic Territory, and it was always part of the touristic/video/photographic/national landscape, so it was very real and mysterious for me. Coming back to the song itself, I will try to translate the first verse where Antrtica is mentioned: There are no more words left, Language has worn me out, And the only heat in Antrtica, Comes from the flames of a crashed plane. At the time I wrote the song, I found myself in this complicated and sad situation (a divorce), so I started to see life as an overwhelming, immense place, where in spite of its beauty, surviving was almost impossible. Antrtica is a desert, a huge, beautiful, white shiny, but indifferent place. How did we get there? Through an accident, a disaster, a plane crash that at the same time, its the only thing that keeps us warm in this beautiful and hostile place. I see Antrtica as life itself. Immensely beautiful, but indifferent. And sometimes you have to walk through it.
THE YEAR OF HOPE by Sunshine and the Makenzi Sound (2013) (Web site download only)
This is a Guayaquil, Ecuador-based six-member indie folk rock group, formed in 2011. Their album of melodic roots rock has a track with the interesting title, Wild Penguins go to Antarctica, about wanting to get away, justifying a better way.
THE CITIES WE PLANNED, THE CITIES WE MADE by Statue Park (2013) (Web site download only)
Statue Park is a Montreal, Canada-based rock group, with origins in 2003 and with plenty of international touring experiences among the members. One of the tracks on their current album is the melodic guitar-driven 4-minute Shackleton, also available as a 7 vinyl disc. Sample lyrics: Let me take you far away, on an expedition to the furthest we can go, a place of ice and snow, and set adrift on an ice floe, well lose our way, Ill sing to you every day. Wed be okay if nothing ever got in the way, wed be alright if you never left my sight. We can forget about the rest, the complications take time to build a nest, the perfect nation if something goes wrong, will you be strong, will you run away, or will you stay.
Toby Cayouette, founder and vocalist/guitarist, told us about the track: First of all, as the title suggests, the song was inspired by Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and his incredible journey. Specifically, after Id seen the newspaper ad that he had published in London to crew up his ship. Its fascinating that men would have been up for the voyage despite Shackleton clearly stating that chances of return were slim. So the first, more literal meaning of the text is about that, are you willing to go all the way, even knowing that our journey will be fraught with unspeakable dangers, and knowing that there is no turning back. Then, given that I wrote this song (and most of the songs on the album) after a bad breakup, the same narrative can also be read to be about relationships, though in a more figurative sense, are you in this for the long run, or will you bail at the first signs of trouble? www.statuepark.ca; www.statuepark.bandcamp.com
Note: According to his Web article at www.antarctic-circle.org, about Shackletons alleged ad, Antarctophile Robert Stephenson says, The source of this often repeated advert and its variations (it even is featured on T shirts) has never been identified although many have sifted through scores of British newspapers in the attempt. It may very well be apocryphal. It is said to have been placed by Shackleton during the planning of his Nimrod expedition.
RAPID REALITY by Radical Dads (2013)
Radical Dads is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based indie arty grunge rock trio, formed in 2008. Their second album of straight ahead guitar-driven melodies has the 7-minute song Shackleton. Lindsay Baker, vocalist/guitarist, told us about the track I am a super fan of Shackleton! I had been at home sick and watched the documentary about the Endurance. I was really fascinated by Shackletons story for many reasons (thats a much longer E-mail though). At the same time, I was working on some songs, and I started thinking about ES and the next thing you know...BOOM! I think the larger themes of failure, disappointment, and personal apocalypse were also at play when writing this song. Uninhabitable Mansions UM029; www.radicaldads.com
CAMP GOULD SENTINEL MOUNTAINS by the Kitchen Collective (2013)
The Kitchen Collective is a German indie folk rock group from Wrzburg, Germany, formed in 2010. Their limited edition first CD of melodic light rock has the 4½-minute track Antarctica. Sample lyrics: This room made me feel so safe and sound, but I still have to leave you when theyre coming from outside. Sure I know its not your fault because youre bound, but cant we just find another place where were not hounded? I want to take you to the highest of the north, I want to start all over with you by the shores, I can take you to the furthest of the south, and with my two hands I will build you your own house, all I want to do is turn back time, so that everyone knows that you are mine.
Miro Denck, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, explained the track for us: To us its actually a metaphor for a place of complete silence, of seclusion and for a place to flee from all the problems in the world, private and of mankind. Furthermore its about a romance and about running away together to a place where nobody can do them harm. A place like Antarctica, the furthest place imaginable, where no one would go after them and destroy what they have.
Camp Gould was an astronomic station in the Sentinel/Heritage Range area of the Ellsworth Mountains in West Antarctica. It was established during the 1962-63 field season, named after Laurence Gould, an American geologist and distinguished Antarctic scientific expeditioner and leader on Richard Byrds first Antarctic expedition in 1928-30. www.thekitchencollectiveofficial.bandcamp.com
DRAFTS – THE MUSIC AND LYRICS OF ALEXANDER SAGE OYEN (VOLUME TWO) by Alexander Sage Oyen (2013) (Web site download only)
Alexander Sage Oyen is an up-and-coming young composer/lyricist and performer of musical theater songs. Originally from Florida, he is studying at the University of Minnesota in the theatre department. DRAFTS is the second of a series of performances of his fine songs by a wide group of singers with professional theatre experiences, respected and chosen by Alexander. One of the tracks is the beautiful 45-second choral piece Der Oyen Cantata Opus 104, sung by Alexander, Charlie Rosen and the Mens Choir of Antarctica. We asked Alexander about the unusual name of the Choir and he replied: I put the Mens Choir of Antarctica on the artists listing as a joke - obviously Antarctica is not densely populated and definitely does not have an organized mens choir. www.alexandersageoyen.com
A NEW WORLD by Eamonn Karran (2013) (Web site download only)
Derry City, Northern Ireland-based Eamonn Karran is a veteran pianist/composer, who now specializes in New Age and soothing and healing music, inspired by his beautiful surrounding countryside. One of the tracks on his current album is the gentle 5-minute Antarctica. Eamonn explained the origin of the track for us: This track was inspired by a story that was circulated about an entrance to Inner Earth, which is supposed to exist in Antarctica. I am fascinated by this story and became interested in this region and how it is one of the most barren unexplored regions on Earth. I have tried to convey the sheer sense of wonder, awe and excitement that one must feel on arriving and exploring this beautiful alien landscape. www.eamonnkarra.co.uk
SHATTERED SKY – ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK by Steve Steckler and Fritz Stolzenbach (2013) (Web site download only)
Shattered Sky is a 2012 documentary film from independent American filmmakers Steve Dorst and Dan Evans, about the ozone hole over Antarctica and later climate change politics. According to the films publicity, it recounts the dramatic story of how America led the world to solve the biggest environmental crisis ever seen. Thirty years ago, scientists reported a hole in the ozone layer the size of North America. The culprit was CFCs, prevalent in billions of dollars worth of products like refrigeration and air conditioning that had revolutionized the American way of life. Doctors forecasted skyrocketing cancer: the stakes were life as we know it. But business remained bitterly opposed and politicians were initially slow to act. For the first time in film, Shattered Sky goes inside the ozone crisis to explore how America led the world to a solution. It inspires viewers toward the same can-do spirit on climate change today.
Warnings of the dangers of CFCs to the atmospheric ozone layer date to the 1970s. The discovery of the thinning of the natural ozone level in the stratosphere over Antarctica is credited to British Antarctic Survey scientists in the mid 1980s. Chlorine found in CFCs was reacting with ozone at high altitudes over Antarctica, resulting in ozone depletion that was affecting the health of people and marine life even in neighbouring continents. Eventually, the 1987 Montreal Protocol was established to limit the production of CFCs. One of the tracks on this soundtrack of stately electronic music is the 2-minute, quietly jangly Antarctic Adventure, by American musicians/producers Steckler and Stolzenbach.
DANCE OF UNTRUTH by Captain Trips (2013)
Captain Trips was an early 1990s Melbourne, Australia-based thrash metal group whose 6-song 1992 debut cassette had the 5-minute environmentally conscious track, Antarctica. Their various recorded tracks from that era were released on CD in 2013 and Wayne Dwyer, the vocalist, told us about this track in 2013: The lyrics and melody focus more on the conservational and exploitational aspects of Antarctica. The first two verses are a mix from the point of view of big businesses trying to exploit the continents resources at the expense of the pristine wilderness, and also from a conservational point of view. The last verse is more an observation (a summing up) about the tipping point at which the place can never return to its natural state. Overall, its about how we should leave the place alone. At the time (1991), Antarcticas exploitation was in the news a lot. Im glad that more than 20 years after writing it, someone is finally interested! Stormspell Records SSR-RWH-109; www.myspace.com/captaintripsmetal
ANTARCTICA by White Slice (2013)
White Slice is a Dutch garage punk rock group from Amsterdam, formed in 2012. After only eight rehearsals, they began performing shows and recorded their 19-minute debut album in two days. Although there are no Antarctic songs on the record, the cover has a photo of a thin-looking slice of iceberg. Guitarist Jeroen told us about the bands name and the CD: Unfortunately we didnt go to Antarctica before we went to the studio. The album title Antarctica is basically based on our band name. Antarctica is literally the biggest White Slice we could think of. Suburban Records BURBCD 119
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE AIR by Jayme Stone (2013)
Jayme Stone is an award-winning Canadian banjo player, composer and producer. Included in his laurels are Junos for two of his albums, the highest awards from the Canadian music industry. His music is an eclectic mix of folk, jazz, chamber and world music, sourced from global inspirations. This CD includes two tracks, the 1-minute Alexander Island and 6-minute Debussy Heights, named after places in Antarctica. Alexander Island is the largest island of Antarctica, a largely ice-covered island southwest of the Antarctic Peninsula, discovered in the early 1820s. Debussy Heights is a small mountain range in the northeast part of the island, named after composer Claude Debussy. It is one of many inlets, ice shelves, mountains and other features on Alexander Island named after famous classical composers by British polar and Government authorities following the activities of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey of the 1950.
According to Jaymes album publicity, Banjoist, composer and musical globetrotter Jayme Stone was browsing a favorite bookstore, when he caught a little glimpse, as if through a spyglass, of an unknown, rippling shore. Stone had pulled out a curious volume: an atlas of remote islands, described in loving detail by a writer who had never set foot on them. I saw this book, and my imagination caught on fire, Stone recalls. I could already hear music and thought I might write a whole body of work about these islands. Instead, Stone found a wider range of landmarks and guides to inspire him. He brings all his creative influences and forces to bear - a chamber symphony and rich brass, rippling melodies and evocative textures, past journeys and close friends - as he traces the lines of a distant icy mountain range, imagines the first step onto the coastline of an uninhabited island, and brings to life what Stravinsky might hum if he rambled the Appalachian TrailStone didnt limit himself to the original structure of islands, though his experience with the atlas helped him find the perfect thread that united pieces he had been working on for the previous two yearsThis expanded, exploratory sound serves one goal: to move people, to cross the gap between listener and performer. As musicians, we practice and write to take whats inside out to our listeners. Theres always music waiting, right there on the other side of the air, reflects Stone. Its so close, yet its a lifelong practice to give shape to what we hear and then to send it off. I love negotiating that strange distance; absorbing different influences then sending them back out again. Stone didnt limit himself to the original structure of islands, though his experience with the atlas helped him find the perfect thread that united pieces he had been working on for the previous two years. Some of them - Alexander Island, a tribute to the planets second largest uninhabited island off the coast of Antarctica, and Debussy Heights, a fugue-touched tour of that islands mountains - stemmed from the atlas.
Jayme further explained the tracks for us: I read a book called the Atlas of Remote Islands and got interested by the idea of writing music inspired by remote islands. Some late night online research led me to reading about the geologic features on Alexander Island being named after famous composers and boom, I saw the Debussy Heights and thought there needed to be a song about it. JS 400; www.jaymestone.com
QUIET MOMENTS by Lycia (2013)
Lycia is the Mesa, Arizona-based darkwave/gothic indie duo of Mike VanPortfleet and Tara Vanflower. Originally formed in 1988 as a larger group, the duo has released many albums over the years. This is their first under Lycia in 13 years and has the 8-minute electronic soundscape Antarctica. The wistful, spoken lyrics capture the idea of a bleak Antarctica as metaphor for loneliness and isolation in the inhabited world: I see old pictures of a boy (me) standing, so alone and far away, buried for miles and miles and miles, no one knows (remember?) I lived here, every direction looks the same, the same, the snow and the wind and the ice, frozen for miles and miles and miles, no one knows (remember?) I lived here.
Mike explained the background of the track to us: The symbology of time/place has always been important to me. It is a driving force in my music. I have often used extreme places as a symbol for (likewise) extreme emotions. There is a stark emptiness associated with the underlying theme of the Quiet Moments album. Very early on I came up with this idea of the connection/opposites of Antarctica and Greenland (another track on the CD). Greenlands name indicates something good, so the perception was positive, but in reality the place was barren and isolated. Antarctica is perceived as being the most stark and isolated place on earth. But (if you follow the lead and ideas of some speculative archaeologists), underneath the ice lies the remains of something that was once very good. Abstract, but in essence opposite, but also the same, which can also be applied to personal perceptions both inward and outward. I also work as a cartographer and studied geography. I have had a lifelong interest in places and Antarctica is a place that has intrigued me since childhood. Handmade Birds Records HBDIS-066; www.lyciummusic.com
SOUL QUEST by Keiko Matsui (2013)
Now based in Los Angeles, California, Keiko Matsui is a Japanese jazz pianist who began her prolific recording career in the mid 1980s. Her numerous albums have charted on Billboard and her crossover jazz styles have ranged from smooth to New Age and world music. She has also supported many world charitable organizations and causes through the sale of her CDs. One of the tracks on this CD is the 6-minute Antarctica – A Call to Action. The liner notes say A Call to Action is dedicated to saving Antarctica and the environment of our planet. Shanachie 5408; www.keikomatsui.com; A live, full-band performance in Tokyo of this album was released on CD/DVD in 2015. Shanachie 5431
UNDISCOVERED SHORES by Kuutana (2013) (Web site download only)
Kuutana is a Gatineau, Quebec-based composer and musician who creates peaceful music for relaxation and healing, which has been presented on many North American syndicated radio programs. According to Kuutanas Web site, this sixth album is a visit to the undiscovered shores of New Earth - A musical journey into a world of hope and discovery. One of the tracks on this album of ambient instrumental music is the 6-minute A Summer in Antarctica. Kuutana explained the origin of the track: I am often influenced by mental imagery and concepts when composing. At the time I was composing A Summer in Antarctica, I had recently re-visioned a movie called Encounters at the End of the World (directed by Werner Herzog). On a parallel thread, I also pictured the qualities of the Vangelis album called Antarctica. With these two mental images in mind (and with the fact that this was composed during the spring season and that snow was melting outside my studio!), I set out to compose a track that could draw a musical tapestry of all those elements. So, the lighter elements of the piece are evocative of the image of a reprieve that may be offered by summer, but with the looming and ever-present knowledge that the bitter cold and wintry solitude of the colder months are never too far away. www.kuutana.com
PALMS by Palms (2013)
Palms is a Los Angeles, California-based group whose album of brooding long tracks includes the 10-minute Antarctic Handshake, a slow-building hurtin song about a relationship, with Antarctica symbolizing the emotional final frontier. Sample lyrics: Inside, inside of the whale. I come to you and now its your turn, your turn to evaluate all those times you let go. Outside, Ive let you in through the years, its time to let go. The two of us at the end. Off the grid. Arms first. Arms first. Now you know, its time to let go. Let go. Its time to let go. Ipecac Recordings IPC139; www.palmsband.com
THE ANTARCTIC WARS by Lee Abramson (2013)
Lee Abramson is a Michigan, U.S.A.-based composer and musician. In 2005 he was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrigs disease) and has since lost his mobility. He has continued to make music with other musicians and with his one-finger keystrokes and a touchpad, through use of adaptive technology, including a computerized speech program and music software. According to his bio, It is hard not to be inspired by the creative efforts of this uniquely talented musician who has managed, despite great adversity, to produce a recording such at this. In spite of the fact that 90% of patients with ALS do not live more than five years after being diagnosed, Lee explains his longevity by saying, God was just giving me time to focus on my music.
His current CD has the jazzy track A Penguin with a Sword, about penguins joining up to fight global warming. Sample spoken lyrics: A dreadful menace faces you on these Antarctic shores, a flightless bird, some red, some blue, have come to settle scores, youll know my names the Lord, a braver man will dare to fence a penguin with a sword. They say that global climate change could bring the birds demise, the breeding grounds have rearranged to bring their battle cries, the prophecy turned out to be a fate to be ignored, but who would ever live to see a penguin with a sword? At last the birds have realized that red and blue could mate, everyone was sanctified, escaped that awful fate, now the chick has purple fleece, unto their own accord, intermarriage brokered peace, a penguin with a sword. The CD cover has a striking scene of blue and red-headed penguins lined up in battle and the back cover has a blue and red-headed emperor penguin pair with their purple-fringed chick. www.leeabramson.com
ANTARCTICA by Einzelgnger and KaoticConcrete (2013) (Web site download only)
Two American and Swiss rap artists, based in Basel, Switzerland have included the 4-minute Antarctica (The Saga Begins) on their first CD together, rapping alternately in English and German.
ALCHEMY OF ICE by Netherworld (2013)
Netherworld is the solo project of Rome-based Alessandro Tedeschi, an electronic musician and field sound recordist who creates and performs ambient music. According to his Website, Im interested in catch up sounds generated from the natures flow. Through my music, I would like to play the quietness of the silence, desolate darkness and glacial landscapes. Alchemy of Ice is a view from the metaphysical point in both spiritual development and liberation - and the ice, the natural element essential for the achievement of eternity. One of the tracks is the 8½-minute 8550S-6547E. These are the co-ordinates of the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility, as designated by Britains Scott Polar Research Institute, which is the area in the interior of East Antarctica that is the most distant from any coastline of the Southern Ocean. There has been debate as to the exact location of the Pole of Inaccessibility, depending on what criteria are used to establish the coastlines, but the location is commonly recognized to be the area first reached and established on ground in 1957/58 by a Soviet Antarctic expedition (826S-5458E). Glacial Movements Records GM018; www.glacialmovements.com; www.myspace.com/glacialmovements
BLYDE LASSES by Frances Wilkins and Claire White (2013)
Blyde Lasses are the Scottish duo of vocalist/fiddler Claire White, a BBC television development producer in Glasgow and concertina player Frances Wilkins, a researcher and lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. They have been playing together since 2006, after forming in the Shetland Islands and since that time they have toured the U.K. as well as internationally. One of the tracks on their first CD of traditional and new tunes is the quiet 2-minute instrumental Antarctic Life. In the liner notes, Frances Wilkins explained, I learnt Antarctic Ice from the playing of Peter Scollay on a BBC archive recording. This tune, reminiscent of some well-known Scottish tunes, suggests origins in the South Georgia whaling days when Shetlanders travelled to the region and often worked there for many months at a time. She further explained the track for us: Antarctic Life came from an archive recording collected by Peter Cooke in the 1970s - presumably linked to the South Georgia whaling industry in which many Shetlanders were involved from the early 20th century until the 1960s. We particularly like the tune, as it has strong resonances with older Scottish tunes. It is also of particular interest to me in my work as an ethnomusicologist researching arctic/nautical musical traditions, including James Bay fiddle music in Quebec and Ontario. Briggiestane Music BRiGGiCD101; www.blydelasses.com; blydelasses.wordpress.com; www.myspace.com/blydelasses; www.franceswilkins.com; (See also other versions of this tune in this section, called Antarctic Ice on THE CEILIDH ALBUM by Dave Swarbrick & Friends (2002) and Antarctic Ice (MacPhersons Rant) on DA MIRRIE BOYS – SHETLAND FIDDLE MUSIC by various artists (1952), played by Peter Scollay.)
TYRANNOSOUNDS by Ron Schmidtling (2013) (Web site download only)
Ron Schmidtling is a Los Angeles, California area-based rock musician, painter and lab scientist/ geologist/paleontologist who has created four albums of dinosaur songs to promote his work, music and passion for creatures from the distant past. One of the songs on his latest CD is Amphibian / Antarctic Dinosaur Predator, a rare tune about continental drift and lost dinosaur love. Sample lyrics: When I awoke from my sleep last night, I saw Antarctica was far away from me, and so I sat on that cliff and cried because I had no way to sail across the sea. If only Id crossed when I had the chance, I would be with my love instead of wasting this dance. Ron told us about the song: During the Cretaceous, large amphibians were predators of dinosaurs, e.g. Koolasuchus. I imagined a time when Australia and Antarctica were separating, and if an amphibian were to try to cross the salt water it would die. A perfect set-up for a sad romance. From the amphibians point of view, of course. An artist friend of mine, Bill Stout has illustrated many of the dinosaurs from Antarctica, and has even gone to excavate them. One of William Stouts illustrated books about dinosaurs was Antarctic and Australian Dinosaurs (1993).
VITAL MENTAL MEDICINE by Sligo Creek Stompers (2013)
Washington, D.C.-area based quartet Sligo Creek Stompers play a kitchen sink-full of traditional American roots music. What a surprise, then, to read in their CD liner notes: Antarctica, November 1915. While on expedition, Ernest Shackleton risked his life to save a banjo from his sinking ship, calling it vital mental medicine. For three weeks, the survivors had little more than an upturned boat and that banjo keeping their bodies warm and spirits fed. May these tunes from another era keep your hearts lighted through the long, dark winter. The groups Web site further says: The Sligo Creek Stompers turn to this story of inspiration for their second album, Vital Mental Medicine. The Washington-area band keeps the spirit of string band music alive with their unique interpretation of American roots music. The albums thirteen songs explore traditional New Orleans jazz, scrappy old time and Irish fiddle tunes, and country rags. Hailing from another era, the recordings offer a cure to the trappings of the urban jungle.
Chris Ousley, the groups banjo, guitar, upright bassist, bodhrn player and vocalist told us about the Shackleton tribute written for the CD: So, I was incredibly moved by the story. Risking your life for a banjo, and then using it to keep folks alive in the bleakest of conditions? It simply speaks for itself on the surface. More deeply, the original members, Adrian (Erlinger) and I, began playing in DC when there was little to no bluegrass music during that time. We had both recently moved there from much more rural and musical areas (southwestern PA and St. Louis, MO). We both felt a dark brooding energy in DC...its an emotionally cold town at times (right next to an imperialist and powerful government seat, huge transient culture among workers, etc.). But right when we were starting to pick together and playing for parties in peoples homes, we met SO many folks who had the same idea at the same time. Young (20ish) musicians moving to town, feeling the coldness, and searching for each other through music. In the last three years there has been a snowballing movement towards roots music in DC and a growing community of folks supporting it. So there is a symbolic connection to the story, with DC as well. Amphibitone Records; www.sligocreekstompers.com
BEAUTOPIA: A FACE ODYSSEY by the Mask and Wig Club of the University of Pennsylvania (2013)
The Mask and Wig Club of the University of Pennsylvania is an all-male theatrical troupe that presents theatrical farces. This recording is the soundtrack to their 125th annual production and includes the track Antarctica. The shows publicity describes it as follows: Desperate to be remembered for solving the worlds problems, a delivery boy en route to Antarctica is frozen in a block of ice. He wakes up to find that in the future all of the worlds problems have been solved, and that he isnt remembered for anything at all. But, there is more to this pretty new future than meets the eye. An evil dictator has established a hierarchy based on appearance, where the attractive citizens exploit the ugly. Reinvigorated by the promise of becoming remembered, our hero sets about showing the future that if you never dig beneath the surface, all you are is shallow. There was never an age before beauty and there will be no wrinkles in time, so come see this beautylicious show chock-full of facial tension. www.maskandwig.org
ANTARCTICA by Nonexistence (2013)
Nonexistence is the cosmic doom/black metal solo project of Austrian musician Philip Santoll who began the musical concept in 2002. His Web site describes the genesis as follows: A band created as a piece of art, in the virtual spheres of the deserted cold heart of Antarctica. A place so solitary, so cold and dark, you could as well be lost somewhere in space and time or not exist anymore at all. Yet this band claims to stem from these empty landscapes of desolation. And its music seems to stem from there as well: Antarctica. Philip summed up the record for us as follows: Antarctica is the place where Nonexistence comes from. Antarctica perfectly reflects the mood of the album and its lyrics. Antarctica actually sounds pretty cool, doesnt it?
One of the tracks on his second CD, made with the help of Finnish producer and musician Tuomas Saukkonen, is Here is Nowhere, with sample lyrics that drip with despair and isolation: Vacant darkness shrouding everything, endless silence absorbing serenity, frozen vastness turns to emptiness, searing coldness transcending me. Lifeless on the shore of a solitude better unknown, deserted wasteland of hopelessness, Antarctic landscapes of my heart. There is a war raging in me, no one never arriving nowhere, can you really imagine nothingness, secluded in this eternal isolation, dissolving into the black voids beyond, distant absence remains imperfect, inert as all is falling apart. Candlelight Records CANDLE402CD; www.nonexistence666.com; www.myspace.com/nonexistence666
ILLUMINATE IN THE DARK by Vigilante Santos (2013) (Web site download only)
Vigilante Santos is a Seattle, Washington-based indie rock group, whose third album/EP has the musically shimmering track of poetic impressionism, Antarctica. Lyrics: I was the first in line - me and so many little feet in the door with mine. We drifted easily - on surfaces shiny, scratches few, cracks so empty. And we knew there were whispers of layers too deep to see under this sleek, slick veneer - honed so carefully. Little lives, gray and white, moving freely throughout a slap-stick film, screaming silently. I was the first to leave to some moving iceberg, where strange sounds surrounded me. I put my ear to the floor. The voices of many little seals swimming under me. And I knew theyd be there in the evening light with crystalized skies and icicle chandeliers. Wake me up, wake me up in the middle of the night. The sun is so bright and I have to stay here. And Im gonna take time to peel all the layers off, every single one until I am gone. And youre gonna see it, and youre gonna take time. The movies all over now, over over now, the lights are all on.
Colleen Thomas, vocalist and guitarist told us about the track: I wrote that song because I saw a documentary by Werner Herzog called Encounters at the End of the World. I dont know if youve seen it, but Herzog travels to a camp there to do interviews with everyone from the scientists to the cooks and janitors on why they are there and what they find inspiring about that part of the world. I found it mesmerizing and wanted to write about it. The song was particularly inspired by all of the diver footage in Herzogs film as well as the scene where the scientists are laying on the ground listening to the seals singing underneath the ice. Ive never been to Antarctica, but have always been fascinated by it. colleenthomas.bandcamp.com
LIGHT PULSES by MrWinter (2013) (Web site download only)
MrWinter is a veteran Wellington, New Zealand-based composer, trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist. He is also an audio producer/IT specialist who has worked in cinema production, including Avatar, Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey and three Lord of the Rings films. This is his third album as an independent composer and it is a kaleidoscopic masterpiece of instrumental tracks assembled over the years. The single 45-minute track is a seamless flow of ambient, electronic and sound textures that hold interest for the full length. The final nine minutes of musical soundscapes are underlain by excerpts from one of Ernest Shackletons two known recordings made in 1909 and 1910, describing his British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition of 1907-09.
Chris Winter told us about the Antarctic influence in 2013: The piano on the last part of Light Pulses was recorded in my home one winters evening in September 2012 - our open fire was crackling and my children were getting ready for bed (you can hear all that in the background of the track). I often play soothing music for the kids to help the transition from the days activities into sleep time. I occasionally put the improvised ramblings up for free on my website at www.mrwinter.com/Bedtime_Stories.html, if youre interested.
When I listened back to the track a few months later (looking for material for Light Pulses), I was reminded of the stories my grandfather used to tell me about when he was growing up. His family would sit around the meagre fire in the depths of winter while his mother played piano and they listened to whatever was on the only radio station available. My great-grandmother was apparently a fine pianist who played for silent films in England before she immigrated to New Zealand in the early 20th century. Unfortunately, she died of cancer at age 40 and my mother never got to meet her.
I tried to invoke that same cozy feeling of being inside with a fire with a bleak, bitter-cold world outside and my thoughts were immediately drawn to the tales a friend of mine had told me of his time working in Antarctica a couple of years ago. Luke was working for a drilling company, which was involved in getting core samples, etc. and made a few trips down for a few months at a time. He described to me the ferocity of the storms and the conditions they had to put up with on the ice.
I wanted to combine a mental image of Antarctica with the image of the old family setting that I can picture in my mind from my grandfathers stories (strangely, the pictures I have in my mind are sepia-toned or black and white like the photos hed show me) in the music, somehow, and decided to use an old piece of audio and manipulate it a little to make it sound like it was coming out of a radio, which had seen better days.
I was reminded of Shackletons story when I played a gig with my friends Delaney Davidson and Dos Hermanos and at a small church in Paekakariki - the band supporting us were called Bond Street Bridge who performed an hour-long piece telling the story of Shackletons journey (bondstreetbridge.blogspot.co.nz/p/explorers-club-antarctica.html). Ive always been interested in the exploration of the South Pole and used to spend quite a bit of time as a child pondering the exploration of it. Id actually be really keen to head down to Antarctica to compose some music at some stage but I doubt Ill be able to afford to do that in the near future.
Anyway, when I was working on the piece in the studio, it made sense to try to find a way to use some audio (preferably of Shackleton, as he was fresh in my mind, but Scott or Amundsen would have sufficed) of some tales of the bleak adventures on the ice as the radio broadcast. I found the audio of Shackletons speech on a public domain audio website and I think the tone fit what I was trying to achieve very well. I did create a few gaps in the speech to make it fit what was happening in the music a little better, but didnt manipulate it much other than that.
I added a few other bits and pieces to keep it interesting and as a final touch I decided to record a wee dram of whiskey being poured in honour of the discovery of the three bottles of Shackletons supplies, which were found (recently). www.mrwinter.com
(Web site download only)
ANTARTICA by JoGoldie & Pawcut (2013)
JoGoldie (aka Kymm Roberson) is a Philadelphia, U.S.A-based experimental, soul and R&B singer/songwriter. Pawcut is a German music producer. This EP has two versions sung by JoGoldie plus an instrumental version of the hypnotic trip hop/soul track Antartica, with opening lyrics: Its a cold worldwhat can I do to be a voyager? We asked JoGoldie about the title of the song and she replied: The opening male vocal sets the stage - questioning how to deal with negative vibes and the female vocal gives inspiration to move on...keep it moving. The EP cover has a great picture of an iceberg against an evening sky, in a black sea. www.myspace.com/jogoldie; soundcloud.com/jogoldie; soundcloud.com/pawcut
SIDE BY EACH by Ian Tamblyn (2013)
Ian Tamblyn is a veteran award-winning Ottawa, Canada-area musician, playwright and educator/guide on nature cruise ships, who has made numerous trips to both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. This CD is his 35th album and according to his Web site, is about travel, oceans and the interior journey. The album cover has a photo of a guitar-playing papier mach penguin and four of the songs are Antarctic-related. His Web site explains their origins: Sailor - written on the Scotia Sea between South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Big ocean, albatross carving the sky. A big place to get lost. Three Whales - Cierva Cove, Antarctic Peninsula, a perfect day , everything in motion, a visit and a gift by three wanderers. Stromness - Shackletons epic journey across the mountains of South Georgia into the small whaling town of Stromness as seen through the eyes of a boy who first spotted them. Farewell to Fiunary - remembered this tune from a Tannahill Weavers record. Recorded this piece in a huge whale rendering tank on Deception Island, wind blew through rusted holes at the top of the tank, the whole thing burnt after a volcano swept the area in 1967. Couldnt help but think of the thousands of whales boiled in this tank. North Track Records NT-35; www.tamblyn.com; (See also GYRE (2009), ANGELS SHARE (2004) and THE BODY NEEDS TO TRAVEL (1997) by Ian Tamblyn in this section and ANTARCTIC SONGBOOK (2008) and ANTARCTICA by Ian Tamblyn (1994) in the Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section.)
HIMMELFAHRT by Rummelsnuff (2012)
Rummelsnuff (aka Roger Baptist) is a Germany-based musician, actor and body builder who has been active in performing and recording since the 1980s. Singing/reciting in frog-like bass tones, his music is a genre-bending, tongue-in-cheek form of electro-punk. This record, in German, has the 3½-minute Amundsen, a chanted hard electrorock retelling of the Robert Scott-Roald Amundsen race to the South Pole in 1910-12. Sample lyrics, largely from Scotts perspective: Frozen in a snow storm, lost in the eternal ice, Amundsen and Scott – triumph or bankruptcy?...I touched the Pole but from your hand. Out of Line OUT 541; www.rummelsnuff.de
HYPERBOREAN SWING by Solar Skeletons vs Error (2012) (Vinyl LP and Web site download only)
Solar Skeletons and Error is a collaboration between the Brussels, Belgium-based electronic music production duo of Solar Skeletons, comprising Tzii and Ripit (aka as Nyko Esterle) who have collaborated on minimalist industrial music since 2006, and Latvian-based Error (aka Aldis Oslozs). This is a limited-edition of 111 LPs, and has the bleak 14½-minute electronic industrial piece Antarctic 211, complemented by the tracks, Underice Cover and Arctic 101. Tzii told us about the Antarctic tracks name in 2014: Its a reference to the supposedly secret Nazi base in Antarctica from the early 1930s which was called Point 211. Conspiracy theories say that they were building UFOs there and launched them in the 1950s. Note that we do not embrace any Nazi ideology (and any extremism) nor conspiracy theories...we speak about the world and its failures.... Solkan007; www.solarskeletons.com; soliskanones.bandcamp.com
OUTSTATION by Phil Cory (2012) ((Web site download only)
Phil Cory is a Barnstaple, U.K.-based guitarist who began playing in punk bands in 1977 and now makes planet-friendly ambient/healing music. He travels with his music, plays his songs in the street also and lives and records using only solar electricity. One of the pieces on this 6-track album is the 12½-minute Antarctic Explorers, an ambient piece with a dense wall of sound, overlain with heavily distorted guitar. Phil told us about it in 2014: The track was written about a ship called Antarctic Explorer, which was an icebreaker. I included the recording of the stern wash of a ship in the track. I love the themes of juxtaposition of harsh elements and soothing music and have always dreamed of a long sea voyage where I could compose music while experiencing the extremes of nature. This track is as far as I got...so far www.reverbnation.com/philcory
PLATINUM METRES by Joshua W. F. Thomson (2012) (Vinyl LP only)
Joshua Thomson is a British multi-media artist, musician and guitarist, based in Hong Kong. He made this recording project as an inspiration from the 1977 NASA Voyager I space mission, in which gold-plated phonographs were placed on board, representing a version of history through a diversity of spoken messages, essays and music. This current disc, which took five years to make, is Joshuas version of the human record that he would launch into space. It was made with the help of many musicians, playing varied instruments in electronic, folk, jazz, rock and world music styles. The second side of the album is the 23-minute Suite for Seven Continents and one of the tracks is the 3-minute guitar-rock riff Esperanza Base, Antarctica. Esperanza Base is a year-round Argentinean research station on Hope Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula. According to the album notes, In our age of the Internet the flow of information is lightning fast. We can speak face to face with people on the other side of the globe in real-time, we can travel around the planet in a matter of hours, and we can distribute words, pictures and music to potentially vast audiences at the click of a button. But for every benefit brought by new technology there is a disadvantage. The shrinking world can leave us feeling less attentive, less reflective, and perhaps morestupid.
In 2014, Joshua told us the following about his record: The album was originally conceived as a re-working of and tribute to NASAs Voyager Golden Record of 1977, and as a love letter to the vinyl format. My record follows the same basic structure of the Golden Record. It is made up of a collection of audio pieces and images that tell the story of life on our planet. There are 20 audio tracks, one of which contains 145 images which have been converted from digital files into analogue audio. Antarctica: Seven of the audio tracks make up a Suite for Seven Continents. This Suite utilizes a system by which can I extrapolate melody from the longitude and latitude of any given location on earth. The melody then becomes literally a reference to place. For the purposes of the Suite, I have chosen locations from the most populous cities on each of Earths seven continents - New York, Moscow, Mumbai etc. As Antarctica has no permanent city and no permanent population, I chose the location of the first recorded human birth (Emilio Marcos Palma) on Antarctican soil as point from which to divine my melody. I hope this gives you a bit more insight as to the what and why. Platinum Metres PM001; www.joshuawfthomson.com
ILL CHEMISTRY by ill chemistry (2012)
Ill chemistry is the Minneapolis, U.S.A.-based two-person hip hop/beat box group of Desdamona and Carnage the Executioner. Since meeting in 1998, they have been performing together as well as teaching songwriting. Although they have released CDs individually, this is their first CD together. It comes with a thick, illustrated lyrics section and has the 4½-minute track Antarctica, a commentary about the effects of global warming. Sample lyrics: The polar caps are melting, my words no longer frozen, The heart is warming inside the minds of the chosen, The uprising and the downfall are truly yet to be seen, But all I can do is just keep being me6 feet deep and the blizzard keeps coming, gotta dig in, breathe, were gonna have to build a tunnel, This water is rising and the snow will disappear, Were bound to drown with no proof that we were ever here, Anthropologists will try to uncover this, try to decode the message, They will never decipher it, so we leave footprints on these lyric sheets, Trying to defy time, riding on eternity. Hope Street 11
OUTSTATION by Phil Cory (2012) ((Web site download only)
Phil Cory is a Barnstaple, U.K.-based guitarist who began playing in punk bands in 1977 and now makes planet-friendly ambient/healing music. He travels with his music, plays his songs in the street also and lives and records using only solar electricity. One of the pieces on this 6-track album is the 12½-minute Antarctic Explorers, an ambient piece with a dense wall of sound, overlain with heavily distorted guitar. Phil told us about it in 2014: The track was written about a ship called Antarctic Explorer, which was an icebreaker. I included the recording of the stern wash of a ship in the track. I love the themes of juxtaposition of harsh elements and soothing music and have always dreamed of a long sea voyage where I could compose music while experiencing the extremes of nature. This track is as far as I got...so far www.reverbnation.com/philcory
MAWSONS WILL AND OTHER STORIES by Dead Voices on Air (2012)
Dead Voices on Air is the musical project of Vancouver, Canada-based Mark Spybey. It was formed in 1992 when he emigrated from England. Mark has collaborated with many other international artists in recordings and live performances of improvised electronic, ambient/industrial soundscapes. The title track on this CD, which contains pieces named after people, places or events, is the 12-minute Mawsons Will, a cold, windy industrial-sounding piece, descriptive of the grinding Antarctic life and experiences of the famed Australian explorer Douglas Mawson, of the title. The track was a collaboration with British musician Robert Hampson and American Lori Cole. Mark told us about the track in 2014: It was named by Robert Hampson of Loop/Main who collaborated with me on this track. I think hed been reading a book on Douglas Mawson. I also collaborate with a guy who lives in Patagonia, which isnt that far from Antarctica! Ewers Tonkunst HHE 034 CD/Indiestate Distribution IST 087 CD; www.deadvoicesonair.com; deadvoicesonair.bandcamp.com; (See also FIVE MOUNTAINS OF FIRE / ANTARCTICA ENDS HERE by Cindytalk / Robert Hampson (2010).)
VESICA PISCES by Arctique Circles (2012)
Arctique Circles is an experimental ambient/doom metal and cross-genre music project formed in 2008 by American musician Alexander Toulas and Australian poet Juno Galang. After recording various compilations of demo material, it disbanded until reformed in 2012. The present album is a 2-disc set that combines unreleased material from their 2008 album, A Great & Terrible Beauty and from their 2009 album, Golden Gloom. The limited edition release package of 100 includes the two CDs, two cassettes of the recordings, a silk-screened patch and a bag of powdered incense in a special plastic box. One of the tracks from 2008 is the 13½-minute ambient instrumental Hearts in Antarctica.
Alexander Toulas told us about the track in 2014: The initial reasoning for the track was that it was meant to be part of a larger concept album plot line - the general idea was that a widower in 1840s England hears of the Franklin expedition to the Northwest Passage, so he instead sets sail to the Antarctic sea in an attempt to forget his pain and move on with his life, perhaps by finding another viable trade route. However, along the way he encounters intense storms, icebergs, and general negativity. By the time he arrives on the frozen tundra, his crew dead and frozen, he encounters a native shaman who takes him on an astral journey to meet with his deceased wife (Hearts in Antarctica). However, in his astral journey he discovers that the nature of the afterlife is not exactly as he expected (How Unfortunate That We Should Drown In These Waves, another track) - but I dont want to ruin the subjective listening experience by giving too much away. Thats whats great about music - it can be about whatever you want it to be about! Ivory Antler IA03
ANTARCTIC WINDS EP by Pila and RRuBBik (2012) (Web site download only)
Pila and RRuBBik are two Russian electronic ambient/chillout musicians. One of the pieces on their 4-track EP is the frosty and breezy 6-minute Antarctic Winds (Original Mix). secretsofthesunrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/pila-rrubbik-antarctic-winds-ep
TELEVISION SUMMER by Ewok Fur (2012)
Ewok Fur is a German electronic experimental solo artist whose 4-song instrumental EP has the infectious 3-minute dreampop track of Moving to Antarctica Sounds OK. The artist told us about the title in 2014: It was very hot the day I recorded this track and I wished for some cooling down, so I just named it like that. ewokfur.bandcamp.com
ANTARCTICA by the Cherry Blues Project (2012) (Web site download only)
The Cherry Blues Project is a Buenos Aires, Argentina-based duo, formed in 2001 as a sound art project. They have recorded many albums of experimental, minimal electronica and dark ambient music, mixed with field recordings. Their latest includes the 2-minute track Antarctica, which was largely influenced by the unusually cold autumnAll songs fade into each other, creating a continuous 57-minute journey through cold and dark ambiences. www.archive.org/details/TheCherryBluesProjectAntarctica
GHOST FOREST by Trance To The Sun (2012)
This is the reissue on CD of an album of darkwave music originally released on cassette in 1993. Based in Santa Barbara, C.A., the group issued seven albums and toured over 1990-2001. It was led by composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ashkelon Sain who is now based in Portland, Oregon. The ethereal/gothic/ambient and largely instrumental music includes the brooding 6½-minute track Antarctic Twilight. Ashkelon explained the track to us in 2013: When I compose music, generally I imagine a subject or a concept that I find fascinating. In order to arrive at a song title, I simply try to distill the idea into as few words as possible. With Antarctic Twilight, I imagined in particular how long and drawn out the twilight might be for an observer on the Antarctic Continent, as the sun slowly vanished from the sky during March or April (whenever that happens exactly). I thought about how ominous that might seem, I thought about the freezing winds, and I thought about how the final sunset/twilight might last for days on end. The complete disappearance of the sun and the associated weather changes were the inspiration for the music. Below Sea Level Recordings 931 CD; www.ashkelonsain.com
NAUTILUS by Mare Mystica (2012)
Rainer Winschermann is Germany-based saxophonist, composer and music producer whose solo project Mare Mystica, as described in his Web site, is an instrumental-synthpop-deephouse-chillout-jazz-music-project with dark, sometimes melancholy but always melodic elements, enriched with a powerful rhythm and sax sounds. With many CDs issued, this is one of his latest and has the 3½-minute instrumental track Antarctic Circuit. We asked him about the title in 2013 and he replied: Im a composer and musician and I produce my own music in my recording-studio at a very little island in the North Sea of Germany (Baltrum). I was fascinated by the motion picture and novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne in my youth and I started to compose music with this background. Therefore all tracks of the album Nautilus were inspired by this novel / movie and by the travel of the Nautilus through the oceans. In the 1870 novel, the Nautilus was a super submarine captained by the self-exiled Captain Nemo, which travelled under the Antarctic ice shelves in its various travels around the earths oceans. Mollycat MCD 12050; www.baltrum-musik.de
DUCK IN THE BOX by Flower Flesh (2012)
Flower Fresh is a neo-progressive rock band from Bardino Nuovo, Italy, formed in 2005. Their first album is smartly restrained in its keyboard, synthesizer and guitar showmanship and is sung in English. One of the tracks is a more conventional sounding rocker, the 6-minute Antarctica, the coldest, most isolated land mass of the planet. Black Widow Records
The groups Trevor Glenn told us about the track in 2013: In 1981 and 1982, I was working onboard HMS ENDURANCE in the Royal Navy. Our primary role was map making in the Antarctic, hydrography, or Droggies, as the ships crew were known. Shackleton was on the first Endurance in the Antarctic. The ship was lost and somehow he kept every man jack alive and they made it to Elephant Island where Shackleton knew supplies lay in wait. He then took a selected few from the crew and set sail in a small whaleboat to South Georgia. Landed on the other side of South Georgia and climbed over mountainous terrain to Grytviken. A rescue mission was put together and after three attempts, his crew was rescued. A true heroic man - worthy of a mention in any song. Shackleton was written by me, Trevor Glenn, in 1981 during our Antarctic Deployment. It was documented at the time and then sent via recorded delivery from Endurance through Port Stanley to U.K. I still have the recorded package and song script in my possession. In 2011, I recorded the song with the Ruffs and it now takes pride of place on the Ruffs second album, Don't Wear Yellow in August. Glynn Pout and Mick Brommell accompany me with backing vocals, 12-string guitar and also six-string. www.abitoruff.com
THE WAY OF THE DREAMER by Frankie Mulcahy (2012)
Frankie Mulcahy is an accordionist and composer from West Kerry, Ireland. His folk and many other styles of music have been used in documentaries and he has toured and recorded with many artists, including the world-class dance-show group, Riverdance. This is his first recording in 20 years and includes the 4-minute instrumental jig Antarctica/Drastic Plastic. According to the liner notes, the Antarctica part of the song was dedicated to Kerrys unsung hero Tom Crean, who was a hero of both Robert Scotts and Ernest Shackletons Antarctic expeditions. www.frankiemulcahy.com
RENAISSANCE by David Peers (2012) (Web site download only)
David Peers is a London, U.K.-based composer and musician with a Masters degree in Music and Drama. This album presents a wide variety of musical styles from early classical to World and funk with sampled and live instruments. One of the tracks is the 6½-minute Antartic Summer, an attractive piano and synthesized string and horn piece described as: Three sketches for orchestra - Endless days/Dance of the Penguins and The Great Shelf. www.davidpeers.net
PRINCES by Owls in Antarctica (2012) (EP)
This is the first EP by the alternative hardcore rockers from Glasgow, Scotland. Although there are no directly related Antarctic songs among the four tracks, the group told us about their eye-catching name in 2013: We just wanted to use owls in the name and one of the things we came across when we looked up owls was that Antarctica is the only continent with no owls. owlsinantarctica.bandcamp.com
OLIVENZA by Olivenza (2012) (Web sit download only)
Olivenza is the Portuguese/Spanish duo of vocalist/guitarist Cira Fernndez and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Ral Marques, formed in 2010. They play a blend of folk/rock/Latin/jazz music and their first album has the 4½-minute track Antarctica. Cira explained the background of the song to us: Well, to tell you the truth, I wrote the lyrics after seeing a documentary where the so-called suicide route was mentioned. This term refers to the increasing tendency on the part of Antarctic penguins to separate from a bigger group and initiate a route on their own in search of new areas where they can settle down. Obviously, many of them die in the attempt. I have recently found an interesting entry in a blog where they tell us about the increasing number of penguin suicides, apparently linked to the penguins awareness of the ice melt in the area. I felt so impressed by the documentary (the documentary belongs to the BBC1 series Planet Earth) that the music composed by my partner Ral inspired the story I wrote for this song. Besides, I think we should feel responsible for the damage caused to this amazing species and to their land and do something to stop global warming. So we, as musicians, have contributed to the cause by making a beautiful song such as Antarctica. Frontera; de.myspace.com/raulmarquespt
SUMMER AT THE SOUTH POLE by Roodimentary Sciences (2012) (Web site download only)
John Rood is a Chicago, U.S.A.-based electronic/dance music composer who has recorded a catchy 3-minute electronic track, Summer at the South Pole. John told us about the title: Honestly, I was just trying to think of something epic and out of the ordinary. www.myspace.com/roodimentarysciences
DROPS OF WATER MAKE A MIGHTY OCEAN by Sheeps Power (2012)
Sheeps Power is the guitar and synthesizer-based instrumental music project of Switzerlands Bruno Sylvestre. Two tracks included are Antarctica and Scientific Whaling?, the latter a reference to the infamous annual Japanese whale kill in the Southern Ocean in the name of scientific purposes. Bruno told us about the record: Now, this new release is a kind of thought about the things we can do to change the future on this Planet, for our kids. Everyday some little decisions can be taken to ameliorate the world, like little drops of water make the ocean. His CD publicity states further: This album is a kind of reflection on the power we have as individuals. We follow the movement of the world like sheep. Those who govern us politically and economically are the shepherds. We can change this slowly. As a drop of water makes a mighty ocean we can do on the same scale to change the world. www.deebeeprod.com
MEXICO EP by Eddie Carrigan (2012)
Eddie Carrigan is a Southern Ontario, Canada-based Scottish Canadian singer/songwriter and producer who has released four CDs and two EPs. His current record has the 5½-minute rock epic track Endurance, which tells the story of Ernest Shackletons 1914-16 Endurance Antarctic Expedition. According to Carrigans Web sites July 21, 2012 blog, One thing that has always fascinated me over the years is the story of The Endurance and its leader, Sir Ernest Shackleton. When I first read the book, I was taken aback by all of the challenges they had to overcome in order to survive their fate, and yet, somehow all 28 men of that lost expedition were able to eventually return home, be it not until 1916 and to a world at warThe fact that they had been marooned in Antarctica for 18 months and were able to survive, was an amazing achievement by itself, but when you factor in all of the misfortunes these men were faced with, words like incredible hardly begin to suffice Its truly an inspiration to everyone that thinks they have had challenges to overcome, and is a clear reminder of what can be accomplished when you put your mind and will to the task. A video of this song, played over film and photos of the Endurances sinking by Expedition photographer Frank Hurley, is also available on YouTube under www.eddiecarrigan.com;
SCHWERE SEE (HEAVY SEAS) by Peter Prautzsch (2012) (available by download and in a limited CD edition of 75 copies)
Peter Prautzsch is a Berlin, Germany-based musician, media designer and photographer. His current record has the track James Caird, named after the boat used by Ernest Shackleton and his crew of five in their famous 800 nautical mile journey of hardship from Elephant Island to South Georgia in 1916 to seek rescue for their remaining crew, stranded on Elephant Island. The track does an admirable job of depicting the ups and downs of the sea through its various drones, dynamics and textures. According to his Web site publicity, The second album release by Peter Prautzsch pays a mournful and triumphant tribute to the nineteenth and early twentieth century quests of oceanic and polar explorers. Its widescreen aural panorama slowly shifts from modern electronic drone to blurred melodies - a densely textured voyage built from field-recording compositions and acoustic studio recordings, equally drawing from neo-classical ambient music and microsounds. Schwere See is a collection of subtle movements in sound, long-stretched hymns and fragile intervals - a melancholic and cinematic scope to the monumental struggles of these early expeditions into the Arctic Ocean and the continent of Antarctica.
Peter further explained the track to us: Well, the overall concept of SCHWERE SEE was to create an album that would illustrate the struggles of the early expeditions, sort of a soundtrack to the historic images. Its not about retelling the historically accurate story but to create an abstract version of it - so there is a rather emotional and fictional approach to it. The story of the James Caird is a perfect example of it. It first paints a grim and dark picture of the voyage, yet its heroic - so theres a cinematic quality to it. The composition revolves around the idea of an endless journey, an ongoing loop of layers that slightly change throughout the track. It sort of grabs you and wont let you go - just like the sea. You can hear unsettling female voices like the sirens from Greek mythology that are calling you in. Some crackled field recordings also appear once in while and add some found footage angle to it as well. There are many ways to interpret this track and thats just the way I like it. www.palac.de; peterprautzsch.bandcamp.com
SOMEWHERE OVER ANTARCTICA by the Dead Milkmen (2012) (7 vinyl record and download only)
The Dead Milkmen, a Philadelphia-based satirical punk group formed in 1983, received international recording and touring success in the 1980s until they disbanded in 1995. Reunited in 2008, they released a new CD in 2011 and have planned to release a series of new singles. Somewhere over Antarctica is the B-side of their current limited-edition single (the A-side is Big Words Make the Baby Jesus Cry). Dean Sabatino, the groups drummer, explained the song for us: The track was inspired by a reading of H.P. Lovecrafts (1931 Antarctic) novella called At the Mountains of Madness. Sample lyrics: Somewhere over Antarctica, Theres a bright shining sun, Casting shadows over the already dark, Waiting for mans time to be done. I cant tell the others, My secrets and my plans, What we saw was like no other, The outside world wont understand. The cook has gone stir crazy, The dogs are howling at the moon, Ive got enough supplies, Ill be leaving base camp soonInto the cold dark night, You cant convince me to stay, I can hear the screams of terror, No one will get away. Into the howling wind and snow, Young Gedney, a dog and his sled, Sure to meet a certain death, We heard the radio go dead. Off in the snowy distance, The mountains are growing higher, Into the caverns and cities, The walls are full of history, Lost in the maze of antiquity, Older than mans gods, Deeper into the hell, Of our minds understanding. QUID ERGO #S002; www.deadmilkmen.com; The track was also released on the CD, PRETTY MUSIC FOR PRETTY PEOPLE (2014), Quid Ergo #QE002.
FADE TO BLACK by GTGordon (2012) (Web site download only)
GTGordon is a Tennessee, U.S.A.-based progressive electronic musician who has been composing and producing trance & dance, techno and jazz music since 2003. His current record has the dynamic, thumping track SS Terra Nova, named for the ship used by Robert Scott for his Second Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13. gtgordon.mymusicstream.com
ANTARCTICA by Invisible Animals (2012) (Web site download only)
Invisible Animals is a Los Angeles, California-based post rock experimental music group, formed in 2004. They have issued four singles, one of which is the dreamy track Antarctica, with ethereal vocals from the female singer. The group told us that Our singer had a dream of Antarctica, wrote the song and later that same week she met the artist Lita Albuquerque and learned of her work in Antarctica. In 2006, Lita Albuquerque installed the largest-ever ephemeral art work in Antarctica, Stellar Axis: Antarctica, by installing an array of 99 blue globes on the ice on the Ross Ice Shelf near McMurdo Sound, to mirror the brightest stars above. www.reverbnation.com/invisibleanimals; (See also CINEMATIC MUSE by Brandon Visel (2009) in the Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section for a description of the Stellar Axis: Antarctica project.)
MATH RASHES AND OTHER CLASSROOM ITCHES by Douglas Evans (2012) (Web site download only)
Douglas Evans is a Berkeley, California-based former teacher with international experiences and current author of childrens books, plays and music. His second CD about classroom experiences has the track Anta Claus from Antarctica, about a black-bearded anti-Santa Claus who lives at the South Pole and drives eight yaks in a black sleigh, stealing Christmas trees and toys. One Christmas Eve, a big wind blows him North and sees all the happiness there and realizes hes been doing something wrong. There is also a companion childrens book with the same title as the song. www.wtmelon.com
VILLAINS by Thrash Unreal (2012) (Web site download only)
Thrash Unreal is a Los Vegas, U.S.A.-based pop punk group. One of the songs on their record is Antarctica, a 3-minute thrashing ode to angst, with a reference to Antarctica as a rough place. Sample lyrics: Im not gonna play this game anymore, Im tired of feeling so out of touch, so out of sync with the world, But Im not gonna beat myself up for doing my own thing, all Im saying is, it must be nice to finally win one, to finally get it right. If I made living off of being an asshole, Id be retired by now, retired by now. If I told the world what I thought, theyd probably send me straight to hell, or at least Antarctica. www.myspace.com/thrashunreal
THUPPAKKI SOUNDTRACK by various artists (2012)
Thuppakki (The Gun) is a well-received Indian Tamil action movie, directed by A.R. Murugadoss, about a Mumbai-based Tamil Indian Army captain who falls in love with his bride of his arranged marriage. At the same time, he gets involved in pursing the leader of a terrorist cell responsible for bombings. The seven-song film soundtrack CD, composed by Harris Jayaraj with lyrics by others, includes the surprisingly named Antarctica. With lyrics by Madhan Karky and sung in Tamil, its a bouncy dance tune about the love of his wife from the officers point of view, with references to cold Antarctica and penguins. There is an energetic video track of the song in YouTube, played out on sports fields and gyms with groups of schoolgirl athletes in different sports. Gemini Audio
SOMETHING YOU CULTIVATE by Luke d Ea (2012) (Web site download only)
This is the solo album of Lisbon, Portugal-based rock singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Luke dEa, who was a member of a punk-pop group on a popular teen soap opera. The group had a top national hit and turned into a real touring band. One of the songs on his CD has the evocative title, Tea in the Antarctic, a reflection on the near-impossible dream. Luke told us about the song: Well, its not really about the Antarctic. Its about wishing certain things were to change in the world. Sample lyrics: Just as probable as it is for wars to stop across the world, as often as honesty is rewarded in this world, in the second that you see, Im the one for you, this is when Ill be having tea, tea in the Antarctic, having tea in the AntarcticIll be swimming by the ice floes, my kettle will boil in the glaciers, Ill be flying outside Saturnsinging love is the wayIll be having tea, singing that is the wayhaving tea, tea in the Antarctic.
SUCH IS LIFE by To Die Once More (2012) (Web site download only)
This is a 5-song EP by a Florida, U.S.A.-based heavy metal/metalcore band, which formed in 2008. One of the tracks is Antarctica. Sample lyrics: How far away do I have to get from you before I can breathe? Two years Ive been waiting for this and it only took one week for my dreams to come true. The next day, my aspirations came crashing down. After all the hours Ive spent on you, my times wasted. Why did you have to be the one who lit the match that set my world on fire? Burned to the ground and filled with smoke is my new home. I cant put enough miles between us...between you and me. The bands manager explained that The title represents coldness (emotion) and solitude. www.todieoncemore.com
WATERCOLOURS – EP by Sunnyfield Lane (2012) (Web site download only)
This is a 3-song EP by an Atlanta, Georgia-based alternative folk-rock duo. One of the songs is Antarctica,
Sample lyrics: We can hide out from the cold, dont stop, show me how to go. Weve been living in Antarctica and its too cold to live, without ya, without ya, without ya. Teach me how to survive, my skin is too thin for this ice...Ill run, Ill run to you. Jordan Shaw and Tyler Greene, the groups members, told us about the song: We wrote Antarctica about feeling isolated but yet in love. We wanted to write about not being able to live an emotionally cold life and created a story about Antarctica, meaning much more than a destination. www.sunnyfieldlane.com
DOCTOR VERITAS by Svyatogor (2012)
Svyatogor is a black metal band from Ukraine and their third CD has songs in Ukrainian, Russian, French and English. This interesting record incorporates folk sounds plus violins and saxophone alongside the heavy metal. One of the English-lyric songs is Awoke/ Incoming (Antarctic Solitude) – a terrifying tale of aliens awaking in the Antarctic and taking over mankind. Sample lyrics: The king of all matters, Must kill these human creatures. Divine full of hatred, Arrive from far galaxyBut fury awoke in Antarctic ices, Will occupy our place. It comes from ice, Curse time is out, Truth comes alive. Antarctic solitude, Awoke eternal fury, Will open cosmic gates, The master whelmed the slaves. Svarga Music SVG02
EASE THE MEDIC by Ease the Medic (2012) (Vinyl LP and Web site download only)
Ease the Medic is a Columbus, Ohio-based rock group whose second full-length record has the track Antarctic Stare. The songs yearnful lyrics are: When winters ice fills your lungs, dont choke on broken chards of lost hope and fanned fumes, this Antarctic stare lulls us both to sleep softly, theres still fire within your heart, an isolated warming, a crack in this thin veneer, theres still fire, it bellows through and evaporates around you, watch the warmth disappear, a touch from blackened fingertips still calms, murmurs from chapped lips thank you drifts into thin air, lulls us both to sleep softly, theres still fire within your voice, isolation warning, a helpful hand can steer you clear, theres still fire, it bellows through and evaporates around you, watch the words disappear, but theyll always stay right here with me. The LP cover is an image of the iconic photo of explorers fighting the winds, A Blizzard at Winter Quarters, Cape Denison, Antarctica, ca. 1913, by Antarctic photographer Frank Hurley. It was taken at Mawson Base, called the windiest spot on earth, during the 1911-14 (Mawson) Australasian Antarctic Expedition. The lyrics sheet is also printed on a photo of Exercising the Dogs, Antarctica, ca. 1915, a photo of Frank Hurley out with a dog team during Shackletons Endurance Antarctic Expedition of 1914-16. WeWantAction WWA023; www.myspace.com/easethemedic
ANTARCTICA by Fyrce Muons (2012)
Fyrce Muons is an eclectic Utah, U.S.A-based experimental rock group, which has issued a remarkable 40 albums since forming in 1979. Michael McGee, the groups guru, manager and recording engineer, told us: Antarctica is an album about heroin addiction and is a metaphor for the isolation and desolation of the addict. The tracks, with their short titles include Below, Clear Enough, Crevices, Far, Peak, Plummet, Red for Ice, Rise Deep, Slipping, Shear and The Crust blog.cynykylart.com; www.cynykylart.com
WITH YOUR LOVE by the Daydreamers (2012)
The Daydreamers are a melodic indie pop/rock quartet from Woodstock, N.Y., which has been playing together for five years and released a self-produced EP in 2008. Their current 7-song EP has the great-sounding opening, radio-friendly track, Antarctica. Sample lyrics: Oh Antarctica, you were never so cold, Ill have you know, that if I cross my fingers, I hope your warmth might linger for a little while. Oh Antarctica, will it ever get old, I hope it wont, but if I cross my fingers, I hope youll let me linger for a little while. Wyatt Mones, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and songwriter told us about the song: Antarctica is sort of filled with metaphors and double-entendres. But essentially the song is about love and motivation, whether for a person or something you want to do. I like to write songs that are more subjective, but for me the song was both about my love for a girl, and my passion for music, but also whether the one girl I loved would join me on that path. To me, Antarctica is very mysterious and beautiful, as is love. Antarctica feels intangible because its so vast and far away, and so does love because its so strong, yet so fleeting at times that it can be hard to tell if it was ever even real. The line You were never so cold, Ill have you know has numerous meanings: 1. In the more literal sense, Antarctica is cold but to me its beauty and brightness gives it an immense sense of warmth; 2. warm and cold are also terms used referring to distance, and I was trying to say how when you love someone, or have a dream/goal and are so motivated to reach it, that it never really seems so far away, and it gives you warmth in just knowing its there; 3. I also was using the word cold as in harsh. When things seem so bad, or people seem cold, so to speak, theyre never really as bad as you think. There are many more lyrics, obviously, but one other line is or will your sweet fingers carve the trails, to my demise. Sometimes you worry if the path youre taking in life is the right one, or whether a relationship is so deep that it will be the death of you if it ever ends. For such a beautiful place, Antarctica is the also harshest environment in the world. Hopefully this gives some meaning/background as to why I wrote Antarctica. www.thedaydreamersmusic.com
ANTARCTICA AWAKES! by Grant (2012) (Web site download only)
Grant (Balfour) is a Florida, U.S.A.-based writer/editor, non-fiction story teller, filmmaker and musician whose Web site, the Guild of Scientific Troubadours is dedicated to songs of knowledge and discovery and science. The membership pledge is to write, record and submit one song per month based on a story in one of a number of scientific publications. One of Grants songs is Antarctica Awakes!, based on an article in the Jan. 31, 2012 Washington Post, about Antarcticas under-ice Lake Vostok. His Web site explains the track: This is the anthem for the scientists seeking knowledge two miles below the Antarctic ice, in the subglacial, volcanic Lake Vostok. With some extra awareness that they are acting out a part from a Lovecraftian horror story. This is an anthem, written for Song Fu 2102. The prompt was simply too good to pass up – Neil Gaiman challenged participants to Write the national anthem for a new country. A country made up of, well, people like us. Already considering the nationless space of Antarctica for something involving whatever is sleeping below Lake Vostok, it was a short leap to an anthem for people like us. Drawn to the frozen wastes by an urge they can barely name. I grew up listening to national anthem albums, so I could already feel how this one should go. With a little more time and a full orchestra, I would have interpolated something like the frenzied strings from Tchaikovskys Marche Slav somewherebut really, a Cossack choir, pipe organ and bagpipes were enough. Now, everyone stand and salute the white flag of our science utopia.
Lyrics: Lenses gleam through jets of steam, Above volcanic lakes, We guide devices through miles of ice, Till Antarctica awakes! Hear our voices on the wind, & rumbling from below, Nameless things await within, From 20 million years ago, Our home fires burn as our engines turn, The ground begins to quake, With winch and steel, by gear and wheel, Till Antarctica awakes! See the shadows on the storm, Faces in the snow, Nameless things shall be reborn, From 20 million years ago, Drill and dredge to define our legend - as every limit breaks, So knowledge shines in the darkest mines, Till Antarctica awakes! Feel the shift behind your eyes, Hold fast to what you know, What nameless sleeps but never dies, From 20 million years ago, Through reason, hope and microscope, What we build, no one unmakes, Through logic, wish and radar dish, Till Antarctica awakes! www.grantimatter.com; www.myspace.com/grantmusic; www.guildofscientifictroubadours.com; www.grantb.bandcamp.com/track/antarctica-awakes
ORION: THE AGE OF WONDER - VOLUME III by Bob Nordquist & The Intangibles (2012)
Bob Nordquist is a Saint Paul, Minnesota-area vocalist and guitarist whose rock group plays music in a variety of North American and World styles. Their seventh and latest CD has the track Antarctica, which Bob explained: The song Antarctica comes at the conclusion of a 3-disk CD set called The Age of Wonder. This CD set follows the lives of the Baby Boom generation using audio from the NASA space program to show the ups and downs of the different stages in our lives. Antarctica comes in the sequence of songs at a time of disillusionment with how this persons hopes and dreams of the future have resulted in a world where he/she feels he doesnt fit in and doesnt understand. He dreams of finding a place of solitude where he can escape the problems of the modern world. But when he goes to the extreme of picturing himself in Antarctica, he comes to realize that he has a place and a responsibility to finish the job he started and to pass on a healthy planet and society to his grandchildren. Antarctica was important in this to me as the writer, because it is a focus of so many of the environmental issues we face with global warming, melting ice caps and depletion of the ozone. It also has an interesting political dynamic, which fitting into the theme of the space program of this CD set, could be used as a model once humankind starts to move off the planet. www.bobnordquist.com; www.intangiblesband.com
CAMOUFLAGE NIGHTS by Camouflage Nights (2012)
Camouflage Nights is the Toronto, Canada-based electro-rock duo of Ian McGettigan and Rob Benvie, who are originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The two musicians/producers have a multi-styled mixture of party songs, including the 5-minute Antarctica, a part sung and part rap piece. Rap lyrics: Im at the bottom of the world, nothing but whiteness, well out of reach and no one to fight with, no library, no vegetable garden, wishing for company and begging for pardon, static on the radio, no sound track, no graphic, no distractions, no riff-raff and no traffic, its cold and its clean, theres no tomorrow morning, its utterly beautiful and terribly boring, snow up to here, up hill both ways, all I can do is keep the fire going most days, shoveling my way out, humming a tune, cant tell the difference between the sun and the moon. Im untouched exterior and no stuffing, ground made of icicles, king of absolutely nothing, perfectly still, feeling hardened and car-sick, twenty-four hours darkness in the Antarctic. Sonic Unyon Records SunCD1342; www.camouflagenights.ca; www.myspace.com/camouflagenights
DAYBREAK by Mark Brandt (2012)
Mark Brandt is a Dallas, Texas-based guitarist whose instrumental CD has six solo acoustic guitar pieces, including the 4-minute Winds of Antarctica. Mark explained the background of the track, a dynamically strummed piece, which gusts along in the manner of the winds it portrays: Normally when I write music, Ill come up with different song parts and get them arranged and completed before I try to figure out what the song is about and give it a title. Winds of Antarctica was a little different, but only because I came up with the title half way through the music writing process. So I did actually have an image in my head when I wrote the second half of the song. But I havent been to Antarctica, so really the song is based on fantasy rather than reality. To me, the song sounds cold, with various levels of intensity...like the wind. Thats pretty much where the title comes from. Available from CDBaby.com
KITU SUA PPROJECT by Eric Endrade and Zeltia Montes (2012) (Web site download only)
This is an ambitious musical production by Eric Endrade, a young Saint Paul, Minnesota musician and film composer, which also includes a track, Traffic in India, composed by Zeltia Montes, a young Spanish/American composer of classical and modern music who has won many international awards for her film compositions. According to the album publicity, The Kitu Sua Project is a reminder to the world that people can still do decent things for someone they dont know. This music should also remind us that at any moment, a single person can do anything they want regardless of how big the task is. This album is dedicated to those who have suffered, not because of a broken bone, heart attack or disease, but because they had no choice but to suffer. Music for peace is what this album is all about; music is a healing process. The Kitu Sua Project is a world music album that is going to benefit those in need who are starving around the world. All of the profit made from this album are going to be donated to Action Against Hunger, a non-profit based out of New York City.
The various tracks are named for each of the continents as well as aspects of the earths landscape, such as the ocean and the Himalayas. While the compositions are generally instrumentals, played in a melodic orchestral world music style, with plenty of rhythms and percussion, a few of the songs use solo vocal and choir accompaniments. The 4-minute track Antarctica stands out by being sung by an unaccompanied, plaintive ecclesiastical-sounding choir. Eric explained the track to us: Using a choir for the track Antarctica was a creative choice for me. Since most of the album is very bombastic and on a large scale, I wanted to have a track that was calm and peaceful. Since the Antarctic landscape is cold and harsh, I went with an all-female choir to represent that in the music. Using a choir in the high range, I believe, represented Antarctica in my eyes. In the track and in the album title, Kitu Sua means something beautiful and its in Swahili. The text is in a multiple number of languages including Latin, Swahili, and even some made up words. I had to have multiple languages because I wrote the music first and finding words with the right number of syllables was tough. www.facebook.com/KituSuaProject; www.zeltiamontes.com
JUST THIS SHY OF HAPPY by Flipping the Pig (2012)
Flipping the Pig is the solo recording project of Detroit, Michigan-based Jeff Mansk, whose seventh full CD of eclectic alternative pop-rock songs covers many topics under the sun with wit. Included is the 7-minute track Antarctica. Sample lyrics: We will wait until the cold covers completely. We will let it do as it shall. Thoughts will disappear and dreams will fill us all. Let those near take us in. Valentine drawn in snow. We are ready to go. Take me, Antarctica I give in. Take me, Antarctica. You win.
Jeff told us about the cryptic lyrics: I have to admit, Im both fairly ignorant of and fascinated by the Antarctic region. The song began when I asked a friend of mine, Randy Wyatt, a playwright with whom Ive collaborated, if hed give me 10-20 song titles, simply to spark some inspiration. A lot of them were longer and humorous, but in the midst of it all was Antarctica. It leaped out and I went with it. I knew it was going to be a big song, which appealed to me as Ive generally stayed within the 2-3 minute range. I had just recently watched the movie The Grey (technically Alaska, but still...), as well as a documentary on Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, so lyrically, it initially was a marriage of the two: a cult of some sort doing themselves in, in Arctic surroundings. I frightened myself singing it with that intent, though. So...What it became, and what I prefer, is more universal, though still bothersome I suppose: in essence, the giving of oneself over to something we cant fully understand and/or comprehend but that has the power to overwhelm and be unstoppable in its immensity. Its pretty subjective, though, as thats just the feeling I get when I think of that region. And, odd as it might sound, a lot of what goes into the creepier tunes has to do with the fact that Ive had nightmares regularly since I was a kid, and they often involved similar situations. Of course, just typing all that, I think, Damn, do I sound pretentious? Thats a peek into what it is (to me). www.flippingthepig.com; www.myspace.com/flippingthepig
WITHOUT SIGHT by Vanessa Torres (2012)
Vanessa Torres is a Portland, Maine-based award-winning, socially-conscious songwriter and folksinger who has toured nationally. Her third CD of polished, well-played and performed songs includes the plaintive 5½-minute track Antarctica. Sample lyrics: I know I have angels, gathered all around, they wont stop me from falling apart on this groundIm a rudderless boat, the lee is a lighthouse, in the Antarctic and Im looking for guidance, about to go farCan you harbour a storm, lend me a home even when I dont ask? Vanessa explained about the track: The song was titled Antarctica more from a place of symbolism than a tangible relationship to Antarctica as a physical place. The song speaks to that feeling of isolation one feels when she is searching for connection and place. It is a song that is calling out to the divine, to the heavens to shed some light on where she is and where to go next. Antarctica to me symbolizes the edge of a frontier, an expanse of ice and snow where the individual is dwarfed and vulnerable. It felt like fitting imagery for the themes that the song discusses. www.vanessatorresmusic.com; www.myspace.com/touchingground
AURORAE by Since Antarctica (2012)
Since Antarctica is a Washington, D.C.-based alt rock band with a multi-sided, melodic heavy rock sound and energetic live shows. Although their first 5-song EP doesnt have any direct Antarctic songs on it, at least the band name and CD cover with colourful reflections warrant attention. Shannon Woods, the lead vocalist told us abut the group: We tend to gravitate towards musical themes that to us reflect the feel of cold, stark, and uninhabited places - both Antarctica and space are places we draw inspiration from - and the intersection of those two are why we often gravitate towards aurora imagery. (Among other things, our drummers kick drum graphic is a stylized aurora.) In that vein, the title of our EP, AURORAE, is intended both to be a reference to the Aurora Australis, and to the simple Latin meaning, dawn, as its our first studio recording. AR001; www.sinceantarctica.com
BEYOND THE SEA by Rebecca Penkett (2012) (Web site download only)
Rebecca Penkett is a West Yorkshire, U.K.-based musician and holistic therapist and teacher. This EP of three quiet and soothing instrumentals was inspired by images of Antarctica. She explained: A friend of mine was working in Antarctica for 18 months with the British Antarctic Survey and before he left, I asked if hed email some photos. I printed off various photos and put two on a music stand and then this music started coming through as I was looking at them whilst playing my harp. I also used to work in the Chemistry Department at Cambridge University which is right next to the Scott Polar Research Institute, which also inspired a connection to Antarctica for me. Another full-length CD, HARP CONNECTIONS (2012) has a related track, Penguins. www.harpconnections.net
BUNNY by Aloonaluna (2012) (Web site download and cassette)
Aloonaluna is the solo recording project of Lynn Nguyen Fister, a former Floridian, now based in San Francisco, U.S.A. She is a multi-media artist who began collaborating with other musicians on musical projects in 2008 with field recordings and a variety of non-conventional instruments. This recording of light, airy pop with dreamy vocal accompaniments includes the track Antarctica. Lyrics: Count the stars for me, count the stars, ribbons of stars, hee ha, hee haw, hee ya. And when you find, the summer glacier, take a picture, for me. And the boat hums, on the ice, and itll be clear, I want to be in Antarctica. She explained the track to us: I have a friend who is an oceanographer. Last summer he went on a vessel to Antarctica for research. He made field recordings of the sounds and sent them to me, thinking I could use them in my music. His striking photographs of glaciers also made quite an impression on me, and I would often check out the webcam of their exhibition. Ive always wanted to see glaciers! Anyway, although I didnt use the field recordings that my friend made in the song, these were the inspiration for the song. For this track, I instead opted to mimic the humming soundscapes of the boat in its icy environment with my synth. When I sent it to him, he said the song not only captured the tangible sounds he was hearing in Antarctica, but somehow it also reminded him of the more intangible, emotional sentiments of this trip to this most mystical, southern continent. It is a dream of mine that one day Ill see Antarctica myself! Until then, I can just imagine through song. www.aloonaluna.com; www.myspace.com/aloonaluna; www.aloonaluna.bandcamp.com
GROUND DWELLER by Hands Like Houses (2012)
Hands Like Houses is a young Canberra, Australia-based rock group with a big melodic sound and a developing national and international touring schedule. Their first CD has the track Antarctica, a metaphorical song about a fathers wise words urging his children to keep their feet on the ground and to be cautious of the outside world when crossing the borders between the never and the night. Rise Records RISE 154; www.myspace.com/handslikehouses
ANGELS AND ENEMIES by Sound of Guns (2012)
Sound of Guns is a Liverpool, U.K.-based rock group, formed in 2008. They have an anthemic arena-rock sound and their first full CD includes the track Antarctica, about cold loneliness. Sample lyrics: You can hear the screams but you cant make the words, the silence hits you harder than a train. You feel a shiver run up and down your stairs, you cross your heart and hope to tranquilize. Here it comes, here it comes now, its so cold now youre frozen out. No blue light calm will ever come, never come. Distiller Records DTLBM008; www.soundofguns.com; www.myspace.com/soundofguns
YG: DRASIL by Boreal Taiga (2012)
Boreal Taiga is the solo project of ambient musician JimDe, originally a West Coast American, who is now based in Norway, above the Arctic Circle. He has 20 years of electronic music experience and has produced many recordings of his Arctic influenced music. While his current record is an interpretation of northern sounds, it also has the track Antarctic Magellanic Clouds. We asked about the inclusion of this title with northern and Arctic tracks and he replied: My music reflects the Earths polar regions. More so in the northern hemispheres. My good friend, Richard Sidey (an award-winning New Zealand nature photographer and filmmaker) created a short, non verbal film, titled Landscapes at the Worlds Ends. He travels often to Antarctica, in fact, he just returned from a 2-month trip there, his third. I also am fascinated by astronomy, and with my music I was lacking an Antarctic, southern polar region theme. I had read some books on the Magellanic Clouds and that area of the sky can be viewed from Antarctica, apparently. Thus the title. The entire movie from Richard has my music throughout. It was filmed at the north polar regions as well as Antarctica. www.borealtaiga.com; www.richardsidey.com
THE CONTINENTS – Concerto for Jazz Quintet & Chamber Orchestra by Chick Corea (2012)
This is a double CD by Chick Corea, a pianist and composer who is one of the masters of the modern jazz world, with 16 Grammy awards over the years. He began his career in the 1960s, appearing on many records by trumpeter Miles Davis and touring with him. He has continued to play with many jazz greats over the years and may be most popularly known for forming Return to Forever in 1971, an evolving jazz fusion group with many iconic members and versions over the 1970s. In later years, in addition to many recordings and musical collaborations, Corea furthered his interest in classical music composition and performances. The first CD in this set contains the concerto, The Continents, with individual suites named after the continents, including the 13-minute Antarctica. With many tempo changes and imitations of bleak winds, Antarctica can be imagined as a portrayal of the many varied sounds and moods of the icy continent. Commissioned for the 250th anniversary of Mozarts birthday by Mozart Year Vienna in 2006, The Continents was also known as Piano Concerto No. 2 and had its premire at the Vienna State Opera House in July 2006. Subsequently, Corea also presented the concerto in various European cities. According to the CD liner notes, Making music for a combination of orchestral musicians and jazz musicians has endless possibilities. Appreciation for the abilities each has for the other makes for an atmosphere charged with high interest, creative communication and new ideas. This was the setting for the composing and recording of The Continents – for me, a dream come trueThe music may have its technical flaws, as perfection was never the goal – but Im pleased that the music was made in the Spirit of Play, which was the initial intent of the composition after being invited to write a piano concerto in the spirit of Mozart by the Wiener Mozartjahr. The quintet includes Tim Garland, Hans Glawischnig, Marcus Gilmore and Steve Davis. The hand-picked orchestra, conducted by Steven Mercurio, includes members of The Harlem Quartet and Imant Winds. Deutsche Grammophon B0016441-02; www.chickcorea.com
UNBEUGSAM – UNBERECHENBAR – UNSTERBLICH (DEFIANCE – UNPREDICTABLE – IMMORTAL) LIVE IN BOCHUM by Samsas Traum (2012)
ANLEITUNG ZUM TOTSEIN (GUIDE TO BEING DEAD) by Samsas Traum (2011)
Samsas Traum is a German rock/metal group formed in 1996, led by vocalist Alexander Kaschte. They have made over a dozen records, which include an eclectic mix of symphonic arrangements and comedy routines. The groups 2012 live album was supposed to mark the end of its touring days. The 2011 CD has the original studio track and the 2012 CD has a live concert track of A - wie Antarktika (A – Like Antarctica), a poetic work about a captain on his ship, plowing through the ice on the way to Antarctica. Alexander explained the deeper meaning of the song to us in 2013: The song is about my wife Anastasia - it describes an expedition to Antarctica with all the occurring problems, the coldness, the ice, the silence, the vastness. Everything is meant in a metaphorical way...I describe how I managed to make Asja marry me, how I fought with her, how problematic our first year was after the marriage (we lived in Moscow for a while). Anastasia stands for Antarctica, something you have to win, to conquer, to solve. Trisol Music Group TRI 454 CD; TRI 427 CD; www.soundcloud.com/samsastraum
KEMBALI by Garasi (2011) (Web site download only)
Garasi is an Indonesian pop-rock group, formed as a fictional trio for a movie in 2005 but later evolved into a real performing quartet. Their third album has the 4½-minute melodic, plaintive ballad Antartika, about a lovers warmth melting Antarctica.
LATINO & PROUD by DJ Raff (2011)
DJ Raff (aka Rafael Perez) is Santiago, Chile-based DJ, music producer and composer who has been active in electronica since 1992, particularly in the hip hop world. He has issued many records and his current album has the quietly infectious 2-minute track Antrtika. Nacional Records; soundcloud.com/djraff;
IN THE RED by Eric Tricklebank (2011) (Web site download only)
Eric Tricklebank is a Marlborough, New Zealand-based veteran singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist. His first of several albums has the 4½-minute infectiously rocking track Antarctica. Sample verse: I went down to the bottom of the world, it was so damn cold and I miss my girl, Ive never been there before and Im never going backmakes you look inside yourself when youve been away too long, you might go down weak but youll come home back strong, its freezin, man Im lonely Eric told us about the song in 2013: I was working as chief cook on board a fishing boat and we went to Antarctica, (the water only), for three months in search of the Antarctic toothfish. They do that every year here in NZ when the ice melts enough to get into places like the Ross Sea. It was my first sea voyage and pretty much was a life-changing trip. My trip was in November 2003 to February 2004. www.amplifier.co.nz; www.reverbnation.com/erictricklebank
CAVE PAINTINGS by James Higgins (2011)
James Higgins is a Pacific Northwest, U.S.A.-based Scottish musician who has lived and travelled over continental Europe as a folksinger. His tenth CD has the track James Caird, about the boat used by Ernest Shackleton and his small crew in their perilous journey to South Georgia in 1916 to seek rescue for their stranded crew on Elephant Island. Sample lyrics: Eight hundred miles from the pack ice, South Georgia Island looks like EdenBigger ships than this were swallowed whole, and all for a crack at PoleIll say this much right now for Shackleton, either he was mad or he had guts, and no one thought hed be back for us, but he gave us hope, at least its all he had. The plucked double bass by Aaron Harmonson, underpinning the song, adds a sense of edginess to the tale and with the added bowed bass, its easy to imagine the wooden frame of the James Caird creaking in the swells of the ocean.
James explained the reason for his song: I imagine you are already familiar with the story of Shackletons rescue of his stranded crew from Elephant Island and how he sailed to South Georgia Island in the James Caird. So I wont repeat it. Personally I was just captivated by the sheer desperation and daring of his plan and how he achieved it in the end. I have always been fascinated by stories of exploration, especially back when there was still plenty to explore. I will read anything on explorers. I think I wish that that era still existed. I like to enjoy their eyewitness accounts of days of old. Captain Cook, Lewis and Clark, Darwins trip on the Beagle. All those guys. Marco Polo, Bering, Dampier, the Vikings. I guess it was inevitable it would creep into my song writing. The Antarctic back in Shackletons time must have been like going to another planet. In fact, it probably still is. James album THE SIGNALMANS LEAP (2012) has an alternate recording of the same track, called James Caird # 1. www.jameshigginsmusician.com
YOU KNOW BETTER by Ruthless Antarctic Empire (2011) (Web site download only)
Ruthless Antarctic Empire is the solo electro/acoustic rock music project of Kansas City, Missouri-based Brett McAtee. This 3-track EP has the 4½-minute song Mt. Erebus, which Brett explained to us in 2013: The name of the project, and the song Mt. Erebus, came from a concept album I was working on about a fictional Antarctic Empire that never fully materialized. Ive always been fascinated by the Antarctic and would love to see it someday! www.brettmcatee.com; www.ruthlessantarctic.bandcamp.com
DOCUMENTATION OF MY JOURNEY TO ANTARCTICA by the COOL Cartel, featuring ColdHearted Kirk (2011) (Web site download only)
Long Beach, Southern California-based the COOL Cartel is a collection of four west coast hip hop emcees. According to their biography, they came together to make music through a mutual drive and passion. Collectively this group has been through everything, from lifes up and downs, from life and death situations to everyday obstacles, to coming from poverty, to overcoming negative stereotypes of young black...males in their environmentThis group aims to redirect hip hops attention towards lyricism and positivity as well as feel-good relatable music that is fun as well as inspirational. Kirk (Franco, aka Victor E. Francl), brings his experience as the eldest member and his production skills, Man Man brings inspiration, soul and his incredible drive, Wane Dog provides raw lyricism and supreme wit, and Meezy is front and ladies man, he brings his charisma, that unique quality that few have to their music. The COOL Cartels a breath of fresh air in this polluted music industry.
Although an intriguing record title, only the 2-minute first track, Documentation of My Journey to Antarctica - Omw, (presumably On My Way), has direct references to Antarctica: Im heading to the frostiest metropolis, this ice cold novelis and goes on to rhyme Antarctica with Betty and Veronica, erotica and other tongue-in-cheek references. Victor explained to us in 2013: I call my record label Rhymes from Antarctica...the sound I try to capture is a man recording his music from an isolated bunker in Antarctica...with dated equipment and broadcasting from there live so that the sound is rather distorted or jumbled. www.hotnewhiphop.com/documentation-of-my-journey-to-antarctica-mixtape.15810.html; www.mixtapepass.com/music/19665
HACIA LO SALVAJE (INTO THE WILD) by Amaral (2011)
Amaral is a Zaragoza, Spain-based multi-styled pop/rock group, led by vocalist Eva Amaral and guitarist Juan Aguirre, which was formed in the late 1990s. They have released six CDs, are one of the best-selling Spanish groups with millions of albums sold and have won many music awards. Their current CD has the track Antrtida, about walking towards the light and building a new life, which is like walking in dazzling Antarctica and lifting the pain. An acoustic version of the song and CD is also available via download with the regular CD. Discos Antrtida ANT001; www.amaral.es
ISLAND OF THE DAWN by Alex Papadiamantis (2011)
Alex Papadiamantis is an Athens, Greece-based music professor, composer and violinist who has been a soloist and has played with many symphony orchestras and ensembles in Greece and Europe since the 2000s. In addition, he has been a member of Greek metal bands, has had his own electronica and experimental group and has written music for films, theatre and commercials. This CD of fast-paced instrumental electronic/dance/jazz-rock has the 7-minutre track Antarctica. Oxygen Music OXGN053; www.myspace.com/alexpapadiamantis; soundcloud.com/alex_papadiamantis
THE WILLINGNESS to be TOUCHED by the New Jersey Laptop Orchestra (2011)
This is the first CD from a group of six students at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, containing improvised and experimental sounds produced largely from music software, samples and laptops cabled together. The group is led by David Rothenberg, a philosophy and music professor, composer, writer and jazz clarinetist. He has released numerous CDs since the 1990s and has a particular interest in animal/natural sounds as music. While there are no Antarctic songs on the disc, the cover has a reproduction of the well-known photo The Piper and the Penguin, taken during Robert Bruces Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04. The photo, likely taken in 1904 on Weddell sea pack ice, shows piper and lab technician Gilbert Kerr, in full Scottish dress playing the bagpipes to a disinterested Emperor penguin, which had been tied by a cord to a snow-filled pan. David told us about the cover of the CD in 2013: I was just at the Explorers Club in New York one day and an archivist showed me the picture, and I just loved it and showed it to my students in the band. The absurdity of a penguin and a piper seemed to somehow encapsulate the wonderful strangeness of making music live with computers. Terra Nova Music TN 1108; www.davidrothenberg.net
MURMURS FROM A FALLEN HOUSE by Mark Airlie (2011)
Mark Airlie is a veteran rock musician from Wellington, New Zealand who has made many CDs over the years. This is a compilation of various experimental folk and rock tracks from 1985-97, one of which is the waltzy, carnival organ-inspired Cowboy Clown from Antarctica. Mark told us about the title of the track in 2013: Well, the meaning of my song, Cowboy Clown from Antarctica, is mainly fictitious, though it is loosely based on the anti-hero type individual who looks or acts in a silly or unsavory way, though does good works in the world and solves large and small problems in a society that thinks hes a fool (hence the clown image, and he may as well be from Antarctica, because no one would care!!). He does his good acts totally anonymously, so he is judged by the way he looks and is thought of generally as an inferior human being. Powertool Records PT113; markairlie.bandcamp.com
FLYING by Garth Stevenson (2011)
Garth Stevenson is an award-winning, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Canadian improvisational and experimental double bassist, with a close connection to the natural world. He has released two solo albums, appeared on those of many others and has composed original scores for numerous films. In addition, he has appeared on prime-time television shows, performed internationally and has become associated with performing with large yoga gatherings. His second CD has the 9-minute track The Southern Sea, a peacefully and mournfully bowed ambient tour-de-force with underlying growling deep bass waves. According to his Web site, The CD cases were handmade in the mountains of Nepal, using traditional Nepalese Lokta paper. Each case was hand silk-screened and tied shut with small, beeswax-coated brown thread, woven through orange beads. In 2013 Garth told us, Basically, I was commissioned to compose the score to a film that was being shot down there (Antarctica) so the director had me come for inspiration and bring my bass.
Garths Web site further explains, In the past four years, Garth has released two full-length solo albums, informed by his experiences carrying his 150-year-old double bass to the woods, the beach, and the desert. His most recent and critically acclaimed release, Flying, is a seventy-five minute homage to a recent life-changing trip to Antarctica. The 14 tracks range from solo bass and minimalist piano to fully produced pieces with layers of bowed melodies, percussion, organ and voiceHis month-long journey to Antarctica took place on an ice-breaker full of renowned artists including author Cormac McCarthy and actress Juliette Binoche. Stevenson played his double bass to seals, penguins and icebergs while composing the score and acting in the feature film directed by Scott Cohen, featuring Vincent Kartheiser of Mad Men. Roger Payne, the famous whale researcher and first to record the humpback whales in the 60s was also on the trip. I spent a few weeks prior to the trip learning to adapt whale calls on my bass by playing along with Rogers Songs of the Humpback Whale recording the same way I used to play along with jazz albums. One evening, in the middle of a four-day open sea crossing between South Georgia and Antarctica, I gave a concert at sunset on the bow of our ship. I was improvising and creating layers with my loop pedal then started imitating whale calls on the bass. A few minutes later twelve sei whales came and swam next to our vessel! www.garthstevenson.com;
MORE WITH MUSIC - 7 CONTINENTS by Amanda G. Ellis (2011) (Web site download only)
Amanda Ellis is a Greenville, North Carolina-based board-certified singer and music therapist who has written numerous CDs of songs to help teach children of all ages. This album of vocals and guitar accompaniment has a song for each continent, including the 4-minute Antarctic Song. Sample lyrics: Antarctica is a continent, its the coldest place we know. Its covered by sheets of ice and lots and lots of snowNo one live in Antarctica, some people visit the continent, scientists visit to study the continents water, land and weather. Antarctica is home to many animals that can live in cold climates. According to her Web site, I always think its interesting when I learn something new after researching information to write a song about a certain topic. When I researched Antarctica, I was surprised to learn that moss actually grows there! I also enjoy finding out which animals live on each continent. www.morewithmusic.org
ON COURAGE by Princess Party Mountain (2011) (Web site download only)
Princess Party Mountain is a Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-based angry folk/rock group, which has recorded eleven records of basement and attic lo-fi music since 2004. This one has a 4-minute rocking track with the eye-grabbing title of Freshwater Lakes Beneath the Antarctic Ice Shelf. Sample existential lyrics: One giant lake of frozen ice sits beneath Antarctica. The in and outflow is zero, nothings changed in all of time. Glaciers are melting and Im still here. www.princesspartymountain.com
GHOSTS ON THE OCEAN by David Oliver (2011)
David Oliver is a N. Ireland-based multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter/composer. His most recent CD has the 4-minute track Tom Crean, about one of the most famous explorers of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Crean was a member of Robert Scotts two expeditions in 1901-04 and 1910-13, and of Shackletons 1914-16 Endurance expedition. Lyrics: Oer frozen lands beyond the ancient seas, Where birds fly high upon the icy breeze, I hear you call from far beyond the grave, Your voice sails high upon the wave, From Anascaul to find new hopes new dreams, There was a man, his name was young Tom Crean, With Captain Scott he struck out for the Pole, Faced death and saved his fellow souls. Chorus: The four winds blow and you will hoist your sail, The seas will roll and you will tame the gale, Oh young Tom Crean so brave, so wild and strong, Your tale will always echo on, Your tale will always echo on. With Shackleton you risked your life and limb, To save the crew you fought the seas with him, You have a heart cut straight from granite stone, The sea flows through your flesh and bones. From North to South across the oceans wide, You lived your life with hope and strength and pride, I hear you call from far beyond the grave, Your voice sails high upon the wave. www.davidoliver.info
SOLO ACOUSTIC ON BEARDSELL GUITARS Henry Kaiser (2011)
Henry Kaiser is a prominent and prodigiously recorded California-based improvisational avant-garde instrumental guitarist who went to Antarctica in 2001-02 on a U.S. National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Program grant. He recorded his guitar playing at McMurdo Station and at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and later returned to work as a research diver and underwater cameraman on two documentaries, including one of his own and for Werner Herzogs 2007 Encounters at the End of the World. The music on this CD was improvised and recorded entirely live on hybrid acoustic guitars made by luthier Allan Beardsell. It includes the quiet and very melodic 3-minute track First You Fall In Love with Antarctica and Then It Breaks Your Heart, which may be one of the most conventional tunes on the CD. www.thehenrykaisercollection.blogspot.ca; (See also BLUE WATER ASCENT by Henry Kaiser (2007) in this section and MUSIC FOR WERNER HERZOGS ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Henry Kaiser & David Lindley (2013) and UNDER THE ICE – Live at 21 Grand by Henry Kaiser (2008) in the Non-classical, or with significant Antarctic content section.)
ANOMALOUS FRAGMENTS by various artists (2011)
This is an American compilation CD of Drumfunk (Drumn Bass/abstract/creative electronic) music, with tracks varying from heavy rhythms to ambient sounds. One of the tracks is the 6-minute, simultaneously icy and warm Mount Erebus (Indidjinous Remix), named after Antarcticas prominent active volcano. The track was written by Flatliners & Mental Forces, two recording artists from Turkey and Belgium, and remixed by Indidjinous, a New York area-based American producer. Indidjinous explained his remix: I suppose an (Ant)Arctic vision affected my perception of the tune and inevitably my take on what the remix should be like, but only slightly. Pinecone Moonshine PCMSCD006; www.pineconemoonshine.com
GRAFT by Hounds of Baker Street (2011) (Web site download only)
Hounds of Baker Street is a veteran Sydney, Australia-based rock trio that met during session work in 1998. They have toured internationally together and with various groups. Their first album, an instrumental one with funky melodic rhythms, has the track Antarctica. Vincent Pace, keyboardist, told us about the track: We have never traveled to Antarctica, which is ironic, I know. But a friend of mine, a photographer, traveled there and shot some amazing images of wildlife, icebergs and landmarks. He asked us to compose music for his video slideshow – thats how the song came to be. www.myspace.com/houndsofbakerstreet; available on iTunes.
THE ARCHITECT by Save Today (2011)
Save Today is a Bamberg, Germany-based hardcore/metal rock band, formed in 2008. Their first full-length CD has the heavy pile driving track Antarctica. www.myspace.com/savetoday; savetoday.bandcamp.com/album/the-architect
DEMO by Dirty Mouth (2011) (cassette only)
Dirty Mouth is a Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A-based trio of young female punk-pop rockers, whose first recording covers a range of feminist and topical subjects. One of the uplifting, instructional tracks, with its alliterative title, is Allergic to Antarctica. Lyrics: Making jokes about continents, You know more than the average kid, Education should be for free, More money means more opportunity. Young minds are open to so much, Ready to soak in everything, All they really need is a positive environment. Here in this classroom, Everyones a student, Everyones a teacher. We asked the band about these unusual lyrics and received the reply: Hi, Im Leslie from Dirty Mouth. I wrote the song Allergic to Antarctica, about the school that I work at. I work with pre-school age students at a Montessori and they amaze me sometimes about how smart they are. One day we were sitting around a rug with a map of the world on it and the students started making jokes, such as Im allergic to Antarctica and other continents. I was just amazed to have a bunch of 4-year olds making jokes about the names of the continents, and also knowing where they were and what a continent even is. So, Im not really allergic to Antarctica...it seems like a neat place to me. www.dirtymouth.bandcamp.com
THE NAVY LARK Series Seven (2011)
The Navy Lark, the longest running comedy program in British radio history, was a concoction about the antics of the crew of HMS Troutbridge, on the BBC airwaves from March 1959 to July 1977 with 15 series. This box set of seven CDs of programs from July to October 1965 includes the bonus item Hitting the Ice Floe, a special Dec. 25, 1965 Christmas Overseas Service Broadcast for members of the British Antarctic Survey serving on bases along the Antarctic Peninsula. The crew of the Troutbridge is supposed to be spending Christmas with the men of the BAS but gets stuck on an ice floe and has to shout its Christmas greetings from the ship. audiogo.co.uk; (See also THE NAVY LARK Series Nine (2014), NAVY LARK Series Four Volume 2 (2008), NAVY LARK Volume 18 (2006) and NAVY LARK Series Two Volume 1 (2004) in this section.)
THE MAHOGANY SECRECY by the Buffalos (2011)
The Buffalos are a Lyon, France-based heavy rock group, formed in 2008, whose second EP is based on their musical ideas of being a pirate. One of the songs is Antarctica, a dynamic cross between a pub rocker and metal/hard rock theatre, in which the lyrics deserve a polar prize for rhyming Antarctica with Guernica and erotica. The Duke, vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the group, told us about the track: The reason why we wrote this was due to the appeal of this destination for us. Besides, I personally had the chance to go there myself on a boat trip two winters ago and that was one of the most astonishing experiences of my life. Things you see and feel there are as beautiful as difficult to express, this is why we choose to put it into music.
EARTHS SECRET HISTORY by Skull and Bones (2011)
Skull and Bones is the solo project of southern Brazil-based hard rock/metal musician Carlos (a.k.a. Spartacus). His latest CD, based on conspiracy theories, has the track Admiral Byrds Expedition, sung in a high and unusual vocal pitch, about the American Navys 1946-47 Operation Highjump. This was the largest Antarctic Operation ever undertaken to explore major areas of the continental coast and to gain polar experience. It was organized by Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, his fourth Antarctic expedition and included 4700 men and various ships, helicopters, planes and tractors. A smaller concluding expedition, Operation Windmill, was undertaken by the Navy the next season. Carlos told us about the track: Its based on a conspiracy theory that Byrds expedition was a cover up to send a task force to eliminate the last German base. If it is true or not I dont know, but it gave me something controversial to work with, and I wished to walk that way and maybe got some attention from some kinds of media. Lyrics: In nineteen forty-seven, Admiral Byrd, And four thousand men, Went to Antarctica; A large fleet, With a great aircraft carrier, Destroyers, tankers, And submarines; Their target was, Neuschwabenland base, Hitlers nest, Station two hundred eleven; Camouflaged as a mountain. The inner world was hidden, There lived in peace, Men and aliens; Operation Highjump, Ended sooner than expected, Operation Highjump, The base remained intact, Operation Highjump, They knew hell on earth, Operation Highjump, Came back quickly home; They were prepared, Nuclear submarines, Death rays, Flying saucers, lasers; They were repelled, Planes dropped like flies, Fire raining in the skies, Heavy losses. www.skullandbonesband.com; www.myspace.com.skullandbonesband
THE WAY MACHINES SEE US by Able Archer (2011) (Web site download only)
Able Archer is a Denver, Colorado-based rock group, formed in 2007 and named after a 1983 NATO war games exercise. Its first record has the track, Antarctica Starts Here (also the title of an entirely different 1973 John Cale song), an atypical album song with digitally altered voices and industrial beat. The group told us: The title refers to a fictional documentary that William Gibson refers to in his (1984) book Neuromancer. It takes place in a dystopian future, so thats what the lyrics are about. www.myspace.com/ablearcherus
CLOSER/ANTARCTIC CITY by Becoming Real (2011) (Vinyl EP only)
Becoming Real is a London, U.K.-based electronic house/dubstep artist, whose current 3-track limited-edition record has the 4½-minute Antarctic City, a coldly hypnotic track with its looping vocal chants. Cold World Industries CWI001
THE RISE AND THE FALL by Countrycide (2011)
Washington State-based Countrycide is an alt-country rock group with a great pedal steel guitar sound. One of the tracks is Girl from Antarctica, a hurtin song about lost love: Baby be nice, its colder than ice, how you keep on droppin his name. Dan Walker, the groups singer and guitarist, told us: Theres not a whole lot of backstory to the title of the song, except for whats in the lyrics. The girl in the song is colder than ice in how she handles the breakup, and Antarctica being the coldest place I could think of, was a natural and intriguing choice for the title. I also liked the fact that Antarctica was the only place on Earth that no one could call home. Of course, I realized soon after that some children have been born there in various scientific outposts, but only a few and I think only one girl...I forget her name at the moment. www.countrycide.com; www.myspace.com/countrycide;
POLES by Triple S (Eric Seifert, Joseph Steinbuechel & Max Schiefele (2011)
This is a concept album about the north and south Polar Regions by three German musicians. The New Age-meets-Pink Floyd instrumental tracks are underlain by thundering bass and percussion. Antarctic-related tracks include Ninety Degrees South, Erebus Ice Tongue Pts. 1 & 2, Shackleton Ice Shelf, Mount Ellsworth, Pole of Inaccessibility, finished off with the northern Aurora Borealis and Arctic Finale. The CD pamphlet includes pictures of the Shackleton Ice Shelf and the Erebus Ice Tongue. Pleasure Sound Music PSCD-6469-02
GODLESS PRAYERS by Daemonlord (2011)
Daemonlord is a Spanish Basque black metal band, formed in 2000. Their fourth CD has the menacing 4-minute track Antarctica. Lyrics: Layers and layers of ice, Keeping the dust from the past, Frozen accounts of the unknown, Wells with the water to quench the thirsty minds. Rulers to the land of ice, Frozen bacteria and dust, Rulers to the land of ice, Entombed in frost. The frozen vaults of time, The keys to know the past, Another form of life, A mysterious reply. Deep, underneath, The memories of the earth. www.myspace.com/daemonlord1; Ketzer Records KCD666
RED KITE by Esben Tjalve (2011)
Danish jazz pianist and composer Tjalve has collaborated with a quintet of London, England-based jazz musicians for a CD of crisply improvised music. Included is Antarctica, a brashly icy 4½-minute meditation about the Continent. F-IRECD 41; www.myspace.com/esbenredkite
IVANS DREAM by Katya Sourikova (2011)
Katya Sourikova, raised in St. Petersburg, Russia and London, England and now based in Berlin, Germany, is a jazz pianist who has recorded and played internationally. Her current CD, which includes a trio on bass, drums and tenor sax, with guests on trumpet and guitar, has two dreamy tracks, Queen Maud Land I and Queen Maud Land II. Named after the wife of Norways King Haakon VII in 1930 and claimed by Norway in 1939, Queen Maud Land is a territory in East Antarctica. It is now part of the current Antarctic Treaty System and was one of the last Antarctic areas to be explored due its isolation and difficult access from the coast. Katya explained the origin of the tracks to us: The music first came to me when I was working on an improvised music project in Norway, of which Queen Maud Land is a territory. I love the thought of Antarctica and the thoughts of moody landscapes, dramatic contrasts and vast open spaces that it conjures up for me. While I am not sure that I will ever get the chance to visit this place, it is always interesting to ask my audiences if they know where Queen Maud Land is! I hope that more people may at least become aware of its existence as they listen. Weave WVR 005; www.katyasourikova.com; See also QUEEN MAUD LAND by Katya Sourikova (2015) in the Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section.)
BURNED ALICE by Aggelos Aggelopoulos (2011)
This 17-minute CD of rhythmic electronic music has a floaty 2-minute track with the interesting title, Rooftops of Antarctica, which could be an equally good title for a novel or a film noir about a rarely seen or mentioned aspect of the continent. No information about the composer was available. Available from www.amazon.com
NAMASTE by the Grey Picker (2011)
The Grey Picker (a.k.a. John Young) is a veteran singer/songwriter from Bolsover (East Midlands), U.K. He has been singing since the 1960s as a solo artist, with groups and for TV. His current CD of eclectic folk songs, representing a 40-year career span, covers many topics, some of which deal with human achievements in many forms. Included is Tom Crean, about one of the stalwarts of Antarctic exploration of the Golden Era in the early 1900s. Sample verse: Will you look back on the heros life, From a place like Annascaul? Shun the fame that is your due, And never brag at all? And laugh to see the gentlemen, On pedestals of fame, While the ordinary lads who lifted them, youll never hear their names? The Picker told us about the track: Tom Crean – well, I always knew the stories of the Scott and Shackleton expeditions - most Brits of my generation did. In the 1980s I wrote a song about the Shackleton expedition (not on CD - we were on cassette back then). I then found myself holidaying in County Kerry, in Ireland and came across The South Pole Inn in Annascaul. This is where Tom Crean hailed from and where he lived after he retired from the sea. Crean fits in with my approach to song writing; I like to pick up unsung heroes and he is certainly that. I am surprised how long it took me to write this, but it is only about three years old. At the time, I thought it was the only one written about him, but there is another up on YouTube. www.thegreypicker.moonfruit.com; www.myspace.com/johncyoung
LIVE LIFE DUN DIE by Aamir al-Loki (2011) (Web site download only)
This Jacksonville Florida-based groups second record, a mixture of indie/gothic pop rock, has the beautifully hypnotic, slow track titled Nobody Loves Me, Everybody Hates Me, Lets Move to Antarctica. Despite the depressive title, the song is a beacon of hope for a better world: Sometimes when Im alone, Ill think about people. Im a cog in the wheel of conspiracy. But I wont be the one to deliver the messageIf I pay a higher price, Ill get what I ask for, Im ashamed of my brethrenBut I have a dream where all the world is equal, no one thinks about that any more. www.myspace.com/aamiralloki
HOME by Ali MC and New Dub City Sound (2011) (Web site download only)
Ali MC is a Melbourne, Australia-based reggae/rock/rap artist with a CD of dynamic songs, including the catchy ecological protest song Antarctica. Sample lyrics: Three thousand miles and the cold creeps in, three thousand miles on a cold south wind, there must be one place left in the world, one place left to ourselves - AntarcticaOne thing to remember, that day in December - not to let the way of the world get to youand you cant let life go past yousome things fade away like in Antarctica, former ice caps melt from global warmingI see no signatures in KyotoMight as well head down south and go play a show, yeah, thats where well go, me and you and all our crew, well go and live like there aint no tomorrow. www.myspace.com/newdubcitysound
UNIVERSAL FUSION by Chris Matheos (2011) (Web site download only)
Chris Matheos is a Bay Region, California-based freelance bassist who has authored many instructional bass books and has toured and recorded with national acts, including a recent version of iconic 60s group Spanky and Our Gang. His current CD of funky jazz-fusion instrumentals has the track Antarctic Expodition, a pleasantly fast-fingered and smooth musical trek. www.myspace.com/chrismatheos
ANTARCTICA EP by Osakan (2011) (Web site download only)
Osakan is the solo project of American Andy Forceno, an electronic musician who creates experimental, ambient music. His 4-song EP has the 3-minute calmly edgy, high pitched track Antarctica, which he explained to us: I was inspired by two things: As I composed that song I had the recurring image of myself standing alone on the shores of Antarctica on a windless day...it was so desolate but serene. Also, I was inspired by some footage of seals swimming underneath glaciers from the BBC documentary The Blue Planet, narrated by David Attenborough. I am captivated by Antarctica, and one of my dreams is to visit McMurdo Station as an artist-in-residence where I can compose more music inspired by my surroundings. I dont know if I will ever have that chance, so now I just use my imagination. www.archive.org/details/Osakan-AntarcticaEp; osakan.bandcamp.com/indexpage
THE COLD TESTAMENT by Book of Black Earth (2011)
Book of Black Earth is a Seattle, U.S.-based death/black metal band, formed in 2003. Their third CD has the track Antarctica, which opens with raid-fire drumming and blasts its cryptic opening message, Fire is all, all they see. They wont believe anything. They wont be cold till they freeze. They wont speak unless they scream. Follow the footsteps of an empty god. Forget, forget the past. Just like a nightmare that you cant wake from to Antarctica. Prosthetic Records 11664; www.myspace.com/bookofblackearth
PAUSE EP by the Sleepwalkers (2011) (Web site download only)
The Sleepwalkers are the indie electronica and pop/vocal duo of Ben Marsden and Richard Siddall-Jones, from Birmingham and London, U.K., who have been long-time music collaborators. Their skillfully performed 5-song EP has the upbeat song Antarctica. The immediate polar connection seemed to be missing bur Rich explained the track to us: Antarctica is not directly based upon the continent, but more on the topics of feeling lost and isolated. Antarctica seemed to fit the topic as it is so vast, unpopulated and cold. www.soundcloud.com/sleepwalkerstheband
AT COAST OF ANTARCTICA by Sens (2011) (Web site download only)
This 21-minute mini album contains of three separate mixes of the trance dance track At Coast of Antarctica.
ANTARCTICA by DJ Kosmas K (2011) (Web site download only)
DJ Kosmas K is a Greece-based DJ and producer of dance tracks through computer software. As a dance track, his single Antarctica is a pleasantly subdued instrumental. www.myspace.com/djkosmask1
HEART SONG: THE LIVING ROOM SESSIONS EP by Tiffany Apan (2011) (Web site download only)
Tiffany Apan is an award-winning Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-based singer/songwriter whose operatic voice covers a wide range of styles from classical, jazz, pop to world music. This 5-song EP has the minimalist piano/vocal track Antarctica, based on her interest in the continent. Tiffany told us about the track: The song Antarctica stems from my own fascination with the continent and its mystery and beauty. There are many theories about the continent, including the hollow earth theory that are fascinating to read and write about, even if one doesnt necessarily believe the theory. The song is also very personal and I used my fascination with the continent and a personal turning point in my life, combining them to create the song. www.tiffanyapan.com
ANIMALS IN HUMAN ATTIRE by Animals in Human Attire (2011) (Web site download only)
Animals in Human Attire, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based septet, formed by Jack Tell, play a brand of infectious, loose indie folk pop. Their first record has the track Antarctica, about getting away from it all, with the catchy lines: Im moving to Antarctica, no way Ill never care where I have been, surrounded by the mountain tops, dont seem to know what state of mind Im inYeah, Im moving to Antarctica, Ill find a boat and sail the Southern Seas, surrounded by the mountain tops, its the only place that is as cold as me. Yeah, Im moving to Antarctica, its making so much sense so suddenly, surrounded by the cold, cold air, its the only place that is as cold as me. www.myspace.com/animalsinhumanattire
WRIT IN WATER by Montmorensy (2011)
Montmorensy (a.k.a. Paul Hankinson), is a Berlin, Germany-based, classically trained Australian composer/vocalist/pianist who has issued a masterpiece of a CD of whimsical, theatrical, orchestrated pop songs about making sense of a world out of synch. One of the tracks is Grass in Antarctica, a quiet but powerful, vocal/piano/violin lament about global warming, arguably one of the best musical environmental comments weve heard in this discography.
Sample lyrics: Blades in my kingdom, a stain upon my ice, colour of white was perfectly nice, thank you. Colour where colour should never be seen. The hideous, horrible colour, green. Green, what does it mean? Green, what does it mean? Green, what does it mean? Grass in Antarctica, grass in Antarctica, grass in Antarctica Masala. Emperor penguin, may we harvest our corn, maybe on Saturday we could play croquet on your lawn, on your grass in Antarctica, grass in Antarctica, grass in Antarctica Masala. And the blades are slicing up the icing on the world, and the rink, I think is sinking, yes its drowning all the skater girls. Grass in Antarctica, grass in Antarctica, grass in Antarctica Masala. And when the world is stuffed, well gather on our tuft, well watch it slip away, watch it drop and drip away, sinking through the years, swallowing our fears, well be drowning in dinosaur tears. Traumton Records 4541; www.montmorensy.com; www.myspace.com/montmorensy
ALL OUR DAYS by Dave McGilton & Friends (2011)
Dave McGilton is a County Cork, Ireland-based singer/songwriter/musician who has been honing his craft since 1993. His latest CD of contemplative folk songs has the track Tom Crean, named after one of the stalwarts of the Heroic Era of Antarctic Exploration who was on three major British Expeditions with Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton. Sample lyrics: On Endurance we sailed, set out for Vahsel Bay, Our hearts and our minds to the task, But the packs settled in and we prayed for the wind, As we woke to the ice setting fast. We took to the boats it was hard to stay afloat, and we sailed to the first bit of land. Where we left twenty-two of our brave and gallant crew, But in time they were saved to a manNow the tales that I tell of heaven and of hell, They all have a place in the mind, And well all face our death but ah me boys not yet, Ive never left a man behind. Chorus: Eyes to the West boys take her out slow, Backs to the wind, boys 40 below, Hands to the wheel boys keep her in line, Send down the word, were sailing home. Dave told us in 2011: The chorus of that song is now part of a brilliant play written about Tom called Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer - it was written and is performed by a (now) friend of mine by the name of Aidan Dooley - check out the Web site, www.tomcrean.co.uk. When Aidan heard the chorus he wrote it into the play and has Tom singing it during the second half to great effect. In fact, it feels like the song has passed over to the play now and is in its rightful place. This song was also recorded by Morningstar, a Bronx, New York-based quartet of virtuosic instrumentalists, led by vocalist Mary Courtney, (one of Daves friends), who play and record Irish/Celtic music. www.davemcgilton.com; (See also ALIVE & KICKIN by Morningstar (2010) in this section.)
RETURN TO THE UGLY SIDE by Malachai (2011)
Malachai consists of the Bristol, U.K.-based duo of Scott Hendy and Gary Ealey (a.k.a. Gee), who play a spectrum of post psychedelic, progressive electronic art rock. On their second CD, they have the track Mid Antarctica (Wearin Sandals), a dramatic, existential heavy rock song. Lyrics: Some wizards claim theres no makin potions no way around the game, some lizards claim theres no pane they wont crawl for the very same, but I cant go on wearin sandals in your midantarctica. Some inspirational painters who chalk only round the body slain, stuck in their ways theres no wager no cost of course its me, but I cant go on lightin candles in your midantarctic, where the wind the snow and rain tend to ice the flame. Domino DS035CD; www.myspace.com/malachaibristol; www.malachai.tv
IM REALLY IMPORTANT BACK HOME by the Incompetents (2011) (Web site download only)
The Incompetents are a Beirut, Lebanon-based psychedelic folk/rock group. Their second record has the track Red Antarctica, a strong protest song for the turbulent times many parts of the world are going through. Serge Yared, the lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist told us about the song: Well it is not about Antarctica - here I use Antarctica as a metaphor for contained rage and alienation. The song is a political song, which reflects my perception of local/regional affairs - I come from Beirut, Lebanon in the Middle East. Lyrics: They told us follow that thread, The thread led to a string, And the string led to a rope, And with that rope, they said, just hang yourself. Here we are today, Trapped in a revolution, That sadly enough, Did not eat all of its children. Chorus: Weve been betrayed and we dont care, Thoroughly back-stabbed, do you want your share?! If you dont want their order to prevail, Then join our chaos and bring some coffin nails./ We allow them to hurt us, Only because, Well need to forgive them. Thats our main means of defense, They lead us in return, Into a coerced emancipation. After all don't we live in the city, Of oxymora .../ They keep us confined, Supporting the view, That things, would be worse Outside the fence. When its time to silence them fools, When my anger gets red like Antarctica, I lock the door, plug in my amps, And surround my body with white noise. An acoustic live version of this song also appears on their album NO APPLAUSE: THE INCOMPETENTS LIVE AT TUNEFORK; 02/10/2011. www.myspace.com/theincompetents
SAILING ON A CLOUD by Kaj Roger Willumsen (2011) (Web site download only)
Kaj Roger Willumsen is a Harstad, Troms, Norway-based electronic musician. His third CD has the melodic and lush 4½-minute instrumental Voice from Antarctica. Kaj Roger told us about the track in 2011: I am committed to preserving Antarctica. Imagine flying over Antarctica and enjoying the beautiful scenery, and it will get people to think about what were doing. The song is a gentle plea to preserve the scenery. www.myspace.com/kajrogerwillumsen
LOOK AT ME NOW by The Streettrainer (2011) (Web site download only)
The Streettrainer (a.k.a. D.) is a Minneapolis, U.S.A.-based hip hop/rap artist. His current record has the tip top hypnotic rap track Antarctica – Ft. Kenny G, with the repeating chant cold like Antarctica. D. told us in 2011: Its a metaphor, cold like Antarctica, just playing with words, thats all. www.myspace.com/1streettrainer
WITHIN WOLVES EP by Within Wolves (2011) (Web site download only)
Within Wolves is a young Baltimore, U.S.-based metal/punk/pop/nu-jazz rock group. Their current EP has the 1½-minute track Winter in Antarctica, a quiet piano-based instrumental. Karl Wingate, the groups guitarist/vocalist told us: The piano piece was written by our drummer (Drew Coughlin) and we all felt that the piece had a winter storm feeling to it. We described as thats how we would feel if we were on an expedition in Antarctica by ourselves, and just thinking of home. www.myspace.com/withinwolves
NOSOTROS ESTUVIMOS AQUI by Smoking Victims (2010)
Smoking Victims is a Mlaga, Spain-based punk/pop rock group, whose first album has the 3-minute Antrtida. The song is about going to work for a season at a new research station in Antarctica, after the writer saw the classic The Thing movie on TV. After months of plain food, darkness and cold, the only ice he wants to see is floating in his drink. Waterslide Records WS053; www.smokingvictims.bandcamp.com
NPR - THE FIRST FORTY YEARS (2010)
NPR (National Public Radio) is a national syndicator of news and cultural radio programming for a group of member public radio stations throughout the U.S. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it first went on air in 1971 and operates with both private and public funding. This 4-CD collection covers fourty years of material from numerous flagship programs, described on the cover as memorable moments from four decades of news, culture, conversation and commentary. One of the tracks is Life at the South Pole, as 13-minute documentary, which aired on one of the flagship programs, All Things Considered, on Dec. 19, 1979. In it, Ira Flatow visits Antarcticas U.S. South Pole Station at -46F, and speaks with Stephen Glenn, the Stations medical doctor, Bruce Gaylord, geologist, and Richard Cameron, station scientific leader. Topics included the cold, vast horizons and psychological testing for those who winter over. www.npr.org; www.highbridgeaudio.com
GLOBAL SURVEYOR - PHASE 3 by various artists (2010)
This is a German compilation disc of electronic breakbeat music by various international artists. One of the tracks is the 4-minute South Pole homage, Amundsen Journey by Welwirtschaft, which is the electronic music project of Stockholm, Sweden-based producer Karl Lihagen. The arpeggiated rhythms have the repeated female vocal recitations that During the summer period we experience 24 hours of daylight. During the winter period we experience 24 hours of darkness. Sunrise and sunset do not occur in a 24-hour cycle. Dominance Electricity DR-043.016; www.soundcloud.com/karllihagen
TRANSES JAZZ TRAD by Christian Muschinowski (2010) (Web site download only)
Christian Muschinowski is a veteran France-based jazz flautist/saxophonist and composer whose first album has the 8-minute instrumental track Tekelili. The title comes from The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, by the American macabre mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe. Published in 1838, it is a classic of Antarctic fiction and tells the tale of A. G. Pym, a young man who stows away on a whaling ship, Grampus, which undergoes mutiny and is finally wrecked on its way to the Southern Ocean. Pym and a mutineer are finally rescued by another ship heading south. Crossing through an ice barrier on the way to the South Pole, they are marooned on an island by its malevolent inhabitants. They manage to escape on a small boat, which hurtles into a mysterious chasm, blocked by a large white shrouded human figure and giant white birds overhead, crying Tekeli-li! Christian told us in 2014 that Fourty years ago I read the adventures of A. G. Pym of Nantucket (by E. A. Poe) and from my memory composed a work from a drawing of ideas. Poe has inspired much of the world. You can categorize the track as free jazz for flutes and electroacoustic instruments. www.amoye.e-monsite.com
SOUTH OF THE SOUTH POLE by Whoa Buck (2010) (Web site download only)
Electronic/experimental/tech house music from Los Angeles, U.S.A.-based Konstantin Gabbro and Kenneth James Gibson. This 4-track album has the hypnotic, percussive 9½-minute track South of South Pole, featuring the vocals of Anthony Collins. The group told us about the track title in 2013: To elaborate on the idea of the title South of South Pole would be a bit difficult. This track was created under the influence of psychedelic plants and we have not an adequate recollection of what went on. Definitely something to do with the axis of the planet, the approach toward strange realms of human emotion and the sound of this particular sequence of words. soundcloud.com/kegabbro; www.worldofkennethjamesgibson.com
FIRE AND FROST PATTERN by Andreas Bick (2010)
This is a two-track CD of recorded and processed sounds made from both very hot and cold environments by Andreas Bick, a Berlin, Germany-based award-winning composer and sound artist. His music for the TV series Berlin, Berlin won the 2004 International Emmy Award for best foreign comedy series. According to Bicks CD liner notes, The cold ice burns like hot fire...wrote Max Beckmann in 1948 in his letter to an imaginary female painter. The extremes of fire and ice have always been a popular metaphor for the opposites of ardent passion and unfeeling frigidity, of flux and torpor – extremes which, for all our polarizing ways of perceiving them, are very similar. This is also true, especially so in fact, in the acoustic field: in terms of their behaviour and dynamics, the sounds we associate with fire and ice – as created by volcanoes, glaciers, embers, snowfall and many others – seem to be related and are sometimes almost indistinguishable. The loudest natural sounds on Earth are linked with volcanic eruptions and colliding icebergs. The sounds involved range from the infrasound of volcanic tremors and the so-called singing icebergs through to the near inaudible high-frequency crackling and whistling of falling snowflakes and glowing coals. These extremes of hot and cold lie to either side of the moderate temperatures where life is possible. Nonetheless, a magical attraction is exerted on humankind by these outer reaches of the world it inhabits, as shown by our unbroken fascination with the Polar Regions and with volcanoes. The twin works Fire Pattern and Frost Pattern examine the sound worlds of extreme temperatures: beginning with the loudest sound event in each case – volcanic eruption, iceberg collision – the various intermediate states of hot and cold are explored in acoustic terms, embedded in two similar compositional sequences. For both pieces, the field recordings of natural phenomena were subjected to subtle modifications and sonic transformations, and woven into an abstract sound structure that offers a sensory experience of the forces exerted by fire and ice.
The short iceberg extracts on the CD include an iceberg colliding with the edge of an Antarctic ice shelf and a scraping sound from ice whose source was not identified. Included with the latter are also seal calls heard under the ice shelf, which could not be removed from the recording, so were the only sounds in the track not made by ice. These ice sounds were recorded in 2006 by underwater microphones of the German Neumeyer Research Station, which is on the Ekstrm Shelf Ice, Atka Bay, on the northeast part of the Weddell Sea. Gruenrekorder Gruen 074; www.andreasbick.de
INTO THE CRYOSPHERE by the Howling Wind (2010)
Howling Wind is the black metal project of New York City-based Ryan Lipynsky. This CD is a conceptual slog through the occult mythology of the frozen underbelly of the Antarctic wastes, with the listener embedded in endless white-outs, daymares of ice, nightmares of dislocation, teeth of frost. The track titles include The Seething Wrath of a Frigid Soul, Teeth of Frost, Obscured Pyramid, Ice Cracking in the Abyss, Will Is the Only Fire Under an Avalanche, Impossible Eternity and A Dead Galaxy Mirrored in an Ice Mirage. Sample lyrics from A Dead Galaxy Mirrored in an Ice Mirage: Isolation and insulation, cycles without end, everlasting icicles, looping forever, found in Antarctica, the circle dictates all, the triangle is the temptation inside the earth void, frozen burial for none to see, discovering a tomb of the ancient. Profound Lore Records PFL 060; www.myspace.com/thehowlingwind
ABOVE THE CREEK BED by Jim Low (2010)
Jim Low is a veteran Greater Sydney, Australian-based composer, teacher, author, folksinger and performer, with a great interest in Australian history. One of the songs on his latest disc is Like Mawson in a Blizzard, with its reference to Australias heroic Antarctic exploration leader of the early 1900s, Douglas Mawson. Jim explained the track to us to us in 2012: The song came about through the frustration of having poor eyesight. That led to the idea about the different truths that are presented throughout life. I was looking for a strong image to describe how I sometimes see the world as a visually impaired person and, being interested in Australian history, was reminded of Mawsons writing, in particular his book The Home of the Blizzard, which is a favourite in my collection.
Sample lyrics: Theres something white upon the grass, I see it as I pass. Is it a flower someone has grown? A cockatoo from Heaven thrown? Is it a paper dropped from a car? An unknown object from afar? In the mornings light, All seem true, The truth is up to youWas it a push or was it a shove? Is it hatred masquerading as love? They say be cruel to be kind. Is it just a state of mind? Do I blindly follow or dutifully serve? Will they call it bravery or foolish nerve? I see a rock but is it a lizard? I feel like Mawson in a blizzard Theres something white upon the grass, I see it as I pass. Is it a flower someone has grown? A cockatoo from Heaven thrown? Is it a paper dropped from a car? An unknown object from afar? In the mornings light, all seem true. The truth is up to you. The truth is up to you. I feel like Mawson in a blizzard. Were all like Mawson in a blizzard! MTCD01; www.jimlow.net
BALANCE by Bruce Watson (2010)
Bruce Watson is a Melbourne, Australia-based veteran folksinger and composer who has won many songwriting awards and has recorded six CDs. His music ranges from serious social and political commentary to satire and the absurd, as well as being written for children.
One of the tracks on this CD, Wintering Over, is about the life of a worker spending the difficult Antarctic winter season on the Ice. Sample lyrics: Last time I saw my wife and son, I was leaving the Hobart docks, Ive been so long down here at Mawson Base, On these cold Antarctic rocks, Soon that old icebreakers due, To carry me back home, Well forge a passage through these tall, white mountains through the foamYoull never see such sunsets, Youll never see such skies, If this place wasnt hell on earth, Itd surely be paradise! Youll never see such darkness, Youll never see such light, And its felt like Id never see home again, Ah, but soon it will be alright. Well Ive been fixing tractor-trains, Been fixing up skidoos, Ive been keeping the power going, The lights and heating, too, Its not like in the old days, You got all the comforts of home, Got DVDs and email, But you still feel so alone. Now that Winters over, We can finally go outside, Just one small speck of humanity, In a space so high and wide, And I think of those old explorers, No radio, no GPS, Ah, but even now you take your life in your hands, We havent conquered this place yet. And they say the ice caps melting, The oceans soon will rise, That data just keeps rolling in, For those boffins to analyse, Well, Ive seen those Emperor Penguins, How they huddle all winter through, To raise their young, well you hope theyll survive, And you hope that we do too.
Bruce told us in 2012: The story of how I wrote the song is not so interesting, but the story of what writing the song started is much more so. Its writing was quite random - literally. I sometimes run songwriting workshops, and as an exercise get participants to pick a random photo I have cut out of a newspaper or magazine as a stimulus. One time, as something to do while they were all writing away, I decided to have a go myself, and picked a photo of a ship passing through icebergs. I started the song in the workshop with the idea of someone coming back after a long stay in the Antarctic. I decided to continue working on it later. As I didnt know much about the Antarctic, so I checked out the Australian Antarctic Divisions website (which is fantastic). That gave me enough to complete the song. But it also made me aware of the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship. That got me excited. As a result, over the last couple of years I have been working towards a submission for the fellowship (I am currently waiting to hear about this years outcome). If successful, I will use my trip south to develop ideas for a suite of Antarctic songs, produce an album (and maybe DVD) and a live multi-media show. In addition, I am conducting oral history interviews (I have persuaded the National Library of Australia to commence the Antarctic Oral History Project!). And finally, I am collecting Australian Antarctic folklore - particularly music made and played in the Antarctic. So, with any luck there is more to come. I already have a list of song ideas, but Im leaving them on hold in the hope that I get a chance to experience something of Antarctica myself. BW005CD; www.brucewatsonmusic.com; www.myspace.com/brucewatsonmusic
NOT FOR ENTERTAINMENT by James Dale (2010)
James Dale is a Halifax, Nova Scotia-area singer/songwriter and guitarist, whose songs reflect an environmental and social conscience. His first CD has the track Antarctic Bones, which includes the lyrics, I lay by cracklin fire, flickering in my home. TV showing icebergs crash into the sea, from Antarctic bones. James explained the song to us in 2012: Im an environmental ecologist by training. Much of my writing, music and thoughts have to do with planet Earth and treating her with reverence - a spiritual connection - she sustains us all - all life on the planet. One evening at home I did actually lay by cracklin fire, flickering in my home, while on the TV (in fact a rented documentary about planet Earth) there appeared film footage of giant ice shelves crashing into the sea from Antarctica. I had previously seen such footage and still-images in print, but the dichotomy of a crackling fire making me toasty warm while sending up CO2 causing the planet to warm, and hence the ice shelves to calve, made me realize that this iconic image of global warming, that many of us have seen, could be the focus of a song beseeching humans to stand together, to sacrifice, and to stand up for Earths rights. I changed the ice shelves to icebergs for reasons of recognition by the listener. If we had to choose a non-living canary in the coal mine, I think the calving ice shelves, retreating glaciers and Greenland ice cap melt would do as well as any. www.barometerrecords.ca; www.myspace.com/557352890
ARCTIC by Im Kingfisher (2010)
Im Kingfisher (Thomas Jonsson) is a Lund, Sweden-based indie-folk/pop artist whose fourth solo CD is based on themes of isolation and early polar expeditions, especially that of iconic Arctic explorer, scientist and later statesman, Norwegian Dr. Fridjof Nansen. Nansen was the first to cross the Greenland interior in 1888 and his polar travel techniques influenced many later expeditions. The deluxe version of the CD includes a bonus 3-song CD, ANTARCTICA, which mentions the South Pole but does not have any South Polar tracks comparable to the Arctic CD. Thomas explained his ideas in 2012: With the album, I wanted to blend the polar theme with a general theme of striving and trying to widen your horizons, something I experienced when I started to do music. It kind of fit quite well together, in an odd way. Plus, Ive also always been very fascinated by the South and North Pole expeditions. The album is, as you know, mostly rooted in the Arctic, but when being offered to do a bonus EP on the limited version of the album, I couldnt resist naming it after Antarctica. Playground Music PMGLCDX 118; www.imkingfisher.com; www.myspace.com/thomasdenverjonsson
PRESSURE TO BE 18 AND UNDER – NEW ZEALAND (2010)
This is a compilation of 14 under-18 groups in New Zealand, compiled by the producers, Nicole Gaffney and James Stutely. Included is the noisy 6-minute garage band track Antarctica #2 by Grass Cannons. Papaiti Records
IREM – RETRO GAME MUSIC COLLECTION (2010)
This is a Japanese CD, which contains the electronic/rock soundtracks from five arcade games by Irem from 1988-1993. Included is the energetic 1-minute track by composer Ai Ai, The South Pole (Stage 1), from the 1993 scrolling shooter arcade game, In the Hunt, in which an evil group uses a machine at the South Pole to melt polar ice caps, floods the world and takes over control. Survivors use a submarine to organize a rebellion against their unwelcome rulers. Team Entertainment KDSD-00367
ONE ON TWOISM Volume 4 by Various Artists (2010)
This is an American compilation CD of interesting low-key tracks by indie electronic and ambient groups, including the 1-minute cosmic and gurgly Hometown Antarctica by Mute Branches. www.twoism.org; www.myspace.com/twoismrecords
1901 by the Gauss Experience (2010) (Web site download only)
The Gauss Experience is a Hamburg, Germany-based alternative/post-hardcore rock group. Its 3-song EP has the 5½-minute track The Shores of Antarctica Melt in the Sun of Plans and Alienation, one of the longest and most metaphysical-sounding of Antarctic song titles in this Discography. The groups Sven was equally metaphysical about the track when he told us about it 2011: As always its some kind of stupid talking about own songs, maybe you like the lyrics or something to help yourself to find some hints at the theme of the song? www.thegaussexperience.de; www.myspace.com/thegaussexperience
ARCHIV 1 by Owen OToole (2010)
Owen OToole is a Los Angeles, California-based filmmaker, artist, electronic sound composer and broadcaster. This is a 3-CD set of sound loops and loop collages of various electronic and other instrumental interludes, which includes the 2-minute Antartica, a slow and repeating note-bending synthesizer loop. Owen told us about the track in 2011: My process for naming tracks leaves a lot to the imagination: what the sound evokes for me. Maybe the piece is a bit melancholy in response to seeing the natural world wither at our hands. I was just at the SpaceUp unConference in San Diego, a gathering of space enthusiasts. I can imagine Antarctica to be a bit like space travel: the extreme temperatures at least. I think a lot of my music has a space element to it, exploring unchartered regions being of interest. So some commonality perhaps. According to the liner notes, Music based on loop patterns requires some patience. There is a first response, and then a growing impatience, but once these reactions pass the real beauty of the sound fields can be perceived and appreciated. This bouquet has been carefully selected for your enjoyment.
THE INFINITE MUSIC OF FRENCH HORN REBELLION by French Horn Rebellion (2010)
This CD is the result of the work of two brothers, Robert and David Perlick-Molinari, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and now in Brooklyn, N.Y. The two have gathered a lot of attention for their music in Europe and have undertaken tours of Asia and North America in 2011. Their music covers a range of styles through a dramatic and theatric electronic/dance groove. Atypical on the CD are two tracks, the subdued Mawsons Peak and the instrumental Antarctica/The Decision. The former is a moody philosophical song (sample lyrics: where the wind blows downI looked inside the mountainI must go on). The real Mawsons Peak is an active volcano on Heard Island, one of Australias subantarctic islands and the highest mountain in Australia or its territories, named after Australian Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson, who visited in 1929 during an expedition to Antarctica. The Antarctica track begins as a piano/synthesizer ambient piece, followed by a French horn solo (by classically trained Robert), which leads to a piano/noise fadeout. www.frenchhornrebellion.com; www.myspace.com/frenchhornrebellion
FOUR FARADAYS IN A CAGE by Incandescent Sky (2010)
Incandescent Sky is a Providence, Rhode Island-based instrumental rock quartet, formed in 2003, that plays atmospheric, progressive improvised music. Its third CD, recorded live in 2007 in one blistering improvisation session, according to the CD notes, has the 9-minute track Antarctica. John Orsi, the groups drummer/percussionist, told us in 2011: The thought behind the track title Antarctica was that the feelings conjured up by the landscape of the music suggested, to us anyway, what we thought to be suitable to the surface and features of Antarctica. This is just a guess, however, as none of us have actually been there. Noisynoise NN-IS-004; www.incandescentsky.com; www.itstwilightmusic.com
TREES by Una Keane (2010)
Una Keane is a Dublin, Ireland-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist/producer who has studied film scoring at the Bostons Berklee College of Music and completed postgraduate studies in music technology in Dublin. Her first CD of reflective acoustic rock music has the plaintive piano/cello-backed track Antarctica. Sample lyrics: High hopes unto the surface, All eyes to the sea, And how much do you wanna know that All this comes for free? Even through the whiteness, Even through the daze, I will see your face again Theres an island in the Pacific, and its overflowing without trees, And yet, with so much beauty, For as far as the eye, I can see. Una told us in 2011: Antarctica deals in part with the erosion of natural resources in Antarctica, in addition to a more general ecological problem. Ive also personified Antarctica, so that I can speak to him/her as a loved one that Id like to see again. I suppose that you could call the song a lament for the Antarctic situation. I must say that Im no expert, but I was inspired to write the song after watching a number of TV documentaries on that very special part of the world - especially The March of the Penguins. Marabou Records mrcd001; www.unakeane.com; www.myspace.com/unakeane
THE NAVY LARK Series Nine (2014)
The Navy Lark, the longest running comedy program in British radio history, was a concoction about the antics of the crew of HMS Troutbridge, on the BBC airwaves from March 1959 to July 1977 with 15 series. This box set of ten CDs of episodes from July to November 1967 includes Back from the Antarctic, broadcast on July 2, 1967. This caper has the Troutbridge, apparently returning from Antarctica, with a flotilla of various ships in tow. The program theme music was composed by harmonica virtuoso Tommy Reilly and by James Moody. This episode also appears in THE NAVY LARK Volume 18 (2006). BBC Audiobooks; www.bbcshop.com; (See also THE NAVY LARK Series Seven (2011), NAVY LARK Series 4 Volume 2 (2008), NAVY LARK VOLUME 18 (2006) and NAVY LARK Series Two Volume 1 (2004) in this section.)
BEARS! DELUXE EDITION by Aerith (2010) (Web site download only)
Aerith is a Burlington, Ontario, Canada progressive metal/rock group, formed in 2008. Their second EP has the rocking track Antarctica, complete with howling winds. Bassist Cody Greer told us about the song in 2011: I think we chose the name Antarctica because its somewhat of a dark and mysterious place that most people dont know too much about. And the fact that there is little life in Antarctica makes it metal! So I think we just liked the name and how it represents our band and the song. www.myspace.com/aerithmusic; www.aerithmusic.com
ANTARCTIC DAY/ ENERGY by Blue Tente (2010) (Web site download only)
Blue Tente is the project name of Romanian composer Sergiu Teremtus, an electronic/trance musician who has been active in the European DJ music scene. This recording has two mixes of the energetic track Antarctic Day. His earlier record ANTARCTIC NIGHT (2008) has six various remixes of the companion track Antarctic Night.
POLAR SHIFTS by Ben Miller/degeneration (2010) (cassette only)
Ben Miller is a veteran New York City-area based avant-garde sound and multi-media conceptual artist who specializes in prepared guitar treatments and sonics. This cassette has the 13-minute track Antarctica, a performance of stark industrial atmospherics and occasional chants that undoubtedly captures the varying moods of the Antarctic, from silence to desolation. Ben told us in 2011 that Its theme is in regard to the possibility of 2012 scenarios. The lyrics imply general weather in the South Pole. Moving over relates to tectonic plates moving during polar shifts. Nothing too heavy, I just enjoy atmospheric impressions. Obsolete Units OU-024; www.benmiller.info; www.myspace.com/benmillerdegeneration
DECYCLICAL by Catharsis (Web site download only) (2010)
Catharsis is a progressive metalcore band from Wheaton, Illinois, formed in 2008. Their first EP has the track with the intriguing title, You Cant Rain on My Parade, This is Antarctica. Great title, since Antarcticas interior is one of the driest places on the planet and is considered a desert. Grant McDonal, vocalist/guitarist, told us about the song in 2011: The name itself makes witty commentary on the common idiom dont rain on my parade, meaning dont ruin my fun time. We were suggesting our fun time cant be ruined because it already has been; were in Antarctica. If you read the lyrics, the title isnt supposed to have a defeatist attitude - we then make the optimistic observation that things can only get better - the only thing we need to do is unite. Unfortunately, we use Antarctica to symbolize an undesirable placeIf Antarctica seems to represent coldness and isolation, I wonder what location, if any, might best represent happiness, comfort or love? www.purevolume.com/catharsistheband; www.myspace.com/catharsisISsmetal
BLUE MOTION by Rei Kagaya (2010) (Web site download only)
Rei Kagaya is a Japan-based composer who has done soundtrack work for motion pictures and planetarium shows and since 2005 has made numerous CDs of atmospheric New Age music. His current record has the dreamy 2-minute synthesizer track Ice of Antarctica and the related 1½-minute track Solar Eclipse. Rei told us in 2011 that Ice of Antarctica was made for BGM for the planetarium program Straight Into the Universe. The hero goes to the South Pole in the program, and there is a scene that observes the total solar eclipse. He was eating and sprinkling syrup on ice. It is interesting. It was necessary to be moved deeply by ice when getting off to the South Pole, and to make this tune. Reis brother, Kagaya, the creator of this full dome show, is a digital fine artist and animator in Japan, specializing in themes of the universe and humankinds role in it. According to his Web site, This full dome show provides you various kinds of Kagayas artworks including beautiful computer generated images of the universe and a very precious movie of the total solar eclipse in Antarctica witnessed in 2003 for the first time in human history. Receive a message put in the inspiring movie: Enjoy the beautiful fusion of science and art. Chase your dreams! members.jcom.home.ne.jp/dream-side-records; www.kagayastudio.com/english/planetarium
KNIFE FIGHTS AND FLASHLIGHTS by Soundtrack for Antarctica (2010)
Soundtrack for Antarctica is a Portland, Oregon-based rock group, formed in 2008. Although there are no Antarctic songs on the groups first CD of melodic hard rock, Joe Asbridge, the bands founder, guitarist and vocalist told us in 2010 about the origin of the groups name: Its because I am an amateur and not very many people listen to my music yet. Not too much to do with Antarctica other than that there arent very many people in that part of the world. I just make the music that I like and thought that name had a nice ring to it. Hope I do not disappoint. I remember hearing about Vaughan Williams Sinfonia Antartica in Music History in College. Heres hoping the groups tuneful music is heard by a wider audience on all the continents. www.myspace.com/soundtrackforantarctica; wwwsoundtrackforantarctica.com
ALIVE & KICKIN by Morningstar (2010)
Morningstar is a Bronx, New York-based quartet of veteran musicians, formed in 1982. Led by vocalist Mary Courtney, the virtuosic instrumentalists play Irish/Celtic music and have recorded several albums and played U.S. music festivals. This live CD, recorded in Yonkers, N. Y., has the track Tom Crean, named after one of the giants of the Heroic Era of Antarctic Exploration who was on three major British Expeditions with Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton. Sample lyrics: On Endurance we sailed, set out for Vahsel Bay, our hearts and our minds to the task. But the packs settled in and we prayed for the wind as we woke to the ice setting fast. We took to the boats, it was hard to stay afloat, as we sailed to the first bit of land. Where we left twenty-two of our brave and gallant crew, but in time they were saved to a manNow the tales that I tell, of heaven and of hell, they all have a place in the mind. And we all face our death, but ah me boys not yet, Ive never left a man behind. Chorus: Eyes to the West boys, take her out slow, backs to the wind, boys, fourty below, hands to the wheel, boys, keep her in line, send down the word, were sailin home. Mary explained to us in 2011: The reason I recorded this song is because it is firstly a wonderful song, which was written and composed by my best friend Dave McGilton. Secondly, I am from West Kerry and Tom Crean is a local legend and his mothers name was Courtney (some claim a distant relation but Im not sure about that!). The chorus of this song is used in the one-man play by Aidan Dooley (this show is called Tom Crean), which is a truly wonderful tribute to Toms memory and legacy; hopefully Aidan will be able go on tour of North America and Canada if he can get funding by next year but that is up in the air as of now. www.sonicbids.com/MaryCourtneyMorningStar; www.davemcgilton.com; www.aidandooley.co.uk; www.tomcrean.co.uk
BLEEDING ANTARCTICA by Bleeding Antarctica (2010) (Web site download only)
Bleeding Antarctica is the solo progressive rock project of Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A.-based Johann Kelly Hutson. This album of melodic hard rock has the tough but wistful 5-minute track Antarctic is Bleeding, about the changes going on in the world, which are not for the better. Sample lyrics: Pastures gave way to the highways, So much concrete changes the view, Erecting fences to keep out the passers-by, A different bird flies in the sky. Four million years, everything was quiet. Four million years, just looking for a change. Always looking for the ultimate perfectionAntarctica is bleeding, Screaming your name, Trying to find a face to focus all the blame. Time to face your consequence, time to face your shame. Time is fleeting, Antarctica is bleeding. We asked Johann about the title of the track and he replied: The inspiration behind this project came from the five-story blood red waterfall that is found at Taylor Glacier. For more info on that just type in Bleeding Glacier in a search engine and read all about it. We did and the references lead to Blood Falls, which is a red-coloured, iron oxide-rich water outflow at the tip of the Taylor Glacier onto the frozen surface of Lake Bonney in the Dry Valleys, (one of the driest parts of Antarctica), near McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. The red-stained water is believed to be from a subglacial pool of saltwater, which also contains a world of different types of microbes. The area was discovered and explored in 1911 by geologist Griffith Taylor, one of Robert Scotts Terra Nova Expedition members, after whom the Glacier and the Taylor Valley are named. www.myspace.com/bleedingantartica
LIVING ON BRANES by P.God (2010) (Web site download only)
P.God is a Naples, Italy-based electronic musician. His 5-track EP includes Antarctica, a beat-heavy track underlain by icy, alien musical themes and sounds. He told us in 2010: Typical features of my music are dark-sounding atmospheres and synthesizers related to ambient/dark ambient/industrial music combined with electronic techno drum structures. Im really fascinated by beautiful, cold and lost Antarctica sceneries, and lost places of the world (and space) in general. So when I wrote that track, my mind was thinking to frozen landscapes and the cold Antarctic sun - and synths and atmos used in the track for me can represent very well these thoughts.
SEND IN THE CLOWNS by The Sigourney Weavers (2010) (Web site download only)
This Swedish pop/rock group has the same name as the lead actress from the Alien movie series. Their debut album has the track Antarctic, with reference to a frozen destination in a frigid world in which the singer asks for nothing out there but love. The group told us in 2011: The Antarctic track is a song about a cold/frozen love between two persons. They love each other, but just cant get along. www.myspace.com/sigourneyweavers
GRANNYKARTS OWN THING by Grannykart (2010)
Grannykart is the North Hollywood, California, U.S.A.-based avant garde electronic music duo of musician and vocalist Jody Beth Rosen and guitarist/producer Andre LaFosse. Their album has a short ethereal, icy track (1 minute, 45 seconds) with the intriguing title of Minor Antarctic Island. Jody explained about the title: I called it that because of Google Earths decision to add a small portion of Antarctica to its Street View function. I wanted the song to have a glacial feel and the title seemed appropriate. cbr101; grannykart.bandcamp.com
STROMBOLIS ALARM CLOCK by Moes Haven (2010)
Moes Haven is the Manchester, New Hampshire-based singer/songwriter duo of Matt Farley and Tom Scazo, along with other contributors. They have issued numerous CDs of their light rock in the 2000s and their latest includes the track Antarctic Rages. Matt told us about the song in 2010: Antarctic Rages is sung from the point of view of an angry young man who wants to lead a wild life. We settled on the phrase Antarctic Rages because it really seemed to describe the young mans anger toward rigid society. He sees lots of lies and hypocrisy around. But when he speaks out against them, no one seems to pay any attention. It is not unlike a person screaming away in Antarctica, where no one can hear his cries. Also, we use the word anarchy, which is very similar to Antarctic. The character in the song probably views Antarctica as a perfect, anarchic land where hed be free to do as he pleases without the typical shackles of society. Thats my best interpretation of the basic idea behind the title and the use of the phrase in the song. We usually try not to analyze our own lyrics that deeply. www.moternmedia.com; www.moeshaven.com; www.myspace.com/moeshaven
ATMOSPHERES for Trumpet and Sound Forge by Chris Moors (2010)
Chris Moors is an Illinois, U.S.A.-based composer, trumpet player, symphony orchestra and jazz musician, educator, radio host and writer of mystical fiction. He has also studied the religions of the world, becoming a practitioner of meditation. According to his Web site, his mission is to invoke the unity of Eastern Wisdom and Western Art, to assist in the evolving consciousness and destiny of humanity and to make this information available to the widest possible audience. His latest CD consists of 30 trumpet solos, played both naturally and electronically treated to resemble as cosmic a sound experience as imaginable. One of the tracks is Antarctic Morning, a spacey dirge reminiscent of the sounds made by the Theremin, an early 20th century electronic instrument. We asked Chris about the track title and he replied: The reason is the aesthetic of the track. Most of the songs on this disc I composed and then titled. Something about the sound made me think of an unpopulated cold landscape. The concept was a pristine untouched nature area. I just imagined the sun rising over the ice and the clarity which that provides. www.creativecosmos.org
ELEGIES FOR THE MYSTERIES OF MISSED HISTORIES by In Antarctica (2010) (Web site download only)
In Antarctica is a Canadian pop/rock quintet from Ottawa, Ontario. Their melodic first EP is played with a variety of instruments, ranging from guitars and glockenspiels to ukuleles and violins. It begins with contemplative pastoral moments and ends in harder rocking anthemic sing-alongs. Andrew Loeb, one of the band members, told us about the name of the group: For us, the band name derived from my own fascination with the place as both a physical landscape and as a locus for a series of ideologies. Antarctica remains the last great unsettled frontier. It is a site of discovery and of international collaboration even as it carries with it a fierce history of national rivalry. And as the relatively recent Gamburtsev (Mountain Range) expeditions and studies have begun to show, there is a whole unseen and uncharted world asleep beneath the ice. As a band, I think (or rather hope) that our music engages in similar ideas. Intellectually and artistically, we hope to occupy a conceptual framework that engages with Antarctic tensions. Hope that helps explain things. www.inantarcticaband.com
GET SERIOUS by Jay Harden (2010) (Web site download only)
Florida, U.S.A.-based Jay Michael Harden has over 30 years of professional music experience playing rootsy blues and folk music. His current record has the track Antarctica. Sample lyrics: Set out on the trail, with the wind from the North, Glacier, icecap, permafrost, AntarcticaAt the station doing tests, isolation, instruments. Reap what we are reaping. Antarctica, Antarctica, Antarctica. Little town on the outskirts, even tourists are starting to come. No Aurora BorealisPlaying cards down at the bar, they talk of findings and discoveries, Life back home, further studies. Antarctica, Antarctica, Antarctica. We asked Jay about the background of his song and he replied: Well, I had the guitar part and it was quite repetitious, kinda monotonous, so I thought about a setting for the song. I wanted to write from the point of view of a scientist living and working in Antarctica, but at the same time the song could be about human relationships (people are cold!), the distance between us, environmental worries, etc. www.myspace.com/hardenjay
ANTARCTICA by To Kill (2010)
Antarctica is a Rome, Italy-based heavy metal/hardcore quintet, formed in 2004, which has toured internationally and released numerous CDs and EPs. This is their last CD and follows an announced band breakup. The cover and liner booklet abound with dazzling light blue and white photos of massive icebergs and the CD has the harsh, psychologically-minded track Antarctica. Lyrics: This winter, this cold, this land. This is not a place of the body, this is just a state of our mind. So secure, so unsafe. Frozen and silent. Apathy consumed our energy, I can feel my pounding heart slowly stopping, I can sense our rage being bottled and our emotions being forgotten. Eternal ice of denial is what were about to die in, this frostbite is silent and inevitable. The warmth of our blood has the possibility to offer cleansing, through our will we can create fire and life. Through our fire we can create life. The band told us about the reason for their track: Well, actually it seemed like a good metaphor for coldness of spirit and emotions, for stillness and pain, you know... Let It Burn Records LIB 044
A BAND OF OUR OWN by Aaron Joseph (2010)
Brooklyn, New York-based Aaron Joseph, with co-producer and musician Zach McNees, has written an enjoyable, rocking CD of childrens songs, which includes the track Antarctica. He explained to us: The song was just intended to be a cute and thought-provoking look at certain animals that live in the Antarctic climate. Sample lyrics: Turtles dont live in Antarctica. Theres no warm sand in Antarctica. If I were a turtle and I liked the sand, I would never go to AntarcticaBees would never live in AntarcticaThere arent any flowers in Antarctica. If I were a bee looking for a flower. Id be out of luck in AntarcticaA penguin would live in Antarctica. Shed be happy as a clam in Antarctica. If I were a penguin, happy as a clam, Id bet you Id be living in AntarcticaA whale could go swimming in Antarctica. The waters just right in Antarctica. If I were a whale, going for a swim. I would go straight to AntarcticaSome like it chilly, Some like it warm. If youre scared of thunder, Stay out of the storm. www.aaronjosephmusic.com
HORROR/ FORSAKEN by VoidWork (2010)
VoidWork is the dark ambient musical project of Belgian Xavier de Schuyter, with occasional vocals by Swedish operatic vocalist Ann-Mari Thim. According to the CD notes, VoidWork started in 2008 with the purpose of creating a haunting musical atmosphere. The concept is inspired by early 20th century supernatural literature and more recent horror cinema. One of the tracks is Antarctica, a rather quiet but haunting, chain-dragging Gothic piece. Xavier told us about the reason for the track name: Well, I am fascinated by all desolate landscapes, whether they be made of sand, ice or stone. In fact, Im planning a digital release inspired by the subject. One of my favourite stories is At the Mountains of Madness (the 1931 Antarctic novella by H. P. Lovecraft), which certainly contributed to the song on some level. BDRL006; voidwork.bandcamp.com; www.myspace.com/voidwork
MUSKETEER by Larsen B (2010)
Larsen B, named after Antarcticas most famous disintegrated ice shelf, is a pop-rock trio from Hertfordshire, U.K. Their first full-length CD, following two EPs, is filled with catchy upbeat songs, played on a variety of instrumentation. The CD dazzles in the understated playing and the melodies would warm up any ice barrier the group could encounter. Since there are no Antarctic-related tracks evident on the disc, we asked the group their name. Simon Palmer, guitarist and keyboardist replied: The house where I grew up and where we recorded the album used to be part of the estate of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, one of the members of the doomed Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole. We wanted to find a band name that linked in with this fact and our favourite from an extensive list was Larsen B. LB01 CD; www.myspace.com/wearelarsenb
UNDELIVERED by Pan Parag (2010)
Pan Parag (a.k.a. Sylvain Santelli) is a Lyon, France-based photographer and musician. His solo CD is a mixture of sung and spoken avant-garde folk which includes the track Mapping Antartic. This song captures perfectly the bleak sides of the Antarctic and human experience. Sample lyrics: Well look for horizon, search for reference, we are out of our heads, nothing to see but white space. No demarcations, no barriers, colourless pieces of land, without a face. This is white, darkness, a lens and a base without feature that, Adam-like, were giving it names. We are voiceless and human in a whiteout. Sylvain told us about the song: A friend of mine wrote the lyrics for that song (Fiona Stradling). Then I wrote the music and wanted something very repetitive and strange. The text is some kind of metaphor of life and wandering - how feelings can be very clear but still its like we dont know where we go. Meeting someone is like moving on a virgin land, you walk in the unknown, no barriers, no boundaries. And the white can turn into dark with the absence of the beloved person. This is all about silence and the need of having answers in the immensity of love. Acidsoxx Musicks xx423; www.myspace.com/panparag
MIDDLE OF NOWHERE by A Bridge Far Away (2010) (Web site download only)
London, U.K.-based A bridge Far Away is the solo project of Krystian Taylor, in association with various friends. This four-song EP of electronic music has the arpeggiated, gurgling track Antarctica. As to the background for the track Krystian said: The EP which Antarctica is on has a theme of nature and its extremes. Thats the only reason really. www.myspace.com/abridgefaraway
KALEIDE by Sky Larkin (2010)
Leeds, U.K.-based Sky Larkin is an up and coming pop-rock trio, fronted by vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Katie Harkin. Their second CD of energetic musical hooks has the track Guitars and Antarctica, an unusual literary combination of words. Lyrics: The rains locked in. The ice is smooth. Keep your calm. Absolute zero approaches. The white expanse is the last place I can picture infinite space. Where zero approaches and absolutes have room to grow. Drift off on the crest of whats accumulating. Drift off on the crest of thought coagulating. Its like the ice solidifying, like the ice solidifies. Ill never go to the last blank. Keep my calm from afar. Leaning on guitars and Antarctica. Leaning on guitars and a distant page of snow. While we may never master the understanding of the lyrics, Katie provided us with a few comments about the track that she had written for the on-line music site, drownedinsound.com: This song grew from thinking about guitars, sleep, Antarctica and the moment that thought becomes communicable (and sometimes eventually tactile). The keyboard solo at the end of this song was referred to as the arrival of the penguin choir during the recording process, though I cant remember if that was intended to be complimentary. Wichita Recordings Ltd. WEBB260CDL; www.myspace.com/skylarkinskylarkin; www.weareskylarkin.com
ELECTRIC MOURNING BLUES by the Scrapes (2010)
The scrapes are a Brisbane, Australia-based instrumental duo consisting of Adam Cadell on violin and Ryan Potter on guitar. As befits their band name, at times they scrape on their instruments in styles that vary from classic minimalist drones to psychedelic sound workouts. Their first CD has the 10-minute track Antarctic Beach, whose title Adam explained to us in 2010: It is a play on words in a way. In a massive rainforest in the Gold Coast hinterland about 200 km from where we live there are some ancient trees called Antarctic Beech. These trees have lived for thousands of years and are sacred to the indigenous people of that country. From where the trees live, there is a massive lookout that looks straight out over the south-eastern coast of Queensland and out on to the Pacific Ocean. Basically it is just a piece of music that we just came up with and it sounds like ice to us and it conjured images of this landscape and of masses of ice. So instead of calling it Antarctic Beech we called it Antarctic Beach. Its apocalyptic in a sense. Think of large sheets of ice colliding with coastline and youll get the picture. But at the end of the day its whatever you want it to be. Thats the joy of music! The CD cover and back have a painting of two large sheets of ice being separated by what seem to be two unearthly creatures – maybe the Scrapes? www.myspace.com/planetofthescrapes; planetofthescrapes.blogspot.com
WITH EMPEROR ANTARCTICA by Boy & Bear (2010)
Boy & Bear is a Sydney, Australia-based pop-rock group formed in 2009. Their debut 5-song EP of melodic rock doesnt have any Antarctic songs on it but Dave Hosking, lead vocals and guitarist told us about the unusual band name: Its a bit weird, but our bass player found this old photo in a random magazine. It was of an old man and an Emperor Penguin. It became our tour mascot and half way through the tours we realised that on the back of it...it said: With Emperor Antarctica 1992, hence the name. Universal Music Australia 2739922; www.myspace.com/boyandbearmusic
THE HABITABLE ZONE by To My Boy (2010)
Jack Snape and Sam White are a duo of energetic guitarists and electropop musicians based in Liverpool and Chesterfield, U.K. Their second album has the bubbly and bouncy track Antarctica. Choruses: Oh Antarctica, You were so cold, I used to think that I were bold, I always wanted to hold you close, but the second I did my heart frozeOh Antarctica, you made me feel so very old, These ancient bones were once so bold, I always wanted to hold you close, but the second I did my heart froze. Jack Snape explained to us: I decided to write the song initially because (phonetically) I really like the word Antarctica. Then the song turned into a kind of open-ended metaphor for something that is beautiful but remote and unwelcomingsomething whose beauty is best appreciated from a distance. I should also mention that the album, The Habitable Zone is about the earths precarious position in a narrow hospitable layer of space around the sun and that a song called Antarctica seemed to fit well into that set of imagery. VB01CD; www.to-my-boy.com; www.myspace.com/tomyboy
LEAVES by Big Round Spectacles (2010) (Web site download only)
Originally a duo, the group is now the solo project of Texas, U.S.A-based pianist/vocalist Matt Terrill. His latest indie-pop album has the track Antarctica. Matt told us: The story behind the song is that when I was a kid, I thought Antarctica was the biggest continent in the world because of the phenomenon of polar distortion. It looks humongous on a flat map, but only so-so on a globe. When I found out that it was not even close to being the biggest continent in the world, I had an epiphany: you can apparently be wrong when you thought you were right. So the song is about that, basically. Some people never have that epiphany, sadly. The song ends by saying that I may be wrong about a lot of things, but I have strong faith in God. Thats one thing I know for sure. Thats sorta the concept of the song, anyway. Matt recorded a new version of the song with vocal and instrumental backing, Antarctica (Gospel Choir Version) on his follow-up CD, RANDOM PEOPLE (2011). www.bigroundspectacles.com; www.myspace.com/bigroundspectacles
ANTARCTICA by Eric Solomon (2010) (Web site download only)
This is a 7-track EP by Vancouver, Montreal and New York-based Eric Solomon, a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter who has performed internationally. His funky electro-soul/pop recording has the title track Antarctica. Sample lyrics: I confess, Im a mess, been alone since you left, and all that remains is snow and frozen sunshine. And its cold in the Pole, without someone to hold, Im a floating iceberg on your Pacific OceanI was proud, way too loud to heal anyone, try to stop me from falling off the edge of the world Eric told us about the track: Heyit was just the feeling of being frozen from the world and defrosting back to reality. www.myspace.com/ericsolomonmusic
GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD by Admiral Byrd (2010) (Web site download only)
According to their Web site, Admiral Byrd is not a typical rock band. In fact, the chance of you seeing them on a local stage is very slim indeed. Instead, they are a group of writers, studio musicians and film makers who believe that the recorded album is still a viable art form - capable of expressing infinite beauty and violent dissent. Their record has two tracks with Antarctic references, Little America I and Final Flight of the Josephine Ford. Little America I was the Ross Ice Shelf location of Admiral Byrds camp for the preparation of his successful first flight over the South Pole in 1929. Josephine Ford was the name of the airplane used for his controversial (and now disclaimed by many experts) first flight over the North Pole in 1926. Both tracks have lush, dramatic synthesizer and guitar drenched instrumental backings overlain by an announcers voice of the many feet of snow accumulated over the original Little America base. www.admiralbyrd.com; www.admiralbyrd.bandcamp.com
HOMAGE TO ANTARCTIC AND FREEDOM by Antarktīda (2010)
Antarktīda is a joint project of three Latvian-based experimental musicians, including a psycho-shamanic folk singer and two industrial-noise artists. This instrumental disc of electroacoustic music is described in the liner notes as a trip toward the Unknown, overpassing different margins of music like ambient, noise, world. Included is the 7½-minute title track Homage to Antarctic and Freedom, an unusual word pairing that begins as industrial noise but eventually develops into a haunting, mournful dirge that is so hypnotic it demands to be heard in full. Imants Daksis, one of the three composers, based in Riga, told us: The reason for the main song and also for the title of album is the Ice Ages ending time in Antarctica. So, this place soon will be free and we were making sounds and noise about it. I feel it even physically. A previous CD by Imants, noted in this section following, IN THE TEMPLE OF UNBORN RELIGION (2007), has two other Antarctic-themed tracks, Girl from Antarctica and Antarctica. Sturmmandat 30; www.myspace.com/antarktida; www.imantsdaksis.lv
COWBOYS, DUNES & DESERTS (2010)
Mother Goose Time is an American professionally designed multidisciplinary educational program for preschool use, which includes music CDs. This record, with lyrics and music by Leslie Falconer and Brian Steckler, is about cowboys and typical hot deserts, but has an upbeat ditty about the worlds largest cold desert, South Pole Desert. Sample lyrics: In the coldest place where no one will go, a desert hides beneath the snow. Antarctica, goin down, down, down to the desert at the South Pole. Brrr, its cold. No bush, no tree, as far as I can see, the only sound I heard was a snow petrel bird. Antarctica, goin down, down, down to the desert at the South PoleIts a desert at the South Pole, I said, a desert at the South Pole. Mother Goose Time. www.mothergoosetime.com
ANTARCTIC ANGEL by Mushroom Giant (2010)
Mushroom Giant is a Melbourne, Australia-based hard rocking band, whose music combines layers of grand melodies, dynamic instrumentals and serious subjects. ANTARCTIC ANGEL has remixed vocal versions of four instrumentals from their previous disc, KURU (2008) MGLP006, and one from RAILS (2003). We asked the group about the title and Craig Fryers, the bassist, said that the reference to the Antarctic is only symbolic, its from a line in one of the songs, Autumn Leaves the Drifting Dead: ... Antarctic Angel with wings for the dead, which portrays a story about a young man becoming entangled in a fatal drug addiction (hence the background symbol (of the record cover) pertaining to chemistry). Coincidentally though, we have a track called Sirenthia from our instrumental album (entitled KURU) that conjures within us a feeling of Antarctica. Skworq Music MGEP007; www.myspace.com/mushroomgiant; www.mushroomgiant.com; www.thesixtyone.com/mushroomgiant
MECHANICAL RENAISSANCE by Psyborg Corp. (2010)
Psyborg Corp. is a Bogota, Columbia-based electro-metal, beat-heavy trio, formed in 2008. The members are p5YbORG!, Miss Pixel and User:X86. Their themes of a technocratic society include the track Starbeam Antarctica. Lyrics: Freeze to death, in another land of no return. White snow, below zero, raw winter storms, technological climate: lies ahead ice age in the 23rd century! A hundred years ago, they found the way to control the weather, thus planet Earth paled, corporations in control, turned it on, satellite activated, ice base of coldFrozen industries, Antarctic industries, cyberconspiracy to freeze humanity, frozen industries, lost! Antarctic industries, cyberconspiracy to wipe out the humanity. p5YbORG! explained to us that Starbeam Antarctica talks about a high tech base-complex, in Antarctica, where malicious experiments on climate manipulation take place in order to control mankind and shape Mother Nature at will. We will expand the Antarctica theme on our next record. I think its important to mention that the themes used in Psyborg Corp. are Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk stories, just to give more context on what we write about, and why we end up writing various stories including Starbeam Antarctica. NoiTekk NTK 037; www.myspace.com/psyborgcorp
SURPRISE INSIDE by Neal (2010)
Neal Anderson, from Indiana, U.S.A., is 17 years old and this CD of eclectic keyboard-anchored/vocal pop was made as his high school best of album. Included is the attention-grabbing title National Anthem of Antarctica. The lyrics were a little puzzling at first: During the great war of meat vs. sweets, General corned beef would one day change the heat. The Popsicle, the tender beef, the better choice to eat? Battled for the closet box where everything would freeze. Who would consume all space? Both sides devised a plan. The attack was soon begun. Oh, how the meat was overdone, The ice cream had melted in the sun, And only children did survive but had not yet developed eyes. Left all alone. Not far from home. Collard greens and strawberries, the only elders left, Would raise young rivals to live free and share a shelf. An anthem was created (for a nation far from hell) (and it sounds like this): Children raised in a place, For their good minds replaced. History, History. Wont be retraced. Be retraced.
We asked Neal about the background to the song and he provided the kind of answer that only comes from gifted and visionary musical artists who are able to simplify complex issues into understandable layman terms in song: Well, that song was actually made for a multidisciplinary class I took last year. I had to incorporate the two classes I was taking (Music Theory/Composition and U.S. History) into one year-long project, and multiple little projects along the way. The song was made as a composition for the requirement of the Music Theory portion. The actual inspiration for the lyrics/content started off after I made all the instrumentals. I thought it sounded and felt like the story of war; how it starts, who it affects, the aftermath, and ultimately a question - did we learn our lesson? I liked the song title National Anthem of Antarctica, and found it semi-comical and contradictory in a couple ways. But I wanted to make an actual war story make it about Antarcticansbut alas, there are none. I thought itd be too clich to write about penguins that inhabit the area. Then it hit me: Antarctica suddenly represented a freezer. Of course, Id make a metaphor war! I thought, who inhabits a freezer? Meats, ice cream (sweets), frozen fruits and veggies. Each category started taking on different personalities and represented parts of society to me: Meat - good in moderation, but easy to get carried away; Sweets - very easy to get carried away; fruits/veggies - good for you, a wise choice. So basically, the Meats and Sweets battle it out and kill each other off (except for the young). The wise, untouched fruits/veggies replace the taught hatred and teach love and compassion.
Antarcticas climate has often been said to act as the refrigerator of the world, but Antarctica as a real refrigerator with a metaphor war inside? – that wins a prize for cool! www.myspace.com/nealiumhelium
REBORN by Taboo (2010)
Norwegian rock band Taboo was formed in 1968, released two singles and soon disbanded. They reunited for this 40th anniversary new release. Its a great disc of melodic rock, backed with soaring guitar and has the heartfelt track, Antarctica, about the danger of global warming. Sample lyrics: Two thousand islands in the Sun, two million people on the run, from the tide, two thousand islands in the Sun, to the sea; Father Noah, he knew, the great flood was due, now we got our eyes on you, Antarctica. Six million years of Paradise, six billion tons of cold blue ice, to the sea, six million years of Paradise, to the paste. Asa Krogtoft, composer/vocalist/guitarist told us about the track in 2010: I wrote Antarctica after having seen a program on Norwegian TV in 2008, where a senior member of a Norwegian scientist group admitted that his scientific research in the arctic area had been nothing but a waste of time and that the knowledge he had gathered thru more than 20 years was worthless. What I remember the most about the worthless research was that this guy claimed that the basic model they had been using for years, now clearly had turned out to be too simple. Also the data they had been collecting thru the years were too little and too random to make any scientific conclusions at all. They would have to start this research all over. The next model, he claimed, would have to be much more complex. I felt that his key point was that studying isolated parts of nature will prove useless. His message, I felt, was: We have to look at our planet as one ecosystem in order to gather real knowledge about our environment. - Some data model! Asanova ANCD1001; www.taboomtown.com
EMPEROR OF THE SOUTH POLE by RW and P.38 (2010)
Two hip hop producers from Albuquerque, New Mexico have a good record title and a variety of interesting musical styles but nothing cold and polar on their CD. P.38 told us about the song title: It actually is from the movie Emperor of the North – thats where we got the name but RW wanted to put Pole in the title so people who didnt know the movie would understand. It was just one of those things he decided to change at last minute. Manchromatic; www.myspace.com/rwp38
FIVE MOUNTAINS OF FIRE / ANTARCTICA ENDS HERE by Cindytalk / Robert Hampson (2010) (Vinyl mini-LP only)
Robert Hampson is a British guitarist and experimental musician who started recording in the mid 1980s with the bands Loop and Main and later as an electroacoustic solo artist. This well-paired, two-track, 10 record has Antarctica Ends Here, an ambient, minimalist instrumental work with piano and background wind recordings, dedicated to fellow British musician John Cale, a former member of iconic band The Velvet Underground. Hampsons title is based on Cales song Antarctica Starts Here, from his album PARIS 1919 (1973), later redone on PARIS SEVEILLE (1992) and on ANTARTIDA (1995), a movie soundtrack. The other side of the LP goes to a far-removed side of the globe with the instrumental electronics/guitar/percussion of Five Mountains of Fire by veteran British ambient noisemeisters Cindytalk. Cinder (a.k.a. Gordon Sharp), a co-founder of the group in 1982, told us that our track relates to Kyotos (Japan) Obon Fire Festivals - quite the opposite of Antarctica, Id imagine. Editions Mego 105; www.myspace.com/roberthampson; www.roberthampson.com; www.cindytalk.com; www.myspace.com/cindytalk;
Hampsons Antarctica Ends Here is also included on his three-track CD of ambient/electronic music, ROBERT HAMPSON / REPERCUSSIONS by Robert Hampson (2012). The package includes two CDs, one a stereo version and the other a 5.1 surround mix version. eMEGO 132; (See also the Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section for the John Cale recordings.)
ANTARCTIC DREAM by Dexter Ward (2010) (Vinyl mini-LP only)
Dexter Ward is an Athens, Greece/Venice, Italy-based heavy metal band. Their first release (a four-track LP) has the tough but melodic Antarctic Dream. Sample lyrics: Icebergs, bright white mountains, In a frozen realm of stillness, Silent I wield the sceptre, And cast a spell of ancient might. Ruler of this Antarctic dream, hear my calling, Lead me on to savage shores. Vast ruins of ageless kingdoms, They are waiting my arrival, I raise my axe and black shield, Mystic prophet from the stars. Ruler of this Antarctic dream, hear my calling, Lead me on to savage shores. Warriors of Crom, bleeding with fury, Icons of violence and force, The sword of command will shine cross the land, Hyperboreans cry out, We are the children of blizzards and storms, Born of ancestors Atlantean, Out of the fire and into the snow, Fighting on and on.
Mark Dexter, the lead singer of the group told us: The inspiration for Antarctic Dream came mainly from a story written by the American author H. P. Lovecraft called At the Mountains of Madness, which takes place in the Antarctic continent in the 30s when a team of explorers discovers specimens of a mysterious alien race among the ice and an ageless alien city full of mysteries and supernatural perils. Generally Ive always been fascinated with the Antarctic continent, since when I was a small child. My dream is to be able to visit it one day. Iron On Iron Records IRON001; www.myspace.com/dexterwardband
ONE by Mountain Man (2010) (Vinyl LP only)
Mountain Man is a hardcore punk band from Massachusetts, U.S.A. Their limited-pressing LP has the track Antarctica is Everywhere, as angry and musically furious and desolate a track as to be found anywhere. The lyrics were written to accompany music composed by and in memory of a deceased former band associate. Sample lyrics: The world is loaded, hope against hope. Ghost sick for a god at the end of a rope. Hide your habits, littered with rot. Theyre wasting away and then falling apart. As an oddity, one side of the LP is at 33⅓ rpm, the other side at 45 rpm. Mightier Than Sword; www.mtsrecords.com; www.myspace.com/mountainmanhc
ESCAPE FROM ANTARCTICA by Luke Terry (2010) (Web site download only)
Luke Perry is Newcastle, U.K.-based electronic music producer, record label owner and DJ who has issued numerous recordings of instrumental club/trance/dance music. The present title includes four remixes of the original theme with various degrees of subtleties in the pounding drums, bass and melody. Lukes song title did not escape our attention and he told us about the origin: The title just relates to my time studying the southern geographic ice cores such as Vostok whilst at university, and my wanting to get away from reading about them and get in the studio instead. Available from iTunes and other download sites. Unearthed Records Red 016; www.luketerry.com; www.myspace.com/luketerry
MIDNIGHT SNACKER by Oded Nir (2010) (Web site download only)
Amsterdam-based Oded Nir is an electronic musician, producer, DJ, radio host and international performer. His current record of chillout and trip-hop dance vibes has the track Antarctica Girl. Oded told us in 2010 that I hope I dont disappoint you by telling you I wrote it about a girl that was so cold that she reminded me of an iceberg in Antarctica. Thats what I saw in my mind. Available from iTunes; www.myspace.com/odednir
MY SCOTTISH HOMELAND by Ina Miller (2009)
Ina Miller is a Scottish singer of traditional and popular songs. This album includes the 2½-minute upbeat South Georgia Whaling Song, by brothers Donald John MacMillan & Donald MacMillan of South Uist, Scotland. Its a waltz about the harsh whaling life from another era when the subantarctic island of South Georgia was the centre of the South Atlantic whaling industry, from the early 1900s to the mid 1960s. Sample lyrics: No, I will never return to the sea, the truth I am telling it wasnt for me, no I will never return to the sea, as long as Im free and sober. Sailing on whalers on seas far and wide, till the body is frozen, theres no place to hide, sure and Id rather be sailing the Clyde than climbing the masts in South Georgia. Although I will never return to the sea, the truth I am telling, it wasnt for me. Snow storms are raging and icy winds wail, spray stings your face, theres no rest from the gale. Theres plenty of money but nothings for sale, so its sailors just leaving South Georgia. Ross Records CDGR 060; There have been many other recorded versions of the song, among them the following instrumental versions: THE BEST OF TOMMY DARKY, VOL. 1 by Tommy Darky (2004); THE PIPING CENTRE, 1997 RECITAL SERIES – VOLUME 2 by John Patrick & Stuart Liddell (1998); FROM THE BANKS OF LOCH LOMOND by Neil MacEachern & his Scottish Dance Band (1998); THE WHISKY COLLECTION (DANCES & BANDS) by various artists, including a version by Fergie MacDonald & His Highland Band (1991)
CERTAIN STUFF by Daniel Striped Tiger (2009)
Daniel Striped Tiger is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based alternative hardcore band, formed in 2003. This is a CD of previously recorded non-album material, which includes the cryptic track, The Great Bust on Antarctica. It may be a reference to the plastic bust of Lenin placed at Antarcticas Pole of Inaccessibilty by a 1958 Russian expedition Sample lyrics: Always absorbing. You never compromise anything in your life. I was digging my own ditch. I never realized I was lying to you until I met someone else. The song was recorded in 2004 and appeared on their CD DANIEL STRIPED TIGER (2004). Yellow Ghost Records BOO!08
LIVELY AT THE DAVY LAMP/THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN PLECTRUM by Anthony John Clarke (2009)
Anthony John Clarke is a veteran Irish-born acoustic folk singer and musician, based in Liverpool, U.K. He has played clubs and festivals throughout Europe and the U.S.A. and has produced 13 records since 1992. This double CD of fine music and performances includes a track with the interesting title, Banjo Antarctica. Sample verse: My grandfather showed me nothing, my father showed me even less. I tried to live my life as a good man, tried to do my level best. But when the ice came round and the chips were down, I always knew my south from west and Ill trade this 5-string banjo for a woman and a reindeer vest. Anthony John explained to us in 2012 the background to the track: It was meant to be a small tribute to Leonard Hussey, who took a banjo to Antarctica with Shackleton, but became a song about the sea basically, and is a popular song at my live shows. It is a reflective, rather than a historical piece.
Leonard Hussey was a member of Shackletons 1914-17 Endurance Antarctic Expedition, as meteorologist, and was popular for his wit, musical storytelling and his banjo playing. When the Endurance sank, his banjo was kept as being essential to the crews morale and it survived, along with the men. Hussey donated it in 1959 to the National Maritime Museum in London, U.K., where it is on still on display. www.anthonyjohnclarke.co.uk; www.myspace.com/wwwmyspacecomanthonyjohnclarke
BETA by Silent Trio (2009)
Silent Trio is an indie rock duo formed in 2007 by Florida, U.S.A.-based Nathan Curry and James Cooley, who became a quartet in 2009. The duos first CD has the philosophical, rocking track Antarctic Sun. We asked Nathan about the song in 2012 and he explained the origin:
After coming up with the music while jamming with our old drummer, I tried to set old poems and lyric fragments to it. This fragment worked, and I tooled it into something more rhythmically driving with a more coherent point and story, but still with a bit of a surrealist/absurdist tack. What it means for me is that its easy to be full of ones own glory, but trying to correct the world can often backfire.
The lyrics:
I am a supernova! said the aviator as he stepped onto the icy island. The old man cackled, turned his bony back and sat bare upon the ice in the cold Antarctic sun. In the cold Antarctic sun!
Basically, this is setting the proud youth who thinks he can rid the world of cold against a resigned old man. You could say its the thesis statement of the aviators belief system.
The old man said, If you could use your tears to raise the dead, Id have never lost my wife, but whats done is done. And still the wilted, withered, dry, and bitter frantic dancing masses sing their praise to he who saves them from the cold Antarctic sun. From the cold Antarctic sun!
This is presenting the thesis statement of the old man, followed by the people experiencing and succumbing to their immediate needs over all else and ignoring wisdom.
My vessel wrestled a bank of clouds, speeding the still warm and breathing to the safety of my house. Yet they seemed as something septic in the angles of my empty attic. Scales have been upset by lesser things than what Ive done. Blackened, broken, bruised and battered, spirit left inside. Return to do my penance, I to the cold Antarctic sun.
So the final verse switches voice directly to the aviator, and details his internal experience. His grand and ultimately selfish gesture, to fix the world, backfires and results in shame and broken spirits. The phrase extension is him returning to this place that he tried to rescue everyone from. The instrumental section of the song to me sounds ambiguously triumphant, and I think if I had to say what I think it means, its the catharsis of the release of ego. Theres some metaphor about Antarctica and the wisdom of old age vs. the fire of youth, but I dont know what it is, and I think it just happened to turn out that way. I dont know how deep the song is, but I like serious messages that come across simply, like parables. In retrospect, I couldve avoided some trouble in my life if I had followed the advice in this song. Oh, well. www.silenttrio.com; www.myspace.com/silenttrio
FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH by Pixyblink and Rhea Tucanae (2009)
This is a mesmerizing CD with 11 of the 36 spooky sonnets of American horror story writer H. P. Lovecraft, largely written over a short time in late 1929-1930. The poems are recited/sung in a wispy, sultry voice by Pixyblink, a California-based gothic/ambient artist, with trippy instrumental and additional vocal backing by Rhea Tucanae, a.k.a. Dan Sderqvist, a Swedish multi-media artist and ambient/electronic rock musician who has been active since the 1970s and has issued many CDs with Karl Gasleben, in the duo Twice a Man. One of the quietest tracks on the record is Antarctos, which hints of unknown things buried deep in the Antarctic ice (an idea Lovecraft further developed in his classic 1931 novella At the Mountains of Madness). Dan told us in 2012: Lovecraft has always, since my teens, been a writer that I appreciate. He is one of a kind. When finding the long poem Fungi from Yuggoth, I was attracted to the lyrical part of it, a side that I havent felt in other Lovecraft stories. As Ive just started to collaborate with Pixyblink, I thought it very suitable to work with her, as Pixyblink has a somewhat dark side, much reminding me of the worlds of Lovecraft. Antarctos is one of my favourites on the record. Xenophone International XENO 13; www.myspace.com/pixyblink; www.myspace.com/rheatucanae; www.twiceaman.com
TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC by Stephen Emmer (2009)
Stephen Emmer is an Amsterdam, Netherlands-based musician, composer and conceptual artist who has been an in-house composer for public and private TV and radio broadcasters in the Netherlands. This box set of 4 CDs is a media anthology, covering his musical work from 1984-2009 and includes snippets of radio and TV themes, of program and station promos/identities and of films/documentaries. Included on CD III is the dramatic 49-second NCRV Missie Antartica, done for Dutch public broadcaster NCRV to promote their Mission Antarctica, a 2002 series of programs in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund, in which one of the contestants in a South American expedition is to qualify for a sailing expedition to Antarctica. eStation 75958; www.stephenemmer.com; www.myspace.com/stephenrogeremmer
MOVEMENT by Earthsound (2009)
Earthsound is a Boston, U.S.-based improvisational jazz quartet, led by classically-trained bassist Jason Davis, who is also an environmental researcher. According to Davis CD booklet notes, Just as natural processes are inseparable from the fabric of modern civilization, the sounds of nature are inextricably woven into global music culture. To some, the idea of mixing music and natural sounds may conjure up a bland new agey-ness. I have nothing against meditative music, but I hope to show that while nature can be tranquil and peaceful, it is also dynamic and full of energy. How could it be otherwise? The natural world is in us and we are in the natural word. Included on this CD of jazz and natural sounds from a variety of locations, is the track The Seals, which has a bowed bass accompaniment to the underwater sounds of Weddell seals, recorded in Antarctica by sound recordist Douglas Quin. Quins own natural Antarctic sound recordings are also included elsewhere in this Discography. Jason explained his composition of the track to us in 2011: I chose the Weddell seal sounds because they sound electronic in a way, and I like to use sounds that people dont usually think as natural. I improvised the bass solo in a way that I thought went with the seal sounds and imagining being underwater with them. www.earthsoundonline.com
GYRE by Ian Tamblyn (2009)
Ian Tamblyn is a veteran Ottawa-area Canadian musician, playwright and educator/guide on nature cruise ships, who has travelled to both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Many of the songs on this CD of folk rock were written about places around the world, including the track In Wonder, describing Antarcticas Gerlache Strait, one of the picturesque channels between the Antarctic Peninsula coast and the Palmer Archipelago, used by cruise ships that pass along the Antarctic Peninsula. Previously recorded on his CD ANTARCTIC SONGBOOK (2008), this is a newly recorded, tougher edged version. Lyrics: In the distance hear the thunder, A mountain full of snow, In silence and in wonder, we will go. Out towards the icefields, Out towards the white, In silence and wonder, And in light. Big ice, so small, In the wonder of it all, We walk on. North Track Records NT-30; www.tamblyn.com
TRAIN IN A RAINBOW by Solar Camel (2009)
Solar Camel is the solo project of electronic musician Agostino Silvestri, based in southeastern France. His first CD of bright, energetic and melodic instrumental synthesizer music, in a variety of styles, has the track Antartica. Agostino told us in 2011: Antartica is the only track for which I was inspired by somebodys work when I made it: I was thinking of one of Jean Michel Jarres most famous pieces, but I dont remember the name. The name Antartica doesnt have a real meaning, its just something the piece made me think of while composing it, nature, large landscapes, etc. And its a very fascinating part of the world. Agostino has also recorded under the name Polar Camel, with music in a New Age/classical style. soundcloud.com/agostino-silvestri
ANTARTICA by Sami Wentz (2009) (Web site download only)
Sami Wentz is a Valence-Drome, France-based DJ and producer of techno/electronic dance music. His 4-song EP has the track Antartica, a lively 7½-minute piece, notable for its arpeggiated background, sounding like water dripping off a perpetually melting glacier. Sami told us about the background to the name of the track in 2011: Oh, you know as a producer, it was the first name I thought of. Cupido Records; www.myspace.com/samiwentz26
SUMMERHOUSES by Craig Vear (2009)
Craig Vear, a British electro-acoustic composer and musician, won an Arts Council England Fellowship, in conjunction with the British Antarctic Surveys Artists and Writers Programme, to spend three months over 2003/04 on British bases in the Antarctic Peninsula area. The result was the multi-media package Antarctica, which included a small book of his diaries and other commentaries, a CD of recorded Antarctic wildlife sounds, ice breaking and glacial melting, and a DVD.
This CD of manipulated sounds includes natural sound sources from various locations and has the 9½-minute Crevasse Blue, a 10-minute electro-acoustical piece made from recordings at the British Rothera Base on the Antarctic Peninsula. According to Vears liner notes, Environmental found sound has held a long-term fascination for me either as acoustic ecology, phonographic art or soundscape. On one level they are complex studies in sound, shape, quality and time; untouched by human thought and ego. But at this micro level of study, the subject captured within the audio transforms into an evolving textural composition divorced from its human time twin. By that I mean familiar gestures lose their shape in time, together with any perceptual connotations. As such the listeners expectation of the sound of, say, ice creaking on a frozen river, loses any tangible point of reference. It is here that the music enters a minimalist digital world exploring the interrelationships between texture, time, focus, nature and the creative act of listening. MPCLU001; www.ev2.co.uk; www.myspace.com/craigvear; (See also THREE LAST LETTERS (In Memoriam of Capt. Scott, Dr. Wilson and Lt. Bowers) by Craig Vear (2012), ANTARCTICA by Craig Vear (2011) and ANTARCTICA - Musical Images from the Frozen Continent by Craig Vear (2005) in the Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section.)
TOTAL ECLIPSE by Rob Michalchuk (2009) (cassette only)
Rob Michalchuk is a Brantford, Ontario, Canada-based experimental electronic musician/saxophonist. This cassette has the 12-minute track Antarctic Basement. We wondered about this track, which sounds as if the recorder had been accidentally left on, with casual conversations, saxophone bleats and flushing toilets and asked Rob about it. He told us in 2010: It was recorded in early March. The house was cold. The track sounds cold. The artwork was clipart from Antarctica. I enjoy far away places. So in this tape it finds itself all togetherbrrrrrrr! Poor Little Music Plm-063; www.myspace.com/quiekyfood
DONT SAY YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT by Elephant Island (2009)
Elephant Island is a low-keyed indie folk/pop/roots
Canadian band from Victoria, B.C., with their third CD since 2004. We asked
Galen Hartley, singer/songwriter and guitarist about any connection of the band
name to that of the island made famous in Ernest Shackletons Endurance
Expedition of 1914-16. He told us in 2010: Yes, we did actually get the name
from the Antarctic island. It was a pretty last minute decision, and the music
isn't particularly Antarctic but...there you go. It gives the sense of being a
last bastion. Aaargh! Records ARG 112; www.elephantisland.net; www.myspace.com/elephantislandvictoria
JBK EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE by Jumping Bacteria Kids (2009)
Various light jazz-influenced instrumental tracks named after aspects of science and geography, including Antarctica. Available from iTunes. CD also manufactured on demand by Amazon.com
ICELAND by Bark Cat Bark (2009)
Paris-based multi-instrumentalist Josh Todd has recorded many records under his solo project Bark Cat Bark, in styles covering neo-classical, folk ambient and post rock. Subsequent to this album, his music seems to have disappeared from the Internet and seems unavailable. This collection has the New Age-style solo piano track Antarctique.
SMALL GROUP PSYCHOSIS by Vostok Lake (2009)
Vostok Lake is the solo work of Auckland, New Zealand musician, writer and political activist Daphne Lawless. The upbeat, electropop songs dont have any direct Antarctic connection but according to the projects Web site, Lake Vostok lies under four miles of ice in Antarctica, heated by underground streams. No one knows whether life exists in it or not. Daphne Lawless adopted this name to reflect the themes of her music - the cold of the electronics meets the subterranean warmth of the songwriting, and the whole thing is very mysterious. Random Static RSM009001005; A previous EP of comedic songs, MAGICAL INTERNET (2008) was issued under the name of Vostok Lake Auxiliary Choir. www.vostoklake.org; www.myspace.com/vostoklake; www.daphnelawless.com
THE STARS OF NEVER SEEN by Crescent Shield (2009)
Los-Angeles-based heavy metal band Crescent Shields second CD has the 9-minute, four-part opus magnum The Endurance, which passionately pounds out the story of Shackletons 1914-16 Endurance Expedition to Antarctica. Sample lyrics: Part I: A Third Gathering: Brave men wanted, For hazardous journey, Low pay, bitter cold, Months of complete darkness, Constant danger, Safe return doubtful, Great recognition in case of success...More seasoned and well prepared, The continent again I dare, To reach the pole again I drive, Let it be the end, This time alive!; Part II: To Stab the Sole of the World: South! We sail with pride, Our keel will slice the oceans heart with anger once more, Feel the wind at our backs, and our facesAlready charred with frozen black! We meet once again, My old foe South Atlantic, Spawn of jigsaw ice all around, the cracks closing in, Till theres no more, Imprisoned in this icy hell!... Part III: Run on Water: North! We run to save our lives, The albatross and emperors, Have sung our dire dirge, Warmth will keep our souls alive, We move with haste through jaws of cracked bergs, We haul small boats that carry life, We only have necessities as Bare as our skin, Vile, the hide of oceans dead, Flesh of the dogs, A pleasure filled sweet meat!Part IV: The Endurance Within: Two years of death yet all survived, Endurance has to be the key, On painted waters we awake to find, A day of wonders so divine, The Yelcho awaits on the silent seathe Endurance we have left behind, Endurance we will always find.
Daniel DeLucie, guitarist and one of the main songwriters for the band, told us his reason for the track in 2010: I read many adventure stories. Shackleton has become somewhat of a hero of mine. As I was reading book The Endurance, I was inspired to write the music for the song. I passed the book onto my singer (Michael Grant) and he read it and wrote the lyrics to fit in with the music and the story it told. It all just fit together in the end. Cruz Del Sur Music cruz35; www.crescentshield.com; www.myspace.com/crescentshield
A STORY YET UNTOLD by Soulcaged (2009) (Web site download only)
Soulcaged is a Montreal (Chateauguay), Canada-based progressive metal band, which began in 2004 under the name Dreamcatcher. This album of melodic, orchestral metal rock has the track Antarctica. We asked the band about this song and they said: The song is written from the perspective of a person who has placed undue importance on his career and/or material needs or social accomplishments. In the end, that kind of man feels like a stranger to himself, and his own inner self looks like a barren place, an Antarctica of sorts. In other terms, the time and effort we invest in the outside world is meaningless if we do not take the time to get to know ourselves, our limits, and find our own purpose. That is the general meaning of the song. Available from www.cdbaby.com; www.myspace.com/soulcaged
ENDLESS RAIL by Lakme (2009)
This is an Italian-produced CD of contemporary jazz/New Age/world music, all written or co-written by veteran Rome-based keyboard wizard Francesco Gazzara, who has had international recording and performing successes with his band Gazzara. He has able assistance on the CD from musicians on vocals, strings, flutes, percussion and electronics. One of the tracks is Antarctica, an electric piano-based shimmering, upbeat excursion to the Ice. Francesco told us: The Antarctica track has been inspired by a (never released) documentary on the early expeditions of the 1900s. Lakme is a project mostly dedicated to music libraries and soundtracks, so is often inspired by TV and image work. Terresommerse CD; www.gazzara.org; www.myspace.com/francescogazzara
MARCY & ZINA - THE ALBUM by Marcy & Zina (2009)
Marcy Heisler, lyricist and Zina Goldrich, composer, are two New York City-based major award-winning artists for both Broadway and off-Broadway productions. In addition to their work together since 1993, Zina has been a Broadway production keyboardist and conductor and Marcy has also written lyrics for many Disney projects. Together they have presented their music at various North American showcases. Their Web site says that with their first joint CD of musical comedy, these hopeless romantics invite listeners to join them on their search for love from Antarctica to Baltimore, with a big stop smack in the middle of Manhattan. Antarctica gets recognition from the duo in the track Los Pinguinos, about penguin romance. Sample lyrics: Way down south in Tierra del Fuego, Near the tip of the Antarctic sea, Lived some penguins – in Spanish, pinguinos, And theyd frolic in the snow happily. But one penguin was not like the others, she was terribly, terribly shy. While the others would spoon, shed just look at the moon And watch penguin parades pass her byBut one day, as she lay, Staring up at stars above, Another penguin looked her way, and fell in loveWhen I looked in your eyes of yellow, How my wildest dreams unfurled, And now that Ive got em, Im here at the bottom, But sitting on top of the world!... Marcy told us about the track in 2010: Its basically just a funny love story. I have a friend whos father gives Antarctica cruises every year and I guess that inspired me a bit. One never knows exactly where these ideas come from! Yellow Sound Label YSL 566493; www.marcyandzina.com
VIDEO GAMES & POPSICLE STICKS by 28-200 (2009)
Denver-based Mister L and Aimee are the members of this alternate punkish rock duo. Their first full CD has the ecological-minded track Antarctica, which prompt humans to make more responsible decisions in their daily activities. www.28-200.com
ANTARCTIC by Antarctic (2009)
Antarctic is a Jacksonville, Florida-based group. Its first CD, with a picture of pancake ice on the cover, is a collection of guitar-led melodic, progressive hard rock instrumentals. Despite the group name, there arent any tracks on the disc named after The Ice, so we asked Chris Jackson, guitarist, about the band name. If truth is better than fiction, he replied with a reason better than any imaginable: Well, I used to work at a health food store in Jacksonville called Native Sun. One night I was doing the dishes in the backroom (this is when we were first forming as a band) and I looked at the dishwater in the sink and it made me think of the icy waters of the Antarctic. I thought to my selfthat would be an interesting band name. So then we decided on the name, Antarctic. Not a terribly interesting story, unfortunately, but its how I thought of the name. Hello Sir Records SIR 022; www.myspace.com/antarcticsounds
ALL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD by Mr. I, Gary Q & the Rainbow Singers (2009)
British Columbia, Canada-based teacher and musician-entertainer Mr I (Yurgen Ilaender) has produced many CDs about geography and science for kids and has worked in Montessori pre-schools for many years. His current CD has the bouncy track, with childrens chorus, Antarctic Territories, which impressively touches on the politics, history, geography and wildlife in just over 3 minutes. Lyrics: Does anyone own Antarctica? No, they dont. Does any one country own Antarctica? No, no, they dont. But if you look you will see many territories, and a territorial claim or two. From Mt. Erebus, to the Southern Sea, Seven sovereign states have made claims on eight territories. Do people live in Antarctica? Yes, they do. Do scientists work in Antarctica? Yes, yes, there are a few. From all over the world, Many different nations have built a research station or two. Did Robert Scott, in 1912, Have a sense of the importance of the ice shelves? Did Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian man, Have a sense of discovery, as he travelled across this icy land? Six months of winter, six months of summer, Six months of winter, six months of summer. Do fish live in Antarctica? Yes, they do. Ice fish live in Antarctica. And theyre super cool. They have anti-freeze so they wont ever sneeze. And the ice doesnt form and their blood doesnt freeze. Its the highest, driest, coldest, windiest continent on earth. Ninety-eight per cent is covered with ice - Antarctica! - Brrr, Im cold. Im hungry. Youre hungry? What do you want to eat? Lets get an ice cream. Oh, my goodness, Im freezing! Facts & Fun AC-1; www.childmusicmri.com (See also ANTARCTICA REVISITED by Mr. I, Gary Huntbatch and Anise Abdulla (2002) in the preceding all or significantly Antarctic commentary.)
FROM THE ROYAL ARCADE by Rego (2009)
Rebecca Rego is a Chicago, Illinois-based singer-composer who leads her own performing band. Her first full CD of folk rock has the track South Pole. Sample lyrics: I missed my life at the South Pole, Clean snow and a hundred below, Youll never know that you were the last one alive. Rebecca told us her inspiration for the track: About two years ago I heard a story on Weekend America. People were sharing their favorite songs and a man was talking about how he loved the song Heart of a Saturday Night by Tom Waits. He was saying how he used to listen to it when he was living in the South Pole in a science research community. He talked about it and how much he loved it there, and how amazing it was to realize that when he went outside he was stepping on earth that no humans had ever stepped on before. Unfortunately he started to get seizures while there and had to be evacuated out. Even now he cant go back because of his medical condition. He lives in St. Paul now. I ended up contacting him on Facebook. Hes very nice. RWIM 001; www.rebeccarego.com; www.myspace.com/regorego
THE DEVILS HANDBOOK by Metro Manila Aide (2009)
MMA is a Liverpool, U.K.-based band whose debut release is a massive 4-CD set that covers ballads to hard and metal rock. Together since 2002, the group spent four years in the production of the CDs. Included is the track Deception Island, as well as a small map reproduction of the island in the CD packages cover wrapping sheet. The song is a quiet one and has the perfect description of the surface rock colours that are visible when passing through the entrance of Neptunes Bellows to the inside harbour. Lyrics: A camera pans across the ocean, Midnight blue to grenadine green, Burning bushes billow, Blankets of grey-brown. This could be bloody hell or the holiest heaven. Not a woman or child will be left. Not a woman or a child will be forced to suffer. Paul McBride, vocalist and guitarist, told us in 2009: When we wrote this song I had no idea Deception Island was a real place. It was just the name I had in my head for this island I could see vividly in my mind and the narrative that accompanies it...I found the map by chance, doing my Googles. We would love to visit there ourselves one day and maybe have a gig?? Heres dreaming!!! www.metromanilaaide.co.uk; www.myspace.com/metromanilaaide
STINK BAIT by Rube Waddell (2009)
The San Francisco, U.S.-based quartet has taken on the name of one of the most dominant and eccentric pitchers in Major League Baseball in the early 1900s and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The group combines Americana music, blues, Vaudeville, ethnic, folk and whatever else the cat dragged in, played on traditional and homemade instruments, with performances in clubs and on the streets. According to their Web site, When we walk through the forests, the birds around us become incontinent with fear. The current CD was originally recorded in 1998 and was re-released in 2009 with extra sauce. It has the track Mawsons Will, which tells the famous story of Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawsons harrowing escape from near death after a crevasse accident that resulted in the deaths of his two sledging companions, Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz. All were members of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14. Freddi (Mahatma Boom Boom) Price, the groups vocalist, guitarist, trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist, told us in 2009: Have you read the story of Mawson? If so, I can hardly give a better reason for wanting to tell the tale. Its the very picture of despair and perseverance. What nobler topics to sing about are there? Sure, we could have sung about the glory of Scott and Shackleton or the success of Amundsen, but everyone knows those tales. We are more into the doomed voyages of the dismal and forgotten. www.rubewaddell.org; www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomrubewaddell
OLD & NEW - Vol. 2 by Atopica (2009)
Atopica is the solo project of Finland-based Tomi Antikainen, who has produced many CDs of various types of music over 10 years. This CD is a compilation of his music composed over 1999-2009 and contains the track Antarctic Dream, a percussive synthpop instrumental tune that Tomi told us was composed in autumn 2008 and I got inspiration from the movie Eight Below. This was a 2006 American movie, updated from the original 1983 Japanese movie Antarctica, about a team of sled dogs that was stranded on the continent over a winter season. www.atopicamusic.net; www.myspace.com/atopica
PULSES ARE PLUSES by Jacob Vanags (2009)
Vanags is a young New York City-based piano rocker, currently studying at Hofstra University on Long Island, N.Y. His second EP, as part of a trio beefed up by horns and strings, has the wistful piano-based track Antarctica. Sample lyrics: I head as far south as I can surely go, leave behind me all that I know, know, know. I stop when up is the only way to look back, to the place from which I just came. I shout, I shout out, nothing will hear the sound, it is swallowed by silence, it rings so loudI beg, I plead please isolate me now, from the fury that pins all of us down but when the winds sweep and the glaciers break, thats when I realize I need to see your face. Jacob told us: Antarctica was the product of being alone in a room with a piano with the lights offyou might be able to tell? I am extremely proud of this song mostly because it was something I couldnt explain to my bandmates before we recorded it. I explained how I would get string players to play the bulk of the sound and incorporate a choir at the end to bring it to a new level. They played along, and I think they now understand what I meant. I got the idea of writing about Antarctica after watching that amazing show called Planet Earth. It is somewhere Im dying to goa place to seclude you from your worries and the worlds worries. Its an epic landscape with very little human interference. Imagine a cloudless night on the bottom of the world with the whole universe laid out above you. But the main point is that although it can open your eyes and free you from your stresses, it means nothing unless its shared with someone else. In an interview with enochmagazine.com he said: Id have to say my favorite line is tucked within Antarctica. Right before the chorus I say, I stand upright and upside down / at the same time to shake my thoughts out. The whole song is about going to Antarctica to escape the troubles of ones life and the troubles of the world itselfits about erasing stresses and hate and finding clarity on one of the most desolate places on EarthAntarctica. So if you think of Antarctica as being the bottom of the world you would be standing upside down per se and also upright at the same time. All the thoughts that need clearing out filter down through the top of your head as if you were standing upside down. www.myspace.com/jacobvanags; www.myspace.com/jvnewyork
TERROR by Valutan (2009) (Web site download only)
Valutan is a Malm, Sweden-based electronica/vocal duo consisting of J. Woulf and C. Manhattan. Its murky, dark pulsing 40-minute EP has the tracks Terror, Mt. Terror, Erebus, and Mt. Erebus. When asked about the Antarctic references in the titles, the group told us: Well, it is Antarctica-related in the sense that Erebus is used as a metaphor. Both the god, but also the ship and the mountain. www.myspace.com/valutan; www.pitch9.com
ON MANITOU ISLAND/IN HOT DOG CITY by John Roeser Avenue (2009) (Web site download only)
John Roeser is a Chicago, Illinois-based musician whose debut record has the track Shackleton. Sample lyrics: She went down in November, she sank beneath the waves, to the bottom of the sea. Mr. Shackleton, yes you, you knew your men and you led them through, now youve nothing left to prove. Thirty days on the icefloe, we didnt lose a man, but we had to eat the dogs. One hundred days, Elephant Island, thought it was the end, but a miracle instead. John told us: Ive always been a fan of the Shackleton story, and there was a great exhibit at the Field Museum here in Chicago a few years back. There was a period when I was into writing history songs, and I thought Shackleton would make for a good topic. www.myspace.com /johnroeseravenue
WISTFUL WONDERS by So Shush (2009) (Web site download only)
So Shush is a veteran indie duo from Manchester, U.K. (Carole Smart and Ian Drumm), with strong melodies and instruments against ethereal vocals. Included on their album is the track Antarctica, their comment on the precarious state of the continent. Sample lyrics: Ice crystals are falling, in shards of blue and grey, Lookin through my window, far across the bay, A pristine desert, untouched by human waste, A place for consecration, a place so far away, Ooh, its just begun, ooh, its just begunThe ice is really melting, life has gone awayIce crystals melting, theres nothing left to say The group told us: With regards to the song - for us, our music and instrumentation seemed to evoke images of somewhere icy and pristine - Antarctica. Given the times were in, the song inevitably pays lip service to melting ice sheets, threats to ecosystems and the continents huge potential for damaging mineral and oil exploitation, even though its currently protected by Treaty. Hope this doesnt sound pretentious. Available from various Internet sites including iTunes. CD also manufactured on demand by Amazon.com. www.myspace.com/soshush
RUNNING OUT OF MINUTES by Dan Levy (2009) (Web site download only)
Based in Los Angeles, U.S.A, Dan Levy is an up and coming comedian who has performed at clubs and college campuses, mainstream comedy festivals and on TV. His first and live comedy album has the short track Shackleton, a hilarious rip about the stiff upper lips of the old explorers. Dan told us I thought of the joke after taking a documentary course in college. One of the films we studied was one about Shackleton. Our transcription of the track: Crazy guy I learned about recently is Shackleton. You guys know who Shackleton was? He was, like, the first explorer ever to go to Antarctica. He got stuck in the ice and he survived. And he kept a journal and they read the journal on the Discovery Channel and I was listening, you know, and he was, like, DAY 1, we are stuck on the ice, but WE WILL SURVIVE! And I was thinking, thats like, awesome, you know, cause if I was on that boat, like, Id have a totally different journal, it would be, like, DAY 1, screw that s..t, Im freezing my b..ls off! But he kept them going, you know, and made them hunt penguins to survive, which is so not fair because penguins are, like, cute and little and wobble, you know, is that really hard to hunt penguins? www.danlevyshow.com
BIRD WINGS IN THE BLEAK by Libbie Linton (2009)
Libbie Linton is a folk singer/songwriter/guitarist and student at Utah State University, Utah. Her debut full record, following a 7-song home recorded disc called The Shackleton EP (2006), has the full band version of the mysteriously worded track Shackleton, Im Solid, which was also featured on the EP in an acoustic version. Linton has been reported in media interviews as saying the track is not directly related to polar explorer Ernest Shackleton but has not revealed the reason for the title or the meaning of the ambiguous lyrics, which are left open for interpretation. The CD front and back covers bleak black and white images of Shackletons ice-stranded ship Endurance. Sample opening lyrics: Shackleton, Im solid only bored out of my skull and these two big wandering eyes they lie Ive no one here at all make me out to be the one I wanted to be strong and sturdy for you not what youll never need. MV-001; www.libbielinton.com
SOMERSAULT SEASON by Laura Freeman (2009)
Freeman is a Texas, U.S.A.-based singer/songwriter/performer. One of her specialties is the creation of childrens music and educational programs to involve their imaginations, for which she has won awards. Her current CD includes Antarctica, a mandolin-driven continental European-sounding song that has the harsh climate and dressing requirements down pat. You can almost imagine Tevye from the Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof now singing this song as Tevye of the Antarctic in the Antarctic version of Fiddler on the Ice. Sample lyrics: Today we are going to the bottommost part of the globe that we live on, way down south below Australia, to the South Pole, in Antarctica. So put on your warmest pants and your thickest socks and pull your hats down over your ears. Grab a scarf around your neck, put on a big parka and zip it up and put on some mukluks. Are you ready? Lets all go to Antarctica, to Antarctica, to Antarctica. Its very cold in Antarctica, oh I hope that we dont freeze. Lets look for penguins in Antarctica, in Antarctica, in Antarctica. I hear theres penguins all around down in Antarctica. Oh, I hope that we dont freeze. Because its cold, so cold, so cold, so very cold. Its cold, so cold, oh I hope that we dont freeze. www.laurafreemanmusic.com.
BABY EINSTEIN WORLD MUSIC (2009)
The Baby Einstein Company specializes in developmental media and products for very young children and the CD cover bids us to Bring the joy of music from around the world to your child. This double-disc CD of musical themes from around the world, based on regional folk or classical tunes, includes the instrumental track Bonnie (references melody My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean) – An Antarctic Soundtrack, arranged by Bill Weisbach. Its an interesting idea to use this old traditional Scottish folk song, believed to originate from Bonnie Prince Charlies era of the mid 1700s and lately repopularized by Tony Sheridan and the Beatles in 1962, as a representation of Antarctica. While the tune is barely recognizable in the 2-minute synthesizer track, its nevertheless a spooky, haunting and warmly appealing visit, complete with the background seal and whale sounds. Walt Disney Records D000358002; www.babyeinstein.com
YOU ARE THE SKY, AND IM JUST THE PILOT by Ports of Aidia (2009)
Michigans hard rocking quintet ranges in style from pop to metal. Included on their CD is The Sky // Antarctica, apparently about a deep freeze being what it will take to save the world. Lyrics: Open your eyes, Look behind the film, I can feel you through the wind, I can see you in the wind, I can see you in the wind, This cold winter air is freezing my bones and coating my lungs with a thin layer of hope, Hope to make it through the night, The sky will start its rebellion against all mankind, A planet frozen in time to cleanse us of all our sins, There must be a way out of this world. And if I dont make it home tonight, Youll find me under a city of ice, Buried in a tomb of a frozen sea, Now the clouds breathe for me. Bring on the cold fronts, Fix what weve done, Bring on the cold fronts, To fix us. www.myspace.com/portsofaidia
HUMAN ACTIVITY SUITE: Sounding a Response to Climate Change by Brad Shepik (2009)
Shepik is a Brooklyn, U.S.-based jazz guitarist and has augmented his regular trio with two other musicians for this themed work, written for each of the continents. The CD includes the track Stir (Antarctica), a slow, meditative tune underlain by a sustained organ pad. Brad told us, For the other continents I had very much in mind indigenous musical ideas as well as images and other reflections. For Antarctica, since there is no indigenous music I carried an image of ancient water being slowly but surely released, drip by drip, as in waking from a deep slumber. According to the CD booklet, With Stir, I thought about the Antarctic ice being infinitely old – this ancient ice thats in motion, melting and moving. I see icebergs breaking apart when I hear this piece.
The booklet further explains: One of the many unfortunate aspects of the 2008 presidential campaign was a tiresome bout of obscurantism on the root cause of global warming. Hopefully, enough people are aware by this point that the cause is clear: human activity. Halting and reversing the effects of climate change, once the goal of a committed few, is by now a broadly shared concern. People have a way of waking up when scientific consensus shows that the planets future hangs in the balance. And the solution lies not just with world leaders and captains of industry, but with ordinary citizens of every nation. To remedy harmful human activity, in other words, we need different, better human activity, and were starting to see it happen. Music wont solve the problem, but as one of our most elevated mechanisms of communication, it can raise awareness and spur us to action. Few seem better suited to this task than Brad Shepik, an American jazz guitarist who has traveled the globe and learned from a wide array of musical cultures. With Human Activity Suite: Sounding a Response to Climate Change, Shepik extends a long tradition of composers, in jazz and beyond, who have brought social consciousness to bear on their art. Songlines SGL SA1576-2; www.bradshepik.com; www.myspace.com/bradshepik
THE YEAR OF THE ALIEN SOLDIER by Jon Sorensen (2009)
Scottish-born and U.K.-based Jon Sorensen has had a long career working on visual effects in major films (including Alien, The Empire Strikes Back, Superman 2, Time Bandits, Excalibur, Dragonslayer, Outland, The Watcher in the Woods and Moonraker) as well as directing commercials. He produced, directed and wrote his own independent science fiction debut film, Alien Blood, in 1999. Further work in sound design developed into music composition and in recent years he has completed 14 albums of atmospheric original music, which have been used in films and commercials internationally. His current CD includes the track Arrival in Antarctica, a multi-faceted otherworldly electronica instrumental. Jon told us in 2009 that After many years of vivid colour dreams about Antarctica, I visited the continent in 2007. I flew to the Patriot Hills landing strip and the cross-wind landing was very dangerous and set my imagination going! The sheer drama and wonder of Antarctica! (Im a great believer in following ones dreams as a sign). The place has a cosmic sense of wonder and fascination. I used the diaries of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Mind Over Matter, as a motivator when making my movie Alien Blood whenever I felt like giving up. He is a fascinating explorer and many good philosophies come out of his life and connections with Antarctica. When I was there, I shot some footage for my ambient feature film Seeker, which we may finish one day! Another short Antarctic piece of mine, On Gods Eye incorporates sounds of field recordings made when I was there. It wasnt all peaceful and calm! It hasnt appeared on any album as yet, but will appear on the Seeker movie soundtrack. It was composed as a companion piece for Arrival in Antarctica. www.jonsorensen.co.uk;
KLANG by the Rakes (2009)
The Rakes are a British post punk indie rock band, formed in 2004 and have earned touring and recording success. Their third CD has the track Shackleton, which according to the bands interviews, is about endurance. The song is about escapism and dissatisfaction with regular life and seems to express the essence of an explorers soul (Were all pawns in someone elses business) and Dear God!! I will drink and I will smoke like no man before me has or ever willIm gonna run nude in Spain for the bulls, bounce the earth like a basketball for the animals, like Shackleton before me. V2 Records International VVR701574; www.therakes.co.uk
VISIONS OF MODERN LIFE by Interface (2009)
The fourth CD from New York-based programmer/produce/vocalist Eric Eldredges electronic/techno music project includes the short 1½-minute track Antarctica. Its a chilling, alien soundscape unlike the other beat-heavy tracks on the disc. Eric told us, I created the wind sweep effects and the echoing noises as an interlude piece, and thought the name fit it rather well. It sort of reminded me of a windy, snowy, barren place. Nilaihah records nr038; www.interfacemusic.net
KAP FARVL by Stiko Per Larsson (2009)
This Swedish disc of very melodic rock contains the track Antarctica, an ode to the coldness and isolation of lost love. Our very rough translation of the Swedish lyrics: Through tunnels you can follow my tracks, I mix the ice with my last frozen tears, I claim this land as mine for my sorrow, victory and all the blood I have spilt. Through the silence you can sense a roar, it came from the soul which I left a long time ago, I know my plans were for two but here in oblivion there is only one place to be had. If you see me, then I let tears and ice become my castle, a new Poseidon. I stand here as a statue on the worlds floor. My lungs wonder why they are, as frozen air makes breathing so difficult. I swear at the stubborn flight, that my body never will find something safe. My fingers have not forgotten where they are going to live. Although the hand is a clumsy ice cold claw, I demand that my life will become a poem about how a man can win without any tricks. Marley Produktion AB MACD941; www.stikoperlarsson.se
MOLECULAR HEINOSITY by Derek Sherinian (2009)
California-based Sherinian is a 20-year music veteran and keyboard ace who has toured and worked with acts such as Alice Cooper, Kiss, Dream Theater, Billy Idol and Buddy Miles. His latest solo CD is a forceful instrumental album, which includes the track Antarctica, which is part of a trilogy. According to Sherinians liner notes, This pompous epic had to be worthy of a title grand as a continent, I think that we more than hit the mark with Antarctica. InsideOut SPV 28142 CD; www.dereksherinian.com; www.myspace.com/dereksherinian2008
THE NAME OF SOMEONE by the Hafler Trio (2009)
This double CD is a Dutch reissue of British ambient sound recordings originally released in 1986/1988 and 1995/1996. The Hafler Trio was formed in the early 1980s as a duo with the U.K.-based Andrew Mackenzie and Christopher Watson (a co-founder of the Cabaret Voltaire group). It later became a Mackenzie solo project and in collaboration with other musicians over the years, he has produced many avant-garde recordings of ambient, conceptual sound art. One of the present CDs includes the 28-minute, 2-part track From (Antarctica) Brahma, (which was issued in 1995-1996 as a CD and book) and consists of mysterious drones and pingings. No information given with the CD as to the background of the tracks. However, we make reference to the 1999 Brazilian beer war/merger when one leading brewer, Brahma, acquired the other, Antarctica, with its popular brand of the same name. Korm Plastics paragraph 0.3, subsection 111 and paragraph 0.7, subsection 111; www.kormplastics.nl; (See also AMAZONICA by Bobby Brazil (2004) in this commentary section.)
ANTARCTICA by Maarten de Jong (2009) (Vinyl LP only)
De Jong is a Dutch electronica trance music producer, DJ and radio broadcaster. This record has three different mix versions of Antarctica, each track pounding and dancing its way to the core of the continent. Maarten told us that I was watching a TV series about Antarctica on Discovery about ice melting and stuffI was impressed and was still searching for a new title, thats why I used Antarctica as the title for my song. Oxygen Recordings OX039; www.myspace.com/djmaartendejong
ANTARCTIC BLUE WHALES by Oliva (2009) (Web site download only)
This is a collection of synthesizer-based instrumental New Age Music with whale and water themes that includes the 7-minute track gurgling but serene Antarctic Nights. Available from several Internet sites, including iTunes.
FIELD GUIDE TO THE WILDS by His Orchestra (2009) (Web site download only)
The Los Angeles, California-based multi-instrumental group, formed in 2006, has a tongue-in-cheek, joyful pop sound and a few of the members even act in mainstream TV shows. Their first recording has the track Antarctica, about a girl who was the story I read to the people in bed, Who needed fantasy to sleep through the night, She was the feeling and joy of every girl and boy, when the end of school year arrived. Antarctica, Ill take you to the South Pole, Antarctica, when youve got no place to go, Antarctica, Ill take you to the South Pole, Antarctica. Beware - this is one of the catchiest of Antarctic choruses, will take hold of you and not let you go. Available from several Internet sites, including iTunes. www.myspace.com/hisorchestramusic; www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYJASuDqtSk has a video of the song.
TRAPPED IN THE ICY SOUTH POLE by Sam Jones (2009) (Web site download only)
Sam Jones has written many childrens songs for SongsForTeaching.com, a major online source for educational music, lyrics, sound clips and teaching suggestions. One of his songs is Trapped in the Icy South, a waltz about Ernest Shackletons 1914-16 Endurance Expedition to Antarctica. Sample verse: A ship that was called the Endurance, Was trapped in the snow and the ice, That hulk of a ship was left by its men, Just lying upon its side. Oh, Just lying upon its side. The horizon was barren as it could be, As far as the eye could see. But harnessed like horses the men pulled boats, With supplies and some rations to eat. Oh, with supplies and some rations to eat. In 2009 Sam told us: I am a teacher in California and I began writing songs to go with the stories that we read in second grade. God has blessed that, so I went ahead and wrote songs for the first and third grade stories as well. One of those third grade stories was about Ernest Shackletons trip through the South Pole - fascinating!!! That is the reason why I wrote that song. www.songsforteaching.com
THE TROPIC RAT by Poison the Well (2009)
West Palm Beach/Miamis Poison the Well is a hardcore rock band with six CDs since 1998. Their latest includes the track Antarctica Inside Me, about a constantly moving ballerina, dancing circles around the singers head, apparently leaving him very nervous and unsatisfied. I sit under rain gathering the courage to do what my mind tells me? But Ill just lay around. Ive become a joke, a disrespectful being. Come on guys, is Antarctica really like that? www.myspace.com/poisonthewell
DIGITAL HELL IN CALIFORNIA EP by Esse (2008) (Web site download only)
Esse (a.k.a. Andrej Stech) is a Vilnius, Lithuania-based DJ, producer and electronic artist, active since the early 2000s. He has played many local and Eastern European festivals as a DJ and has made many albums. This EP has the 7-minute frothy, upbeat electro instrumental track, Waterfall in the Antarctic.
THE SHACKELTONS by the Shackeltons (2008)
The Shackeltons are a Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-based post-punk indie rock band, formed in 2004, which has recorded numerous CDs and EPs over the years. We asked the group about the possible Antarctic source of the groups name and Mark Redding, the groups vocalist, explained in 2012: I read the book The Endurance about Shackletons adventure and was deeply moved by the courage and light that came from their journey. When we were thinking of a band name, I asked the guys about using Shackletons name, and they loved the story and sound of the name. I, however, misspelled the name when registering our website, thus our spelling, The Shackeltons. I guess I did the Americanization of the name. Sorry to Shackleton, but maybe its our way of giving him the full honor of having his name as his, and ours as a symbol of his courage and leadership. I think the songs The Ship and Your Movement have sea-worthy themes. Loveless Records LOV025; www.theshackeltons.com; www.myspace.com/theshackeltons; www.reverbnation.com/theshackeltons; theshackeltons.bandcamp.com
BURNING ANTARCTICA by Rajam (2008)
Rajam is an Indonesian black metal group whose CD has the 4-minute track Burning Antarctica. Sample lyrics of heat and destruction: Fearless kingdom of iceand the earth has changed, become red, when the last castle has been destroyedforest and stone has burnedand Antarctica has burned, where I walk, where I come, kingdom of ice will be won in this era www.myspace.com/rajamdura
NEW ZEALAND LANDSCAPES – Northland to Antarctica by Rhian Sheehan (2008)
The coffee table book of the same name, by Grant Sheehan, contains a collection of outstanding landscape and nature photos of New Zealand as well as its subantarctic islands and the McMurdo Sound/Ross Sea area of Antarctica. His son, Wellington-based Rhian, is an award-winning producer/composer/electronic musician who has written for U.K. television programs, a planetarium documentary and TV dramas. Rhians accompanying music CD for this book has eight tracks of beautiful, rich ambient instrumental music. The last track, the 3-minute Scene 8, backed with blowing winds, conveys the sense of solitude and bleakness that may be found on the coasts of Antarctica. Phantom House; www.myspace.com/rhiansheehan; www.rhiansheehan.com
I AM LARGE; I CONTAIN MULTITUDES by Dog Gods (2008)
Little Rock, Arkansas-based Dog Gods first CD of folk/roots rock is a masterpiece of restrained multi-instrumental backing and melodic songs with quirky, tongue-in-cheek lyrics. One of these is the track Antarctica, about unrequited love. Sample lyrics: Why all this pain? Its just another heartbreak, another cut, I should jump that train, And head down to Antarctica. Watch the ice grow, And learn that lonely song of the whales, Sleep out in the snow, til every last nerve ending fails. Down in Antarctica, I wont even think of her, I wont even waste my time, Ill think of Shackleton, Wonder how he might have done, If hed had a heart like mine. Down in Antarctica, I wont ever speak of her, I wont even waste my breath, Ill sing the penguin blues, Hide from the tourist cruise, And hold out for a long, slow death.
Marck Beggs, the groups singer/songwriter and guitarist, told us about the origin of the song in 2011: Well, the idea planted itself when I committed a portion of my Advanced Composition course (I am an English professor in Arkansas) to Antarctic literature, where we read Gretchen Leglers On the Ice: An Intimate Portrait of Life at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, along with Shackletons memoirs and other books. A lot of my own poetry has to do with solitude and such, so Antarctica is a dreamland for me. Anyway, the theme of Leglers book was that many of the workers and artists who retreat to McMurdo do so, partially at least, as the result of something so distinctly nonscientific as a broken heart: they are running away from emotions. As the son of an Air Force pilot, who grew up moving every couple of years, the concept of geographical change as therapy makes perfect sense to me. I was going through a terrible break-up of my own when I was writing the song. And I still want to visit Antarctica. www.myspace.com/doggods; www.marckbeggs.com
DESERTI DELLANIMA (DESERTS OF THE SOUL) by Aldam Projet (2008)
This is the solo project of Naples, Italy-based Alphonso Aldam, an electronic musician who mixes rock, fusion and electropop. Included on this record of instrumentals is the 4-minute track Antartica, which Alphonso told us in 2011, was inspired by wide horizons of ice and a wonderful sense of mystery. www.aldamprojet.netau.net
ABOVE THE CLOUDS by Rolf Jaeger (2008)
Rolf Jaeger is a California-based retired physicist, computer consultant and semi-professional musician who has recorded ten CDs of tranquil synthesizer music for yoga and meditation since 1991. This CD has the 9½-minute Over Antarctica and the spiritually and musically related 5-minute Albatross Dreams. A previous CD, SONIC METAMORPHOSIS (1995) has the 8½-minute track Spring in Antarctica. Rolf explained to us the source of his Antarctic inspiration, in 2011: I have always been awestruck by the vastness of the uninhabited regions of our planet. Many of those regions are also quite uninhabitable, but that doesnt take away from their inherent beauty. Antarctica clearly is one of those regions. Although I have never visited (yet?), I was struck by the beauty of the motion picture Antarctica (directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara, 1983), which combines brilliant imagery of Antarcticas endless icescapes with daunting soundtracks by Vangelis. From the moment I saw this motion picture, I wanted to create similar music with similar landscapes in mind. www.pacificsound.us
RESERVOIR by Computer vs. Banjo (Web site download only) (2008)
This is a Nashville, Tennessee-based duo of Beau Stapleton and Johnny Mann, who play roots music, mixed with electronica (folktronica). Their current second record consists of remixes and outtakes from their first CD and has the 2-minute melodic banjo-based instrumental track He Was Antarctica. www.computervsbanjo.com; www.myspace.com/computervsbanjo
IN DUST REAL DAZE by Kenny Maloney (2008) (Web site download only)
Kenny Maloney is an Oregon-based musician/vocalist/composer who has made numerous records with eclectic songs. Included on this one is Radio Free Antarctica, a musically quirky but bouncy number with childrens vocal accompaniment, in which penguins use radios, which were lost by the Navy and floated to Antarctica, to broadcast to the world their plea to avoid an ecologic mess. Kenny told us about the track in 2011: I feel sorry for Antarctic creatures in light of global warming. We all need to share this wonderful planet. Thus the song. www.kennymaloney.com
DERRAMIDEA – Musica Contra El Cambio Climtico (2008)
This is a 4-CD Spanish compilation disc of various Spanish rock groups for Music Against Climate Change. Funds raised from the sale of the record were to go to conservation and CO2 initiatives. Included is the heavy rock/metal track Antrtida by the group Elvandar. Santo Grial Records SG/235/CD; AS/3431/2008
59.59 by Sian Alice Group (2008)
The London, U.K.-based group is a trio, aided by other musicians, formed in 2006 and fronted by vocalist Sian Alice Ahern. Its experimental music runs from ambient minimalist piano stylings to heavier percussion and guitar-based light rock, overlain by dreamy vocals. One of the tracks on their debut CD is Larsen B, named after Antarcticas disappearing Ice Shelf. Rupert Clervaux, co-founder, drummer and pianist told us in 2010: The lyrics for that song were written shortly after the collapse of the Larsen B Shelf, which I had read a couple of interesting articles about. I wanted to find a seemingly arbitrary title for the song, but one which specifies the more general themes of the lyrics: that the damaging changes we make on a global scale, particularly to the wilderness, are imperceptible and hard to incorporate into our own sense of time. Although this is slightly more ambiguous than a straight ecological, anti-global warming message, Larsen Bs collapse seemed a perfect singular example of what the track attempts to imply.
MAJESTIC-12: A HIDDEN PRESENCE by Space Mirrors (2008)
According to their Web site, Space Mirrors are an international psychedelic space metal band consisting of Alisa Coral (Russia) and Michael Blackman (Australia) plus special guests. Their third CD of progressive metal rock deals with themes of aliens and UFOs and includes the track Neuschwabenland (Flying Disks in Antarctica), a reference to the 1938-39 secret Nazi Antarctic expedition led by Alfred Ritscher, today known largely for the swastika darts dropped from airplanes to claim sovereignty.
Sample lyrics: Secret fleet of submarines, Has left the haven, They headed South, To the frozen land, To build new Heaven. With their insane tests, And freak inventions, They tried to rule the World, They made a contact with the forces, They didnt understand. They rode the seas, They rode the skies, They met their death, In the sands of time. Theyre in command, In this frozen land, Theyre in command, In Neuschwabenland, Neuschwabenland, Neuschwabenland). With silent approval from, the politicians of the World, They could live on and on, And end their days peacefully, In this frozen mouldBut theyll never return, From this land of ice, Forever forgotten, for their crimes.
To explain the track, Alisa Coral, the bands multi-instrumentalist told us in 2010: Antarctica was always something mysterious and while working on the concept for the album, I came with these stories about the German Nazi base founded in Antarctica as a refuge for them at the late part of the WWII. There was a rumour that a fleet of German submarines went over there and also all their latest technologies were taken with them. Such as Flying Disks. Later there was a strange American military expedition to Antarctica which mysteriously failed. And some sources claim that they saw Flying Disks over there. They could be what other people call UFOs. I also have another project, Psi Corps, whose first album is based on Poes novel about a trip to Antarctica. Sleaszy Rider Records SR-0082; www.spacemirrors.com; www.myspace.com/spacemirrors; www.myspace.com/psicorpstekelili; (See also TEKELI-LI by Psi Corps (2009) in the Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section.)
OSIRIS by Anaemia (2008)
The Russia/New York-based heavy metal groups first CD has the track Antarctic Lights but the desolate lyrics dont shed any illumination on the reason for the polar title. Apocalypse Now!!! Music ANM 08-001; www.myspace.com/theanaemia
WE SHALL INDEED TURN DIZZY THEN by the Greenland Choir (2008)
The London, U.K.-based Greenland Choir is the duo of Adrian Hill and Davey Edwards on vocals and an assortment of instruments such as glockenspiel, xylophone, recorder and music box, augmented by various associates on vocals and instruments. Their first recording is an EP of light flavoured indie pastoral pop-rock. One of the tracks is Mount Erebus, which is also pictured in a drawing of a whale and icebergs on the front cover. The dreamy track does not seem to be too Antarctic but does say, Lets surround all the seas in the world. Lets go to the South Pole. Asyet 004; www.myspace.com/thegreenlandchoir
SELF TAUGHT MAGIC FROM A BOOK by Je Suis Animal (2008)
This is a quartet from Oslo, Norway with two female Norwegian vocalists and two males from Britain. Two of them met in art school in the U.K. and have been based in Norway since 2004. Their CD of dreamy, light pop-rock has the track Amundsen, a light hearted take on the famous Norwegian polar explorer. Lyrics: Amundsen collected snowflakes, it was so nice, but I doubt his knowledge, of snow and ice. Who spoils the weather in June? Was it four-leaf clovers that stole his powers? I found Amundsen in the grass, Drinking snowflakes from a glass. Roald Amundsen, RoaldAmundsen collected snowflakes until 1928. They tried to freeze them but it was too late. Snowflakes are fragile, Moments they last, Heat from a finger, Beauty is past. Who scatters snowflakes? Who melts the ice? Who spoils the weather? Who makes it nice? www.myspace.com/jesuisanimal
EARTH SCIENCES by Laura Barrett (2008)
Laura Barrett is a Toronto, Canada-based indie pianist/singer/songwriter who has become known for her solo work as a vocalist who accompanies herself on the kalimba, a thumb piano. Her first solo EP record contains the track Deception Island Optimists Club, which was a finalist for the 2006 ECHO songwriting prize, sponsored by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publisher of Canada. The inside of the CD booklet reproduces a large map, titled Deception Island, New South Shetland, drawn by Lieut. E. N. Kendall in 1829. Kendall was the expedition artist on board the HMS Chanticleer of the British Naval Expedition of 1828-31, under Henry Foster, which mapped the volcanic Deception Island, took pendulum and magnetic observations and charted other parts of the Palmer (Antarctic Peninsula) Coast. The old sealers harbour at Deception Island, Port Foster, is named after him. The track itself is hard to fathom since it seems to have no direct Antarctic references. Sample lyrics: Living in paradise on Earth, No matter, no matter what you do, All of your dreams come true only to be, Replaced. So wish again. The sun is smiling. But always above you the idea raises its head. What would I do if the Earth fell apart? What would I? And we can't find our way out of here. Just sit back and wait for the answer to appear. And you'll say the end is near Maybe it does hint at future volcanic eruptions after all. Paper Bag Records paper 031; www.laurabarrett.net; www.myspace.com/laurabarrett
NOT EVEN DUST by Sleepout (2008)
This is the Chicago, Illinois indie rock groups second CD and was inspired by Graceland Cemetery, which is the resting place of many of Chicagos founders. Included is the track Ross Sea Party, a title associated with the under-heralded expeditioners who were to lay supplies from the Beardmore Glacier to Ross Island for Shackletons Endurance Expeditioners on their return to the Ross Sea from their planned Antarctic crossing over 1914-16. While Shackleton and his group never made it to the continent and became famous for their heroic survival and eventual rescue, the Ross Sea party had its own difficulties in being stranded with limited supplies. They provided their own stories of heroics in completing their supply-laying tasks. The song itself does not touch on this history and we asked Quinn Goodwillie, guitarist, vocalist and lyricist about the title in 2009. He told us: The inspiration for the title came from a book I was reading when we were writing songs for Not Even Dust. The book was called The Lost Men: The Harrowing Saga of Shackeltons Ross Sea Party (by Kelly Tyler-Lewis). I really enjoyed the book and the way it depicted the partys willingness to survive against impossible odds. The desolation they encountered seemed to go hand in hand with some personal feelings I was dealing with while writing the album. I thought the title was fitting and descriptive of the overall mood of the song although the lyrics stray from the original source of inspiration. Two Thumbs Down Records TTD 028; www.sleepout.net; www.myspace.com/sleepout
IN THE CIY OF DREADFUL NIGHT by Sunday Driver (2008)
Sunday Driver (named after a gene commonly found in mice) is a London/Cambridge, U.K.-based perfoming band whose first CD is an eclectic fusion of influences from Indian raga and tabla music, indie folk and light rock. Fronted by lead singer Chandrika (Chandy) Nath, the band has provided the soundtrack for an award-winning BBC radio show and has appeared on other radio shows and festivals. Chandy is a former physicist who spent four years with the British Antarctic Survey as a glaciologist, including five months in the field in Antarctica studying crevasses. Included on the CD are two of her Antarctic songs, Snow Song and Spindrift. A third song, Trip, while not on the CD, is found on a collection of live performances by various artists, including Sunday Driver, recorded at the Living Room in Cambridge: Living RoomLive, from Hope Street Music (2006), available by download only (see iTunes). Chandy told us about her Antarctic songs in 2009: I used to be an ice scientist and the motivation for all three songs was from personal experience. I spent five months in Antarctica on a field trip at the turn of the century (1999/2000) and spent about 70 days in a tent on the Rutford Ice Stream. The songs are partly about the Antarctic itself and partly about the emotional impact of being so isolated. Bakul Bagan Records BBR001; www.myspace.com/sundaydriverinuk
SOLDIERS SONGS: The Irish Abroad and Soldiering by Captain Mackeys Goatskin and Stringband (2008)
Jimmy Crowley and Mirtn de Cgin, veteran musicians specializing in Irish ballads, were originally from the County of Cork, Ireland and now reside in the U.S.A. Their first CD collaboration as a duo contains songs about the Irish in various wars and endeavours overseas. Included is The Ballad of Tom Crean, written by Cliff Wedgbury, with the catchy chorus: He ran away to join the Navy when he was about 15, The farmers son from Anascaul the brave, the young Tom Crean. The booklet notes state that Much has been written about this legendary Kerryman recently as his star seems to rise; and Londoner Cliff Wedgbury, happily exiled in Cork City, has paid him this fine ballad tribute. The great explorers like Shackleton and Scott said they wouldnt attempt a trip to the Antarctic without Crean whose instincts for survival were prodigious. History has recorded his berth in one of the most daring small-craft voyages of all time in the 23 foot James Caird across the forbidding Weddell Sea to alert the whaling station in South Georgia of their stranded shipmates plight. Freestate Records CRO 009; www.captainmackey.com; www.jimmycrowley.com; (See also THE ANTARCTIC BALLADS by Cliff Wedgbury (2006) in the preceding Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section.)
LEFTOVERS by Art Paul Schlosser (2008)
Art Paul Schlosser is a Madison, Wisconsin-based artist and street musician who specializes in novelty songs and parodies, sung in a monotone. With over 30 records in his catalogue, this CD of songs left over from other discs presents a kitchen sink full of oddities and ditties. One of the tracks is Its Spring Time in Antarctica, based on Art hanging out during spring break in Wisconsin, watching a PBS program about Antarctica and dreaming about spending spring break in Antarctica. Art replied to our question in 2009: Well, you may wonder what inspires me? Well, lots of stuff. TV can sometimes and one winter on PBS they ran two different documentaries, one about a family, some of whom froze to death on the Rocky Mountains looking for a short cut to California. The other was the British trying to make it to the center of Antarctica. But there is more to it than just the two PBS documentaries. Spring Break was quite cold two or three years ago when I was outside playing my guitar in 45 degree weather. Also there is a song in the movie The Producers that starts out Its Spring Time for Hitler and Germany. Also another thing that maybe was part of the inspiration of the song, was a long time ago. I read about The Buddy Holly Plane crash and the airplane had faulty equipment. I have often watched documentaries about penguins being in Antarctica. I hope I did a good job on the song. I know it doesnt get that warm in Antarctica, so I hope my song was written right. Sample opening lyrics: Its spring time in Antarctica, no ones at the beach, lots of penguins and the penguins are laughing at you, icicles growing on your nose, wish you had a postcard you could send your mother but who would be dumb enough to sell postcards in Antarctica?...Brrrr...brrrr... If he only knew that postcards are big business at the scientific bases, he would no doubt be down there, greeting the tourists with his guitar and songs as they came off their ships for shore landings. www.myspace.com/artpaulschlosser
TWEAK OF NATURE by Rampant Egos (2008)
Three electronic/ambient music composers and performers from New Mexico and California, U.S. (Dwight Loop, Arnold Bodmer and Justin Parker) collaborated over a few fall days on this CD of experimental, electronic beat-driven world music. Included is the track Antarktika melting, a gurgling alien soundscape dripping with mystery. Justin told us in 2009: My memory of that session is that we decided to make a sparse landscape-type piece, and decided to select a place in the world to focus our thoughts on as we made it. I suggested Antarctica partly because of my fondness for the Vaughn Williams symphony (7th). It was originally a 10-minute or so piece, completely improvised, and Arnold and I later selected the most dramatic segment of it. I suggested calling it Antarctica melting, since I dont know what an ice shelf collapsing sounds like, but whatever were doing sounds fairly ominous and awesome; its not really a political comment, just going along with the principle that what I create reflects my world as it is today. Arnold did the final layout and I dont know why he chose to spell it with ks. I wouldnt have, as misspellings without clear intent kind of annoy me.
Justin further explained: I wrote around 1983-4 a song called Antarctic National Anthem, which I finally recorded with a friend in New Jersey in 2003 (I wrote the lyrics; Peter McClard wrote the music). Its never been released. I kind of like it, its a sort of symphonic-rock thing, with lyrics that more or less re-imagine a classic Jungian heros journey, with a penguin guide thrown in. Justin provided us a copy of the piece, written in an anthemic progressive rock style that would do justice to any theatrical presentation and deserves a wider audience. Opening lyrics: Hail Antarctica! Your darkest nights are bright, Hail, we carry forth your light. We hereby pledge allegiance to your flag of perfect white. Hail, Our welfare lies with thee, Hail, Stand firm on frozen sea, Our compass points unerring towards your land of liberty. Last verses: Hail, breathless on your shores, Hail, Open wide your doors, For your sparkling mountains majesties, We steer our hopeful course. Hail, They slice you up like pie, Hail, You teach us how to die, Stark, inaccessible and dark, As in our dreams you lie. www.thirdear.org
I WOKE WITH PLANETS IN MY FACE by Peter Adams (2008)
Cincinnati-based Adams second CD is a magnum opus of lush multi-instrumented folk/pop which, according to the record booklet, was inspired by things growing, various celestial bodies, continental drift, evolution and the confounding wonder of the end. One of the songs on the CD is Antarctica, a mini epic, which tells the tale of its transformation from tropical to polar through continental drift, from the point of view of the continent itself. Adams substantial notes on his Web site explain the track:
Antarctica used to be green and warm. Now its icy and cold. An unfortunate player in the lottery of continental drift who came up short. It was a long, slow, gradual descent into the southern polar region for Antarctica, and she deserves a nice long song for her journey. Yes, I said she, as its my right as a songwriter to assign gender to landmasses when it suits my needs. So consider it a favor that now you know Antarcticas a she.
Lyrics: I can recall the waves on the shore, that battered the beach with water and more, Full in the air and deep in the ground, I was not alone for miles around. Eyes in the greenest jungles of mine, would wander around the vines, And in the plains the wind and the rain with seasons would come and go. Oh, and how my gardens grew, How they would twist all through the air! But gone is the fire that warmed me at night, that kept me alive and kept me bright. Ive drifted far from the colors above, the faces of friends and the ones that I loved. I cry for the mountains, sing for the shore, and sway for my lost allure. The cold and the darkness have swallowed me up, and famished my love for this life. So I moan in this desolate home and sing my sacred songs again. Let the grinding stones come feast on my bones, Ill cry for more!
The first line is a reference to a common way by which organisms reach new shores – namely, by floating there on driftwood or some other kind of makeshift vessel. Of course, this isnt entirely accurate for a good portion of Antarcticas history when she was still connected to the other continents in the form of Gondwana, but there must have been a time when, during her southward voyage, new life was arriving on her shores even as her polar fate had been sealed. The two preceding verses might exist as a dialog; you can imagine her talking to some visitor (maybe a penguin?) and telling them about her past. But the chorus – and I think it is the and how phrase – seems to me to be completely inward pointing. I can imagine an old lady (think Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard) giving an interview to a young disinterested reporter:
REPORTER: So, Antarctica, tell me what it was like to be part of Gondwana.
ANTARCTICA (Happily): Oh, it was simply grand! I remember little friends arriving on my shore every year, scurrying around in my forests, the magnificent thunderstorms that-
REPORTER (Interrupting): Yes, yes, I see. And your forests...do you mean to tell me you used to have forests, like on the other continents?
The reporter gives Antarctica a look of condescending disbelief. He thinks she is delusional.
Antarctica stops smiling. She slowly lowers her head and gazes at her glass of gin. Her eyes close and her lips slowly purse, and she sits motionlessly until the reporter begins to think something is wrong. She opens her eyes, still looking downward, and whispers to herself.
ANTARCTICA: Oh, how my gardens grew. How they would twist all through the air. . . .
End scene!
After the more nostalgic passages, Antarctica begins to reflect on her current state. The colors above is supposed to refer to the increasingly monochromatic palette overtaking her, as ice and snow appear where there used to be grass and fields and trees.Antarctica is getting a bit angry, and masochistically calls for the further decimation of her landscape by erosion.
The story of lifes evolution on this planet is so overwhelmingly awe-inspiring and epiphanous that I truly feel cheated at not being taught anything about it in school. Artists in my opinion should be more interested than anyone at the story of evolution and science in general, but unfortunately for many, there is a strange barrier between art and science. subcircle 000-3; www.peteradamsmusic.com; www.myspace.com/peteradamsmusic
PRECIOUS EARTH (2008)
The Solitudes label is a Canadian record line started in 1981 by Dan Gibson, which specializes in nature sounds that are frequently combined with thematic original instrumental music in many styles. It has grown to be an international distributor of its therapeutic and relaxation music. Dan Gibson (d. 2006) was honoured by his country in being named to the Order of Canada in 1994 for his work in creating Canadian public awareness of conservation, wildlife and its natural heritage. According to the discs back cover, which has a serene picture of an Emperor penguin with three chicks, Featuring the wild sounds of endangered species and spaces, this musical portrait hopes to inspire a deeper appreciation of our Precious Earth. All the music was composed and arranged by Michael Maxwell and played by an eight-piece orchestral group and is based on animal or nature themes and sounds from the worlds major ecological regions. Included is the 8½-minute three-part track Antarctic (Iceberg Break Off / Surf /Emperor Penguin), as relaxing a musical piece as could be imagined for the icy continent. According to the CD booklet, Despite its reputation as the coldest place on Earth, the Antarctic is home to such marine life as penguins, fur seals, orcas, and even an active volcano (Mount Erebus.) The continent with the highest average elevation, 98 percent of this frozen, primordial desert is covered with mile-thick ice - comprising 90 percent of the Earths ice and 70 percent of its fresh water. Although the Antarctic belongs to no country, theres been worldwide alarm about the ozone hole above it caused by a build-up of CFCs, and about rising sea levels as global warming causes ice shelves to collapse. These concerns led to adoption in 1989 of the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty banning the production of CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances; and in a global appeal to halt the causes of global warming. Solitudes 40968; www.solitudes.com
VOICES OF TRANQUILITY (2008)
A triple-CD collection of interesting and varied sounding instrumental New Age music with relaxation and world regional themes, composed by Stewart and Bradley James. One of the many tracks is Antarctica, a 3-minute droning, sombre piece with background chorale and bells, lightened by a pan flute melody. EMI Gold 50999 5 18785 2 8
ANTARCTIC TRIBE by PAS (2008)
PAS (Post Abortion Stress) is an experimental audio/video collective led by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Robert L. Pepper, who began it as a solo project in 1999. According to the groups publicity, its name is a metaphor that defines all of those people aborted from society from one place or another. Some people have different views of how the world works apart from mainstream cultures and more people should realize there is more than one way to accomplish anything. Using this term personally for PAS means how it applies it to music. Music can be any sound that can be heard by the human ear. It doesnt have to sound like rock or pop. The present CD, originally released in 2004, contains the title track Antarctic Tribe, a 4-minute incursion into blips and alien sounds that could be underwater or in the cosmos. The rest of the CD is equally filled with what could be called ambient industrial and mechanical sounds. We asked Robert about the reason for the track and he told us: I have always been intrigued by ancient societies, the Mayans, the Egyptians, and Assyrians. But I have often wondered, when the world was a smaller place and it was one continent, (I believe it was called Pangea), that there may have at one time been some tribes or civilizations that have existed, that we do not know about. Mainly because there are huge chunks of ice covering them in Antarctica. Maybe these places were the original Atlantis or Lemuria. We may never know. I have also read Platos Timaeus and Critias, which are supposedly accounts of the ancient city of Atlantis. With these thoughts, I have wondered what was acceptable music to these people, if they did exist. If there were tribes on the continent of Atlantis what sounds did they make to listen to? So I decided to make what I thought could be some tribal sounding compositions from these places. I made half analog and half digital sounds but still kept the raw mixing so the compositions would sound primitive. www.myspace.com/postabortionstress
ANTARCTICA by Simon Wilkinson (2008) (Web site download only)
Wilkinson is a Brighton, England-based musician and film and TV soundtrack composer. His website includes the demonstration track Antarctica, described therein as seven and a half minutes of ambient music and soundscape with minimal piano. A chilly trip through Antarctic waters, passing huge glaciers. An atmospheric and visual soundscape, ideal for dramatic underscore for nature documentaries and films or for relaxation, yoga, meditation or ambient music for sleep. Simon told us in 2009: A lot of the music I write for film and TV has to be very structured in timing, sometimes down to milliseconds so it can almost approach a mathematical structure at times. I wont say laborious as I love the challenge, but quite draining in the details nonetheless. So in between projects I often write more free-flowing, impressionistic music just for the pleasure of trying to make the other worlds in my head more tangible. After all, thats really why I started writing music for visuals in the first place. Antarctica was one of these pieces - I used the BBC footage you can see in the video clip as a springboard to jump-start my inspiration, but continued the track after the visuals had finished. I always think visually when Im making music anyway, but themes of nature/geography/weather/space, etc. (the usual suspects in atmospheric music!) arent usually far from my mind. I think its helped by living right on the south coast of England - the sea is five minutes from where I live and I often find myself magnetically drawn to the beach. Theres something about vast structures and areas that I find fascinating, whether its the seventh continent, Bryce Canyon or Olympus Mons. They tend to quite literally put things in perspective for me. I suppose a shorter answer is, I like to see music and hear visuals (although that sounds a little too New Age-y to me. www.thebluemak.com
THE LOST AGE by Next Life (2008)
Next Life is an Oslo, Norway-based keyboard and guitar recording and performance duo, started in 1999. Their instrumental music is a heavy sounding blend of computer game music and metal electronica. This CD includes the one-minute ear-assaulting track Antarctic Blade. Fysisk Format FY008; www.electricdungeon.org; www.myspace.com/next_life
FROM THE EARTH – drumming with the Hang by Rolando Morales-Matos (2008)
Rolando-Morales Matos is a distinguished percussionist who is assistant conductor of Disneys New York The Lion King production on Broadway, as well as being adjunct music professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. His solo instrumental CD presents peaceful, thematic music of the sounds of the earth that he both composed and played. Based on fundamentals of nature such as air, earth, fire, water and ice, it includes the track South Pole. The music is all played on percussion instruments from around the world, highlighted by the Hang Drum, a versatile relative of a steelpan drum, which consists of two tuned resonating shells that are clamped together. RMM Music
GEEK DREAMS by the Primate Fiasco (2008)
Massachusetts-based Primate Fiasco is a Dixieland/pop music band with clarinet, tuba, banjo and other instruments. Their fun-time CD includes a poke at global warming with the track Global Warming. Sample lyrics: You can blame it on your tail pipe at the end of the world, but I know why its getting hot in here. I blame global warming on that girlI blame global warming on the girl who gave no warning that her smile in the morning would make the sun forget its way. Admitting that they have a crush, the polar caps begin to blush. The ocean stalks her closer every day. Another track is titled South Pole and the Pyramids. Sample lyrics: All I have is the sunrise on the beach. The South Pole and the Pyramids are all within reach. All I have is the history of Rome and the sense to know when Im home. I got signs to read and a brain to feed and thats all I need. Dave DelloRusso, the bands main composer, guitarist/banjo player and a vocalist has a great interest in the unexplained mysteries of the world. He told us that the cryptic lyrics have to do with my own crazy theories about the history of humanity, past and future. Those who carry the same knowledge and theories tend to pick up on it.
A new version of the group, still led by Dave DelloRusso, released THE ADVENTURES OF THE PRIMATE FIASCO - Volume I in 2013. It included newly recorded versions of South Pole and the Pyramids and I Blame Global Warming on that Girl. www.theprimatefiasco.com
UTOPIA DELETED by Trimetrick (2008)
This Antwerp, Belgium-based industrial electronic music duo, consisting of Catherine Jane Robinson and Michael Mampaey, describes itself as a non-profit freeware audio music project. Their current CD has the spooky, arpeggiated and propulsive track Antarctica. Lyrics: Frozen in, Im left behind, Im the origin, taken from you. Strapped in the back of your mind, For in here I am, Hiding the truth. Aeons of sleep in the ice, For desiring is, My will seeping through. Fallen I am, For the idle, And I might be, Looking for you. You drew down my borders, Set foot on my shore. You drilled in my layers, Walked up to my core. No place for disorder, Survival and nothing more. No God for your prayers, Too cold for a throne. For historys waves I am blind, No loss within, My icing so blue. Michael told us that I always wanted to make a song about this fascinating continent, so I started to create a sound base with cold, harsh synths and rhythmic layers. The lyrics are written as if it were a person that is given voice. In the booklet of the CD, the lyrics are written on a satellite photo of this huge glacier of Antarctica. I dedicated the song to my grandfather; it was played at his funeral. Sex Elite Recordings SER001; www.trimetrick.be
THE HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE by Mary Coughlan (2008)
An Irish music veteran with 14 albums, this one is a forceful musical and emotional epic that follows the end of a long personal relationship. With musical styles ranging from music hall to heavier folk/rock, the songs cover the psyche from bitterness to almost a celebration of losing ones way. Included is the dirge-like track Antarctica, which may be the one of the bleakest personal references in this discography to the coldest of continents. Lyrics: My heart is in Antarctica, Ice water chills my veins, My disembodied voice calls you, A hundred thousand names. You lying bastard, whoring fraud, you rotten stinking cheat, I thought you were my haven, Now I drown in your deceit. Im cast adrift to wander, Through the memories of that life, Recalling a game, In which I was your wife. Now I am tossed and battered, By the Katabic wind, And constantly reminded, Youre no more my next of kin. My heart it is Antarctica, So deep beneath the snow, And under miles of crushing white, Where no mortal man can go. Beating once in every year, Sending shock waves through the ice, An occasional reminder, Of my suspended life. And in the still of evening, Of an everlasting day, A parade of icebergs goes on its way. And as I gaze upon them, They retreat into the blue, And paint a pretty picture, I no longer think of you. Rubyworks RWXCD69; www.marycoughlan.com; www.myspace.com/marycoughlanmusic
CRYOGENIC CLEANSING// FOUR ELABORATIONS OF COLD by Orb of Torture (2008)
The Brussels, Belgium-based death metal band has included the track Antarctic Frequency Catharsis on its debut 4-track extended play CD. Sample heavyweight lyrics hint of uncontrollable gale forces to thoughts of muon particle physics: Thunderous low-frequency arguing, only to prevent unconscionable deeds, ventilate to prevent, unbearable stress must be released in throe sonancy, how powerful must it be, enough to free stuck souls, enough to touch, antarctic frequency catharsis. transforming sounds into matter, into actual deeds, surrendering feeling catches you and dissects your troubles, crystal clear solution that was always there now makes sense to you, antarctic frequency catharsis. let the sound waves throb and you may try to sieve, fail you will, you never felt intense powers like these, sandblasting feeling only created with infiltrating frequencies, it will cleanse your soul, sanding the filth, sanding uselessit will cleanse your soul, sanding the filth, sanding useless memories. small movement with an immense force, sent out to clear you from all the stress particles, bound with your karma, sounds reprogram your soul. fluffy small particles, enter they will, decompress your thoughts, distress you, travel through anything, leave nothing unchanged. why would you persist through a heavenly rite such as this? maybe its unknown to you, hard to comply with standard thinking, that doesnt mean its wrong, let the sound kiss you. let the sound waves throb and you may try to sieve, fail you will, you never felt intense powers like these antarctic feelings. We asked Tristan Van Dorsselaer, the bands guitarist, about the reason for the track. He told us that the lyrics of that song are about cold emotions and the releasing effect they can have on a person. We tried to bring a cold vastness in our music for this CD and the Antarctic theme fitted that quite well. www.myspace.com/orbof torture
OVERFLOW by Tom Prayne (2008)
Prayne is a Hamburg, Germany-based electronica artist. His CD of instrumentals contains the gurgling, throbbing bass-heavy synthesizer/guitar track Antarctica. www.myspace.com/tomprayne
7 CONTINENTS – Global Jams by Maurice Gainen (2008)
Maurice Gainen is a multi-faceted Los Angeles, U.S.A.-based jazz musician, producer and arranger with his own studio. In particular, he has worked for 12 years as music director, performer and sound engineer with the Hues Corporation, who had a #1 hit in the 1970s and who appear on one of the tracks on this CD. The music here represents a journey to the continents and is played and sung by various musicians from their homelands, in collaboration with Maurice on a variety of flutes and saxophones. The continent of Antarctica is represented by Antarctic Sunrise, a track with Maurices tranquil flute melody superimposed over real recorded sounds of penguins, skuas, seals, cracking glaciers and winds. The natural soundscapes were recorded by Douglas Quin, who has spent many seasons in Antarctica. Empyrean EM-754-5; www.mauricegainen.com; (See also ANTARCTICA by Douglas Quin (1998) in the above Non-Classical, all or significantly Antarctic commentary.)
KILLING THE PAST by Knockout Theory (2008)
Up and coming New Jersey, U.SA.-based Knockout Theory is an accomplished young punk band with unbounded energy and melodic hooks. Their debut CD includes the track Miss Antarctica. Sample lyrics: Im the best of the best but my social lifes a wreck, I got a Ph.D. in cosmetology and Im about to crack from the stress. I see fifty beauty queens on the screen and Im really quite perplexed cause Im throwing up twenty-four-seven and I still dont look like thatI said, I wanna be, I wanna be Miss Antarctica...I could want world peace, I wanna be Miss America, sorry, Antarctica We asked Brian Strelko, vocalist/ bassist about the unusual Antarctic references. The gracious punker and social critic told us, Firstly, Im sorry if you accidentally purchased our CD for the sole reason that the track might be actually about Antarctica! The motivation for the tracks title stems from how outrageous and degrading beauty pageants like Miss America really are, so much that they might as well be named Miss Antarctica for their obscurity. Also, I believe the phrase Miss Antarctica was used in a commercial from the 90s in which John OHurley sings for a penguin walking down a runway. Antarctica – beauty pageants – runways – sounds like a great Antarctic cultural theme worthy of further field research! www.knockouttheory.com; www.myspace.com/knockouttheory
DAN-O Guitar, Lyrics and Cutups by Dan OConnor (2008)
Dan OConnor is a New York City-based singer/songwriter who has performed in the Northeast U.S., following educational degrees in Music and Music Business. His debut CD of various rock & pop songs includes the track Antarctic Moon, a bluesy song about a voodoo girl cooking soup in a broth of hearts And her potions came over me like the sea, Under an Antarctic Moon. Yeah that voodoo girl was blind, But she could see right through me every time. Since Antarctica and voodoo are unusual pairings, we asked Dan about it and he said, its about the stories of voodoo death brought on by supernatural powers in New Zealand and how maybe its more than coincidence that the tides in the Ross Sea are one of the few places in the world that have no relationship to the Moon and the tide can even vanish. www.danosongs.com
SECRETS OF THE NEW EXPLORERS by Glen Phillips (2008)
Glen Phillips is a Santa Barbara, California-based veteran musician and a founder, in the late 1980s, of the alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket, which found commercial success with two platinum CDs and movie soundtracks and TV programs that included their songs. Since 1998, Glen has recorded and performed in a solo career as well as in periodic reunions of the band. The present six-track concept EP, inspired by private space travel, includes the cryptic, melodic track The Spirit of Shackleton, which hints at Shackleton as space explorer. We asked Glen about the background for the track and he told us, I love the story of Shackleton and the Endurance. In my song, the spacecraft is named The Spirit of Shackleton. Unfortunately, my small crew seems to have had a few issues with either manslaughter or murder (Im not entirely sure, as I wasnt there and there were no 3rd party accounts of what took place), which is entirely un-Shackleton in its nature, aside from extreme cold and a very remote location. The lyrics are: This is no exaggeration, I truly am alone a hundred million clicks and eight long months from home. But Im holding to my promise, Ill land and plant the flag for God and corporation and the greater good of man. Theres no law that can touch me, my sins are mine to keep, Im a rocket, Im an island and on my shore she sleeps. Im not coming back from here, Ive been too far now, Im cold but Im not scared, in the Spirit of Shackleton. Pretty droplets of crimson surround me as they drift, bonding together or bursting into mist, so I open up my mouth to them and offer out my tongue. They are salty and sweet like the memory of love. Im not coming back from here, Ive been too far, Im cold but Im not scared and Im unshackled. Im not coming back from here, Ive been too far, Im cold but Im not scared in the Spirit of Shackleton. Umami Music; www.glenphillips.com; www.myspace.com/glenphillips
THE NAVY LARK Series Four Volume 2 (2008)
The Navy Lark, the longest running comedy program in British radio history, was a concoction about the antics of the crew of HMS Troutbridge, on the BBC airwaves from March 1959 to July 1977 with 15 series. This box set of six CDs of programs from Dec. 1961 to March 1962 includes the bonus item Calling the Antarctic, recorded on Dec. 4, 1962 and broadcast on Dec. 25 1962. This was a special Christmas Overseas Service Broadcast for their frozen friends in the Antarctic, the 85 members of the British Antarctic Survey serving in seven bases along the Antarctic Peninsula. It was heartening news that the British Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Protector was on its way from Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands with 16 turkeys, 45,320 tots (2.5 ounces) of rum, 38,000 cans of beer, 30,000 packets of sweets and 12,000 ice creams, to brighten the lives of the chaps on 2 years service in a mans world with no feminine touch. BBC Audiobooks; www.bbcshop.com; (See also THE NAVY LARK Series Nine (2014), NAVY LARK Series Seven (2011), NAVY LARK Volume 18 (2006) and NAVY LARK Series Two Volume 1 (2004) in this section.)
SONGS FOR EXISTENCE by Houston Davis Jones (2008) (Web site download only)
Houston Davis is a West Palm Beach, Florida-based singer/songwriter, sounding at times remarkably like the 1970s-era British folk artist Nick Drake. According to Houstons myspace.com commentary, Music is deeply rooted in mathematics. All concepts of harmony, melody and rhythm are represented by ratios and patterns. Mathematics is the language of the universe. No matter what societal language you may speak, a mathematical law will ring true in any country or known part of space. Music is the auditory manifestation of the language of mathematics, and is a powerful communicative device that can convey many different ideas and emotions to individuals of any background. The world is a beautiful, terrifying, and complex place, but when framed inside of a piece of music, reality becomes a little easier to handle. His debut album contains the track Antarctica/The End of a Great Cycle. Lyrics are: I can see no shelter, I cant see no place to hide from the storm, Shoreline slowly rising, Dry land getting hard to find, There were these clues, Warnings written on the wall for us to find, Left behind by a people time forgot, What did they know? How could they see what we were blind to, with all our research and technology? Now the times come to dance in this great ballet, to play our part in this play, the cosmic orchestra is nearing the coda. Lets pray.
We asked Houston Davis about the Antarctic theme of the lyrics and he explained: There are three layers of meaning in the song: Level one is just about global warming and the melting of the polar ice caps. Level two treats many of the lyrics metaphorically in reference to human emotions. The third and primary reason is more complicated... there is a book called Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock, which is about the forgotten knowledge of the Egyptians and South American civilizations such as the Olmecs and Mayans. One of the bodies of evidence used to support the presence of advanced technology in these cultures is a set of maps from the 1500s (including the Turkish Admiral Piri Reis map) that accurately chart Antarctica and its surrounding waters, despite the fact that Antarctica was not known of until 1773 and unexplored and unmapped until the mid 1800s. The cartographers of these 16th century maps claim to have merely transcribed the maps from even earlier copies, which were supposedly recovered from the Egyptian libraries from Greeks. Accurate cartography wasnt developed until well after the rise of western European culture and wasnt even perfected until around the time of Columbus and the invention of the chronograph. The book suggests that due to these maps existence, we can assume that ancient cultures were mathematically savvy and able to achieve things that took our own culture thousands of years to accomplish. Of course the subject is very controversial and like much of history, is hotly debatable and indefinite. I do not necessarily believe that the maps are truly evidence of ancient technology but I do find the subject fascinating. The rest of the book talks about ancient mythology, the Noah flood, sunken cities, etc., and all those silly New Age things. It then proposes that the ancients are attempting to warn us of impending disaster, which they then relate to 2012 and all that. I hope that helped you out, though I can understand if it just obfuscated the song titles theme even more. www.houstondavisjones.com
LUNETTES NOIRES POUR NUITS BLANCHES/ ANTARCTICA by Rock City Sixteen (2008) (Vinyl 45 rpm single only)
Rock City Sixteen is a five-member London, U.K.-based indie group (ex Havana Guns), which has been playing together since 2004. The flip side of this 500-issue 45 rpm single is Antarctica, a guitar-driven, edgy pop tune. According to the Internet-based music site, Von Pip Musical Express, The singles stark black and white art work is, as with previous releases under the Havana Guns moniker, stylish, cinematic, and cooler than Marlon Brando in an ice cream parlour in Antarctica, discussing the weather with Martin Scorsese in a snow storm – a description sure to be a strong candidate for ranking highly in any list of classic Antarctic phraseology. Cigarette Music (no record # issued); www.myspace.com/rockcitysixteen
PIANO MANO by the Drill Feat, Firetruck & Antarctica (2008) (Vinyl LP only)
Matt Schwartz is a London-U.K-based composer and producer of dance music who uses various group names, both alone and with collaborators, including Antarctica, a co-project with Mark Gilbert. The swinging piano/synth track on this single-track LP has become an international club favourite. DESTO33DJC1; www.destined-records.com
REINVENTING THE HEARTBEAT by E For Explosion (2008)
Led by California/Kentucky-based Jamison Covington, the groups CD of strong, big sounding melodic rock has the depressive track Antarctica. Lyrics: Arent we leaving today? Abandoning the world, No more cities, Well kill technology, No more boys, No more girls. Id prefer the snow, You and I, drown in the blue and cold, Well fall, So alone, Teach me how to whisper. Arent we leaving today? Were learning to die, Learning to solve everything through beautiful goodbyes. Id prefer the snow, Well fall, So alone, Teach me how to whisper. Eyeball Records EYE20089; www.myspace.com/eforexplosion
HIDEAWAY by the Weepies (2008)
The Weepies are a Topanga, California-based married duo who have garnered acclaim with their brand of melodic folk-rock/pop tunes, a number of which have appeared on mainstream TV drama programs. Their current third CD includes the wistful song Antarctica. Lyrics: Left behind everything I knew, All the colors but bone-white and sky-blue, Hit the continent running, Engines were humming just to break through. Antarctica, my only living relative. Antarctica, I cant wait anymore. Under ice theres a world moving slow, Carnelian stars and the bars down below, Serve only vodka and gin, I try to stay drunk so nobody knows. And then theres morning, Each one feels like the first one. Ah morning, so clean, so pure, Nothing so clear, now that Im here. When I get back to the city, Everythings cluttered and pretty. I wont regret my return, Ill just remember the wind and snow, And the howling so loud, That it alone drowns out the inside of me. Nettwerk Records 0 6700 30777 2 9; www.theweepies.com
ANTARCTICA by Tactile, Spinline, Munk + Naibu/BREAK by Liveevil (2008) (Vinyl LP only)
The 7-minute drums & bass track Antarctica, a collaboration between a trio from Budapest, Hungary and a Parisian, has some icy chants and floating musical effects. Levitated Recordings LVTD 009; www.myspace.com/spinlinekru; www.levitated.org
MYSTICAL DESERT II by Thierry Chaze (2007)
Thierry Chaze is a Paris, France area-based guitarist, keyboardist and composer who has produced music for films, documentaries and multi-media projects in many styles since the early 1990s. His music includes several New Age and world music albums. This CD of musical landscapes includes the mellow 9-minute Antarctica Peace. Thierry told us about the track in 2015: The reason for which I composed this music on the Antarctic is the following: I like the big areas advantageous for meditation, and the Antarctic is a desert of ice and it inspired me for these calm and secret expanses. thierrychaze.wix.com/compositeur
BLUE WATER ASCENT by Henry Kaiser (2007) (Web site download only)
Henry Kaiser is a prominent and prodigiously recorded California-based improvisational avant-garde guitarist who first went to Antarctica in 2001-02 on a U.S. National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Program grant. He recorded his guitar playing at McMurdo Station and at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and later returned to work as a research diver and underwater cameraman on two documentaries, including one of his own and for Werner Herzogs Encounters at the End of the World. Kaisers Antarctic diving and filming experiences may now be among the broadest in the field.
This album of instrumental guitar music and improvisations, has the 18-minute guitar instrumental The Ice Wall at Cape Evans. Its named after Cape Evans, on Ross Island, Antarctica, the location of Robert Scotts headquarters for his fateful attempt at the South Pole in 1910-13. This fascinating guitar workout begins with quiet crystalline guitar sonics that morph into heavier feedback, backed with languid guitar harmonics. www.henrykaiserguitar.com
Henry Kaiser also produced an earlier DVD of his guitar music, A BUNCH OF GUITAR SOLOS (2003), in which he used the South Pole marker as a guitar slide, performed inside an ice cave on Antarcticas active volcano, Mt. Erebus, and filmed scenes of the Icestock Music Festival at McMurdo Station. Fractal Music 2013A; (See also SOLO ACOUSTIC ON BEARDSELL GUITARS by Henry Kaiser (2011) in this section and MUSIC FOR WERNER HERZOGS ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Henry Kaiser & David Lindley (2013) and UNDER THE ICE – Live at 21 Grand by Henry Kaiser (2008) in the Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section.)
BALANCE by Isunray (2007) (Web site download only)
Isunray is the New Zealand duo of instrumentalist Jeremy (Jay) Hay and vocalist Jade Eru. Their 6-track EP of electro-soul pop music includes Icebergs off the Coast, a 3½-minute electronic chant, which according to their publicity notes was inspired by the large icebergs that broke away from Antarctica and drifted up towards New Zealand in November 2006. This was the first time in seventy years that icebergs had been visible from the New Zealand coast. The mainstream media just couldnt seem to accept this was a result of climate change, so in response, Icebergs off the Coast was born. If you listen closely you can hear the sound of a local wahine (woman) calling out across the ice. Jeremy told us in 2013: In the music I wondered what it could sound like if a woman were on the iceberg, so this is the sound you here near the end of the music when Jade starts to sing. I asked her to think to imagine herself on the iceberg as it drifts out to sea. www.reverbnation.com/isunray; www.soundcloud.com/isunray
GO TO THE SHIP by Alexander Gorodnitsky (2007) (Web site download only)
Alexander Gorodnitsky is a distinguished Moscow-based Russian geophysicist/oceanographer and singer/poet who has studied the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as many other places and oceans over the course of his long scientific career, which began in the 1950s. He started writing poetry and singing songs early in his life, has produced many albums and now regularly performs at concerts and festivals with songs about his travels and experiences. This album, originally released in 1997 and re-released in 2013 in digital format, has the 2-minute track Antarctica, sung in a deep-voiced French chansonnier style. www.gorodnit.spb.ru; www.gorodnitsky.com
GYRES EP by Alygos (2007) (Web site download only)
Alygos (a.k.a. Jean-Paul Grobben) is a Dutch ambient electronic musician whose EP of instrumental ambient tracks has five instrumentals named after various oceanic gyres, including Antarctic Circum. Known as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current or West Wind Drift, it is the dominant ocean flow around Antarctica in the Southern Ocean and is the essential barrier separating the warmer northern waters from the continent. The 2-minute track flows and gurgles musically, in keeping with its subject title. ENNT002; www.enntess.org
VĒL NEDZIMUŠAS RELIĢIJAS TEMPLI (IN THE TEMPLE OF A STILL UNBORN RELIGION) by Imants Daksis (2007)
Imants Daksis is a Riga, Latvia-based poet, musician and psycho-shamanic folk singer, who has recorded many albums during the past decade. This CD has Meitene No Antarktīdas (Girl from Antarctic), the quietest track on the record and the brief noise instrumental Antarktīda. The rest of the music on the CD is unlike anything being recorded in North America. It is quirky folk rock with vocals that range from gentle and quiet to expressive howls, backed by psychedelic/industrial instrumentation that may grow on you. Lauska CD16; www.imantsdaksis.lv; www.myspace.com/imantsdaksis; (See also HOMAGE TO ANTARCTIC AND FREEDOM by Antarktīda (2010) in this section.)
FOR OUR PLANET by Kelly Newton-Wordsworth (2007)
Kelly Newton-Wordsworth, is a veteran award-winning Australian singer/songwriter and environmental activist who has also been an international performer for more than a decade, including an appearance at one of the Live Earth concerts in Los Angeles in 2007. She is now based in New York. This CD has the song A Whale for the Killing, a protest song to stop whaling, used by Greenpeace in 1981 for the film The Last Whale, which called on the international community to establish a whale sanctuary in the Antarctic region. Finally in 1994, the International Whaling Commission established the Southern Ocean Whaling Sanctuary to protect the feeding grounds of many species of whales. Commercial whaling is banned in the Antarctic region but Japan continues, very controversially, to hunt minke and fin whales under the guise of permitted research whaling. For nearly thirty years, the American-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has conducted their campaigns to enforce international conservations rules on the high seas, including its now very public annual encounters with the Japanese Antarctic whaling fleet. Newtone Productions CDNT005; www.kellynewtonwordsworth.com; www.myspace.com/kellynewtonwordsworth
CHRISTMAS EMERALD ISLE by Danny Doran (2007) (Web site download only)
Danny Doran is a Newry, Ireland-based veteran singer/songwriter/entertainer Danny Dugan, who had an anthemic hit in 1991 about Irish footballers, The Boys in Red and Black are Back. This mini record has the uplifting track, The Ballad of Tom Crean, about one of the giants of the Heroic Era of Antarctic Exploration who was on three major British Expeditions with Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton. He was honoured with three British Polar Medals and retired in Annascaul, Ireland, to run the South Pole Inn, which has remained and is still open for business today. Our transcribed lyrics: A mighty man, an Irishman, his likes are rarely seem. You may not know of whom I speak, his name, it is Tom Crean. He left his net of Annascaul, sailed away to sea. Born to adventure and a place in history. Captain Scott and Shackleton would not have reached their goal, they needed men with hearts of steel to take them to the Pole. Ice and snow, fifty below, he set out all alone, to save the life of his companions, no thought of his own. Thirty-five miles of Arctic winds cut him to the bone, eighteen hours of torture, Tom Crean and God alone. A mighty man, an Irishman, his likes are rarely seem. You may not know of whom I speak, his name, it is Tom Crean. HMS Endurance, Terra Nova, Discovery, three ships sailed to Antarctica, Ton Cream sailed on all three. Some say the Arctic winds and snows we never would have seen, if not for men of destiny like Irelands own Tom Crean. Back home to County Kerry, to retire and settle down, he did not talk about himself but word soon got around. His life cut short at sixty-one, his story must be told. Walk down the street in Annascaul and visit the South Pole. A mighty man, an Irish man, his likes are rarely seen, now you know of whom I speak, his name, it is Tom Crean. Available on iTunes.
THE FRED ALLEN SHOW- Life at the South Pole (undated collection)
Fred Allen was a vaudeville comedian who appeared on Broadway and became one of Americas most popular humorists in the classic radio era in the 1930s and 1940s. During that time he hosted and starred in long running half or hour-long topical satire radio comedy shows. The program of Feb. 28, 1940, Life at the South Pole, had an 11-minute Admiral Byrd spoof about Admiral Allen at Little Brooklyn Base at the South Pole. Being very cold and running out of food, the camp managed to get a radio transmission to Irvings delicatessen in New York, which offered to deliver cold cuts to the base. Many of the Fred Allen programs have been digitally preserved and are available for purchase from the Web sites listed below. We obtained this CD in 2008. FA-014; www.originaloldradio.com; www.radioshowcds.com; www.oldclassicradio.com; www.otrstreet.com
BOB & RAY: The Soap Operas, Volume 6 (2007)
Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding were Boston broadcasters who became American national radio comedy icons over the late 1940s to the 1980s. Their deadpan form of interviewing spoofed the medium in which they worked. This box set of 4 CDs contains the 5-minute track Bob visits Harold Haskells home in Antarctica, in which a member of Admiral Byrds last expedition decided to remain and had made Antarctica his home for 30 years and was just adding some weather-stripping as the interview began. No information given on the date of the sketch. RadioArt RACD 5031-4; www.bobandray.com
THE HEATHER AND THE SAGEBRUSH by Tom Wilson (2007)
Tom Wilson is a Wyoming, U.S.A.-based, Celtic-influenced, multi-instrumentalist and folksinger. This CD has a collection of superb down-to-earth, Rocky Mountain, Scottish and Irish-influenced tracks, largely instrumentals, played on a variety of acoustic instruments. Musical accompaniment is provided by numerous local friends and musicians. One of the tunes is The James Caird, with an unusual and interesting mixture of tuba, euphonium, tin whistle, bodhran and Sean Francis on the trap set. Its named after Ernest Shackletons lifeboat from the 1914-16 Endurance Expedition, on which he and five others sailed to South Georgia in their famous voyage from Elephant Island. According to the booklet notes, the track was A tune inspired by the great rescue voyage of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer, leader of men, survivor extraordinaire. Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all. Tom told us about the track in 2011: This tune was born at an impromptu jam session at my brothers house. We had been talking about some very hard times we had recently been through, and we both felt this growing sense of determination. I grabbed my guitar and started slamming out this minor key progression. The rest of the tune grew out of that. The voyage of the Caird is synonymous, among those who know the story, with overcoming impossible odds. First, there is the ominous sense of foreboding, and feeling that something needs to be done, and it isnt going to be easy. Then there is the moment of commitment, the launching of the boat, as it were. Once the commitment is made, then its a matter of having the intensity to stay focused, the determination to stick with it, and the skill to make it work. Thats what Ive tried to capture in this tune. www.whistlingbadger.com
RIPPED ECHO by Eric Dahlman (2007)
Eric Dahlman is a Massachusetts, U.S.A-based musician/trumpeter whose CD of roots/jazz/world music covers a wide variety of styles and influences. The disc has the track Antarctican Dream, with listed instrumentation being trumpet, Antarctican choir, ice loops, snow drum, ice flutes, ice bass and accordion. The shamanistic chanting with trumpet-led invocation/processional was a puzzling and original-sounding piece of Antarcticana and we asked Eric about the track in 2010. He replied: Well, I believe Antarctica is wide open for mythology. So I was imagining Antarctican indigenous folks long ago singing together in their giant igloo-like structure. Could they be singing for a successful whale hunt? For a blizzard to end? I guess well never really know...I also, on a previous CD, have a track called Antarctican Penguin Herders (ERIC DAHLMAN (2000)) and I wrote a suite entitled The Antarctican Walrus Hunt Disaster (unrecorded), which in a nutshell was about escaped psychiatrists from a mental hospital in Patagonia who fled to Antarctica and did an elaborate dance for a successful walrus hunt but alas...there are no walruses in Antarctica! Space Walrus Records; www.myspace.com/ericdahlman
In a 2011 YouTube posting, there is a 15-minute performance of Antarctic Uprising by the trio Auddity, a Free Improv Trio, performing this work composed by Eric Dahlman, which includes Eric on trumpet, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The video notes state: Imagine in 1774 the invading British Empire attacking the one continent they didnt own, Antarctica. The Native Antarcticans fight them ferociously, casting off the greatest military power of their time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VMpHqXrwxg
PLACES – An Instrumental Journey by Mike Davis (2007)
Mike Davis is a veteran Florida, U.S.A.-based composer, keyboardist and performer in a variety of styles. He has played at theme parks, convention centres and in 2009 performed a solo piano concert at Floridas Kennedy Space Center for the Atlantis space shuttle astronauts. According to his Web site, Mike is committed to helping raise consciousness and prosperity for all and has been music director for several New Thought churches for many years. This CD of upbeat New Age instrumental tracks, about physical and psychological places, has the track Amundsens Cairn. We asked Mike in 2009 if this was related to the polar explorer. He said, Youre right; it is inspired by the story of Amundsen. I just kept hearing some sounds and rhythms in my head that gave me a mental image of movement in a very cold landscape. I had read a bit about him when I was a kid, and I guess it just all connected. There is a rock cairn at Mount Betty, Queen Maud Mountains, Antarctica known as Amundsens Cairn, erected by the explorer in January 1912 when he was returning from his famous trek to the South Pole. Another cairn was erected by Amundsen at Gja Haven, Nunavut, Canada in honour of his mentor, German polar scientist and explorer Georg von Neumayer. Amundsen stayed for a lengthy time at Gja Haven, learning from the Inuit, on his historic journey through Canadas Northwest Passage. To celebrate the centenary in 2003 of the start of Amundsens Northwest Passage journey, the governments of Canada and Norway jointly unveiled a new cairn/monument for the occasion. www.mikedavismusic.net
SIMPLY ENTITLED by John C. Wiseman (2007)
Wiseman is a Chicago, Illinois-based singer/songwriter/guitarist with almost fourty years of performing experience in music and theatre, with a current interest in Celtic, Maritime and Renaissance/minstrel music. His first CD has the unaccompanied vocal track The Voyage of the James Caird, about Shackletons Endurance Expedition of 1914-16 and its famous lifeboat. Sample lyrics: It was Elephant Island which Antarctica points to, Where in nineteen hundred sixteen came the brave Endurance crew, A miracle had got them there, another theyd require, For on this isle was not a scrap of wood to make a fire. They had a leader by the name of Ernest Shackleton, And hed explored the polar lands since nineteen hundred one, When icy floes destroyed their ship, they salvaged some supplies, And three small lifeboats dragged along until they crossed the ice. Theyd have to send a lifeboat out to see if help would come, the man to lead the voyage out was Ernest Shackleton, Del Fuego was the closest land, but oer the harshest sea, And so South Georgia was the place that they would have to be Now when you talk of heroes, youll never find a one, As worthy of the title as Ernest Shackleton. He never once forgot his men and never once was scared, To make the daunting voyage in the little boat, James Caird. John told us in 2009 about the song: I was very much inspired by a PBS special I saw about the voyage of the Endurance, and also by researching on the internet about the expedition. I was especially struck by the fact that they were able to rescue ALL of the men, with no more lasting damage than a couple of fingers one man lost to frostbite. This was impressive because of the severe difficulty of the rescue mission - no sea traffic, difficult weather conditions, and all of it in a lifeboat that wasnt originally intended for such a long trip anyway. It is interesting that, within about a year after they got home, many of the men died in World War I. I am a frequent volunteer at the annual Chicago Maritime Festival, which celebrates all aspects of life on the water but which mostly concentrates on maritime music. I suppose I was partly inspired by this as well. www.johncwiseman.com; www.merrymeasure.com
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC EP by Joelle Zigman (2007)
New Jersey, U.S.A.-based singer/songwriter/pianist Zigman was 16 when she recorded this promising 6-song CD of snarky, full-of-beans, self-deprecating romantic angst in her basement. Included is the instrumental track Nobody Lives in Antarctica, a piano solo with an unexpected, and all-too-short organ accompaniment. In 2010, Joelle told us: I honestly have no idea why I named that song Nobody Lives in Antarctica, by the way. Just seemed like a good idea at the time. That CD is so far removed from the direction my music has taken since my University composition studies, but hey, I like how it leads to cool little references like this. Ammonium Records; www.myspace.com/joellezigman
SLEEPARCHIVE / ANTTI RANNISTO (2007)
A CD of electronic music with separate tracks from two artists, Germany-based Sleeparchive (aka Roger Semsroth) and Finlands Antti Rannisto. While there is no Antarctic-themed music on the disc, the cover has a sleepy looking face photo by Frank Hurley of Lupoid, a sledge dog from Ernest Shackletons Endurance Expedition of 1914-16, named for his wolf-like looks. Antti told us in 2009 that The cover photo was chosen by Sleeparchive. Theres no direct relation to the music, at least on my part of the CD; rather, I think he just thought that it would fit the whole aesthetics of our music. And I agree that it does fit quite well. Roger told us that I really like the story about Ernest Shackletons expedition to the South Pole. My first record was named Elephant Island. The picture of Lupoid (the dog) was just one of the best photos of one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen!!!! ZZZCD1; www.sleeparchive.de; www.myspace.com/anttirannisto; (See also ELEPHANT ISLAND EP by Sleeparchive (2004) in this section.)
CECI NEST PAS LE CLUB DE JAGUAR by the Jaguar Club (2007)
Brooklyn, N.Y.s Jaguar Club is a young post-New Wave pop/rock trio. This EP of melodic tunes includes In Antarctica, apparently a tale of yearning and lost love, with the polar reference, This rooftops like a glacier, a mountain and a sea, a cold and boring land. The track was redone and included on AND WE WAKE UP SLOWLY (2009) as Antarctica. www.jaguarclubofnyc.net; www.myspace.com/thejaguarclub
TAGAP - Original Soundtrack of The Apocalyptic Game About Penguins by Petja Heiskanen (2007) (Web site download only)
This is the musical soundtrack to a computer game developed by Jouni Lahtinen and is available for free on the games Website. The two collaborators are based in Finland. The soundtrack has 33 battle-oriented musical selections of various lengths, largely rock oriented with a few novelty scenic interludes. In addition to some penguin-themed tracks (Funky Penguin, Penguins Retirement, Penguinator, Rogue Penguin), it includes the 3-minute Antarctic Suite. In the Web site, in response to the question, Are you trying to ride on Hollywoods penguin boom or something?, the composer said that My penguin boom has been going on for over 15 years and I love those waddling birds more than life itself. I just adore them, theyre the supreme beings! But its nice to notice big masses are finally realizing the same thing and have rewarded these flightless birds with Oscars two years in a row! www.tagap.net
ZILLION CD15 – OBSCURITY by various artists (2007)
This Dutch three-CD compilation of various electronic instrumental dance tracks includes Antartica by Aqua Nova, which alternates between pounding beats and quiet interludes, much like the nature of the Continent itself. Digidance DIGI 226-2; www.digidance.cc
LEGENDS NEVER DIE by the Dreadnoughts (2007)
Vancouver, B.C.s Dreadnoughts are a superbly talented quintet playing a mixture of loud, punkish, modern Celtic-flavoured pub rock, laced with sea shanty influences, fiddles and other traditional instruments. One of the tracks is Antarctica, about a ship off to the Southern Ocean, likely on a whaling expedition - but its hard to make out the lyrics from the loud music and tough vocals. www.thedreadnoughts.com; www.myspace.com/vancitydreadnoughts
POP.VOX.CHRISTMAS Volume 2 by various artists (2007)
This is a compilation of traditional Christmas carols and a few original novelty songs, played in wondrous and quirky arrangements by indie rock bands or folk artists. Pop.vox bills itself on its Website as a California-based label for a community of artists to integrate their feelings, beliefs and faith into their work in an innovative way...we hope to see artists who are Christians, rather than Christian artists. Included is The Antarctic Circle by Racing at Nineteen, the only instrumental on the disc. Its a stately churchlike organ/synth track, underlain by a resonant cathedral bass but is the only one without a Christmas title or evident seasonal connection. A representative of the record label told us that We included the song because we thought it was beautiful and a perfect conclusion to our compilation. Christopher Bright, the composer, told us in 2008 that the song was initially based on pictures Id seen of different parts of Antarctica. I was really interested by them and wondered how landscapes like that would translate into music. I wanted something that would feel cold and fairly isolated, but would have a little bit of mystery and adventure to it. VOX 7; www.popvoxmusic.com; www.myspace.com/popvoxmusic
HYPNOTICA Compilation 2007 by various artists (2007)
This Swiss compilation CD of electronic dance/trance music contains the forceful, percussive track Antarctica by Tux-Edo, which starts with the ominous spoken introduction, Antarctica is the one continent where humans may forever be strangers. Room31 Records R31001; www.arabesque.co.uk
THE LESS THAT WE ARE by Patient Patient (2007)
The Seattle, Washington indie band has the hard rocking track Antarctica, with no apparent connection to The Ice. The lyrics nevertheless leave some food for Antarctic thought: Those things you cant contain, love, just let them outWe are all rational people, dont you push us to the edge. www.patientpatientband.com; www.myspace.com/patientpatientband
EXPANSE by Graham Elks and Phil Crewe (2007)
Elks and Crewe are veterans of various British bands and studio wizards. Since 1999 they have collaborated as a guitar duo and multi-instrumentalists on six instrumental CDs of atmospheric progressive rock. Their latest disc includes Antarctica, a sublime 13-minute searing cauldron, rather than a cold, bottomless crevasse, of a guitar blowout. Graham told us about the track in 2011: It all stems from the album title really - all the tracks have titles, which have a Big! feel - Conquest, The Titan, Answers, Searching, all these give rise to something that is big! - a great expanse of knowledge to think about! Of course, Antarctica is one of the greatest expanses on earth! - its dramatic, powerful and yet beautiful. I like to make music with a big feel to the sound! www.grahamelks.com
GRYNINGSFOLK I SKYMNINGSLAND by Biljardakademien (2007)
Biljardakademien was a literate Swedish postpunk, light rock group from the early 1980s. This collection of their 1982-1985 recordings and demo tracks includes the jazzy, fluffy, folk-rock track, Shackleton mot Antarktis (Shackleton to Antarctica) from 1985. Bendi Recycled BEN-RE-002; www.bendirecords.com
UPPEHLLSVDER BILJARDAKADEMIEN Live 1984 (2009) is a recording of the last live performance by this line-up, made in late 1984 and also includes the above track, Shackleton mot Antarktis. Bendi Recycled BEN-RE-003.
SEB PIPES LIFE EXPERIENCE by Seb Pipe (2007)
Seb Pipe, a prizewinning British alto saxophonist, has recorded a live CD with his jazz trio, including the multi-hued 12-minute track Antarctic Twilight. Seb told us that, the music in Antarctic Twilight was inspired by images of Antarctic landscapes. It is my groups expression of those images through the medium of sonic expression. The music contains both pre-composed and spontaneously composed (or improvised) elements based upon the pre-composed themes. 5060080790838; www.sebpipe.com
ANTARTIC ABYSS by the Deep Blue (2007)
This is a largely instrumental heavy metal CD by a British trio, apparently about the perils of an ocean tyrant, frozen in the ice, rising to the skies. One of the tracks is called Under the Ice. The CD cover has an outline of Antarctica as a sun radiating forth over icebergs. the Church Within records CW006; www.myspace.com/thedeepbluewizard
LANTARCTICA by Madee (2007)
Madee is an established indie Spanish rock group. Despite the title, their latest CD includes only the track LAntarctica, a slow burning and moody piece with just vague hints of The Ice: Promises are gone, to a frostbitten place, and you didnt notice when your dilemmas broke us up. www.bcore.com
EVRIPIDIS AND HIS TRAGEDIES (2007)
Barcelona, Spain-based Evripidis (Sabatis) and his group of largely female back-up singers have an interesting CD of piano-based art rock, theatrical songs embellished with the occasional do wop and Beach Boyish harmonies. Included is the allegorical Antarctica. Sample lyrics: Ice Ice Ice Ice Ice Ice Ice, millions of years old, and all around an ocean full of life, krill and fish and penguins and seabirds and seals and whales, So much life around a cold empty heart. Dont try to heat me up baby, its dangerous, the atmosphere is getting warmer, the ice melts, an iceblock was parted from the icecap and collapsed, and 10,000 penguins met death, in the cold water. Venice is drowning! soon Holland will be under waves, and what will come next. Ive been sleeping a cold sleep for about a billion years, Ive been calm and alone for about a billion years, Ive been without dreams for about a billion years, now what will come next if you keep heating me up like this, with your love? Touchmerecords TMR 01; www.myspace.com/evripidisandhistragedies
HEAT by Marusha (2007)
Marusha (Gleiss) has been a prominent German DJ, media performer and award-winning recording artist since the early 1990s. Her latest techno/dance CD has the track Antarctica, long on groove and short on lyrics: Water, emptiness, silence enlight life of Antarctica – untouched nature creates existence. ElectroMotor MOTO8152; www.marusha.de
SPIRITUAL CATHARSIS by Striborg (2007)
This is a re-release of an original 2004 CD, which was limited to 500 copies, by the elusive solo black metal artist Sin Nanna (aka Striborg), who lives near Hobart, Tasmania. It contains the sludgy instrumental track Dicksonia Antartica, which led us to the reference books. Dicksonia Antarctica is also known as the Soft Tree Fern or Tasmanian Tree Fern and may be the best known of all the tree ferns. It is native to southeastern Australia and Tasmania, but has also been grown in Britain for years and is found in western North America and is reported on a few subantarctic islands. It was named in 1807 after James Dickson, a Scottish nurseryman and Antarctica refers to southern. In a review on his record companys web site with online magazine Terrorizer, the artist says that his only spiritual connection lies within Gaia The true spirit of Mother Nature is my only source of enlightenment and can only be felt when free of mankind. And I do not care if anybody thinks Im being politically or ecologically incorrect as this is the way I perceive the world on a spiritual level. The CD liner notes introduce the track with Majestic plants among the moss and water, Towering towards the mysterious sky, Metres of bear-like trunks braying over the rocks upon my tread...Many ferns grow in this wilderness, Untouched land of magic proportions, Only the creatures of nature dwell here, Native to its glorious land. This heavy metal track has succeeded admirably to put us in the frame of mind of a steamy, smoldering, prehistoric Gondwana/Pangaea supercontinent, to thoughts about a tropical Antarctica, Antarctic dinosaurs, Glossopteris fossils and whatever else may be lying preserved and hidden for countless eons beneath the horrendous weight of interminable miles of compressed ice, waiting to unleash its secrets with the onslaught of Global Warming. Whew! Displeased Records D-00171; www.displeasedrecords.com; www.myspace.com/striborg
NEXT STOP ANTARCTICA by the Green Mist (2007)
The title of their first CD is appropriate for an Australian rock band collective that had its beginnings in Tasmania. The music starts out as instrumental roots rock and then veers to a harder sound with vocals. Unfortunately, their trip hasnt reached anywhere near The Ice yet and the journey does not include any Antarctic songs. MIST001CD; www.myspace.com/themysteriousgreenmist
ANTARCTIC SUNRISE by A Hundred Times Beloved (2007)
Formed in 2003 as a solo project for Regensburg (Bavaria), Germany-based Felix Neumann, the group now includes Christian Winklhofer and others for live shows. As there are no specific Antarctic tracks on this CD of melodic vocal guitar electronica rock, we asked Felix about the Antarctic influences. He told us that, After finishing the recording of our CD, we gave the tracks to a friend. He told us that he liked the atmosphere of the CD because the production had a strong contrast between warm and cold sound elements. And so we chose this metaphor for cold (Antarctic) and warm (Sunrise). Alison Records AL-102; www.ahundredtimesbeloved.de
WATERS RISING by Lillian Axe (2007)
Lillian Axe is a long-established (1983) heavy rock/metal group from New Orleans. Their melodic seventh CD has the track Antarctica. Lyrics: I climbed the mountains and scaled the ice. Released defiance. My blood ran white, cold and numb. I saw the shadows of demigods. Whispering answers that time forgot. Forever true. Im frozen blue. Theres not much time. I died for you. A true believer, the king of lies. We all betrayed you. Your blood ran white. Im frozen blue. Theres not much time. I died for you. Antarctica. Steve Blaze, original member and lead guitarist told us, This song was written to correlate the vastness of Antarctica to the isolation and emptiness that we experience in our lives. When I imagine the infinite whiteness and desolation of that area, it overwhelms me. Its beautiful yet frightening. Locomotive Records LM493; www.lillianaxe.com
STRAWBERRY T. V. SHOW by the Smiles (2007)
The Smiles are a Korean septuplet with a CD of light, breezy, polished pop rock that has the track South Pole Sunset. Were not sure whether this refers to the real thing, or their mixing studio, called the South Pole Lab. Sample lyrics: I love you south poles sunset glow, Toll is free, come on down tomorrow, I love you south poles sunset glow, Free as theyll ever be Hold my hand Ill take you to my greatest viewing seat, Call my name youre welcome to my south pole picnic spree. Beatball Records BEAT33
SDPOL by Reuber (2007)
Timo Reuber is an analog synthesizer musician from Cologne, Germany, with four CDs. This latest one contains the tracks Amundsen and Sdpol (South Pole), two interesting instrumentals with plenty of arpeggiated bubbles, gurgles and beats. Staubgold 75; www.staubgold.com
DES COBRAS, DES TARANTULES by 3 Gars Sul Sofa (2007)
The band of three guys on the sofa are a trio from the Montreal area with their first CD of melodic, acoustic folk music, just pickin and singin in Quebecois slang, known as joual. The songs have a sunny, everyday disposition and include LAntarctique, which at just over a minute, might be the shortest Antarctic song recorded. The lyrics are pure minimalism (our translation): In Antarctica everything is always cold and white. Theres no road, you just go straight ahead in front. When its dark, its because its time to go inside, and play cards, for a longtime. PIXCD 7499; www.3gss.ca
PEAR & SISTER PINECONE by Page France (2007)
The Baltimore, Maryland soft folk rock group, led by Michael Nau, has a reputation for putting on vibrant, homey live shows. They include Antarctica (My Beloved Home) on this 2-disc CD. When did your eyes glaze dull, my Antarctica, my beloved home, they treat you like a dog, my Antarctica, my beloved home, they treat you like a dog, Im sorry if I joined along. Fall Records FR93442; www.fallrecords.com; www.pagefrance.net
IRISH LIFE AND LORE SERIES - KERRY COLLECTION - FIRST SERIES - with Padraig Begley (2007)
Jane and Maurice OKeeffe began recording the oral history of Irish counties in 1990 and have an archive of over 1500 recorded CDs of interviews covering history, livelihoods, folklore and storytelling. This CD is based on Maurices chat with Padraig Begley, who was 93 years of age at the time of the interview. In it, he tells a few first-hand stories about Tom Crean, one of the giants of the Golden Era of Antarctic Exploration, who served in Scotts 1901-04 National Antarctic Expedition, Scotts 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition and even more famously as part of Shackletons 1914-17 Endurance Expedition team. Crean was part of the team that made the journey in the James Caird from Elephant Island to South Georgia, and then struggled over the mountains to rescue. Crean retired in 1920 to run a hotel at Annascaul, County Kerry, Ireland, which he called the South Pole Inn. In the interview, Padraig tells about an incident at the pub in the inn and how Crean carried Shackleton on one of the polar journeys. For the non-Irish, the accent may be a bit hard to follow. CD No. 55; www.irishlifeandlore.com
IRISH LIFE AND LORE SERIES - TIPPERARY COLLECTION - with John Knightly (No. 1) (2006)
Jane and Maurice OKeeffe began recording the oral history of Irish counties in 1990 and have an archive of over 1500 recorded CDs covering history, livelihoods, folklore and storytelling. This CD is based on Maurices chat with John Knightly, who was Tom Creans godson. Tom Crean was one of the giants of the Golden Era of Antarctic Exploration, who served in Scotts 1901-04 National Antarctic Expedition, Scotts 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition and even more famously as part of Shackletons 1914-17 Endurance Expedition team. Crean was part of the team that made the journey in the James Caird from Elephant Island to South Georgia, and then struggled over the mountains to rescue. He retired in 1920 to run a hotel at Annascaul, County Kerry, Ireland, which he called the South Pole Inn. In the interview, Knightly talks extensively about Crean and his domestic life at the Inn, (a real characterhe was great at the gardeningit was an amazing thing, he never discussed his travelsattached to the sea). Knighly chuckles that he was always hoping to see his Creans frostbitten toes: we never saw them, never got the chance. CD No. 23; www.irishlifeandlore.com
THE END by Jarboe and Cedric Victor (2006)
This album is a limited edition CD of six recitations by Jarboe of various texts, largely written by Cedric Victor, set to ambient/atmospheric/darkwave music composed by Cedric Victor, to benefit Amnesty International and The Shackleton Unfinished Journey Project. Cedric Victor is a New York city-based art director and communications designer whose background includes music, fine arts and media studies. Jarboe is a veteran American singer-songwriter/keyboardist who was for many years a member of the New York-based iconic experimental rock band Swans. Since the late 1990s she has released numerous solo records and has collaborated with many other artists.
Cedric told us about the CD in 2014: THE END was produced as a collaboration with Jarboe to help towards funding an expedition I had planned to go on in Antarctica, essentially starting from where Shackleton had stopped (in 1909 - 8823S, 112 miles from Pole) and finishing the journey to the South Pole. The content of the CD is work that she and I worked on together, it does not bear any obvious specific reference to Antarctic motifs (cold, ice, etc.), however, it does carry an existential drama about it much like would have been expected of the expedition.
SHACKLETONS DOGS by My Calculus Beats Your Algebra (2006) (Vinyl LP and CD)
Denver, Colorados electronic/ambient duo released an album of howling noise about one of Antarcticas best know expedition epics, Shackletons 1914-17 Endurance Expedition. The album was a limited edition of 300 copies on white vinyl. Tracks are: A) Expeditions Start: a. the Crushing of the Endurance, b. Eating the Dogs, c. Seal Hunting and Football. B) The Separation: a. James Caird, b. the Climb and the Rescue. The album package also includes a CD of the all the tracks plus two remixes of Eating the Dogs and one of the Climb and the Rescue.
Thorin Klosowski, one of the duo members, explained the reason for the album to us in 2013: I was really interested Ernest Shackletons trip to Antarctica at the time, and we wanted to find a way to represent that musically. Its such an interesting, cold, desolate place that we just HAD to try to do something with it.
According to their Web site, Shackletons Dogs is the third full-length from Denvers most infamous duo, Thorin Klosowski and Bryan Danknich. These oddly named gentlemen are more focused than ever, producing the soundtrack to Ernest Shackletons ill-fated Antarctic expedition. This two-song, thirty-minute journey through sound makes you feel the crush of the ice, the blinding sting of a snowstorm, the long, cold march, and eventual rescue, meticulously composed with a variety of organic and electronic instruments. Ash From Sweat AFS #14; blog.mcbya.net/music/music-2
KICK SOME F*****G ASS by Guntmetal (2006)
Gunt is a death metal/thrash group from Weymouth, Dorset, U.K. Their demo self-released first mini CD has the 4½-minute glacier-melting, kick-ice track Battlefield Antarctica, in which the group is fighting for the future of mankind. www.myspace.com/guntmetal
ANTARCTIKA EP by HiFlyer (2006)
HiFlyer was a Bristol-U.K.-based quartet, including a brother/sister songwriting team, Elle and Henry Williams, who later transformed into Studio Arcade. Their second album, a 4-song EP of bright, energetic pop rock, unfortunately has no Antarctic content, any way you spell it, despite the intriguing title. www.myspace.com/wearestudioarcade; www.wearestudioarcade.co.uk
ANTARCTICA by Equinox/SURVIVAL by Kensal Rise (2006) (Vinyl LP only)
Drums & Bass music from a British club music label. The multi-faceted 9-minute track Antarctica captures well the harsh winds, blizzards and moods of The Ice. The cover photo has an interesting, smudged map outline of the continent. Inperspective Records INP13; www.inperspectiverecords.com
MAO-BIBEL by Melodic Abortion Orchestra (2006)
This is a limited-edition CD issue of demo sessions recorded live at a theatre from an Erlangen, Germany-based experimental/industrial/noise band. Included is the 6-minute hypnotic but noisy guitar, vocal and heavy percussion-driven Fiesta Antarktika. Gruss & Kuss Pervere of the group explained the origin of the track title to us in 2010: Well, thats a long story. In short, Fiesta Antarktika is based on the parodistic idea of a banana republic situated in the hostile environment of eternal ice under the autocratic leadership of a Castro-like figure, longing for the ultimate destruction of the western world symbolized (of course) by the U.S.; its totally nuts, I know. Empty Room Exploration ERE001; www.myspace.com/melodicabortionorchestra; umbkollektif.com/mao
ARCHIPELAGO by Va Va China ((2006) (Web site download only)
This is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based jazz group, specializing in improvised live music. Their double record contains various live performances including South Pole, a cacophonous cold blast of horn power not unlike the forceful katabatic winds blasting off the polar plateaus. www.myspace.com/vavachina; www.vavachina.com
CENT MILLIONS by Franois Staal (2006)
Franois Staal is a French singer-songwriter and music composer for television and theatre. He has issued three CDs of his own performances and this disc of soft rock has the track Antarctique, with lyrics by French writer Elvire Murail, which is a moving tale of Scotts South Pole Expedition of 1910-12, written from the point of view of Scott. Lyrics (our translation from French): Sun, a brilliant prism, on the indigo of the glacier, I loved this cold beauty, of crystallized snow preceding the South Pole, we only had fear, facing the solitude, we only had fear. But tell me, tell me, I didnt perish for naught, my skin is blue from the cold, not even good for the dogs, my hallucinating eyes see only the white, and my gaunt hand no longer feels the present, tell me, tell me, I didnt perish for naught. We have walked so much, sixty-nine frozen days, Evans, his bones broken, and Oates too exhausted, let me go alone, standing in the blizzard, facing solitude, we have only fear. Franois told us in 2010 that I fell in love with the lyrics, for me they are a metaphor for artistic creation: beauty, the goal, the work of art, the masterpiece (the Antarctic) / pursuit and defeat, hopes, the artists life, creation (the expedition). Delabel ditions; http://web.mac.com/Lestaal
UNNAMABLE by Aklo (2006)
Aklo (aka Eric Sandberg) is a San Jose, California-based sound artist whose eerie instrumental soundtracks are based on the literary themes of early 20th century famed American horror/suspense writer H. P. Lovecraft and the authors he inspired - works known as the Cthulhu Mythos. Aklos second CD has the track Antarctica, as chilly and creepy an auditory experience as anyone would want to have alone in a dark tunnel. Aklo told us in 2009: The music on the CD is based on the works of author H. P. Lovecraft. Antarctica is the setting of his novel At the Mountains of Madness, which was the inspiration for the track. At the Mountains of Madness, written in 1931, is about 1930s Antarctic researchers encountering long dormant beings in vast underground cities lost to history. www.aklo.net; www.myspace.com/aklomusic (See also DARK ADVENTURE RADIO THEATRE PRESENTS H. P. LOVECRAFTS AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS (2006) in the preceding all or significantly Antarctic section.)
THE LOST SPACESRECONSTRUCTEDby Layne Garrett (2006)
Layne Garrett is a Washington, D.C.-based artist, activist and experimental, improvisational acoustic guitarist. He has made several recordings, performed regionally and nationally and received grants from the American Composers Forum and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. This double CD has the haunting 8-minute acoustic guitar track, accompanied by brief vocals, The Oil Execs Are Building Summer Homes at the South Pole (With Your Gas Money). In 2009 we asked Layne about this intriguing title and he said: Lets see, that song is basically about our civilization being on kind of a runaway path to self-destruction. The title was kind of a tongue-in-cheek insinuation that the people leading the charge (represented by oil execs) maybe are well aware of whats going on, and are hedging their bets by building vacation houses at the South Pole, where the weather will soon be relatively tropical. The with your gas money part is to imply everyones complicity in the situation. The song isnt specifically about climate change, but I used that as a trope for what I see as a more widespread collective self-destructive bender we are in the midst of...the title is an exaggeration to make a point, I guess. Sockets scdr21; www.questionthetruth.com/noise
PLANET IN A DAY by Alphaterra (2006)
Alphaterra comprises two Italian instrumental wizards who have collaborated for many years on their compositions, Gianni Viaggi, on keyboards and Giorgio Gabriel, on guitars. Their CD of progressive New Age and sophisticated jazz-tinged instrumentals journeys takes us over many landscapes across the globe. One of the tracks is the 5-minute Antarctic Sunglare, which includes synthesized vocal phrases by Flora Sol Accursio (I come with you, into the blue). She told us in 2009 that I worked with Alphaterra on the non-musical part (thats titles, the few lines of lyrics and so on. To answer your question about Antarctic Sunglare, that specific title came from me, the song already existed but still missed a proper title. Since the album theme was a view of the Earth from the point of view of a first-time visitor, not spoiled by clichs about the different countries and territories, I tried to imagine what kind of landscape would fit in with the music, which to me evoked visions of bright morning sunlight on a cold, endless plain of ice, the crispy brightness of sunglare at extreme latitudes. Thats why that specific song was thus titled. Id like you to tell me if you think the inspiration was correct, and if the song evokes in your mind the same sensations it did in mine. Please let me know!! With bright, breezy and shimmering keyboard and guitar set over a heavy bass bottom, suggestive of miles of massive underlying ice, the inspiration and the performance soar over the Antarctic landscape. Maracash Records MRC 011; www.alphaterra.it
DEFIANTLY UNCLASSIFIABLE by Surviving the Odyssey (2006)
STO is a Pittsburgh, U.S.A.-based electro/synthesizer pop/trip-hop band led by Indigo and Odd. Their first CD includes the impressively-named track Marooned on Elephant Island - The Biography of Positive Despair. Sample phrases that float throughout the track: So many times I almost gave up hopeso many times I almost questioned myself, all the sacrificesthere is hope. We asked the group about the title and if it was related to Shackletons Endurance Antarctic Expedition. Odd (Nick) told us: To answer simply, yes! I wrote that song as an anthem for overcoming obstacles - never giving up. I read an article about this and was very inspired by the true life experience of these explorers. www.stoband.net; www.myspace.com/survivingtheodyssey
WASHINGTON ARMS by Matt Turk (2006)
Matt Turk is a Hudson Valley, N.Y.-based veteran musician with three solo CDs plus several collaborations with others. In 1992 he teamed with iconic Pete Seeger in a group that taught folk songs to New York City-area schoolchildren and currently runs the folk song segment of a social program in N.Y. State. The present disc of melodic rock music has the track Endurance. Lyrics: Feeling like exploring the old, far from all I know, wedged between the ice at the bottom of the world: Endurance. Love is like this quest for the grail. Doomed from the start from the moment we set sail, caught in a sea of ice: Endurance. Rescue me Ill rescue you. Senseless love masquerades in blue. Rescue me Ill rescue you Endurance. Time is what you want good things to take. Love is not a race to reach the highest peak or find the southern pole, sailing on Endurance. Rescue me Ill rescue you. Senseless love masquerades in blue. Rescue me Ill rescue you sailing on Endurance. Matt explained the lyrics to us in 2009: I was going through a very challenging time in a personal relationship. After an afternoon at the Natural History Museum exhibit on Shackleton, I was inspired by Shackletons devotion to his crew and his ability to rescue them against all nautical and natural odds and drew upon that inspired commitment in my composition. And relationship. At least thats a part of it. Shackleton was an unbelievable man. Turktunes 1398-2; www.turktunes.com
WHATISWILLBE by Dave Owens (2006)
Dave Owens is an independent Australian rocker and his third CD of melodic rock includes the tongue-in- cheek track Antarctica. Lyrics: I wanna go down to Antarctica, Where Im told, The folks act real cool, Down all the way to Antarctica, Where youd think, Thered be just nothin to do. Well I know Mother Natures fine, Cos I heard overhead, Ice-bergs last night, Sayin Lets collide sometime, So lets get away sometime today, Watcha say, Baby lets go all the way. Down in Antarctica, Theyve got plenty of bars, Theres bars fulla rich, bars fulla poor, And bars fulla folks, Who wanna spend a little more. And so I met a man from Antarctica, Who shared a little bit, Of his life with me, I was told in no uncertain terms, That Antarctica was the place to be. He said, You could raise your kids, On a pittance youll see, On a tree-less plain for miles around, Theres nothin else, like what Ive seen, White landscape before me. Down in Antarctica, Theyve got no need for cars, Theres sleighs for the rich, Sleds for the poor, And skis for the rest, Who wanna live a little more. So lets get away, Sometime today, Whatcha say baby, Lets go all the way. Plant a tree then a grove, Fringe a city and watch em grow, No complaints with all that snow. Lets beat the rush buy a block, Have some kids and then well rock, Get our name on an avenue. Lets play in the snow. Soundvault SV0527; www.dave-owens.com
NEW AGE SENSITIVE GUY by David Friedenberg (2006)
Manchester, N.H.-based singer-songwriter David Friedenbergs first solo album contains a variety of musical styles, much of it humourous. Included is the track Antarctica. Lyrics: People brag about New York, Canada and Rome, but Im so proud Ill sing out loud about the place I call home. Antarctica, Antarctica, land of glaciers and snow. And theres only one girl at the end of the whole South Pole that owns my heart and thats a woman thats named Antarctica, Antarctica, same as the land that I love. Ill mush my sled to where she waits for me, under the Southern Lights high up above. In the winter we camp out on the tundra, down where the huskies go. In the summer we cuddle on the beach, even though its 20 below. Antarctica, Antarctica, me and my frost-bitten girl. Ive got my love to keep me warm and Im sittin on the bottom of the The gasoline may gel in my fuel line, theres a hole in the ozone above. It may snow and drop to 80 below, but no one can put the freeze on my love. Antarctica, Antarctica, land of glaciers and snow. Ive got my love to keep me warm and Im sittin on the bottom of the world, Im sittin on the bottom of the world. Yeah, Im sittin on the bottom of the world. David told us in 2009 that When traveling, people always ask where youre from. My kids noticed that no one was particularly impressed when we would tell them New Hampshire. So we decided to come up with an answer that was at once exotic and absurd: Antarctica. I just decided to have some musical fun with it. I hope you enjoyed it! www.myspace.com/davidfriedenberg
ANTARCTICA by Mooncoin (2006)
Mooncoin is a German violin-led rock group. Despite the title and the colourful satellite cover photo of an Antarctic coast with sea ice, there is no apparent Antarctic lyrical content. GEMA LC 5558
AUSSIE CHRISTMAS WITH BUCKO & CHAMPS Volumes I & II (2006)
Colin Buchanan and Greg Champion are each veteran Australian musicians and performers on Australian radio and TV and individually have many CDs to their names. They collaborated on these two CDs of largely their own comedic Christmas songs, some of which have a particularly pointed but lighthearted Australian slant on matters. The songs were recorded or remixed over 1994/97/98/99 and reissued in 2006 as a double CD, which includes bonus karaoke sing-along music tracks. Volume I, nominated for an Australian comedy record award, contains the track Santas Moving to the South Pole. With references to two Australian Antarctic base names in a Santa song, it is clear that Australians take their Antarctic heritage seriously.
Lyrics are: It was in the middle of last July, When Santa jumped out of bed, He said Ive had enough of this old North Pole, Im headin South instead. His accountant said its risky, Theres a likelihood of failure, But Santa said, I need a Pole thats closer to Australia! Chorus: Say goodbye to the Northern Blizzards, And the bitter Arctic cold, Hello sun and surf and sand, Santas movin to the South Pole./ Hes got the suntan oil, Hawaiian shirt, Hes shifted operations, All winter long hes gonna surf The break at Casey Station. The palm trees and the nightlife, Happy days are here, His mails been redirected to the Southern Hemisphere. /Chorus/ Its a little far from Amsterdam, And Moscows many a mile, But down at the Mawson Reef Hotel, Hes kickin back in style. Cos when the Christmas rush is really on, Come December 24, Santa loves the South Pole best, Cos Australias right next door!
Greg told us in 2008 that Here in Australia, we experience a lot of Northern Hemisphere Christmas imagery and music: songs about snow, winter, cold, etc, that do not correspond to our hot Southern Hemisphere Christmases. So Mr. Buchanan and I, in writing songs about the Aussie Christmas, took traditional Northern Hemisphere ideas and morphed them into Southern Hemisphere concepts: we took Santa out of the North Pole and brought him closer to Australia. At the same time, one of Colins associates told us that she just spoke to Colin, who has a fantastic sense of humour, thanks to God. He said Santa comes from the North Pole so he thought he would try the South Pole and see Santas experiences. Wanaaring Road Music & The Greg Champion Group OR 088; www.colinbuchanan.com.au; www.gregchampion.com.au
TANGERINE DRAM PLAYS TANGERINE DREAM (2006)
Tangerine Dream is an internationally successful German recording and touring synthesizer/electronic music group formed in the late 1960s. This CD contains re-recordings and re-mixes of group pieces, performed by the original composers or by musicians associated with the band over its 40 year life. Included is the opening track South Pole Crossing, a forceful, rhythmic piece performed by Paul Haslinger for the Japanese documentary production Mandala. He co-wrote the track with the founding and only remaining original member Edgar Froese. Eastgate Music and Media; www.tangerinedream-music.com
F**K THE FUTURE by Foot Village (2006)
Foot village is a post apocalypse world-rebuilding drum quartet, with members from various Los Angeles, California underground groups. The tracks on the CD are largely named after countries of the world and consist of the name of the country being shouted out and followed by demonic percussion, with occasional chants or vocals. Included are two separate tracks entitled Antartica. The first one follows the general trend of massive pounding primitivism, while the second one is completely atypical of the CD, being an ambient-like drone, accompanied by various percussive sounds that do much to create a frozen continental sound impression. Deathbomb Arc DBA073; Excite Bike EXBX005; NGWTT; Olfactory Records OF008; www.myspace.com/footvillage
RUINING EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE by 24 Hour Taco Shop (2006)
24 Hour taco Shop is a ska, rock and reggae sextet of high school seniors (as at 2008) from Pittsburgh, PA, showcasing a trumpet-driven happy-time musical sound. Their debut CD contains the track Antarctica, which may lay claim to be one of the jolliest Antarctic tunes recorded. It begins with the announcement, All Antarcticans please enter the baggage claim. Sample chorus: Antarctica is the place for smiles, no phone service, no speed dial...theres no sand, theres only snow. Drummer and co-lyricist Justin Culotta told us about the lyrics: In all honesty, I felt like making a song that was about Antarctica for no real reason, but if you listen closely to the lyrics, half of them are intended to not make any sense, and we also have a song called the North Pole that is similar. www.myspace.com/24hourtacoshoppa
RADIO SWAN IS DOWN by Laura (2006)
Melbournes rock group Laura was formed in 2001 and has attracted critical success with its second CD of largely instrumental, dense, atmospheric rock. Included is the slow, moody track Lake Vostok Beachfront. Andrew Chalmers, guitarist, vocalist and noisemaker with the band told us in 2008 that I read about Lake Vostok in Scientific American or something. Its amazing...isolated for such a long time, but sooner or later, somebody will open it up, or the ice over it will melt...not as spectacular as the ocean rushing through the Straits of Gibraltar and filling up the Mediterranean Sea, but still a pretty big moment. I think I like the idea of Lake Vostok because the immediate reaction is, its so ancient and isolated, but on the other hand it seems so precarious - the thought of an underground lake encased in ice makes me instantly think, its perfect, so what will it take to ruin it? Who destroys it? Why? Is it intentional? Is it a consequence of human action? Are humans even around? At some point, there may well be a Lake Vostok beachfront, and it might be a nice place to have a house. Or at some point there may be ash on Lake Vostok, and an end might have been put to life on earth. All very melodramatic, huh? What am I, twelve years old? Alone Again Records Day006cd; www.lauratheband.com; www.myspace.com/lauranoise
HARLEM HOMECOMING by Salim Washington and Harlem Arts Ensemble (2006)
Led by the New York-based Washington on tenor sax, flute, oboe and vocals, the nucleus of the ensemble performs regularly in Harlem. The horn section has been together for nearly two decades. In addition to his own group, Washington plays with numerous other groups throughout North and South America and Europe. He has been a college musical educator and participant in committees and panels on behalf of jazz. The current energetic CD of original tunes has the short free-form track There is Now Grass Growing in Antarctica. Salim told us in 2008 that in the track, I was trying to call attention to the problem of global warming and the fact that we pay too little attention to the preservation of our planet and its wonderful variety. That the global warming trends are showing up even in Antarctica is cause for alarm, and in my small way, wanted to bring attention to this fact. The liner notes explain that the track was sparked by my good friend and brother, Kobinah Abdul-Salim. He explained to me one day that there is now grass growing in Antarctica, and it occurred to me that this was more important than the political and economic devastation that so many face. What does it profit us, even if we win our political and cultural battles, if we destroy our world? Ujam Records 126; www.ujamrecords.com
THE BRIGHT DAY IS GONE by Children of the Stones (2006)
Children of the Stones are a collective of Irish musicians, led by David Colohan, who is also involved with several other rock group endeavours. The present CD has a very mystical feel to it with the sounds ranging from ambient instrumental tracks to plaintive piano-based folk music, including Poor Scott, a plaintive and melancholy ode to Robert Scotts ill-fated South Pole march in 1911-12. The song ends as abruptly and as ominously as the journey. Lyrics: With a sailboat bound for McMurdo Sound and winter-long nights behind, and our last few miles under frozen skies across the inland seas tonight. Heading south the last post lies across the ice, well stick it out until the end. This most travelled scene where the ice shelf leaves and drifts off into the mists, and Mt. Erebus looms before us like a gravestone for our trip. Heading south the last post lies across the ice, well stick it out until the end. January took us to the South Pole, found a flag standing in the snow, and there were storm clouds building in the southern skies, across the inland seas. Shane Cullinane told us in 2008: The song was co-written by myself and Dave Colohan of Agitated Radio Pilot about 5 years ago. I can no longer remember why we decided to write about Scott but I do remember us each going through the World Book encyclopedia looking for lyrical ideas, Im not sure if the idea came from the book or if we had the idea and then looked up the books. The new United Bible Studies album, to be released soon on Camera Obscura Records, has a song called Death in the Arctic, which is a section of a Robert Service poem set to music. Wrong pole for you though, I suppose. Deserted Village DC026; www.desertedvillage.com
I WANNA PLAY by Bill Harley (2006)
Bill Harley is Massachusetts-based Grammy award-winning childrens entertainer, author, story-teller and public radio broadcaster. The booklet of his current CD says that his original work combines song and story to paint a vibrant, humorous and meaningful portrait of American Life. The track To the South Pole answers the age-old question of where a young lad is to seek refuge when in trouble with his mother. As one of Bills production company representatives told us, When a kid is in trouble he thinks of the furthest place to run. Sample lyrics: Dear mom, please read this letter, Before you walk inside, I think youll feel just a little bit better, If youre not too surprisedI didnt know about the carpet, I didnt know about the sink, I didnt know that the cat would do that, I didnt know the paint was pink, You know I tried to make things better, I thought I could fix it still, Next time I wont use the hammer, Or the glue gun or the drillIts a long way, Im bound to travel, To where the snow falls and the cold winds blow, Where the penguins play on the icebergs, to the South Pole, I must goPlease dont cry, Dont shed no tears, Ill be back when things are better, In twenty-seven years. Round River Records 121; www.billharley.com
LOVE, PEACE, JUSTICE by Martin Jeremiah (2006)
Martin Jeremiah is a singer, songwriter and guitarist from West Sussex, England. His current CD has the track Twenty Forty Two, about his concern for the future of Antarctica. It is one of the most heartfelt and empathetic Antarctic songs weve encountered. The lyrics are: Up above a virgin snow-white land, is a hole so big and round, and comes piercing through that empty space. The sun its beating down, as her big blue ice heart melts. Her white face sheds its tears. Where a footprint thats in the moss can last a hundred years. And the twisted metal of machines spoils the land of peoples snow-white dreams. Children where are you in 2042? Children where are you in 2042? As the seals all in their white beds lie, the hunter strikes his blow, and where once the emperor penguins played, theres red tracks in the snow. As man pursues his blackest gold, explosions under sea. As longest day, it turns to longest night, the whale and dolphin flee. And the oil slicks they do impress an ugly stain on Natures wedding dress. Children where are you? And the tangled metal of machines spoils the land of peoples snow-white dreams. Children where are you?
In 2008, Martin told us: I wrote the song after seeing a talk by a guy called Robert Swan who walked to both Poles. He ran a programme in the last few years called Mission Antarctica which concentrated on cleaning up Antarctica (debris from previous bases, etc.) with young people as volunteers. The international treaty protecting Antarctica against commercial exploitation is due for renewal in 2041 and so Robert Swan named the boat that took people on the trips 2041 to highlight this fact. The logic behind raising awareness amongst children and young people is that they might one day be the people who are still around to see the treaty protecting Antarctica renewed. It is the last unspoiled place on this planet, but the fear is, that it may not remain so after 2041.
I therefore wrote 2042 mainly as an apocalyptic vision of what might happen if the treaty is not renewed. However the song is also partly a tribute to a young woman called Pip Gregory who tragically died of medical complications on one of the Mission Antarctica trips. The song hopes to highlight the grave responsibility for our children in the chorus Oh children where are you, in 2042, i.e. please dont fail in your mission to continue to protect Antarctica, because this is what is likely to happen and there is no going back. Red White & Green Records RWG CDR0601; www.rwgrecords.com
THE NAVY LARK Volume 18 (2006)
The Navy Lark, the longest running comedy program in British radio history, was a concoction about the antics of the crew of HMS Troutbridge, on the BBC airwaves from March 1959 to July 1977 with 15 series. This double CD set of four episodes from 1967 includes Back from the Antarctic, broadcast on July 2, 1967. This caper has the Troutbridge, apparently returning from Antarctica, with a flotilla of various ships in tow. The program theme music was composed by harmonica virtuoso Tommy Reilly and by James Moody. This episode also appears in THE NAVY LARK Series Nine (2014). BBC Audiobooks; www.bbcshop.com; (See also THE NAVY LARK Series Nine (2014), NAVY LARK Series Seven (2011), NAVY LARK Series 4 Volume 2 (2008) and NAVY LARK Series Two Volume 1 (2004) in this section.)
RESISTANCE: 2012 by Stereomotion (2006)
Stereomotion is the Goth electro/industrial solo project of German Florian Jger. This disc includes the drum-heavy track Antarctica. Florian told us, The inspiration for the track rests upon a strong yearning for loneliness, pureness and serenity. A strange feelinga cold shelter. I was mesmerized by the Antarctic-theme when I wrote the song. The whale samples in the background emphasize the feelings which I wanted to convey with the track. e-noxe nx048; www.stereomotion.de
SLIMMER DAN DE ZANGER by Bart Peeters (2006)
Peeters is a Flemish composer/TV personality/perfomer with a CD of interesting Euro rock and continental cabaret style songs, complete with accordion and mid-eastern instrumentation. Included on the CD (English title: Cleverer Than The Singer) is Pinguin Op Antarctica. His management company told us, The song text is about all the things we have to communicate, but conversation and language itself is often a problem. So, you can chat with a penguin in Antarctica, you can send an E-mail to the moon..... As the lyrics ask: With three billion channels and TVs everywhere, why cant we understand each other? EMI 0094637696521; www.bartpeeters.net
THE PENGUIN LEAGUE by Antarctica Takes It! (2006)
This CD is by an exuberant indie group with kitchen sing-along appeal, from Santa Cruz, California, complete with accordion, glockenspiel, cello, violin, trumpet and ukulele. One of the best songs is the joyous, image-filled Antarctica. Sample lyrics: We stole away from the crown of flame, For a cold land without a name, We had our maps and our compass set for the long journey aheadWe traced shapes across the starry skies, made our way through each tender night, We heard the weary whales too, And sang along neath the silver moon, Antarctica you stole our heartsWe felt the madness shake our souls, And grew our beards down to our toes The CD front cover shows a bearded scientist talking with a penguin and the back cover has a picture of a lopsided Sno-cat with attached crevasse detectors. Dylan McKeever, lead vocalist, songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist told us in 2010 that I got the name Antarctica Takes It! from looking at an old National Geographic from the 1970s that featured penguins and scientific expeditions. Those old photographs have a very nostalgic quality to them and that has a lot to do with where the name came from. www.myspace.com/antarcticatakesit
EMPIRE OF SILENCE by the port fish (2006)
The port fish are a synthesizer duo from the Slovak Republic, with a CD of bubbly, atmospheric instrumental music, including the eight-minute track Antarctic. One half of the duo, Flow, explained for us the motivation for the track: Well, I really don't know - the idea just came, and as we were working on the track we fell into the kind of mood like someone being alone in some deserted, frosty place. Thats how we came with the track title Antarctic. Were usually trying to create some picture or short story from what we feel from our music, just for ourselves, to find the best title for every track. Sometimes it is fun, sometimes a torture... thats how it goes. iam-por-001; www.portfish.net
SHERBET by Newbie Brad (2006)
This is a solo CD of experimental electronic music by Tennessean Newbie Brad. Together with Pantha under the name 3 Pups Music, they either work alone, with each other, or with other artists, using electronic wind instruments, fretless electric guitar, software and other noisemakers to make rock, noise, ambient or orchestral music. The CD contains the track Salaam Antarctica and Newbie Brad told us, My recollection is that Salaam Antarctica and Pengy were recordings I made on a challenge from another musician to make some compositions or recordings with Antarctica in mind. I made the compositions and recordings with my fretless electric guitar and manipulated the guitars signal through some software. I know the recordings are very odd, but I was happy with them. We produced a video called Medley that includes the audio from Salaam Antarctica and Pengy" and the audio from another selection called 57 Midnights: (www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Kofc-kNig). 3PC-32006; 3pupsmusic.com
KAUAI by Chet (2006)
Victoria, B. C. band Chet offers a CD of haunting tunes and very idiosyncratic vocals by crooner Ryan Beattie. Included is the tropical-influenced Antarctica, with sample lyrics, Theres some white bones out on the ice, and on a desolate night, when theres no hope in sight, there are Hawaiian skiesYou man the oars for a while. You talk yourself to sleep in the cold. You pull the heartstrings (of the men). You talk yourself to sleep in the coldand out on the ice, theres a lingering vice. If we dont die of exposure, were bound to die of failure. A small taste of victory will soften your memory. Theres no beaches, no palms. Just the music of Hawaiian love songs. Ryan informed us that the motivation for the track is determination in spite of great nostalgic temptation, Ernest Shackleton being a prime example. Hawaii being his (in this story anyway) temptation/romance/will on such desolate terms. ARG105; www.aaarghrecords.com
XENOPHOBIA by Rob Astor (2006)
Michigan-based synthesizer artist Rob Astor has made numerous instrumental CDs. This double disc includes the track Topic of Antarctica, with a floating 12 string guitar sound and a bass thundering like a falling glacier. www.myspace.com/soloartistrobastor
CENTURIES BEFORE LOVE AND WAR by Stars of Track and Field (2006)
The debut CD by this upcoming indie band from Portland, Oregon includes the wistful guitar-driven anthemic Movies of Antarctica. Wind-up 60150-13124-2; www.starsoftrackandfield.com
MOTION PICTURE MUSIC 94 -05 by Mick Harvey (2006)
Mick Harvey is an Australian rock musician, solo artist and member of the group, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. This CD is a collection of his film soundtracks, which include the 2004 Australian Simon Nasht-directed documentary, Frank Hurley - The Man Who Made History. Frank Hurley was Shackletons esteemed photographer on the Endurance Expedition. The eight short, spare Frank Hurley tracks include three Antarctic themes: Setting Sail, Antarctica, and Things Gone Wrong. Mute Records 0094537749425; www.mickharvey.com
PROGRESS REFORM by iLiKETRAiNS (2006)
Only a British group (this one is from Leeds) could open their debut disc with a track called Terra Nova, named after Robert Scotts 1910-1912 South Pole expedition and ship. The music for this song (as well as for the entire disc) is slow, heavy and brooding, reflecting the deep subjects of thought. A special inclusion is the video of the Terra Nova soundtrack, portraying the fated South Pole march. It is complete with a miniature ship, expeditioners and styrofoam ice. Especially moving is the scene of the group climbing up through the Beardmore Glacier to the ice cap and the later scene played out by Titus Oates as he struggles out the tent to his death. fierce panda canada fpc nong43cd; www.iLiKETRAiNS.co.uk
In 2006, the group released a single with the A-side track Terra Nova and B-side track Fram. The latter was named after Norwegian Roald Amundsens ship, which took his crew to Antarctica in the successful expedition to the South Pole that competed directly with Scotts. Fram is about Hjalmar Johansen, a member of the Norwegian team who was removed from the group that went to the South Pole, following a major confrontation with Amundsen. He was later never credited for any accomplishments during the expedition by Amundsen, resumed drinking and committed suicide in 1913. Fierce Panda NING 183
GARDEN CITIES OF TOMORROW by Lullaby Baxter (2006)
From her singing career beginnings in Montreal almost a decade ago, Baxters second CD is a treasure of melodic pop with various instrumentation and breathy vocals. It includes the track Antarctica. Boompa BPA015; www.lullabybaxter.com
ANTARCTICA a storybook record by the Never (2006)
This is a combination CD and small, illustrated book about a small boy, Paul, and his misadventures with a witch. When he gets scared, he closes his eyes and goes to Antarctica just in his mind. The CD is by a North Carolina rock group, one of whose members wrote the book and includes the track Antarctica. TRK 023; www.trekkyrecords.com
HOT LOVE by Buttercup (2006)
San Antonio, Texas is home base for these performance artists/ vocal driven rock group, which has a puzzling song, Anti-Antarctica on their CD, with the chorus, so come to me now, come further south, Antarctica, Anti-Antarctica. www.buttercult.com
LOVER, THE LORD HAS LEFT US by the Sound of Animals Fighting (2006)
Progressive, experimental rock music from a California ensemble of musicians from various indie bands. St. Broadrick is in Antarctica is a strange musical/vocal chant with no apparent connection with the continent. Evr127; www.thesoundofanimalsfighting.com
MUSICAL MISSIONS by Little Einsteins (2006)
This CD is a Walt Disney Records undertaking to promote childrens development through music and rhythm. One of the four musical voyages the kids take on the CD is to Antarctica, backed by Mozarts Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Disney 5008 61430-7; www.littleeinsteins.com
MOVEMENTS by Black Tie Dynasty (2006)
With a 1980s British guitar-synth band sound, this Dallas group has a track called Antarctica. IDOL Records IR 054; www.blacktiedynasty.com
LITERATURE by Dexxx (2006)
Dexxx is a Nashville-based urban grunge folkie. His CD includes the track Antarctica, about lost love: You dont need no flare gun tonight, ghost pains tell me where you are, 75 latitude, southern latitude, Antarctica. Rockstarmessiah Records
STRING THEORY by Technetium (2006)
Seattle-based Technetium has issued numerous dance and club music CDs and this one contains the forceful instrumental Antarctica. Lorilee is the sole group member and she told us that, I have a very deep fondness of the Antarctic. To me it is one of the world wonders, perfect for the photographer or for the arts because it is so pristine and untouched. There are not many places left in this world that hold such a natural beauty. Like the Aurora Borealis, there are some things in this world that can never be fully captured: the power, the beauty or even the hardship of the area. I tried in the song Antarctica but I only captured a small glimpse of what the region really has to offer. More songs would be needed to fully bridge upon the complexity, although I will save that for a future time. I am so happy to hear that others share my fondness of Antarctica. WTFD Records 2006-041; www.technetiumrecords.com
STRING THEORY by The Determined Luddites (2006)
Led by twin mandolins, this virtuostic progressive folk/bluegrass quartet from Tucson has a song called Emperor of Antarctica. Home, its where the heart is, but what about a heart thats been cast upon the sand, Now I sit around and dream Im the emperor of Antarctica, With storms and rivers of ice at my command.When Im tanked up I believe Im the emperor of Antarctica , And I guess Ill have one more bottle of beer." When asked about the reason for the song, Dan Hostetler, vocalist and guitarist, told us, Thanks for your question, possibly one of the more unusual requests I have gotten. I confess that I lifted the phrase the emperor of Antarctica from Sylvia Nasars biography of mathematician John Forbes Nash, A Beautiful Mind. Mr. Nash suffered from schizophrenia, and at the height of his delusional state, he imagined himself the emperor of Antarctica. When I read that passage, it struck me as a perfect metaphor for a state of emotional turmoil, and I used it for that and as a contrast to the rest of my song, which is set in and around the Sonoran Desert where I live. Hope that answers your question. It is hard to imagine there is a lot of music out there about Antarctica but one never knows. Enjoy the music. Escape Goat Records 004; www.biggaloot.com/luddites
RETURN OF THE LYRICIST by Prophit (2006)
Hip hop/rap music from Tacoma, Washington-based Nelson Hurd includes the track Ice Man Antarctic Breeze. With more than 20 years of writing under his belt, Nelsons advice is to keep moving. His lyrics are treacherously vicious and not for the casual easy listener. Prophit told us that I came up with Antarctic Breeze because to me it is the purest air on earth, mostly untamed with all the pollution that clouds most of the earths air, relating to the song because it is not catering to what MTV or BET or any other commercial venues demand, to get airplay, though there is a double meaning to the song. It is a four-part saga between two characters: the Iceman and 7 Bill $ man. The 7 Bill $ mans songs on the CD are entitled the 7 Bill $ man and Rivals. The Icemans songs are, of course, the Iceman and the Iceman Antarctic Breeze, which is meant to be an epic battle between two superpowers. 4542; www.incredibleflow.com
APPLICATION ANTARCTICA DOWNLOAD FORM by Seht (2006)
New Zealands one-man electronica/ambient band (aka Stephen Clover) carries a one note drone, entitled Antarctica Download, for ten minutes too long (the length of the track). www.cpsip.co.nz
VERUCA SALT IV by Veruca Salt (2006)
Originally formed in Chicago in the early 1990s, the current edition of the band is Los Angeles-based and is led by co-founder Louise Post. Antarctica gets a fleeting mention as a reflection of eternity in the track Salt Flat Epic: Pacific Oceans way too small for both of us to swim, Antarctica will have to thaw for us to meet again, and I respect the all of what is fair and worthy. And I will never feel this way about another person and will never feel this way again. Sympathy Records; www.verucasalt.com
LIMITED EDITION by the Damage Manual (2005)
The Damage Manual was an industrial rock group, formed in 2000 by members of various other established British bands, which recorded two records before dissolving. It reformed as a trio, recorded this disc and finally broke up in the mid 2000s. One of the tracks on the trios CD, which has an unusual 3D moulded plastic front cover, is the percussive, choppy, chanted, South Pole Fighters, which is a great representation of a cold haul over the ice cap. Vocalist and guitarist Chris Connelly, based in Chicago, Illinois, told us about the track in 2012: I was impressed by a poem in the song Scope J by Scott Walker; the poem was from Scott of the Antarctic, (The Sleeping Bag Poem by Herbert Ponting), however, I had been exchanging thoughts with my friend, the author Hugo Wilcken, and he was talking about the idea of being in a blizzard situation where there is no sky, ground, view forward or view backwards, and perhaps I was trying to encapsulate a kind of panicked dementia with this song. Lyrics: Its even brittle, they lock hands, to make a line, perhaps dividing, solid forest, saw blades, sightless, flawless, walking sideways, chain could bite, in this white out, scissor teeth. Cruelty lip, tireless grasp, frigid spike, glass desert. Mesmerize, circulation, South Pole fighters, South Pole fighters, South Pole fighters, South Pole fighters. Missing climate, bleeding wind, needle wages, blinking words, ghost of light, no circulation, way of breathing, no more blades, no more walk, no more hide, against a whiteness, black desert, end arena. Sightless, flawless, no more breathe, no more shadow, South Pole fighters, South Pole fighters, South Pole fighters, South Pole fighters. Underground UI1107; www.myspace.com/damagemanual; www.chrisconnelly.com; (See also PUNISHING KISS by Ute Lemper (2000) in this section for Scope J information.)
STILL STUCK IN THE GARAGE by Motts Old Men (2005)
Led by New York State-based Phill Marder, this group of garage band rockers had its beginnings in Phills original garage band, Motts Men, formed with college friends in Vermont in 1965. They played throughout the northeastern states and even recorded a local hit single in 1966 (included on the CD). Their current indie CD includes the track Murder at the South Pole. Sample verse: Rape & murder, drugs & guns, Gangsters having too much fun, Cant escape this violent world, A murder at the South Pole, violence in America. Phill told us about the track in 2011: The only connection to the South Pole is that the song concludes the world has become such a dangerous place that one cant even escape the violence somewhere as remote as the South Pole. While there have been no reported cases of murder at Antarcticas Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, the mysterious death of an astrophysicist at the South Pole in 2000, from methanol poisoning, has never been solved. The group re-recorded a new version of the song on their album STILL ROCKIN (2012).
LEAVING MADEIRA by FM Revolver (2005) (Web site download only)
FM Revolver is a San Diego, U.S.A-based hard rock group, formed in 2003. Their first record was a 4-song EP, which included the track Amundsen. There doesnt seem to be any Antarctic reference in the song lyrics but the polar reference implied from the track and record names is to explorer Roald Amundsens famous telegraph sent to Robert Scott in 1910 from Madeira, the Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic: Beg leave inform you Fram proceeding Antarctic. Amundsen. By this, he surprised Scotts British Terra Nova Antarctic Expedition with news that he was going to the South Pole and not to the Arctic, as had been planned and so would be a competitor for the quest for the South Pole. www.fmrevolver.bandcamp.com
PERPETUAL QUESTIONS by hr-Jazzensemble (2005)
The hr Jazz Ensemble is the studio jazz group of Hessian Broadcasting, the state broadcaster of Germanys Hesse state, based in Frankfurt. Started in 1958, it still has its original core musicians and is the oldest continuous jazz group in Germany. The group is known for complex arrangements of its own compositions, as well as for experimentation and improvisation. On this CD are pieces recorded over 1999-2004, including Emperor of Antarctica a dramatic, propulsive jazz-rock flavoured track. hrmj 027-05; hr-music.de
INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNEY by Reinhardt Martinho (2005)
Martinho is a Netherlands-based multi-instrumentalist who plays in a variety of styles such as New Age, Chill, Jazz and Rhythm & Blues. His second CD takes us on a global voyage to various cities and continents. Included is the upbeat, jazzy track Antartic, which he describes on a music sales Web site as: With the serenity of the Antarctic, this track is also built on the sound of the whales, peaceful and free to live in their territory. www.reinhardtmartinho.com
GREEN by Living in Question (2005)
On their second CD, this Hawaiian-based rock group has a slow, dreamy instrumental track, My Name Is Antarctica. Lazy Bones Recordings 7 12657 09961 9; www.myspace.com/livinginquestion. This track also appears on the groups CD of instrumental-only mixes of the GREEN album, HARD ROCK INSTRUMENTALS Vol. 2. www.lazybones.com
SACRIFICE MODERNE by various artists (2005) (Vinyl LP only)
This is a French LP, limited to 300 copies, of minimalist, industrial electronica by four German artists. One of the tracks is the moody Cinema Antarctica, by Silent Signals (aka Dirk Torben Klein). With vocals repeating the title of the track, the stark sound is reminiscent of early 1980s synthesizer bands. Invasion Plante Recordings IP021
THE SEVEN FIRES ROCK OPERA by Stardreamer (2005) (Web site download only)
Stardreamer (Richie Sinclair) is a Toronto, Ontario-based artist who apprenticed under the famous Canadian native artist Norval Morrisseau, Grand Shaman of the Ojibway Nation. A painter, teacher and leader of Morrisseaus Thunderbird School of Shamanistic Arts, Sinclair is also a musician. According to his Web site, the rock opera (with lyrics by Andrew White) brings the sacred Seven Fires prophecies together with the crucial theme of global warming. In an epic tale we follow the lives of two souls who reincarnate to re-experience one another, and record the revelations of humankind at the end of ages. One of the songs from the work is the 16½-minute epic oeuvre Antarctica. Sample lyrics: Turned to rivers by the sun, The ice down the mountain runs to the sea. Oceans come and join the rising tide. Set in motion long ago, Now the seeds have taken hold, Where there was cold, Now there is the heat to warm the foldI see the ice formations glow, Reflecting in your eyes. We catch the view down avenues, Of something walking by, In the footsteps of the ancient nations. We see the lights, Of the world, Alive, Deep in the ocean. In a heartbeat comes the revelation, We are not alone. We are not alone. www.7fires.com; www.loveofspirit.com
ANIMATED BAS-RELIEFS by Dormantgod (2005)
Dormantgod is the solo project of Joseph C., a Buenos Aires, Argentina-based alternative/metal musician with an admiration for H. P. Lovecrafts literature and images. The cosmic, chilly ambient instrumental music on this CD contains the track Sub-Antarctic Nightmare and it is easy to imagine moving through underground caverns, being chased by time-forgotten ancient denizens of the deep that have awoken after eons of sleep. Joseph C. explained to us in 2009: When I composed Sub-Antarctic Nightmare, my musical motivation was based, most of all, on the story At the Mountains of Madness, written by Howard Philips Lovecraft (1890-1937). The nightmare is the shoggoth, a protoplasmatic morphing creature abandoned in an underground dead city by an ancient star-traveller race, below the surface of an uncharted portion of Antarctica. Thats the reason why Ive added a kind of stone dragging sound effect. The track Unearthing the Crinoideans is also an Antarctic track, based on another situation of the same story: when the expeditioners, who later would find the shoggoth, found in the first place some unbelievably well preserved corpses of that ancient star-traveller race. They called them crinoideans for similarities with the earthling starfish life form. Thats the reason Ive added some hammer and drops sound effects. Furias Records F1004; www.orionmusicfurias.com.ar/dormantgod
AIRWAVES: 100 YEARS OF RADIO by Loops + Topology (2005)
This is an interesting and well-executed concept CD by two prominent musical ensembles from Australia, whose members are virtuosos specializing in contemporary music and live performances. Loops is generally a trio, led by Jonathan Dimond, which starts from a jazz base and Topography is a modern classical/art music quintet. According to the enclosed booklet, the CD pays tribute to the age of radio and wireless communication and celebrates both the medium and the century, looking back over a number of key events & people by means of recordings of broadcasts of voices. Our approach to these voices has been to make voice portraits – finding the characteristic musical qualities of each speaker & then emphasizing & underscoring them with instrumental accompaniment. The result is part opera, part documentary, part entertainment. We are fascinated by the way recorded sound has the power to take us to the actual people & events. It is a form of time travel. The CD comprises 99 tracks of various lengths, which include famous politicians, military people, entertainers and other noteworthy characters, whose voices and speech cadences have been imitated or interpreted musically with overdubbed instrumental accompaniments. One of these tracks, Ernest Shackleton, is Shackletons 1910 My South Polar Expedition recording, considered to be the lesser known of his two recorded recitations about the 1907-09 Nimrod Antarctic Expedition. Jonathan Dimond told us about the track in 2009: We used different approaches for different speeches on the CD; sometimes the speech-rhythm and/or pitch was used a lot more explicitly in the music. In this case, I only took occasional fragments from Shackleton and used them explicitly to generate harmony, melody and rhythm - usually at structural points. My trio Loops did an improvisation to an Imax-style Antarctic documentary on one occasion and it was this in part that inspired the approach, from memory. Serrated Records 310505; www.jonathandimond.com; www.topologymusic.com
the APIARY by Jennifer Greer (2005)
Jennifer Greer is a Massachusetts-based singer/songwriter/pianist and performer, whose second CD contains a busy hive of stinging jazz/pop performances. She sings in a strong crystal clear voice, and her piano playing is outstanding, with other instrumentalists to push it along. The CD includes the track Shackletons Men, about the stranded Endurance Expedition on Elephant Island in 1916. Jennifer told us, I dont know when I first heard the story of Shackleton, probably over 5 years ago. Then in 2004 I watched the 3-hour documentary about the extraordinary voyage, and it affected me more than any documentary or account I had ever heard. I can still say so today. It is such an incredible story, each leg of the trip, that it seems almost supernatural. One day I was thinking about what it must have been like for the men, enduring the torturous wait on Elephant Island, the wait with no signs that it would ever end, to go home. Thats what Shackletons Men is about - their wait and their dreaming of home. Its a very beautiful song, and I hope you like it. Sample lyrics: I dont think that I remember green. The steeple on my church ringing through towncould you take one step inside here? Rolling with the surf and snow. Dreaming of a nether world and, aching for that grace to come Why dont you crawl round my town? Pluck me ice for my mouth? So that I can live again. And bring my heart home. www.jennifergreer.com
TERRA MADRE by Luciano Biondini and Javier Girotto (2005)
This instrumental CD of original, modern pieces is a collaboration between two Italian jazz musicians, accordionist Biondini and saxophonist/flautist Girotto. The disk includes Antartico, a lively and tempestuous, tango-influenced piece played with this unusual combination of instruments (for an Antarctic tune) and it is easy to imagine the ebb and flow of furious Antarctic winds. Considering that Argentina has had a long history with Antarctica, as does Italy today, it seems surprising that there arent more Latin-influenced Antarctic tunes in the canon. The liner notes include the artists statement that The Earth is our cradle, the material of ideas, the lap of everything which is life. This CD is the symbol of the respect we all owe her. ENJA ENJ-9463 2; www.javiergirotto.com
MY LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE by Cloudy Skies (2005)
Based in Portland, Oregon, Cloudy Skies is a loud, dynamic rock & roll bar band with Celtic, country and sea shanty influences. One of the tracks is called Shackleton, with a biting reference to the Boss, but no other Antarctic connections. Sample lyrics: Well hes taking these shots just like hes Jack Dempsey and hes poking his ice like he thinks hes Shackleton and hes hoping maybe hell catch her eye. And it seems to me shes got a pretty face but theres a viper underneath that satin and lace and Im praying he makes it out alive. www.mylifeinblackandwhite.com; www.myspace.com/mylifeinblackandwhite
ANTARCTICA by Antarctica (2005) (Vinyl LP only)
Matt Schwartz is a London, U.K.-based composer and producer of dance music who uses various group names, both alone and with collaborators, including Antarctica, a co-project with Mark Gilbert. The two tracks on this LP include Antarctica Sun Version and Antarctica Original Mix, hard-hitting tub thumpers, great for listening to on iPods when trekking out on the Ice. DEST12DJX01; www.destined-records.com
ANTARCTICA by the Bedford Incident (2005)
The Sheffield, U.K.-based light rock band has the track Antarctica on their 5-song minidisc. The lyrics seem to be as concerned with global freezing as with warming: How cold can it be, when it drops to -3?... Global warmth of ice age, fur lined gilded cageOne day we will be in Antarctica. It will be just like in prehistory. Therell be lots of snow with nowhere left to go. We must keep warm to be the last life form. High Rise Records; www.thebedfordincident.co.uk
NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD IN DUB by Zion Train (2005)
Zion Train is a London, U.K.-based dub/dance reggae group, formed in 1990 and popular in the alternative- underground club scene. This CD is a reissue of the original 1994 vinyl LP, with tracks named after various significant world-wide natural formations or sites, which the group had read about or visited. Included is the track Ross Ice Shelf, which could well be the worlds only reggae tribute to Antarcticas major ice shelf, often compared in size to France. Group member (Neil) Perch told us in 2008 that The sheer beauty of the place inspired us. The liner notes describe the Shelf as around 500 miles long and almost as wide. This vast free floating iceberg was named after the British Explorer James Clark Ross who found it in 1841. In places the ice reaches a thickness of 2000 feet. The track percolates and bubbles along crisply, underlain by the requisite heavy bass. Universal Egg Records WWCD005R; www.wobblyweb.com/zt
WATER SPHERE by Pilot Drift (2005)
The Texarkana, Texas group has a wide ranging sound on the CD, spanning from hard rock to the theatrical. Included is Elephant Island, a very dramatic song about Shackletons Endurance Expedition. It starts as folk song, changing to a heavy rock chorus, with further verses in a waltz tempo and then moving to circus-like calliope music. The groups singer and songwriter, Kelly Carr told us that the reason/motivation for that song is two things really. First, it was a story that was very inspirational to my father, that he passed down to me. Second, its a story that I could relate to in the context of the Christian faith. Shackleton, like Christ, was the sole purpose that all his men survived. A situation that is so dire, most people would have given up. But the mens faith in Shackletons leadership and his word enabled them to press on when it all seemed impossible. I picture myself waiting on Elephant Island, my leader I believe in, saying that he will return for me. There are parallel struggles with that voice in ones head that doubts, starts rationalizing chances. But it comes back to faith. Sure enough, Shackleton (like Christ), returns like he said he would, rescuing all of them. If they didnt believe, they would have died.
Lyrics: Scratch one more dash on the bow of the boat, as nineteen months forces pride down our throats. Throw another dog on the fire. Try not to think of your desires. Seasons change but the days look the same. Our faces age as our beards grow in shame. Insanitys eyes creeps up with a laugh, when Hurley almost lost the photographs. Listen men, keep your eyes to the sun, who melts the ice caps away. Hey! Hey! Hey! Hold tight to the Captains words of Shackletons Return. A year and a half drifting in the Weddell Sea, Endurance froze and sank, we left in no luxury. We rowed our way to Elephant Island. He left to find the whalers helping hand. We drank up the wine trying to pass up the time. We raise up our glass for today is our last. The band begins the dark circus parade, as spirits of all the crew men now fade. When that tugboat neared, Shackleton stood up tall on its bow calling, Are you all well?! to which was answered, All safe, Boss, All well! Good Records GRR 007; www.pilotdrift.com
THE SUNLANDIC TWINS by of Montreal (2005)
Led by Kevin Barnes, this Georgia, U.S.A.-based group combines a light, melodic pop sound with darker lyrics over numerous CDs. This one has the track Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games. While not a polar song, it has the catchy, nihilistic chorus repeated throughout the song: Lets pretend we dont exist, Lets pretend were in Antarctica. Polyvinyl Record Co. PRC-088; www.ofmontreal.net
THE COMPLETE NATIONAL ANTHEMS OF THE WORLD Volume 3 (2005)
This is a collection of eight CDs of national anthems, played by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, arranged and conducted by Peter Breiner. The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (which include the sub-Antarctic les Kerguelen, Crozet and Amsterdam plus Terre Adlie, the continental part of Antarctica historically claimed by France) are represented by La Marseillaise, which is the French anthem. We note that no other sub-Antarctic Islands or continental parts claimed by other nations are represented by national anthems in the set. The liner notes state that, From time to time, the general idea gains currency that national anthems are nowadays an anachronism. According to the critics arguments, these anthems were the product of a period of awakening nationalism. Today, however, there is wide endeavour to overcome narrow, national ways of thinking and acting, with the great aim of promoting the peaceful community and union of nations, to realize which should be the first principle for politicians all over the world. MARCO POLO 8.225321
DREAMWIND - EARLY YEARS ON MP3 by Dreamwind (2005)
Dreamwind is a Birmingham, Alabama electronic space music trio with over 166 CDs of digitally recorded instrumental improvisations, played with numerous synthesizers and bass. This compilation has the percolating ambient track Colonial Antartica. www.broadjam.com/dreamwind
GRAVE NEW WORLD by Antarctica vs. the World (2005)
Heavy metal punk music by a now disbanded New Orleans group. Ominous band name but no Antarctic titles on the CD. According to a group website, they form a union that thrives on terror and revels in horror. They destroy the crowd and themselves, and they leave a scar of blood and pain in their wake. Tent-05; www.tentcityrecords.com
LOST ELECTRICTY by missAntarctica (2005)
Intriguing name for the British-Dutch group but there are no Antarctic songs on this CD of U2-ish melodic but dark rock. Island 987 436-7; www.missantarctica.com
EGYPTIAN REGISTER by Gilt Trip (2005)
This is a very melodic CD of instrumental music from an Australian trio, with the suitably mysterious and eerie track The Arctic Antarctic. www.karmichit.com.
NORTH ATLANTIC DRIFT by Tena Palmer (2005)
Tena Palmer is an Ottawa-based singer/songwriter, whose talents range from jazz to folk and blues. She was the former vocalist with Ottawas Celtic jazz quartet, Chelsea Bridge, which won as best new Canadian group at the 1993 Montreal Jazz Festival. The present disc includes her forlorn Christmas in Antarctica, Its Christmas in Antarctica but no one seems to know. The same old scene, all white and clean, the same old snow. Another endless summers sunny day and night, no need for Christmas lights of red, gold and green. None of the penguins or seals ever heard of Bethlehem or know the angels words, still they have peace on earth. Its Christmas in Antarctica, for what its worth. TLP-001; www.tenapalmer.com
INNOCENCE by Ken Davis (2005)
Australian Ken Davis is well known for his instrumental music for relaxation and environmental awareness. The present disc of piano solos includes includes Theme For Antarctica, which, Ken told us, was named as I have always had a fascination for Antarctica and intend in the next couple of years of going there on one of the expeditions they run from Australia through Australian Geographic Magazine Tours. The killing of the baby seals was finally outlawed and Ive got footage from Greenpeace that would make anyone sick of the clubbing of baby seals as on the cover of the CD. So it is an Innocent Animal. I hope this has helped you understand. I am an environmentalist and a lover of nature and will always do what I can to prevent the culling of Baby Seals, Whales and Dolphins. Especially Minke Whales that are being hunted by the Japanese for so called scientific studies. If you have looked into the eye of a huge humpback whale, as I have on several occasions, you would understand to kill these magnificent harmless creatures is a crime against humanity. KDM1035 D; www.kendavismusic.com
This track is also on ACOUSTIC PIANO MUSIC FOR RELAXATION AND MEDITATION (2014), a Korean 3-CD set of New Age solo piano music by various artists that includes this track, Theme for Antarctica, and others by Ken Davis. Ponycanyon Korea PSCD-00900
SOUL NATURE by Tim Osborne (2005)
Washington State Osbornes piano-based orchestrated New Age music includes the soothing Chapel of the Snows, about the Chapel at the U. S. Antarctic base, McMurdo Station. Tim spent two years in Antarctica with the U.S. Navy. He was a co-founder and tuba player for the Ross Island Brass, which was the only band of its kind on the continent. After eleven years in the Navy, Tim decided it was time to settle down and focus on his music. Tim told us, On nice clear days the chapel was the perfect place to see spectacular views of the Transantarctic Mountains, particularly beautiful at the beginning of the summer season when the sun is still low in the sky. If I was lucky I would see Weddell seals and their pups and even a penguin or two. The chapel was always quiet, and with that marvelous view, made a perfect atmosphere for inspiration. Along with the view, I will always remember the wonderful friends I made while in Antarctica. I intend to return to Antarctica in the future. Antarctic Music AM-052305; www.antarcticmusic.com
GRADUATION by Lagoon (2005)
Tucsons rockers include the moody Arctic Antarctic on their debut CD. Singer-guitarist David Ziegler-Voll told us a relative was going through some tough times and her doctor thought she might be bi-polar; hence the title Arctic/Antarctic. The song deals with my perspective about her situation living in a big cold empty house alone. www.lagoononline.com
WORDLESS RHYMES by Dave Nachmanoff (2005)
Californian Nachmanoff has been British light rocker/troubador Al Stewarts guitarist in recent years. On this disc he includes a reggified instrumental version of Stewarts Antarctica. (See LAST DAYS OF THE CENTURY by Al Stewart - (1988, reissued 1997) in this section below.) Troubador Records TR009; www.davenach.com
HAPPY ALL THE TIME by Jake (2005)
British Columbia resident Jake Differs second CD of songs in a variety of styles, for children, includes the swaying Antarctic Soire. Gonna rent a tuxedo, A pair of winter boots, A pocket full of jelly beans, And a bag of frozen fruit, Fish sticks by the seaside, Maybe then a little dip - Perhaps take in a light show, From some distant passing ship. Goin to a penguin party, Antarctic soire, Those penguins really throw a great party, Antarctic soire. On a floating piece of ice, Thats driftin in the sea, Lay back, enjoy the stars, And changing scenery. Goin to a penguin party, Antarctic soire, Those penguins really throw a great party, Antarctic soire. Were slippin and slidin, Were dancin penguin style, Put your wrists down to your ankles, Just wobble round and smile. I doubt that you can hear us, Were so very far away, where no one pays us any mind, Its here I want to stay. MBJ-002; www.musicbyjake.com
WHICH WAY by Dan Junk (2005)
Florida musician Dan Junk includes a light guitar-based instrumental, Antarctica, in this jazzy/blues/rock CD of instrumentals and vocal tracks. Hazz Cat-Records 7049; www.danjunk.com
FOUND IN THE FLOOD by The Bled (2005)
Tucson, Arizonas heavy metal rockers have included the track Antarctica, where nothing lives here and no one comes here anymore. Vagrant VR413; www.thebledsite.com
The music from DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 by Bjrk (2005)
Icelandic vocalist and recording persona Bjrk has provided the largely instrumental soundtrack to Matthew Barneys conceptual allegorical film about a Japanese whaling ship with its cargo of a sculpture of liquid vaseline. At films end the ship is on its way through icebergs towards Antarctica. The last track on the CD is Antarctic Return, played on the sho, one of Japans oldest instruments, consisting of multiple reeds and pipes. One Little Indian OLI459; www.bjork.com
OPEN SEASON by British Sea Power (2005)
Widely heralded rising British rock group has written a melodic tribute to the melting and break up of the Antarctic Peninsulas Larsen Ice shelf, Oh Larsen B. Lyrics include Youre fractured and cold but your heart is unbroken, My favourite foremost coastal antarctic shelf. Oh Larsen B, oh you can fall on me. Oh Larsen B, desalinate the barren sea. You had twelve thousand years, and now its over, five hundred billion tonnes of the purest pack ice and snow, Oh Larsen B, oh wont you fall on me, Oh Larsen B, desalinate the barren sea. A representative of the band told us that Yan, the composer, explained that he has a great interest in ice related topics and wanted to write a love song to Larsen B. Rough Trade TRA 30056-2
WHITE COLD DAYS by various artists (2005)
This CD includes six tracks by musicians of three rock groups, who met in Antarctica. Two of the tracks, while not about Antarctica, were recorded there in Dark Ice Studios, B-121, at McMurdo Station, the main American scientific base. LVG 001; www.livingnightengale.com
WORLD OUT OF BALANCE by Bill McGee (2005)
McGee, based in North Carolina, takes us around the globe with his synthesizer on this instrumental CD, which includes the track, Antarctica. He told us: The inspiration to write Antarctica came to me towards the completion of World Out of Balance, which simply and hopefully, the CD title makes one agree that the state of geological destruction our world is in (at present), is getting to the point of no return, and such a beautiful continent as Antarctica has suffered enough with her violent weather, and now her atmosphere above is becoming more and more unprotected with the depletion of the Ozone. Hence the track: Hole in the Sky. I tried to write all of these tracks to make one realize theres beauty left all around us, if we will allow it in and leave it well alone. As a child, and even now, to watch a documentary on this continent gets my complete undivided attention, as it should with everyone. I most definitely would love to visit there someday. I tried to write this song (through my minds eye) to make the listener feel as though they were travelling above the iced plains, (whichever means you choose), her circular sunsets, and the touch of her cold beauty - something to make you want to warm up to, if you will. I hope you have enjoyed the song as much as I did writing it, and I hope with this little bio on it Ive written, you have seen in your thoughts what Ive seen, and even now as I listen to it, occasionally, it takes me there. Composure Music E1F6D3
PULSE – SIX CONTINENTS by Guilain Joncheray (2004)
This was an album made to mark the 40th anniversary of the French Federation of Cardiology, an educational and disease preventive organization led by volunteer cardiologists in 27 regional cardiology associations, acting through local heart and health groups in France. The music and themes for this musical voyage around the globe were composed by Guilain Joncheray, a French composer and producer who has been nominated for many American Grammy and MTV awards for his world music, and played by various musicians. The lyrics are by David Hayat who has written songs for many musicians. One of the tracks is the 4½-minute Antartika, a peaceful and reflective piano/wordlessly sung elegy. RTPC 04FFC01
THE MARCH by Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra (2004)
The 17-piece Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra is a community-based mandolin orchestra, founded by mandolinist Alan Epstein. According to the liner notes for their debut CD, while the mandolin has declined in popularity since WWI, the Pittsburgh area has contributed a number of individual performers/composers and groups to the genre over the past 100 years. This CD has tracks covering styles from classical to popular and bluegrass tunes. Included is the 2½-minute mandolin-double bass duet, Life in Antarctica (Is Cold and Lonely), a track composed by virtuoso double bassist Edgar Meyer, an American classical-roots crossover performer and composer, who recorded the piece on his own CD, DREAMS OF FLIGHT (1987). Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra PGHMO-1; www.pghmo.com; (See also DREAMS OF FLIGHT by Edgar Meyer in this section.)
IN BETWEEN EVOLUTION by the Tragically Hip (2004)
The Tragically Hip, formed in 1983, is one of Canadas best-known rock bands. Many of their hard rocking, literary albums have reached No. 1 status in Canada and the group has won many Canadian music awards. Their ninth record has a track, Are We Family, about getting along, with a reference to Antarctica. Sample lyrics: Are we family when its not if but when, taking care of each other one bullet to another, when its all if a song cant save us then nothing can, are we family? or what. To one another? the lost to the recovered? the New Caledonian crow to the chimpanzee? the tribal jury to the Pakistani teen? ill-starred evenings to champion mystique? sick as a writer writing to be lighter than the uncanny, when the invasion of Antarcticas complete, are we family? www.thehip.com; (See also PHANTOM POWER by the Tragically Hip (1998) in this section.)
ROUND THE HORNE - The Collectors Edition Series Four (2004)
Round the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy program, which ran in Britain in four series of weekly broadcasts from March 1965 to June 1968. Featuring Kenneth Horne and a cast of regulars, it presented provocative parodies, wordplays and absurd characters. This box set of nine CDs from Feb. 1968 to June 1968 includes the short sketch Gerald Monkshabit Live From Antarctica, broadcast April 28, 1968. Sample commentary: The latest Byrd Expedition has justin the Weddell Sea. Its so cold here that ourhave frozen to the packing cases. Its been four days now since we put ourthrough the tent flaps, because outside you imply cant see your in front of your BBC Audiobooks; www.bbcshop.com;
APOLODOR by Ada Milea (2004)
Romania-based Ada Milea is an artist and singer, known for her off-beat style, who has performed throughout Europe and worked with Canadas internationally known Cirque du Soleil. This is a Romanian CD about Apolodor the penguin, and his experiences around the world. Included is the upbeat track n Antarctica. While a childrens disc, the quirky but magnetic performances would attract all ages, knowledge of Romanian not required. A & A Records 160594-2; www.adamilea.ro
THIS SCAVENGER LOW by Vostok (2004)
Orlando, Florida-based Vostok is an indie rock group, formed in 2002 and named after the largest of Antarcticas sub-glacial lakes. In 2012, after years of study and drilling, a Russian scientific team finally reached close to the surface of the lake through coring, approximately 2½ below the ice surface, and was expected to resume its studies through robotic water samples in the next season. Vostoks melodic, emotion-inspired music of has the 7-minute guitar/keyboard-driven instrumental track Lake & Driller, which is easy to imagine as the soundtrack to a steady, relentless pursuit through the ice.
DARK LOGIC by Loch Vostok (2004)
Loch Vostok is an Uppsala, Sweden-based progressive metal band, formed in 2001 and named after Antarcticas well-known under-ice lake. However, although this, their first CD and their further releases deal with the cold and dark psyche, the coldness and darkness of Antarctica do not directly appear in their songs. Magnetism Records MGR001; www.lochvostok.com; www.myspace.com/lochvostok
A CHRONICLE OF SIXTEEN SHOES by Rob Reid (2004)
Rob Reid is a Chicago, U.S.A.-based folksinger/songwriter/storyteller, whose second solo CD has the bluesy track South Pole Shuffle. The lyrics will be familiar to anyone setting off on an Antarctic trip from southern South America. Lyrics: South of just about everywhere in the land of wind and fire, Trees grow horizontally like stubble on the bearded hills, Sheep are scattered all around like cotton balls on a field. I know a bird that cannot fly but they like to watch the helicopters fly overhead. Theyve never seen the trees come down and traffic jams a world away. They like the water cold, its getting warmer every day. This ones for the penguins, everybody dance right now. Dressed like the best on Wall Street, they shuffle in time, while theres still time, before the ice caps melt away. We asked Rob about the lyrics in 2009 and he replied: The imagery from South Pole Shuffle was inspired by a trip to Chilean Patagonia back in 2001- i. e. the land of wind and fire, sheep are scattered all around, the trees grow horizontally. We stopped at the Isla de Magdalena, an island whose entire population is penguins - about 10,000 of them. Im from a very conservation-minded family (my brother is now a stream ecologist in Patagonia), and so I wrote this song to highlight the impact of global warming and melting polar ice caps on the penguin population. The South Pole reference is made by proximity, though I understand that the penguin population extends into Antarctica. When I play the song live, I teach the audience how to dance like penguins (keep your elbows and knees straight), and sometimes theyll dance during the chorus at the end. www.reliablerascal.com
OF PIGEONS AND OTHER CURIOSITIES by Nicki Jaine (2004)
Nicki Jaine is a Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter/guitarist/pianist who combines a 1930s European cabaret style and quirky modern rock with an unusual speaking/singing voice. This CD has the fascinating track Antarctica, spoken bitterly and backed alternatively with ominous bells and frenzied guitar. Lyrics: I hope that someday you will live in Antarctica, with all the icicles and the harsh winds, please, think of me when you arrive. If you should not live to see Antarctica, I will be waiting alone, so alone, for ghost that never arrives. Not that you came home at night when you were alive. I hope that someday you wake up in Antarctica, with all the emptiness and the cold winds, please, dont bother saying goodbye. If you should not live to see Antarctica, I will die waiting alone, in the cold, for ghost that never arrives. Not that you cared about me when you were alive. I hope that someday well live in Antarctica, if you dont happen to die in Antarctica. I expect many postcards from Antarctica, so I know youre thinking of me in Antarctica. I hope that someday you will live in Antarctica, if you dont happen to die in Antarctica. I expect many postcards form Antarctica Shaman Records 8319; www.nickijaine.com
SONG FOR MY FATHER by Dave Hepler (2004)
Indianapolis, Indiana-based jazz pianist and group leader Hepler began playing music at eight years of age and has been playing professionally ever since, having issued six CDs. This disc was dedicated to his late musician father, a trumpeter, and the influence he had on Daves playing. Included on the disc are numerous tracks written by Dave, including The Saga of Shackleton. The CD booklet explains that My brother-in-law gave me the book entitled Endurance: Shackletons Incredible Voyage to the Antarctic for Christmas. I read this book in the month of January as the weather approached an infinitesimal fraction of what was described in the book. Shackletons crew of 27 men sailed, hiked and survived months of 30 below zero temperatures and numerous times did not think they would make it. I have never heard of any true tale where mens hearts were broken so many times yet somehow the spirit and fortitude of one Sir Ernest Shackleton led them through making it on foot when their ship was crushed and it seemed no hope was anywhere. I was inspired to come up with this rocky, tumultuous theme through what I imagined was the swaying ship encountering ice floes and terrifying obstacles for moving thru small areas of water, darkness, lack of food and energy. Dave told us in 2009: It is a partially improvised manifestation using my musical imagination to bring the adventuresome first theme to bear including a swaying feeling and tempo which evolves into many visual impressions from chronicled events on his most famous voyage. Effects of ice and virtually insurmountable conditions guide some of the developmental musical proceedings. Hep Music 51556d; www.davehepler.com
ELEPHANT ISLAND EP by Sleeparchive (2004) (Vinyl LP only)
This clear vinyl record of minimalist beat-heavy electronica/techno music from Germany-based Sleeparchive (aka Roger Semsroth) contains the 7-minute track Elephant Island, which begins with an excerpt from one of the two Ernest Shackleton recitations made on record, the March 30, 1910 My South Polar Expedition. Roger told us in 2009 that I really like the story about Ernest Shackletons expedition to the South Pole. The cover of his 2007 CD with Antti Rannisto has a sleepy looking face photo by Frank Hurley of Lupoid, a sledge dog from Ernest Shackletons Endurance Expedition of 1914-16, named for his wolf-like looks. The picture of Lupoid (the dog) was just one of the best photos of one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen!!!! Archive No. 1; www.sleeparchive.de; (See also SLEEPARCHIVE / ANTTI RANNISTO (2007) in this section.)
HARD by Dying is Easy (2004)
Atlanta-based Chris Windham is a solo electronic artist with many CDs of industrial/ambient instrumental music. This CD is a reissue of his first album in 2000 and has the track Antarctica, which combines windswept synthesizer passages with drumbeats trying to break through the bleakness. Chris told us in 2008 that the sound of the song as a whole reminded me of desolation and coldscapes and I figured the name fit perfectly. Bebop Records BEBOP001; www.dyingiseasy.net
DOUBLE REDUNDANCY by Einsteins Little Homunculus (2004)
This double CD is a re-release of two albums originally recorded live in 1993 and 1995 by classmates and friends at the University of Rochester, N. Y. According to the bands website, its folksy, acoustic music is a mixture of slightly skewed original songs and rockin arrangements of jigs, reels, and other melodies from the British Isles and beyond. Included is the track Antarctica from the 1995 sessions. The groups Paul Crook told us in 2008 that I wrote Antarctica in 1983, when I was 16 years old. We had just studied the continent in school, and I was trying to envision an Antarctic tourism campaign. Penguins and glaciers and love was the best I could do at the time. Many years later (1990), one of my roommates went to McMurdo Station to engage in atmospheric research, and I was able to exchange satellite-relayed E-mail with him while he was there. Thats about as close as Ive gotten to visiting, besides a trip to Dunedin, New Zealand, five years ago (where I saw penguins in their native waters for the first time). Lyrics for this upbeat 1-minute ditty are: Antarctica, Antarctica, a place where you want to be, Antarctica, Antarctica, its made out of frozen sea, Antarctica, Antarctica, were all gonna have a blast, Antarctica, Antarctica, an icy breath of the past, Antarctica, Antarctica, come down with your kids and your wife, Antarctica, Antarctica, you can ski for the rest of your life, Antarctica, Antarctica, you cant be too sure about gold, Antarctica, Antarctica, but you know that your beersll be cold, Antarctica, Antarctica, aint got much industrial stuff, Antarctica, Antarctica, just penguins and glaciers and love. Accordion School Music AS-0300; www.elh.org
THE NAVY LARK Series Two Volume 1 (2004)
The Navy Lark, the longest running comedy program in British radio history, was a concoction about the antics of the crew of HMS Troutbridge, on the BBC airwaves from March 1959 to July 1977 with 15 series. This box set of six CDs contains the fourteen episodes from October 1959 to January 1960 (three of which are missing from BBC archives and from this collection but include the scripts). It includes episode 9, The Charter Trip to Antarctica, in which a local Geographical Society charters the Royal Navy ship Troutbridge for the trip to Antarctica and which, of course, goes off track. The program theme music was composed by harmonica virtuoso Tommy Reilly and by James Moody. BBC Audiobooks; www.bbcshop.com; (See also THE NAVY LARK Series Nine (2014), NAVY LARK Series Seven (2011), NAVY LARK Series 4 Volume 2 (2008) and NAVY LARK Series 18 (2006) in this section.)
FAKE OUR DEATHS by Deloris (2004)
The Melbourne, Australia-based rock band, formed in 1999, has the track Local Antarctica on their fourth CD. One of the verses of the enigmatic song is: Under stars of pale cold tin, one century passed to leave only clues and hints of a local Antarctica, a whole complete secret sea flowing inches from our feetWe talked like actors, we spoke like kings about the cheap things that we thought we did, never letting on that the ringing for the end was in the doorbells of our friends. We asked Marcus Teague, the songwriter and principal band member about the lyrics. He told us that the song is about growing up, and attempting to take in the naivety and innocence of your childhood before responsibilities and adulthood kick in. I guess the Antarctica in the song is used as a metaphor to suggest the hidden mass of the timeline in the narrative. In the song, a town is described as the setting for this adolescent period. Towards the end of the song its alluded that theres a secret sea underneath it, and growing, which alludes to the secrets and division that creep up on you as your childhood slips away, and also to the fact that something huge is happening that no one can quite grasp - the elephant in the corner, if you like. Its as if the town/time is reverting to an Antarctica-like land mass, one of vast distance, space, weight and density, too complex to completely understand or explain. I hope that doesnt sound too pretentious. But that was the idea. Dot Dash Recordings DASH001CD; www.delorisband.com; www.myspace.com/delorisband
ANGELS SHARE by Ian Tamblyn (2004)
Ian Tamblyn is a veteran Ottawa-area musician, playwright and educator/guide on nature cruise ships, who has made trips to both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. This CD of melodic folk songs is largely dedicated to the wonders of the northern Canadian outdoors. One of the most poignant tracks, Arc of Dreams and Prayers, sets the mood for humility in the face of nature: Too big, too white, too much, my eyes cant take in it all, Brilliant light, breathe in and dive, glide, glance, fallThe sounding whale, the albatross that carves an endless blue and something in the distance that is calling, calling you...The flume, the wing, the fluke, the thing that calls you to this place is bounded in our innocence, our wonder and our grace. One of the songs is Paradise Bay, about one of the most scenic and visited sites on the Antarctic Peninsula: White on blue, blue on white, Take your breath away, Watching the unfolding, Down in Paradise Bay. Blue on white, white on blue, Words are stripped away, Or seek redefinition down in Paradise Bay. Look at those mountains, Look at those whales in the sea, Something is happening, Something is happening to me. White on blue, blue on white, Dont have much to say, Cept Im going deep down with them, Down in Paradise Bay. North Track Records NT-25; www.tamblyn.com
LUMINARIA by Ian Moore (2004)
Ian Moore is a veteran Texan guitarist/singer-songwriter, now living in Seattle, Washington. His CD of thoughtful, melodic, mellow songs has the tribute track Sir Robert Scott. Lyrics: Well Sir Robert Scott did someone break your heart, and send you on out in the cold, to the ends of the world on a Manchurian pony? Four men who believed every word that you said. Sir Robert Scott youre a different sort and you had the whole world on your back. You carried that load like a good Christian soul to plant Englands flag deep in the Antarctic soil. But somebody beat you and now you dont know. You say My god, my god has left me behind, forsaken, forgotten in this ice and this snow, Im getting weaker and I will not write anymore. Sir Robert Scott you set back for your ship, for your men they were hungry and tired, and youre not to blame for the blizzard that came eleven miles out from your food and your bed. Sir Robert Scott lay your head down to sleep, its ten years that are wasted and gone. Lay down for a while let the warmth overcome you and wait for the summer to come, because thats when theyll come back around. You say My god, my god has left me behind, forsaken, forgotten in this ice and this snow. Im getting weaker and I will not write anymore. Yep Roc Records YEP 22083; www.ianmoore.com; an acoustic performance of this song is also available on an Ian Moore live DVD, LIVE FROM THE CACTUS CAFE (2003), released as MVD DR-4376
POLOSUR CELESTE by Marcelo Aedo (2004)
Aedo is a leading Chilean fusion bass player and multi-instrumentalist as well as composer, producer and teacher. His first CD of melodic and subdued jazz instrumentals contains the 6½ minute track Polosur (South Pole), a multi-faceted electric bass solo. Petroglyph Records PR-00312; www.marceloaedo.scd.cl
ULTIMATE TRANQUILITY (2004)
This double CD of themed instrumental New Age music, written by Stewart and Bradley James and performed by Hypnosis, includes the moody track Antarctica. Double Gold LMM 1702282
NO FRILLS by Amanda Kay (2004)
Amanda Kay is a Cairns, Australia-based singer/songwriter, performing throughout Australia. She became interested in music while working in Antarctica and her CD contains the track Mawson in Antarctica. She told us, I wrote the song on my return voyage from Mawson Station in 1997. I went down to Mawson to see a place that not many people go to, to experience the extremes of the earth and to see Emperor penguins. I also wanted to be the first woman carpenter in Antarctica and spent the winter down there working as a senior carpenter. It was a hard year for me. This was the first song Id ever written and learnt guitar out of a book whilst down there. Returning on the Aurora Australis, I saw the first new faces Id seen for a month. Many of the people studying were on the ship and were talented musicians. They were the first to play the song with me and have given me a strong will to continue with music and creating my own stuff. Sample lyrics, describing the tough experiences: Why am I here so lost and so lonely, Standing outside and dancing alone, Tired of things moving around me, Mawson in Antarctica, Dale is my friend but there hard to come by, I growl too much and scare them away, I search horizons looking for rescue, Please help me now and take me away, Davis is close but too far to get to, I try to call but still feel alone, I dont ring my family I would upset them, Ive locked my own door and thrown away the key, Im going home now is this my rescue, Ive lost parts of my soul in the cold, Where will I go to, how have I changed? This is a lesson hard to explain. www.kmusic.com.au
ANTARCTICA by the Secret Handshake (2004)
This is an acoustic solo pop CD by Luis Dubuc of Dallas, Texas. Despite the title, there arent any direct Antarctic songs on the disc. However, Luis told us, Basically, the album has that sort of feeling, to it. Very desolate and stripped down. It wasnt a conscious decision to name it that beforehand, but when I was sitting with the songs, it just seemed like a great way to sum up the songs with one word. Plus Ive always had a mild fascination with Antarctica and the romantic ideals of any cold, desolate but beautiful place. I have another music project I named Eskimo Songs for the same kind of reason, I guess. www.thesecrethandshake.net
ACOUSTIC GESTURES by Az Samad (2004)
Az Samad, a finger-style acoustic guitarist and composer-performer from Malaysia, was a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston when he recorded this solo instrumental disc. It includes the soothing Antartika, about which he writes in the liner notes: I spelled it right. Thats how its spelled in Malay. Ive always liked the feeling of snow, ice and the wind blowing into your face. This tune came about when I was trying to learn Dixie McGuire by Tommy Emmanuel. I dont really remember that song but Im glad it inspired this tune. www.cdbaby.com
LIFEBLOOD by Manic Street Preachers (2004)
The Welsh band was formed in the late 1980s and has been known as a politically inspired, wild band with a loyal following. The Japanese edition of the CD features the bonus track Antarctic, with the lyrics, As our bodies fall apart, left to the dust and bones, all we have is the fear, well never carry you home. So hold all the reflections, baby it wont hurt much, where did the feeling go, it feels like the Antarctic. Sony Music Japan International Inc. EICP 435; www.manicstreetpreachers.com
LE MONDE ELECTRONIQUE DE FRANOIS DE ROUBAIX (2004) (THE ELECTRONIC WORLD OF FRANOIS DE ROUBAIX)
Franois de Roubaix (1939-1975) was a French multi instrumentalist, who was building a major reputation as a TV and film composer until his death in a diving accident. He experimented in combining acoustic instrumentation with the newly developing synthesizers of the early 1970s. According to the liner notes, in 1974 he was contacted by the well known Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the commander of the Calypso, to compose music for his Antarctic documentary, Voyage to the End of the World. The resulting original electro-acoustic music was rejected at the screening of the first episode by Cousteau, a musical conservative, who selected pieces by classicist Maurice Ravel. The full 23 minutes of unedited music is presented for the first time in this compilation CD. The titles of the seven tracks include Antarctica, Encounter with the Skua, Penguins on the Ice Floe, Dive in the Ice, Overflight, Whales and Farewell Antarctica. Universal Music 981 808 9; www.francoisderoubaix.com
GUITARLIGHT by Attila Jelinek (2004)
(Horst) Attila is a Hamburg, Germany based professional multi-instrumentalist. His current CD, which has an Adventure Network/ Patriot Hills, Antarctica crest on the cover, with penguins, icebergs and polar bears, is a blend of upbeat rock music, with a track, Antarctica, that has a heavy chant like Middle East flavour to it. Attila told us, I am from Germany and Germany is a very little country, too many people and little place to live...and so I dream of big country Antarctica, where there is much space. www.freenet-homepage.de/guitarlight/referenzen.html
AMAZONICA by Bobby Brazil (2004)
While there are no liner notes in this CD of Brazilian New Bossa (Nova), samba and dance music, Bobby Brazil is, however, reported to be a collective of musicians out of Nuremberg specializing in this genre. All the vocals are performed in Portuguese by Viviane de Farias. The tropical sounds include the steamy vocal/instrumental track Brahma vs. Antarctica. We are assuming that the title track refers to the 1999 Brazilian beer war/merger when one leading brewer, Brahma, acquired the other, Antarctica, with its popular brand of the same name. Brigade Nouveau Records BN 002-2; www.brigadenouveau.com; (See also THE NAME OF SOMEONE by the Hafler Trio (2009) in this section.)
SAGITTA - HELLO WORD by Sagitta (2004)
Sagitta is a Korean folk-rock duo with a double disc package of CD with DVD of the song tracks. Included is the spooky, sitar-driven song Night of Antarctic, with its scary video: Once had a dream about a body exhausting love, once had a dream about a soul burning song, but in the bitter cold at the end of the world, both of them are frozen to sleep in solitary ice. Beatball Superstars-3; www.beatballrecords.com
THE NEW BLACK by the Antarcticans (2004)
The Pasadena/Los Angeles group is described in their web promo material as sad dark Slave-Ghost Draculas! While sadly, their CD has no Antarctic-themed tracks, we had to ask them the reason for their name. Guy Valdez, guitarist, told us, Wow! Antarctica is cool. We just thought the name Antarcticans was a very cold and desolate sounding name. And we wanted a name that reflects our sound. And it sounds cool. www.theantarcticans.com; www.myspace.com/theantarcticans
OAK OR ROCK by Phonophani (2004)
Norwegian Espen Sommer Eide has a track called Blind Birds of the Antarctic on this instrumental CD of experimental synthesizer electronica and sampled sounds. He told us I collect good titles in a small book I carry with me. So I must have come across this one by chance somewhere. I will try to remember where. But as you understand, it is the music being made first and then the title added. So it is not motivated by Antarctica, but somehow I thought that the title fit the track perfectly! Rune Grammofon RCD 2038; www.alog.net/phonophani/pp.html
TECHNOCLUB NEXT by various artists (2004)
This German double CD of trance/techno dance music includes Antarctic Rain by Two Roads, one of the slightly quieter cuts. Universal Music 060249823823-3; www.technoclub.tc
Chill-out/dance electronica from Spain includes the instrumental track Antarctica DC, 064271. FAL-042 LU-106-04; www.falcatruada.com; www.electromancer.com
WISCONSIN DAWN by Mark Bruland (2004)
Wisconsin-based Bruland is an organic farmer on his 46 acres as well as a musician. This New Age instrumental CD of various well-played themes includes the peaceful and serene piano-based Antarctic Night. Mark told us that Antarctica and I really go back about 20 years to a time when I was working for Hills Science Diet pet food, in Los Angeles, CA. Our company helped sponsor Will Steiger's Trans-Antarctica dogsled journey then. We made some special high-calorie dog food (looked like brown bricks) and had them staged along his route so that whenever he would camp, he would have a pallet of this stuff waiting for him. Glad to say he DID make the trip successfully and never lost a dog! But I digress...When I write my songs, I use a technique similar to an artist who paints on canvas. I begin with a voice on my Yamaha keyboard that I am in the mood for at the time and begin recording. I build on that first sound or feeling and eventually a whole song comes together with the help of my digital 8-track studio. After I recorded this piece, I envisioned a wind-swept frozen place on earth (probably stimulated by our Wisconsin winters and the winds coming down from Minnesota and Saskatchewan). Antarctica came into my minds eye. And I thought about a broadcast that is currently on the Internet from Antarctica. Are you familiar with it? I think it would be VERY cool to have that song actually broadcast from Antarctica. Anyway, I pictured the long dark nights and very short days there, the wind blowing across the ice, and a lonely radio
station broadcasting from there when I named the song. Mark Bruland Music
THE DEATHSHIP HAS A NEW CAPTAIN by the Vision Bleak (2004)
This is an operatic heavy metal concept album performed by Germans Schwadorf & Konstanz, with songs of death, doom and horror. Included is the track Horror of Antarctica, with references to the bizarre in the Antarctic literature of Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft: Within the shadow of the arctic mounts of ice, night had veiled the pole and darkness filled the sky. The air was so cold – cutting our skin. Freezing voices called us and the winter winds did sing: Tekeli-li, Tekeli-li through the night. What ghoulish creatures brought em forth? What sphere had opened wide? Tekeli-li, Tekeli-li through the air. Where it did lead us to, no mortal man should dare. Right before our eyes of monolithic size, one labyrinth of cities – draped in moonlight – did arise. Leading to the icy ruins a long forbidden site. Built by horror creatures from beyond our spheres of light. PRO 066; www.the-vision-bleak.de
ALKALINE by Ben McAllister (2004)
Seattle-based McAllister, a rocker and film/TV composer, has a warbly track entitled Under Antarctic Ice. He told us that Im influenced very much by a guitarist named Henry Kaiser who, in addition to being an excellent player, is a diving instructor. He received a grant from the American National Science Foundation in 2002 and lived in Antarctica for some months. I saw videos of his dives and was inspired to name the track, but it was named after it was recorded - it sounded like being under the ice to me! You may be interested in him as well - www.henrykaiser.net is his website. www.listenfaster.com
LATITUDE by Groundtruther (2004)
Improvised jazz by a New York-based group led by guitarist Charlie Hunter and drummer Bobby Previte. With the theme of the globes major latitudes, the CD includes two tracks entitled Antarctic Circle and South Pole. Thirsty Ear THI 57150.2; www.thirstyear.com; www.charliehunter.com; www.bobbyprevite.com
THE MUSIC OF THE CURABLE INTERNS Arranged For Solo Guitar by the Curable Interns (2004)
Louisiana guitarist Kenneth Johnston recorded these largely live instrumental tracks in 1986 in a variety of styles including blues, rock, gamelan and middle eastern. One of the tracks is the short dirge-like Antarctic Pyramid, which Kenneth told us, was inspired by the Howard Phillips Lovecraft story At the Mountains of Madness, which tells the story of a scientific expedition to Antarctica that discovers the ruins of an ancient civilization of non-human beings that existed on earth from Pre-Cambrian days. The expedition finds the frozen bodies of large creatures resembling something from the sea cucumber family, which, of course, come to life when thawed out and cause some messy problems. There is also another, more malevolent life form lurking in the tunnels. Although probably influenced by Poes Arthur Gordon Pym, Mountains inspired the classic movie versions of Who Goes There? aka The Thing, and more recently the cheesy B movie Alien vs. Predator. Who knows what secrets lie buried under the ice? www.curableinterns.com
ANTARCTICA by Angus Coull (2004)
Surprisingly, in view of the title, there are no Antarctica-related songs on this CD of strong synthesizer/vocal rock by the Coull, who is based in Scotland. We asked him about this and he told us that in answer to your question, Ive always found maps and far-away places fascinating, but especially really remote places like Antarctica. I think I called my album Antarctica because of that and because I liked the sound of the word itself. Its really as simple as that! www.stage.vitaminic.co.uk/angus_coull
TRAVELLING LIGHTS by Franois Carrier, Michel Lambert, Paul Bley and Gary Peacock (2004)
These four jazz masters recorded eight improvised instrumental pieces in Montreal during the Jazz Festival, named after the continents and seas, including Antarctica. Justin Time JUST 203-2; www.francoiscarrier.com
LIFE ON THE FLY by Azita (2004)
Chicago area keyboard-based rock group includes a jazzy Steely Dan-ish track Antarctica, with strange lyrics to match: you cant consider it land and you can not call it the sea, Im alone with what seems like your suitcase and in your suitcase is a hand for me. Drag City DC264CD
GOOGOL POWER PRESENTS MULTIPLICATION VACATION - THE MOVIE SOUNDTRACK (2004)
The earthling GoogolKids learn from the alien Googols about multiplication by travelling around the world. In the Penguin Rap 6X they travel to the icefields of Antarctica. Lyrics include: Brr, Im cold, Im freezing. Where are we? In Antarctica. Careful where you walk, you dont want to step into an ice crevasse. Look someones coming. Its a penguin. Yo, Yall dont make me a fuss. Im a penguin. My names Pythagorus. Im a bird even though I never can fly. But, Yo I can sho multiply – Lets go – Yo! Wed love to learn a few new tricks. Could you teach us to multiply by six? Lets go, yo! Oooo here we go gangAntarcticas quite cool, you know, despite the wind and blowing snow. With the eco system the way it is, its a favorite place for scientistsTell us what kind of creatures live here at the cold South Pole? Seals, whales, penguins and flying birds too, you know. Why do they come to Antarctica? To feed upon the krill, and theres millions of moving icebergs. Oh, to me they look quite still. Lets rest here by Mount Erebus. Oh, look theres Pythagoras. www.googolpower.com
LAST SUMMER DANCE - BATTIATO LIVE by Franco Battiato (2003)
Franco (Francesco) Battiato is a veteran and iconic Italian pop/rock singer, composer and producer whose career began in the mid 1960s. Originally an experimental pop-rock artist, Battiato later turned to progressive and avant garde music with exotic, cultural and universal themes. He has issued numerous solo records and has also collaborated with other artists internationally, on films and soundtracks. This is a double disc package of a live show of great Euro-flavoured pop/rock songs, performed with a small orchestra, and includes the 4-minute track Shackleton, co-written with a long-time collaborator Manlio Sgalambro. With lyrics in Italian, the song pays homage to Ernest Shackletons famous boat voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia in 1916 to get help for his stranded crew. Columbia/Sony Music (Italy) COL 513706 0; www.battiato.it; www.myspace.com/francobattiato
NAVIGATING BY THE STARS by Justin Sullivan (2003)
Justin Sullivan is an English rock musician and one of the co-founders and lead singer/guitarist and lyricist for rock group New Model Army (NMA). NMA was formed in 1980 as a post punk, politically-oriented group and has gone through various lineups and musical changes over the years, with numerous recordings to date. Justins first solo record, made with other band members, was based on his experiences travelling across the Atlantic Ocean on a cargo freighter. These songs for the ocean are more spiritual than those of his regular band work and one of the tracks is Ocean Rising, about Ernest Shackletons epic 800-mile voyage in the tiny boat, James Caird, from Elephant Island to South Georgia in 1916. Justin told us about the reason for the song in 2012: I guess its just that, like thousands of other people, I was captivated by the Shackleton story and for a while read everything I could about it. Unsurprising then that it should turn up in a song. According to Justins CD liner notes, Making Navigating By The Stars has been a wonderful experience. Its an album about nature and especially about the sea, with small snippets of human stories set against this huge backdrop. To do this I set out to make massive, spacious and organic sounding music and chose to work with composer and producer, Ty Unwin, the legendary double bass player Danny Thompson and harmonica genius Mark Feltham, as well as band mates Michael Dean and Dean White. The end result is an album about something deeper and more permanent than current human affairs. More than anything else, it is about beauty.
Lyrics: I dream of the ocean and the beautiful skies rolling out to sea; I dream of the ocean and the rip of the tide west of Finnistair; The weight of the water pouring down, holding on to me; I dream of the ocean, rising, rising. I dream of the ocean - through the night the ghosts are sailing still; The James Caird steering east by north-east through the wild Atlantic swell; The men lie soaked and cold beneath the sail on a bed of ballast stone; They hear the Boss cry out - I can see them now, the snow-capped peaks of land; But it was the ocean, rising, rising; A forty foot wall of water crashing down; They held their breath and prayed to God in the hour of death; To save them From the ocean, rising, rising; I dream of the ocean, rising, rising. And so the years they flow and journeys end; The old crew sailed south again; And they buried the Boss by the melting snow; In the summer winds on the island; And now the ice it cracks and falls away, driven in the storms; And Ill be there - where the sky touches the sea; At the edge of the ocean where the beautiful world fades into the grey; I dream of the ocean, rising, rising; I dream of the ocean, rising, rising.
Attack Attack (Records) ATK2307; www.newmodelarmy.org
DIRECTIONS IN AMERICAN NOISE by Winter Carousel, Jon Dus, Omnid, Bill Jarboe (2003)
This is a 4-disc box set by four various experimental artists. One of the four discs in the package is Letter to the Entomological Society of Antarctica by Winter Carousel, consisting of 24 minutes of orchestrated noise and sonics. Formed in 2001 in the Chicago area by Diane Nelson and Kazko Peasmith, Winter Carousel is an electronic/noise duo known for its live performances in animal and insect costumes. Although the bug theme is carried on various track titles on their disc, none of the individual pieces seem to have any connection with Antarctica. As a point of interest, there are believed to be 67 species of insects on continental and maritime Antarctica but only two species (springtails) live on the continent. Most of the species are parasites living on birds and seals and the rest are found on coastal islands. With global warming ongoing, there may well be an increase in the types of insects calling Antarctica home and opening up further activity in this field of study. Retinascan RE 26; www.insectdeli.com; www.myspace.com/wintercarousel
BEYOND REACH by Jamie Sims (2003)
Jamie Sims is a Lake District, U.K.-based composer and keyboard player who has released numerous New Age CDs and written works for various media. This was his first CD and has the quiet piano-based track Erebus, named for Antarcticas Mount Erebus, the southernmost active volcano in the world, near McMurdo Station. According to the CD, Erebus was written as a tribute to Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton and Franklin and all the other heroes remembered and forgotten for their incredible work in the Arctic and Antarctic; the shear madness, bravery and determination to attempt to conquer such a beautiful but deadly and hostile environment is unbelievable. Jamie told us in 2011: Erebus was an early piece, one of the first I wrote. It is cold and unforgiving, and I wanted to reflect that in the music. I was always a Shackleton fan myself.
TRIO by Aoki Hunsinger Jarman (2003)
Bassist Tatsu Aoki, oboist and double reed specialist Robbie Lynn Hunsinger and saxophonist/clarinetist Joseph Jarman are three prominent veteran free-form jazz musicians who were based in Chicago, U.S.A. at the time these recording were made in 2000 and 2002. They joined forces to produce a CD of music that is delicate and controlled. One of the tracks is Larsen B, named after a part of the Larsen Ice Shelf on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula along the Weddell Sea. The use of a kalimba (African thumb piano) gives a good imitation of melting ice. The 12,000 year-old Larsen B sector disintegrated rapidly in 2002, preceded by Larsen A in 1995 and to date the remaining part, Larsen C appears more stable. Robbie Lynn Hunsinger told us in 2010: Yes, I named this piece after the Larsen B ice shelf collapse. All of the music on this album is totally improvised and I named the pieces after the recordings. I found this piece to evoke the shuddering motion and distressing meaning of this significant loss of the ice shelf. I was and still am very concerned about global warming and many other environmental and wildlife issues. Melungeon Records MR-0003; www.melungeonrecords.org; www.robbiehunsinger.com; www.tatsuaoki.com
BONJOUR PETITE TRISTESSE by Gatter (2003)
Gatter is a German electronic/rock group and this CD includes the track Antarctica, a tribute to Robert Scotts fateful South Pole Expedition of 1910-12, in which a female voice portraying Scotts wife Kathleen reads a letter to Scott over alternating electronic sounds and heavy rock. Sample lyrics: Dear Con: Write and tell me that you should go to the Pole, oh dear me, whats the use of having energy and enterprise if a little thing like that cant be done. So hurry up and dont leave a stone unturned. And love me more and more because I need it. Your loving wife, Kathleen. You are frozen. The Pole, yes, but you are frozen. Heiko Goergen (a.k.a. Subjunkie), the groups electronics musician, told us in 2010 that for the track, I was inspired from a CD called Frost 7940 by Andreas Ammer & F. M. Einheit (F. M. Einheit was a member of Einstrzende Neubauten). The CD Frost 7940 is dedicated to Scott and was released in the year 2000. The voice samples that I used in our track are from this CD, too. Heiko also produced an alternate and equally haunting version of this track, backed by string sounds and more electronics, under his own solo project, Oscestra, with the title Lost in a White Out. www.gatter.info; www.oscestra.com; www.boxenzimmer-records.com; (See also FROST 79 40 by Andreas Ammer, F. M. Einheit, Pan Sonic and Gry (2000) in the Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section.)
BESTIARIO by Metaconciencia (2003)
This is a Mexican instrumental group that has been together since 1996. Their first CD is a powerful showcase of guitar/keyboard-based progressive/jazz rock, including patches of acoustic guitar and Latin influences. The 7½-minute track Antrtica, with an underlying rhythmic line similar to Dave Brubecks classic Take 5, covers many styles and tempos, much like the moods of the continent and its temporary inhabitants. Francisco Estrada, one of the virtuoso guitarists, told us in 2008 that The name of Antartica is related to climate change issues (I do scientific research on this topic.) MUSEA FGBG 4469.AR; www.geocities.com/metaconciencia
MISERYS OMEN by Miserys Omen (2003)
Adelaide, Australias heavy/black metal band, Miserys Omen, now a trio, was formed in 1998 and has several recordings to date. This mini compilation CD includes the track Antarctic Ice Chasms. The howls and growls from the pits of depression and desolation, make it difficult to understand the lyrics, but Arganoth Doom, the guitarist and salted wound vokillist, told us in 2008 that Antarctic Ice Chasms was based on a concept from Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft. Unfortunately the lyrics have long since been lost... Bindrune Recordings brr002; www.bindrunerecordings.com; www.myspace.com/miserysomen
SERPENT TRAINS by Andrea Guskin (2003)
Andrea Guskin is a New York-based artist and songwriter, whose CD contains the very haunting and direct to the point track Antarctica. Andrea told us that I have been fascinated with Antarctica for years, both as an artist and musician. The colors of the ice and the huge expanses contain a serenity for me, though I have never been there. This particular track I wrote about my feelings about being in (and leaving) a controlling, verbally abusive relationship. I wanted to be surrounded by nothing for a thousand miles. The last line Its quiet here in the other hemisphere and I have no fear is about finally getting out and reflecting on a new peace. The lyrics are: Surround me with nothing for a thousand miles. Stretch out like Antarcticas back for while. I am ice-time kept open after seasons asleep. I am oceans kept shielded but there is life underneath. Surround me. Surround me. With nothing. Her movements faked a glide as she moved from side to side. Waiting for the cracks in the ice to strike. Her movements faked a glide as she moved from side to side. Waiting for the cracks in his words to strike. Surround me. Surround me. With nothing. Its quiet here in this other hemisphere. And I have no fear, I have no fear. Surround me. Surround me. With nothing. www.andreaguskin.com
OSKAR TENNIS CHAMPION by Momus (2003)
Momus (aka Nick Currie) is a world-travelled Glaswegian-born musician, writer and multi-media artist who began his career in the early 1980s. To date, he has released 20 albums of eclectic, quirky avant garde pop music, characterized by his subversive, biting observations on culture and events. This CD has the track A Lapdog, about French philosophers and social movements, chihuahuas and Antarctica.
Lyrics: Powerless, with my talk of Guy Debord and Gide, To rival a chihuahua or some other breed of lapdog, I sent you to Antarctica, Im very sorry now. I sensed that I could only mean a thing to you, If I could somehow be a lapdog too. But to send you to Antarctica to face your certain death, Was a very, very heartless thing to do.
Youre wearing your pink flip flops, You tell me in your letter. You like the friendly crunch they make, On the snow, even though theres horrible weather. Youve brought your lapdog with you, It pokes its head out of your coat. The animal looks undeniably cute, With a little bark rising up in its throat. But penguins wont stop following you, They march in a long black line. Its menacing and sinister, And soon it will be night-time.
And the Situationists loom very small indeed, Alongside a chihuahua or some other breed of lapdog. Perhaps if they loomed smaller theyd be cute enough to love, And maybe someday I could mean something to you. If I could somehow be a lapdog too. So do people flirt and laugh, are they photographing you? If there were anybody there Im sure they would do. But the last time you looked down to pat your lapdogs tiny head, Its little eyes were frozen, it was dead.
And penguins wont stop following you, They march in a long black line. Its menacing and sinister, And soon it will be night-time.
The Situationists and me loom very small indeed, Alongside a chihuahua or some other breed of lapdog. Perhaps if we were dumb and small enough, Wed become worthy of your love.
We asked Momus about the reason for the track and he told us in 2008 that When you opt to ignore somebody, its called sending them to Coventry. In my song the narrator, infuriated by a gormless but beautiful girl he meets who cares only for her lapdog, goes one better and sends her (and her chihuahua) to Antarctica to face social isolation and certain death from exposure.
The songs landscape was influenced by a short prose piece by Ivor Cutler called (I think) The Antarctic which goes, very approximately: Youre walking through a landscape of penguin and craggy ice shelves. After tea, you feel the need to relieve yourself. Steadying yourself against a low escarpment, you begin to pee. What a racket! The whole Antarctic must have heard. American Patchwork AMPATCH 005; www.imomus.com; imomus.livejournal.com
RECONSTRUCTION SITE by the Weakerthans (2003)
The Weakerthans are a Canadian alt-rock band working out of Winnipeg and Toronto. Their third CD contains the track Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961). Lyrics: Just one more drink and then I should be on my way home. I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about. I've had a really nice time, but my dogs need to be fed. I must say that in the right light you look like Shackleton. Comment allez-vous ce soir? Je suis comme ci comme a. Yes, a penguin taught me French back in Antarctica. I could show you the way shadows colonize snow. Ice breaking up on the bay off the Lassiter coast. Light failing over the pole as every longitude leads up to your frost bitten feet. Oh, youre very sweet, thank you for the flowers and the book by Derrida, but I must be getting back to dear Antarctica. Say, do you have a ship and a dozen able men that maybe you could lend me? Being curious about the references to French philosopher/historians Foucault and deconstructionist Jacques Derrida, we asked Stephen Carroll, vocalist and guitarist about the inspiration for the song. He replied: We love (ant)arctic explorers, that is the inspiration. The enhanced CD also includes a video of the soundtrack, complete with ice, dogs hauling a sled, an underground den, penguins, and sailing ship. Epitaph 86682-2; www.theweakerthans.org
A live concert version of the band singing this track as well as the whole concert DVD are available on the double CD/DVD package LIVE AT THE BURTON CUMMINGS THEATRE (2009); Epitaph 87067-2.
SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE by Keelhaul (2003)
Keelhaul is a veteran progressive, largely instrumental, metal band from Cleveland. Their current CD has the track Shackleton. In 2008, Chris Smith, guitarist and vocalist, told us that I wrote the music and gave the song its title. Around the time I was writing it, I had seen a documentary film about Shackleton and the expeditions to Antarctica. The entire thing blew my mind: the fact that they had photographs and motion picture documentation during this was also quite amazing; that they were burning seals to cook seals; the fact that they all survived; the lifeboat trip to South Georgia Island. The music I was writing was to me full of an uneasy violent paranoia that felt like you were being run down by death: like every crack in the ice could be the one that gave way to your helpless grasping at life; or that at any moment you may just go mad when overwhelmed by the fear of never making it home and dying on the ice; something that seemed musically as harsh as the extremes of what the men of the Endurance Expedition had gone through. On approaching the band with the title, I explained the story of the Endurance Expedition and where I felt this was an appropriate title. That was agreed. Whether or not the lyrics were written with any of that in mind, I dont know - our bass player Aaron wrote and sang the lyrics. As we are named Keelhaul, our music to me is crafted with the intent of voyaging into some new territory, to put ourselves into unfamiliar scapes, to push our abilities as musicians toward a deeper frontier of ourselves. The voyage and the uncertainty are themed in the band. Sometimes in a live performance we are like a storm beating on ourselves, seemingly to rip ourselves apart. A ship on a violent sea. I have always been drawn towards the sea and towards the extremes of deep winter. Towards the abyss and endlessness of the ocean, and of the arctics seeming infinity. Maybe its the Swede in me, the Viking chromosome buried in my DNA. I would love to visit the poles someday; so far Ive only been as close as Iceland and the famously brutal Cleveland winters. Camping and hiking in February is one of my favorite times. HH666-76; www.keelhaul.info; www.myspace.com/mykeelhaul
FAIR WINDS AND A FOLLOWING SEA by the Boarding Party (2003)
The Washington, U.S.A. group was a seasoned quartet of performers, writers and historians/researchers of sea shanties and songs of the sea. One of the gems on the CD is The Old Peacock, a song about one of the ships of the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842, led by Lt. Charles Wilkes. This controversial expedition was one of the earliest to sight the Antarctic continent and managed to follow the eastern continental coast for nearly 1250 miles (the areas now called Terre Adlie and Wilkes Land). In 1985 an exhibit about the expedition was held at the National Museum of Natural History and one of the descendants of James Dwight Dana, the voyages civilian geologist/mineralogist, provided songs written by Dana about the expeditions ships. It was believed that Dana and James Croxell Palmer, USN, naval officer and acting surgeon to the Expedition, collaborated on several songs, with Palmer providing lyrics. The poem from which the song came is from J. C. Palmers book, Antarctic Mariners Song. Palmer wrote of the incident in the song, We were backed by the wind and current, against an immense ice floe tearing the rudder clean off; and the ship drifted helplessly against an island containing 32 square miles of solid ice, and about a hundred and eighty feet high; this carried away the taffrail and bulwarks, into the starboard gangway; and so the Peacock was despoiled of her tail. The actual lyrics of the song, as printed in the very informative accompanying booklet, which includes copious historical background, are:
We gathered a twig from the live-oak tree for a relic of love and of home, And away we stood for the polar sea, With spirits as light and with hearts as free as the crest of its snow-white foam.
In the happy old Peacock, the hearty old Peacock, Well jump to the pipes merry call, And spread to the gale her saucy tail And dash through the ice and all, me boys, And dash through the ice and all.
We got down at last where the sea froze fast and warned us to put her about, But we thought it a shame for a fowl of her fame to turn straight back on the course she came, so we thumped her right in and out.
Our pluck did not fail till we lost our tail, and then was high time to belay. But we stuck her clean through, and it came out anew, And if any man says this yarn is not true, Let him go there himself some day.
Folk-Legacy CD 109; www.folklegacy.com; (See also SEA OF GLORY Americas Voyage of Discovery – The U.S. Exploring Expedition 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick, read by Dennis Boutsikaris (2003), in the preceding all or significantly Antarctic section.)
BROTHERS, SISTERS by North of America (2003)
Halifax, Nova Scotias rockers/punkers have a track called Voting No On the Warming of Antarctica. No discernible connection of lyrics to The Ice. Level Plane Records LP48; www.level-plane.com
BETTER FASTER STRONGER by Screwtape Lewis (2003)
The Alberta rock band has come up with one of the oddest contributions to Antarctic song lore with their King of Antarctica. Randl Lewis Bailer, the singer and guitarist told us that the track in question was inspired by American mathematical genius John Forbes Nash. I read a very intriguing article about Nash years before the movie A Beautiful Mind was released. The article spoke more specifically to his darker side (which the movie omits in typical Hollywood style). The title was chosen because Nash, for a time, was committed to purchasing Antarctica for the express purpose of crowning himself king of the region. I found him to be a very colourful (and at that time obscure) character to write about. SLCD08113; www.screwtapelewis.com
MONKEY COMFORT by Penelope Swales (2003)
Australian singer-guitarist Swales has released many solo CDs. The current one is a double disc containing a collection of earthy songs about humans as animals in the natural world. Included is Antarctica, which she tells us was co-written by myself and a friend of mine. Hed written the music and the first line of the chorus, but got stuck at that point, and I came in and finished it. Dale wanted to talk about the vulnerability of Antarctica, and I wanted to talk about the purity of the landscape and the ecology, as contrasted with human greed and destructiveness. I was also intrigued by the way scientists can deduce so much about the history of the earth and of climate change by extracting ice cores and analysing them.
The lyrics lean to the wistful: Oh, will we ever learn to leave you lonely, when every inch and every acres treated as frontier? Just one footprint in the snow enough to change the course of history What could our crazy minds learn from your white solitude? Could we ever face that truth? Oh, No! We fear to find ourselves so mean, so paltry, reflected at our true size in your majesty. BMM269.2; www.penelopeswales.com
SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO HOOVERPHONIC - THE LIVE THEATER RECORDINGS (2003)
The Belgian group Hooverphonic includes the introspective Antarctica in a fine CD of moody vocal-instrumental songs leaning towards jazz-pop. Columbia/Sony Music CPK-3179 (513650.2). An acoustic version of this track also appears on Hooverphonics EP THE LAST THING I NEED IS YOU (2003), Columbia/Sony Music COL 674370-2
SUCH SWEET THUNDER - Music of the Duke Ellington Orchestra by Lorraine Feather (2003)
Coming from a family well versed in jazz and friendly with the Ellington family, Feather has taken Duke Ellington tunes, written her own lyrics and provided vocals. This very smooth and strong musical set includes Antarctica, modelled on the 1962 instrumental Ricitic, with lyrics about a lost love relationship and working in Antarctica. Lorraine told us: I've always been fascinated by the White Nights, but picked the title because it sang well with that music. I got some of my inspiration from a site called bigdeadplace.com. Sanctuary 06076-86353-2; www.lorrainefeather.com
SIBLING & 1998 by Radio Berlin (2003)
This reissued double CD by the Vancouver synthesizer/guitar band contains Antarctica, originally recorded on cassette in 1998. Jack Duckworth, the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist told us about the background to the track: I had purchased this old 60s photo magazine from a thrift store that was basically themed cities in snow (I still have that magazine in a box somewhere). It was basically all of this cool photography of U.S. cities in snow. We actually used some distorted snippets of those images in the original cassette packaging of the demo. At the same time that song was written I had this mild fascination with Antarctica (through some research in books, etc.) - it being this huge chunk of land at the far end of the world and basically close to uninhabited by humans. So out of those two vague influences it kind of fuelled the feel and content for that song. ACT123; www.radio-berlin.com
OUT OF ORDER – Soundtrack To The Surfers Documentary by various artists (2003)
This compilation includes the percussive synthesizer instrumental track Antarctica by Alan Parsons, a well-known music producer and leader of an established commercial rock collective under his name. The film tells the story of a surf team over two years and examines the nature of the surf culture and its alternative athletes. Aquarium 283067-2; www.myutopiarecordings.com
WELCOME TO ANTARCTICA by Shoppy (2003)
This California trio includes a heavy metal, funky song Welcome to Antarctica on this CD of eclectic rock.
Tapiocashuhorn records; shoppymusic.com
NORTH POLE/SOUTH POLE (Nikelson & Maurice Night Remixes) by Solid Globe (2003) (Vinyl LP only)
The LP is an 8-minute onslaught of an electronica/trance drums and bass dance track called South Pole from a Dutch label. Fundamental Recordings FUN505; www.unitedrecordings.com; the track is also included on a compilation CD of dance music, DANCE VALLEY FESTIVAL #9 2003 – the Compilation; Biem/Stemra UDC017CD
RETURN OF THE GODS – II by Nazca (2003)
Nazca is a Peruvian instrumental group, led by Enrique Camac, which specializes in pan flute-driven atmospheric and nature-themed music. This Italian CD includes the 5½-minute track Antarctic Continent, a bouncy number any penguin would be happy to hop along with. Azzurra Music MOR11029; www.azzurramusic.it
METAL OSTENTATION II by various artists (2002)
This is a compilation of music from up and coming heavy metal bands from around the world. One of the groups represented is the Norwegian black/death metal band, Antarctica, with their 8-minute track Eternal Infernal. The group was active from 1999-2005 and according to the liner notes, their lyrical concept was death, misanthropy, hate, violence, war, chaos, pain, etc., concepts that may be familiar to many Antarctic scientists in their hard fought struggles for their national research grants, or to some unlucky tourists in their Drake Passage crossings. Sound Riot Records SRP.019; www.home.no/antarctica
GROUND ALTITUDE by Acetate Zero (2002)
The Paris, France-based rock group has been together for over a decade and plays guitar-based post rock that varies from haunting minimalism to shattering sonic explosions. The band members are known as E, F, L, S and G and the group seems to have a definite affinity for the bleak and the dark side. One of the songs on this disc is Deception Island, a slow track, heavy with languid fuzz-toned guitars. We asked the band in 2010 whether the track was named after Antarcticas Deception Island and singer/guitarist/bassist S told us: This title comes from that island but the song is more about sadness and the uselessness of the life, the cold and blizzard. There are some other songs with the same ideas: High and Low Winter Landscape (on our 1st album - SOFTCORE PARADISE (2003); Drumkid Records DKR001), Frozen (on the 3rd – CRESTFALLEN (2004), Arbouse Recordings arbou011; also a live version of Frozen is on WE DENY THIS (2006), Arbouse Recordings arbou013) and Icecap Decline (on the 4th - CIVILIZE THE SATANISTS (2007), Arbouse Recordings arbou018). For our next one, Ive got a track called Snow White Carbonized. Other likeminded tracks are Permanent Snow, on the disc PIECES IN TROUBLE (2000); Arbouse Recordings arbou002 and Total Blizzard on the vinyl single NORTHLAND TRAGEDY (2002); Orgasm spasm24. Arbouse Recordings arbou005; http://pagesperso-orange.fr/acetatezero/; www.myspace.com/acetatezero
PARK AVENUE by Mexico (2002)
This Japanese CD of tech house electronic music by Jun Yamabe has the sultry instrumental track Antarctica. Frogman Records usb-001cd
ADMIRAL BYRDS DIARY by Jim Miksche (2002)
Jim Miksche is a veteran songwriter, musician and guitar teacher based in California and originally from Wisconsin. His current CD of melodic acoustic rock has the track Admiral Byrds Diary. A revered but controversial Arctic and Antarctic aviator and explorer of the modern age, Byrd and his crew were the first to fly over the South Pole in 1929 and he led four more Antarctic expeditions. The title track refers to conspiracy theorists bizarre speculation about a secret diary kept by Byrd of an Arctic flight (claimed to be in 1947) and his search for a subterranean world. Chorus: Admiral Byrd, your diary says youre somewhere no ones been, Admiral Byrd, the Arctic is a nightmare of frozen wind, But your diary sees a world that looks like Heaven, I dont know, Mr. Byrd. Jim told us about the background to his song in 2009: At the time, I was reading a lot of pulp nonfiction, and Byrd came up a lot with regards to hollow earth theories. I then read his book, Alone, which I believe is beautifully written. Alone was Byrds popular account of the 4½ months he spent in isolation at an Antarctic meteorological camp during which he nearly died from carbon monoxide poisoning. www.myspace.com/jimmiksche
THUMBTACK SMOOTHIE Math is Hard (2002)
Thumbtack Smoothie is a veteran session drummer from San Francisco, California, Carl Coletti, who has turned to solo experimental electronic music and samplers through four CDs. The 9-minute track Lake Vostok on his second CD is a mash of blips, gurgles and cacophony. If even a fraction of this activity is going on underneath the ice cap in Antarcticas real Lake Vostok, then the scientific community is in for a long and interesting period of study. Thumbtack told us in 2009: Lake Vostok is huge, deep, fresh and uncontaminated (as of yet no kerosene from Russian drilling). The more I learned about the lake the more I wanted to compose a track that felt as if you were under all that ice, vast and undisturbed. Manic Obsessive Recordings MOR2851; www.myspace.com/thumbtacksmoothie
IELDRA WINGS by Wuji (2002)
This CD of live atmospheric, ambient music was recorded in Providence, Rhode Island over three days by three artists, Rachel Maloney (U.S.A.), Chris Turner (U.K.) and Peter Gresch (Germany) on various electronic and percussion instruments. One of the tracks is Ice Shelf, a spooky impression of what it might be like under an ice shelf, if not above. We asked Peter Gresch about the track in 2009 and he said: As far as I recall the moment when talking about this track during the recording session, Chris, who named the tune, envisioned the plunge moment of a dive beneath an ice shelf, the varying colors of the water and the ice, the magnitude (primordialness) of the environment, and the sense of awe it must inspire. www.wujimusic.com
BIRDS OF DARKNESS by Satans Penguins (2002)
Satans Penguins, formed in 1998 by Killerpenguin, is a Swedish black metal band which incorporates jazz and classical influences as well as exotic instruments in its musical styles. The present disc has the track Antarctic Winterstorm, with the ominous lyrics, Penguins, Arise, The day has come, We will fly with the storm, And attack with the lightning, To extinct the human race, Before they extinct everything else. Sweeping across the countries, Destroying all we see, They dont deserve the gift of life, Make room for the new race. After desolating the face of the earth, We will lay our eggs in the still warm ashes, And the fuzzy baby penguins, Will have human corpses for their first meal. Another track, Behind Mountains of Ice, continues with the warning about evil penguins: Behind mountains of ice, They are preparing for attack, When you least expect it, They will sneak up behind your back. They rule this place alone, Nobody is even there, Of satans evil penguins, You must beware. The CD cover has four silhouetted penguins against a deep evening sunset and the booklet includes an Antarctic coastal snow and water scene. Heretic Sound HS001CD; also issued on a 2003 Russian CD: CD-Maximum Ltd. CDM 0903-1496; satanspenguins.metalclub.se; www.myspace.com/officialsatanspenguins
VOICES OF THE NIGHT by Riley Lee with Michael Atherton (2002)
Riley Lee is a Sydney, Australia-based music professor, performer and master of the shakuhachi, an Oriental end-blown bamboo flute with five finger holes. With its origins predating historical documentation, the CD liner notes describe a sect of Zen monks who thought of the shakuhachi as a spiritual tool rather than a musical instrument. Michael Atherton is also a Sydney-based music professor and composer/performer who plays various string, wind and percussion instruments. The shakuhachi tracks were recorded live in the Cathedral Cavern within the Jenolan Cave network, 4 hours drive from Sydney. This peaceful CD includes the track Antarctic Starscapes, a meditative piece sure to invoke south polar ethereal visions. In 2008, in response to our query about the track, Michael Atherton told us that some years ago now, I was asked to complement Riley Lees shakuhachi improvisations with a range of instruments, textures and colours. If recollection serves me well, Riley chose a number of titles. In this case he was perhaps responding to the bright, crystalline timbre of the psaltery I played as an accompaniment. And if one travels west from the cities of Melbourne or Sydney, into the outback, as we call it, clear winter nights reveal a wonderful clarity of constellations such as the Southern Cross and a myriad stars. The eponymous milky way and looking towards the southern celestial pole might be called a starscape. New World Music NWCD581; www.rileylee.net; www.syncsonics.com
THE COSMIC MILK by Gregorio Bardini and Carlo Cantini (2002)
The two Italian New Age/ambient artists use a variety of electronic effects, flute and other wind instruments and violin on this instrumental CD, recorded in 1997. Included is the 9½-minute track Antartica Aurora. This aurora begins with a quiet flute, flares into reflective violin passages with an underlying deep primal drum beat and returns to solitude. Multimood Records MRC 034; www.multimood.com
THE WIDE WORLD OVER - A 40 YEAR CELEBRATION by the Chieftains (2002)
The Chieftains are an iconic Irish instrumental music group, founded in 1962. From their traditional Irish roots origins, over the years they have collaborated with many world-class popular musicians and soloists, winning six Grammy awards along the way. The present disc is notable for containing what may well be the only full musical track recorded in the Antarctic by artists of such high stature. The track is Cat Stevens Morning Has Broken, with vocals shared by Art Garfunkel and Canadas jazz vocalist/pianist Diana Krall, backed by the Chieftains. The song was recorded on Jan. 1, 2000 aboard the Ocean Explorer I, which was cruising in the Antarctic Peninsula area to welcome in the new Millennium. It was a special charter sponsored by the Young Presidents Organization, a network for influential corporate presidents and business leaders to share their ideas of the future. According to the liner notes, It was New Years Day 2000, the dawning of a new day, a new year, a new millennium. We awoke setting sail from Deception Island, Antarctica, crossing the treacherous Drake Passage bound for Ushuaia, Argentina. Fellow shipmates Diana Krall and Art Garfunkel joined us in the ships library (our make-shift studio), to brave the howling gales and churning seas to record this version of Morning Has Broken. RCA Victor/BMG 09026-63917-2; www.thechieftains.com
PROVENANCE by Golden Rough (2002)
The Sydney, Australia-based band formed in 1995 and has made several CDs of literate, melodic country/pop rock. The present CD contains the track Antarctica, a sad tale of domestic strife as a parallel to Lawrence Oates leaving the tent on Scotts fateful journey from the South Pole: Nothing left to say now. Dirty plates, TV. Evening chill made deeper by the frozen expanse on the screen. Dogs and furs and snowshoes. He began to pack. Took the things he needed. Said I dont know when I will be back. Antarctica, the final 3. Lawrence Oates prepared to leave, I may be some time He could trace the changes since the cable came and the children vanished. The blows had outnumbered the gains. Stepping through the threshold to the autumn night. All he saw outside now was blinding, unknowable white. Candle Records CAN2520; www.candlerecords.com/au
EDOS by Virga (2002)
Virga is the band name of French electronica solo artist Lionel Maraval. The industrial-sounding disc has a monotonous instrumental track called Antarctique. Unique Records UR02; www.uniquerecords.org
MOTHER INVENTION by Stramonio (2002)
Melodic progressive heavy metal by the Italian group includes the track Antarctic Oasis. Frontiers Records FR CD 120; www.stramonio.com
AROUND THE WORLD IN FORTY MINUTES by Ronnie Cramer (2002)
Colorado-based Cramer is a veteran musician, artist and independent filmmaker. His instrumental CD takes us on a musical trip around the worlds continents and seas, including the track Antarctica, a nebulous synthesizer soundscape. Scorched Earth Productions; www.cramer.org
HANDS (2002)
Hands was a progressive rock group collective in Texas that recorded in the late 1970s and 1980. The 10-minute instrumental/vocal track Antarctica, engineered in 1980, is a plea to close the sea so you can stay free. Untamed and unchained as of yet..strong winds so mighty..Antarctica stand fast, snow features slick as glass, repel the final blow. Ernie Myers, the composer and guitarist/vocalist, told us in 2004 that I wrote Antarctica in 1977 about the upcoming 1986 (I think) agreement between 12 nations that were in control of the continents future at that time. There was talk of drilling for oil, minerals, etc. and I thought, and still do think, it was a shame that the only pristine environment left on the planet could be ruined. The song attempts to explore the great power and beauty of Antarctica as well as the sea life using different instruments to represent wind, whales, ice, etc. Shroom Records SP-96001; www.shroomangel.com
ALL THAT YOU NEED by Ian Rushton (2002)
New Zealander Rushton has composed and produced a fine CD of piano-based New Age instrumentals including the upbeat cut Antarctic Winds. No label information provided on the CD.
ANTARCTICA (COLD COLD WORLD) by Mood Ruff (2002)
The hip hop track Antarctica (Cold Cold World) is a trailblazer in this genre of music. Group member Odario told us that well ... Mood Ruff is a Winnipeg based group that has been criticized for years by our peers about living in such a cold city for so long ... the track itself was written just after the 9/11 incident, so our minds were in a dark place at the time and wanted to write something about the cold world in which we live in and lastly, I am a former English major student who loves words ... so I used Antarctica simply because I love the way the word looks and sounds. There is another group from Winnipeg that has made a reference to Antarctica in their song Retired Explorer called the Weakerthans ... look them up.
Slo Coach Recordings 7 77521 15042 1; www.urbnetrecords.com; www.moodruff.com
REST IN PEACE by Evilution (2002)
The French hard rock/metal band has a great track called Heroes of Antarctica about the Shackleton Endurance Expedition. Lyrics: They had gone for glory, but something changed the story, of a few brave men who left dear old England, in the meantime, a slaughter bloodied Europe further. Men from the dominions entering competition, an Irishman at command, to dominate the icy land all these men had to see their fate, having faith in their mates. They were the heroes of Antarctica, they saw the Devil every hour, life was a fight to keep everybody alive, it was to be the end of the story of these men when a voice encouraged them to carry on until their last blow, hoping to see a rainbow. The ship had been stuck, the ice was like a rock, the journey failed but they had lives to save. Thats why four among them decided to brave the ocean and its waves to reach the Whalers Bay, back to Europe they saw hell, a rifle in their hands. Brennus BR 8099; www.restinpeace.tribe.free.fr
EMPIRE MOON by Barry Thomas Goldberg (2002)
The Minnesota-based blues-folk rocker told us his motivation for writing the track Antarctica was my concern about global warming. Its a cautionary tale and a warning. The whole album was written in 2002 and is filled with cautionary tales, warnings of war and the temptation of empire. HIJ Recordings 7906; www.ironweeds.com
ANTARCTICA STARTS HERE by Japan Air (2002)
There are no Antarctic tracks here on this CD of spacey instrumental/vocal synth rock, but the title of the CD has our attention. David Wainer of the North Carolina band told us that title was something that just got collected over the years in a notebook...I think one of us heard it on a documentary or something. It also seemed pertinent to me, since thats our debut CD. Its kind of ironic, since were from the Deep South in the U.S., and probably couldnt be further from Antarctica, but that made it kind of interesting too. Just a good all around title, we thought! www.japanairband.com
THE CEILIDH ALBUM by Dave Swarbrick & Friends (2002)
This is a reissue of a 1978 record of instrumentals by one of the seminal talents of the late 1960s British folk-rock boom. Fiddler Swarbrick is joined by several bandmates from his Fairport Convention days and has included here a very melancholy track, Antarctic Ice. Storyville 1025703; www.storyville-records.com
DJS ON STRIKE! Too Hot for Solid Steel by Johnny Kawasaki and DJ Suspence (2002)
A very strange and confusing disc jockey CD, with titles such as Antartica, Our Home, Vostok, Penguins are the Best and Love, Feelings and Antartica. imp013; www.djsonstrike.com
ANTARCTIC DREAMS by Mack Bailey and Karen Ronne (2002)
This single-track CD is a 4-minute love song for the Antarctic. Bailey is a professional folk musician and has been, since 2004, a member of the current version of iconic folk group The Limeliters. Karen told us in 2010 that the song had its origin on an Antarctic cruise she was on at the time. She is a veteran folk musician and currently occasional performer with an Antarctic pedigree – her grandfather was a member of Amundsens South Pole Expedition, her father was Captain Finn Ronne, one of Richard Byrds expeditioners and an Antarctic expedition leader in his own right. Her mother, Edith Jackie Ronne, was one of the first two female members of an Antarctic expedition to overwinter and had the Ronne Ice Shelf named for her. CD available through www.antarcticconnection.com; www.karentupek.com; www.mackbailey.com;
IMMORTAL by Sons of Northern Darkness (2002)
Heavy metal rock from a German trio includes Antarctica. Antarcticathe darkest face of ice, Antarcticathe coldest place of all, Antarcticamassive and unconquerable, its drama will unfold. Nuclear Blast 6612-2; www.nuclearblast.de
WEEBEE TUNES Travel Adventures - The Journey Continues! (2002)
A series dedicated to helping kids better understand the diversity of the worlds populations and physical geography, this American disc of songs by Steve Wiebe, performed by various singers and instrumentalists in Chicago, includes two south polar songs, Sven Penguin and Antarctica: Whos Make a Home in Antarctica? Lyrics to Sven Penguin: All dressed up and nowhere to go, Sven! Youre in Antarctica. Wheres the party? Wheres the show? Sven! Youre in Antarctica. No Shakespeare, no Broadway, no opera, yet, still hes so refined. Cultured through the Web at an abandoned science camp, this penguins totally online. All dressed up and nowhere to go, Sven! Youre in Antarctica. Sample lyrics for Whod Make a Home in Antarctica?: Whod make a home in Antarctica? Whod make a home where its terribly cold? Whod want a life in Antarctica? Whod stand the ice, an unbearable life? Maybe we should take a look and see, who would it be? On the ice? In the Sea?... Girdwood Partners 60006; www.weebeetunes.com; (See also WEEBEE TUNES Travel Adventures - Get Your Passport (2001) below.)
WEEBEE TUNES Travel Adventures - Get Your Passport! (2001)
A series dedicated to helping kids better understand the diversity of the worlds populations and physical geography, this American disc of songs by Steve Wiebe, performed by various singers and instrumentalists in Chicago, includes two south polar songs, Sven Penguin and Antarctica: Race to Reach the South Pole. Sample lyrics of Race to the South Pole: It was a race to reach the South Pole, Amidst blizzards and summer cold, Two teams raced to claim the prize, Heres how the storys told, Amundsen was from Norway, Captain Scott a British man, Both set sail to Antarctica, with a challenging planAmundsen used huskies to pull his team along, Scott tried ponies and motors, A plan that would go wrong. The Norwegian team was lucky, Weather was on their side, On December 14, 1911 they were the first to arrive. Now Scotts team wasnt far behind, They too would reach the Pole, But weakened from the weather, Their return would take its toll. On the race to reach the South Pole, The Norwegians were the first to tout the claim, As the first to reach the South Pole, Trekking across the frozen plain. Girdwood Partners 60004; www.weebeetunes.com; (See also WEEBEE TUNES Travel Adventures – The Journey Continues (2002) above.)
WHEN FLESH BECOMES SCABBARD by Teen Cthulhu (2001) (Vinyl EP only)
The Washington-State-based metal/ hardcore band was together from 1998-2003. They and released a number of recordings, including this 3-track disc, which includes Shadows Over Antarctica, a slow bludgeon of doom and gloom, based on the American H. P. Lovecrafts science fiction and horror mythology: Its like a tentacle on black ice, ice turned black, your soul has been misled to the basalt towers that house the nightmares from this earths past. Shoggoth drones lend us your sacred flesh, with it we shall create black leather wings, shadows over ice. Thin the Herd Records TTH11; www.myspace.com/teencthulhuhluhtcneet
MY LUCKIS FROZEN by My Luck (2001) (7 vinyl EP)
My Luck was a Houston, Texas-based hardcore band, whose 6-track EP has the track Antarctica, about isolation. The band seems to have a thing for ice: the front cover has an old sailing vessel fighting its way through an ice field and the discs centre label has a map of Antarctica with the hole centred on the South Pole. Sample lyrics: Big days, small nights. Hypothermia never seemed so right. Winter darkness closes in, Dissipation of summer begins. Big Eye now, Im not sleeping. Sun drops, my tears are freezing. Gotta get out of the Antarctic regions.I cant leave, Im not breathingFrost bitten dreams of holding you, Stuck together in a capsule of blue. I would be dead, you just cold. Chisel me off, Im better off alone Youngblood Records YB-11
TRIPMAG PRESENTS CZECHOSLOVAK SOUND SYSTEM 01 by various artists (2001)
This was a compilation promo CD for a Czech club scene magazine, Tripmag, published from 2000-2002. It issued numerous compilation records of electronic and hip hop music. Included on this CD is the 8-minute, pleasantly light rhythmic instrumental track Little Antarctic Trip (beat version) by Majestic 12, the Czech electronic music duo of Tomš Glasberger and Martin Brtl. Tripmag 02/01
HIGH HORSES by Skender (2001)
Skender was a Perth, Australia indie rock group fronted by vocalist/guitarist Roly Skender, who was still making music and touring a decade later with his group the Tonics. This CD has the funky, beat-driven 3-minute instrumental track Antarctica. www.myspace.com/rolyskender
COOL AS CUCUMBERS by CAC (2001)
White rap from the Bush brothers of Portland, Oregon. Their only released CD includes the track Antarctica, which is not about Antarctica but has the biographical line both of us never caught dead in nautica, both of us so white, people ask are you from Antarctica?, no but I oughta. Brad Bush told us in 2009 about the origin of the song: Really, the song was just named after the last line in the song, which says something about us being so cool that people ask if were from Antarctica. Because, you know, its cold there. Sly Records 010; www.slyrecords.com; www.myspace.com/biffandjohnny
ALPHA.SOUTH by Alpha (2001)
This is a 4-track CD by the Bristol, U.K.-based pop/electronica and vocal group. The lush, moody track South (Pole Mix), while not Antarctic, has a catchy title and the CD cover has a great photo of a husky dog standing on ice. Virgin Records SADD12.7243897484 2 0; www.alphaheaven.com
THE TELESTIC DISFRACTURE by 5ive (2001)
5ive is a Boston, U.S.A.-based dark, psychedelic instrumental guitar and percussion duo. One of the tracks on this CD is the 11½-minute Synapse X3 – Sleep for the Larsen B Shelf, named after Antarcticas disintegrated Ice Shelf. The piece starts quietly, gurgling like slowly melting ice but quickly turns into a raging guitar and drum-fed icy annihilation. Tortuga Recordings TR016; www.myspace.com/thereal5ive
ARMCHAIR CABARET by the Big Sky Mudflaps (2001)
Armchair Cabaret is a Montana, U.S.A-based group whose folksy style ranges from swing and jazz to Latin. Formed in 1975, they were still performing thirty years later. The music on this CD, their first, was originally released in 1979 and reissued in 2001. One of the tracks is Admiral Byrds Blues, a slow blues shuffle, named after the famed American polar explorer. Sample lyrics: I never, ever dreamed Id be down here, its so cold but I dont care, Im sitting on the bottom of the world. You may think I act anti-socially but here even birds dress formally, its nice to be on the bottom of the world. You know, Im not teasing, when you see my teardrops freezing and you listen to me sneezing, while I wait up for the dawn. The temperature makes my skin turn blue, but thats ok, my heart is too, what else is new on the bottom of the world? My teeth keep up their chatter and I keep getting sadder, but it really doesnt matter, when the night is six months long David Horgan, guitarist, vocalist and founding member who wrote the track, explained its origins to us in 2010: The song was written on a cold winter day in December 1973 (during the fuel crisis). It was sort of anti-inspired by the old song Sitting on Top of the World!! I was feeling the polar opposite of that, so to speak Spud Records Spud SD21001; www.bigskymudflaps.com
BLACK SMOKER by Tom Opdahl (2001)
Opdahl is a Norwegian electronic musician. This CD of ambient techno music has the track Lake Vostok, which like the Lake itself, has a mysterious and nebulous aura about it. Biophon Records bio2cd; www.biosphere.no
GEODESIUM - Stellar Collections (2001)
The Geodesium Series is a collection of six CDs by Massachusetts-based Mark C. Petersen, who has been composing and performing space music for planetariums and their shows, internationally, for 30 years. This CD is a 20-year compilation of his electronic keyboard soundtracks and includes The MarsQuest Collection, a suite of 11 themes for the Red Planet. Included is the too-short, 1-minute Antarctica, complete with wind effects and chimes. In recent years, Antarcticas Dry Valleys have often been cited as a suitable location for the study of isolation and extreme temperatures for future Mars travel, presumably the reason for the inclusion of this track within a Martian piece. Loch Ness Productions LNP 2101; www.lochnessproductions.com
ANTARCTIC HARMAGEDDON by Sabbat (2001) (Vinyl LP only)
Sabbat is a Japanese heavy metal band, started in 1983, which has issued various studio CDs and limited edition live records. This LP is notable for its title and the clear vinyl used for the pressing. Heavy Metal Super Star Records/Evil Records HMSS CD-010/ER666-HS14; www.isten.net/sabbat
ANTARCTICA The Most Extreme Land on Earth by Laura Grabb (2001) (Vinyl LP only)
The four tracks on this French LP of hardcore electronica club music are by a Detroit-based techno artist, active since the early 1990s and known for live shows in Europe. The music thumps away like a speeded up glacier, relentlessly grinding the terrain beneath its pounding mass. Perce-Oreille PO20; www.expressillon.com
FASMA by Vassilis Saleas (2001)
Saleas is a Greek clarinet virtuoso, who has accompanied numerous Greek musicians, including Vangelis. The New Age flavoured CD includes a cover of Vangelis well-known film score theme, Antarctica, a close reproduction of the original, but interesting here for the clarinet improvisations. FM 1253; www.fmrecords.net
SIGNOS – PANFLUTES MELODIES by Johnny Vega (2001)
Italys Johnny Vega is a superb pan flutist and the powerfully played Theme from Antarctica by Vangelis Papathanassiou is included on the disc, however we dont recognize the tune to be from Vangelis Antarctica CD. It could be great job of improvisation or a tune by another Vangelis but we think it is the mislabelled Vangelis tune Blade Runner. MOR11003; www.azzurramusic.it
LIVE - MIDSUMMA FESTIVAL 2001 by Andrea Rieniets (2001)
This is a great live coffeehouse concert by Australian Rieniets, with an authentic Antarctic connection. Based on a trip to Antarctica, her inter-song patter includes the tale of a fire on the regular Australian supply vessel, along with her swinging Antarctic travel song Waiting for Ice. GGRL01; www.gorgeousworld.net
A GRANITE SCALE by Ironia (2001)
This New Jersey-based metal/rock group includes an Antarctic contribution with their tribute cut Shackleton Perseveres. Lyricist Nick Delonas tells us that his co-composer Chris Midkiff asked me to come up with some lyrics. I asked him what he wanted it to be about and he said, I dont know. Just don't make it a love song. I hate love songs. So what then? I asked. I dont know, he said, how about a shipwreck or something? I knew about the Shackleton expedition, having seen a show on it a few years previously. So I went online and did a Google search to study what had happened in detail. Using what I found, I wrote lyrics to more-or-less match the actual story.
First verse: Vast ice floes gripped then crushed his ship. Left Shackletons cold crew adrift. Well, should we just lie down and die? he cried, No! Well set sail toward South Georgia isle. Chip back the ice with your blistering hands. If we meet our bitter end, boys, well live in songs of our countrymen.
CV 32601; www.ironia.net
PARALLEL PATH by Harrison Edwards (2001)
Pennsylvania-based Edwards has included Antarctica on this serene instrumental New Age CD. As to his motivation for the track, he told us that over the last few years I have seen several documentaries on PBS stations about Antarctica. I have been fascinated by the beauty of the Antarctic continent. One of the documentaries featured a lot of scenes filmed from below the ice, over 10 feet thick. As the sunlight came down through the ice, when viewed from below, it had a beautiful translucent blue color. The other aspect that I found inspiring was vast expanses of snow-covered mountains and valleys. In the music I wrote about Antarctica, I was trying to capture all of these sensations from what I saw - a cold, serene, almost religious sense of beauty. Some day I would like to visit there. For now I'll have to settle for watching documentaries and writing about it. Arturim Records AR–20101; www.arturimrecords.com
ANTARCTIC ANTICS - Penguin Poems and Songs by Judy Sierra, Music by Scotty Huff and Robert Reynolds (2001)
Based on the childrens book of poems of the same name by Judy Sierra, country rock group Mavericks bass player Reynolds co-composed some great tunes to match the lyrics. From ballads to surf music, this disc rocks. Its a howl to hear the Mavericks smooth-voiced lead singer Raul Malo warble, the curl of your feathers makes my flippers grow weak; while you eat the fauna and I eat the flora, be my penguin.
Weston Woods Studios CD391; www.scholastic.com/westonwoods
TOL & TOL The Collection (2001)
Cees and Thomas Tol are two polished German New Age artists with a peaceful instrumental cut called Antarctic Sunrise on this compilation CD of their work. da music CD 873602-2; www.da-music.de
THE EVERYDAY SEPARATION by Absinthe Blind (2001)
This Illinois-based pop/rock group has a song called Antarctica on their CD. Adam Fein, vocalist-guitarist told us the reason for the title Antarctica - it was a metaphor for a lack of communication and me feeling like I was that far away from making things work in this particular situation. The feeling of alienation seems to be a common theme on many Antarctic-themed tracks we have heard. MUD-CD-047; www.absintheblind.com
The song is also included in a compilation CD, PARASOLS SWEET SIXTEEN, Vol. 4 (2003), Parasol Records 795306900429
ATLANTIS ASCENDANT by Bal-Sagoth (2001)
Well-played British heavy metal rock theatre based on the groups vision of antediluvian warrior lore. The cut, In Search of the Lost Cities of Antarctica, reveals a rich theme, well-mined in Antarctic fiction: Secrets locked within the ice, the endless ice of Antarctica, Neath the peak of Erebus the First Ones sleep, Lords of Pangaea, Cities lost within the night, the frozen night of Antarctica, Pre-Cambrian, the Voyagers, beyond the stars, Lords of Pangaea. And humanity shall one day rediscover the secrets long-frozen within the lost cities of Antarctica! Nuclear Blast 6584-2; www.nuclearblast.de
AWAKEN by Various Artists (2001)
Included on this disc of electronica/experimental music from Los Angeles is Antarctica by Mount Cyanide. Immergent 282004-2; www.electromatrix.com
TRUMANS WATER by Trumans Water (2001)
The CD has the track Equatorial Antarctica. Grunge garage rock - no information included with the disc. Emperor Jones ej38cd. See also RED UFO by Octagrape (2013) in this section.
ITS BEEN SO LONG SINCE IVE SEEN THE OCEAN by Jon Sheffield (2001)
Included on this disc of synthesized and sampled experimental music is the track, Antarctica (For Gabriel). The composer told us that my five year old son named the song, actually – he was drawing a lot of maps and things at pre-school and I sampled him talking about them and somehow his words and the overall feel of that track seemed to feel like Antarctica. Tom 12-Lc11168; www.tomlab.de
BLACK EYE by Whirlybird (2001)
The Tennessee rock group includes their song Antarctica on this CD of melodic rock. I gave up my job, I gave up my car, Im trusting the stars above, I'm losing my mind, I'm searching my heart, finding Antarcticastung to the core, charting my soul, finding Antarctica, covered paths cut in the snow, would you regret and bury it, there's a love I'm still to know, did you forget, Antarctica.
We asked Rob Robinson, the writer, guitarist and vocalist to tell us what the song is about and he gave us the following expos: A print of an Antarctica map was hanging in a studio I was working in, and I tied Antarctica and the imagery of the ice continent in with the quest for love in your heart and the trial of not becoming numb with the travails of life. RobSum Records RSR555722; www.whirlybird.net
THE SKY AT NIGHT by Love Tractor (2001)
This Georgia-based rock group's Antarctica (Widespread Panic) is a slow, echoey instrumental with a touch of twangy guitar. A worthy addition to the Antarctic sound. Razor & Tie 7930182861-2
Three separate mini-CDs of various mixes of unrelenting clubland dance music by British-based Australian Steve Gibbs, issued under the Antarctica name. The latest, Illusion, lost a c, printed as Antartica on the front cover. React Music 173/ 177/ 194; www.react-music.co.uk
Another Gibbs cut called Lazarev (Under the Iceshelf Dub) is available on a compilation CD called 21st Century Trance 4; React CD209
PUNISHING KISS by Ute Lemper (2000)
Ute Lemper is a multi-talented New York-based, German singer/songwriter, stage and cabaret-style performer, actress and artist. This disc, a collection of songs by various well-known songwriters, includes Scope J, by Scott Walker (Engel). Walker was a member of the Walker Brothers, an American pop group, which moved to England and had several chart hits in the late 1960s and early 70s. Scott Walker later became a solo recording artist and has branched out to theatrical musical composition. The track Scope J is a long, slow, icy 11-minute art song that incorporates most of the lyrics of famous Antarctic photographer/cinematographer Hebert Pontings The Sleeping Bag Poem. This poem was recited and featured in a scene in the 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic, which portrayed the South Pole expedition of Robert Scott and his race to the Pole against Roald Amundsen in 1910-12.
The bulk of the tongue-twisting poem is bizarrely sandwiched between Walkers dark, puzzling lyrics, Please, cut her to ribbons again, long flowing ribbons again, Im wearing the wire. and Where do the sewers go? They gotta go somewhere, I know they cant empty into the sea, Gotta go somewhere. Wherever the sewers go, Thats where youll find it, Soaring the darkness of a life, It is the dagger, Not the knife, Fingered, but I wont be soiled, I wont beg or lift my voice, and I wont be soiled
The included section of Pontings poem is: On the outside grows the furside. On the inside grows the skinside. So the furside is the outside and the skinside is the inside. As the skinside is the inside (and the furside is the outside). One side likes the skinside inside and the furside on the outside. Others like the skinside outside and the furside on the inside. If you turn the skinside inside, thinking you will side with that side, Then the softside fursides inside, which some argue is the wrong side. If you turn the furside outside, as you say it grows on that side, Then your outsides next to skinside, which becomforts not the right side. Decca 289 466 473-2
KLARCNOVA by Klarcnova (2000)
Formed in 1996, Klarcnova is a North Carolina, U.S.A-based improvisational light jazz/pop group with an eclectic style. Its first CD has the track, Lake Vostok, sung with plaintive lead vocals by Bricelyn Strauch. Its a satirical take on Antarcticas mysterious lake, buried far under the ice. According the liner notes: Lake Vostok is a full color travel brochure depicting cloudless skies, kodachrome mountains, and alluring European maidens swimming naked in its crystal clear waters. Sample lyrics: You can go where the lake is deep. Such a nice place, not to be missed. You can go where the crowds step aside, plenty of parkingthe place to go Lake Vostok, Lake Vostok, Lake VostokTake a sweater, it gets cold at night. Get away from all the city lights, No strip malls or constructionThe air is clear and the water is warm and the vista just goes on and on for milesBecause theres just no place on earth to compare. KM1183-2; www.myspace.com/klarcnova
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE by MI Project (2000)
This is a three-track CD of dance club music by the independent German Edel music record label and distributor. Two of the tracks are mixes of the well-known Mission Impossible theme by Lalo Schifrin and the third is the 7-minute track Antarctica (Deep Mission Mix), a thumping arpeggiated synthesizer romp on The Ice. Edel Records 0114365ERE
FETISH PARADE by Glacial Fear (2000)
A CD by this Italian thrash metal group has the propulsive track Antarctica, which was written (as per an interview at metal-rules.com) when France carried out its final phase of nuclear testing at Mururoa in French Polynesia, which ended in 1996. A few sample lyrics: The end is nearAntarcticadevastation in the air. Gianluca Mol, a founder of the group and the guitarist, told us in 2009 that Its one of the bands oldest songs (originally featured in the groups 1995 EP Atlasphere – the Burning Circle). The reason for the song is our deep respect for Planet Earth, so we did this track, with the continuous damage made by man, in our minds. Negatron Records; www.northwindrecords.com; www.myspace.com/glacialfear
HEMISPHERES – Southern Cross (2000)
This is a collection of largely instrumental and a few vocal tracks of an ambient world music fusion, taking inspiration from the peoples of the varied cultures of the Southern Hemisphere. Included is the leisurely Antarctic Dream by composer, producer and bossa nova/jazz saxophonist Pierre-Jean Gidon, who is based in both France and Japan. The track is also part of his collection of concept music called Ice Lands, on a French Web music distributor, Kosinus. Pierre-Jean told us in 2009 that his inspiration was the cold, empty abstract spaces, interpreted with saxophones, flutes and bass clarinets. Delta 47 052; www.pjgidon.free.fr; www.myspace.com/pierrejeangidon; www.kosinus.fr; (See also POLES APART – Music Inspired by the Polar Regions (2000) in this section below.)
POLES APART – Music Inspired by the Polar Regions by various artists (2000)
This is a collection of New Age instrumental tracks by Pierre-Jean Gidon, Cacoethes, Inishkea, Steve Jolliffe (a former member of the influential German electronic group Tangerine Dream), William Loose and Paul Williams. The track titles are largely Arctic-themed but include such generic polar themes as Ice Lands, White Calm, Ice Mountain, Polar Crossing, White Desert, Desolation and Polar Wind. Included is the quiet south polar track Scott Island by Inishkea, presumably named for the small isolated, rarely visited island in the Ross Sea. Also included is the leisurely Antarctic Dream by composer, producer and bossa nova/jazz saxophonist Pierre-Jean Gidon, who is based in both France and Japan. The track is also part of his collection of concept music called Ice lands, on a French Web music distributor, Kosinus. Pierre-Jean told us in 2009 that his inspiration was the cold, empty abstract spaces, interpreted with saxophones, flutes and bass clarinets. Demon Music Group e2 ETCD 175; (See also HEMISPHERES - Southern Cross (2000) in this section above.)
THE SOUL OF THE SEVEN SEAS by Sam Dickens (2000)
Dickens has produced numerous Soul of CDs of themed meditation and relaxation music. This one, on a German label, is based on themes for the various oceans of the world, with music and spoken words written by Andreas Jacobs and Joshua Autumn, including a calm ode to the Antarctic Ocean, which is underlain with large synthesizer washes. The CD seems to be out of print but the music is downloadable from various music sites, including iTunes. Chance Music 761031-2
ANTARCTICA by Hedison & Clind (2000) (Vinyl LP only)
A Belgian production, this record has the heavy 9-minute, bass & drums track Antarctica, with different mixes on each side. Triptomatic 043; www.bonzaimusic.com
WIDE / OUT by Robert Merdzo (2000)
Merdzo is a German ambient/industrial/electronic music instrumentalist. His track Ross Ice Shelf Vacation is an interesting ambient piece that slowly cracks and pings, leaving the listener in doubt as to the stability of the icy terrain underfoot. Disco b db97cd; efa 29497-2; www.diskob.com
DOUBLE TAKE by Satoko Fujii Orchestra (2000)
Satoko Fujii is a Japanese virtuoso jazz pianist, composer/arranger and band leader, with orchestras in both Tokyo and New York. This is a double CD of edgy, experimental jazz with each band playing the centrepiece suite, Ruin, one disc of which was recorded live with an audience. The four-movement Ruin is a thematic suite about extreme environments, which includes The South Pole. Satoko told us in 2008 that the suite expresses rough circumstances for human lives, Desert - no water, South Pole - extreme low temperature, Outer Space - no air, and Metropolis is the place people made for people, that became probably the toughest of places now. Ewe records ewcd-0019/20; www.ewe.co.jp
SOUNDSCAPES Relaxing Music – Oasis (2000)
This Italian CD of electronic instrumental mood music by various performers contains the melodic Antarctica by Afterlife. NVRCD 709; www.cybertracks.it
ORANGE AVENUE by Paul Zollo (2000)
California-based singer-songwriter Zollo has a track here called Antarctica with some great lines: Twice the size of Rhode Island, an iceberg breaks off from the Antarctic mass, And the mighty Bay of Whales is a bay no longer, If you were to break off from my life like that, This map would be altered forever, My Antarctic heart gets so frozen over. Windyapple Records WA001
SUPERSONIC by Scotty and Lulu (2000)
U.K.-based childrens entertainers, Nick Harvey and Scott Ligertwood have included one song called Antarctica on this multi-themed CD with bubbly lyrics such as, I once saw a rare white polar bear in Antarctica. His home was a snowy glacier in Antarctica. I once sent some mail to a friendly whale in Antarctica. He waved with his tail when he saw my sail in Antarctica. Where it snowed all day and it snowed all night. It snowed til the whole wide world was white in Antarctica.
Slurpy Sounds SL25500; www.scottylulu.com
BIOHAZARD - CODE: VERONICA - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK (2000)
This is a full-length Japanese computer game soundtrack CD of short dynamic synthesized orchestral themes. Antarctica plays an important part here since 27 out of the 70 tracks are from two suites entitled Antarctic Transportation Terminal 1 & 2. The music was composed by Takeshi Miura, Hiziri Anze and Sanae Kasahara. CAPCOM CPCE 1037; www.capcom.co.jp/
LOST AND FOUND by KBB (2000)
Powerful symphonic jazz-rock instrumentals from a Japanese group, which includes a 13-minute suite, Antarctica. The composer, violinist and guitarist, Akihisa Tsuboy told us this opus was inspired by Antarctica's four seasons. The cover photo shows a very eerie icy desertscape. MUSEA FGBG 4363.AR; www.tsuboy.internet.ne.jp/kbb/
DR. WHO – Music From the Tenth Planet (2000)
The campy Doctor Who was a long running U.K. sci-fi horror television series, originating in 1963. The Tenth Planet was a 1966 episode in which Doctor Who (William Hartnell) and his small crew take shelter at a South Pole space mission tracking base to warn the scientists that the space capsule they have been following is being affected by the gravity of a tenth planet. The Cybermen, inhabitants of Earths lost twin planet, are at the same time landing in Antarctica to claim earths power and resources. This CD of the spooky soundtracks includes pieces from various composers, including Walter Stott (a.k.a Angela Morley), a prominent British arranger, composer and orchestra leader, as well as Canadians Dennis Farnon and his brother Robert Farnon, who was a leading light classical and film music composer in Britain. Ochre Records OCH050. The black and white episode is available as a 94-minute black & white VHS tape. BBC Video E1529
DOCTOR WHO - Terror of the Zygons & The Seeds of Doom - music composed by Geoffrey Burgon (2000)
The campy Doctor Who was a long-running U.K. sci-fi horror television series, originating in 1963. BBC Music has cleaned up the spooky original musical score tapes for the two adventures included here on CD, which were transmitted in 1975 and 1976. The six part The Seeds of Doom, starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, was a shocker concerning a pair of plant pods discovered under the Antarctic permafrost which, when they burst, infected the nearest human beings and slowly transformed them into grotesque animal plants. The first squirmy musical track from The Seeds of Doom is Antarctica: The First Pod. BBC Music WMSF 6020-2. The complete Doctor Who - The Seeds of Doom TV series with the two Antarctic episodes became available as a 144-minute colour VHS tape and later as a DVD. They show a fairly realistic generic Antarctic base setting, complete with what looks like cheesy Styrofoam snow pellets, in an early scene where the plant pods are first discovered in the ice. BBC Video 8294;
A 4-disc compilation CD of Doctor Who program music from 1963-2013, DOCTOR WHO – THE 50th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION – ORIGINAL TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK (2013), has two tracks from The Seeds of Doom series, including Antarctica: The First Pod. BBC Worldwide/Silva Screen Records SILCD 1450
IN DEFENSE OF OUR EARTH by Oi Polloi (2000)
This is a CD pressing of the Scottish punk band's 1990/1991 vinyl recordings, which includes World Park Antarctica, an uncompromising stomping plea for World Park status: and the factory ships set sail - a death sentence for the whale and as the sea turns to red yet more life blood is shed...so will you really just stand by and watch the last great wilderness die? Then, once they've sucked Antarctica, the governments and multinationals will move on, leaving it poisoned and scarred. Only one thing stands in their way - you!! Southern Records WOWCD10
THE MOON & ANTARCTICA by Modest Mouse (2000)
Songs of alienation from Chicago-based rock group including The Cold Part. So long to this cold cold part of the world, so long to this bone bleached part of the world. Epic ek 63871
SHIGGAR FRAGGAR 2000 (2000)
Antarctica gets mentioned in a U.S. West Coast DJ performance live cut entitled Africa, Antarctica & Your Mom's House. HIP HOP SLAM 016
ARTANTICA by Urban Dance Squad (1999)
Urban Dance Squad was a Dutch group, initially formed in 1986, for a one-time festival jam session. It fused rap, rock, hip hop and other urban styles. International touring, recordings and success followed and the group charted with a # 21 single on Billboard in 1990. The group finally disbanded in 1999 and has reformed occasionally since then. While there is nothing polar in the tracks, the CD title gets our best misspelling of Antarctica award. The cover booklet sports an impressive aerial view of an iced-in Antarctic continent, looking like a white tea-time doily. Triple X Records 51269-2; www.uds.nl; www.myspace.com/urbandancesquad1
THE DREAMS OF GAIA by various artists (1999)
This is a 2-disc CD of natural recordings, including human activities, made by soundscape composers. Jim Cummings, the Executive Producer/Arranger, states in the booklet notes: Offering touchstones on a path of remembering, a new breed of audio artists has emerged in the past ten years. These sound sculptors have spent countless hours seeking, responding to, and recording the voices of our world - from mountains to subways. They then dance with their muses in the studio, weaving sonic essays and aural portraits in a delightful range of styles. One of the tracks is the 4½-minute Weddell Space, a recording of Weddell seals made under the Antarctic sea ice by Douglas Quin, who has separately recorded a full CD of various Antarctic sounds. The track notes explain the background: In the icy waters of Antarctica, Weddell Seals create a sonic world of unearthly beauty and strangeness. The sheer variety of sounds amazes, while their haunting tones provoke wonder. We are hearing mostly males patrolling territories 20 meters in diameter, centered on breathing holes in the ice. The recordings were made at the onset of rutting season, in November (late spring). This piece offers us a chance to remember that we live in vastly different acoustic worlds than most of the sounding creatures we hear around us. We listen with ears very different than the seals ears; we live outside this sounding dream, peering from far away into a soundscape we only perceive in rough and transmuted form. We can barely even speculate at what it is like to be acoustic beings living within these powerful fields of sound in this frigid aquatic home along the edges of the ice shelf. Doug Quin offers these reflections: In testing the ice, I could hear powerful and eerie sounds from under more than two meters of sea ice. Percussive chugs of posturing males played on the soles of my feet The ocean seemed to be an infinite realm of otherworldly soundings; they whispered like radio frequencies at night, sounding over one another, in a lulling chorus that seemed to come from all over McMurdo SoundThe acoustic ecology of this remote world lies at the edge of human experience, and its complexities are still only dimly perceived. I left Antarctica with an open ear, humbled by knowing spaces and voices I could scarcely have imagined. Earth Ear ee9012; www.EarthEar.com (See also ANTARCTICA by Douglas Quin (1998) in the preceding Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic section.)
JUST A LITTLE SOMETHING by David Zimmerman (1999)
At the time of this CD, David Zimmerman was a singer/songwriter/guitarist, based in New York State, U.S. and has since spent seasons working as a waste equipment operator at both McMurdo Station and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. He developed a reputation as an entertainer with his humourous songs and observations of life and frequently performed on the Ice as well as in Australia and New Zealand. This disc has the track Another Night in Christchurch, NZ, about getting a job in Antarctica and the frustrations of waiting for 12 days in Christchurch, NZ for good flying weather to McMurdo Station. David told us in 2009: As it happens, Ive been toying with the idea of putting together an album of Antarctic songs. That song on the CD was written on my way down there for the first time in 1998. I spent the next 6 years working 6 to 12 month contracts at McMurdo and South Pole stations and wrote a bunch of songs, less about penguins and more about what its like to live there. I havent been down there since 2004. amcd1; www.zimmermonkey.com.
JAIME LA NATURE (I LOVE NATURE) – Chansons by Sandrine Poirier-Jessica et al (1999)
This is a French CD of environmental songs for children composed by Gilles Arira and Bernard Mikaelian with vocals by Sandrine Poirier-Jessica. Included is the wistful, melodic track LAntarctique (Antarctica). Lyrics (our translation): There exists on this Earth a great frozen desert. This desert is called Antarctica. In the whiteness of the Antarctic, Far from the gentleness of the Atlantic, Summers are cold like winter, And the solitary sun sometimes shines the whole night long. In the whiteness of the Antarctic, Far from the colors of the Pacific, At times the sky is orange-colored, And for many years, Life over there hasnt changed. It is a protected area populated by penguins. Everything is calm and beautiful, In the whiteness of the Antarctic. Universal Jeunesse 157 940-2
TRYST by Iain MacInnes (1999)
Scottish piper MacInnes gives a salute to Scottish Antarctic history with his short reel Gilbert of the Antarctic. Gilbert Kerr was the cook on the Scotia during the 1902-04 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, led by Dr. William Bruce. The understated expedition completed a survey of the Weddell Sea and discovered and explored the 200-mile coastline of Coats Land. Kerr had his pipes and kilt with him and the liner notes include a 1903 photo of him in full regalia serenading an Emperor penguin, apparently the first documented use of bagpipes in Antarctica. CDTRAX 182; This track is also available on the compilation CD THE BEST OF SCOTTISH MUSIC VOL 2 (2001) CDTRAX 215; www.greentrax.com
BALANCE OF POWER - Improvisations for Reeds & Percussion by Paul Scea and Damon Short (1999)
This is a CD of spontaneous musical textures and concepts by two American jazz musicians, including one piece called Breath of Antarctica, a title that seemed a perfect match for a haunting work played on wind instruments. Alas, the reality of the title turned out to be a bit less romantic than expected. Paul Scea, Director of Jazz Studies at West Virginia University told us that since most of the music was completely improvised, only a few of the things actually had titles. So, to keep the pieces straight while editing them and discussing which ones to include on the CD, we needed working titles. I think Damon came up with Breath of Antarctica. I think maybe he came up with it as a stream of association: my soprano tone sounded a little like Jan Garbarek on that tune. Jan Garbarek probably reminded him of all those old ECM records with titles having to do with things Nordic and Scandinavian. Southport Records S-SSD 0068; www.chicagosound.com
DWARF by Nandina (1999)
This North Carolina three-woman group includes Antarctica on their CD of rhythmic electro world music. Antarctica, I hear you burning off your fires into dreams somewhere through this night dreaming you awake and alive I could have come here empty.
We asked Megg Isaac, one of the members of the group, about the origin of the lyrics: You know, different people write things for different reasons. A lot of my writing tends to come from a stream of consciousness space, so I will tell you the best I can about my song. Just about anytime I have something heavy on my heart or mind - I go out and listen to what comes to me from nowhere. Some people meditate and find enlightenment there, but for me, the clarity always seems to blow in like a cool breeze or wind into my mind. Antarctica, for me, is such a mystery and so far away that as I envision a place that must be so sacred and desolate - a place I might better like to be - Antarctica has become the source, symbolically, to knowledge. Does this make sense? I think there are different places on earth that have extremely strong vibes or energies about them - regardless of their population or lack thereof. And so I write a song - speaking with a place I seem to identify with - on the other side of the world and I have to wonder....does it ever hear me? Ha. Youve made me curious about other Antarctic songs - are there many? I'm glad my song found its way to you. Snapdragon Productions, 3011 Joan Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27455
ALIENS TOOK MY MOM by Tangerine Awkestra (1999)
The group is made up of 2 to 9 year old up-and-coming avant-garde musicians from Brooklyn who met in a History of Jazz class, guided by composers/musicians Katie Down and Dave Soldier. The CD is a piano and percussion-based saga of how Earth was invaded by aliens who conquered Antarctica, annihilated the Empire State building and all the humans, and finally succumbed to a nuclear bug that made 'em blow up!! Included is the cut The aliens blow up Antarctica. Dave Soldier tells us that the kids chose all the titles themselves, made up the story. I took the sentences and helped them make a song for each one. Mulatta Records MUL - 001; www.mulatta.org
THE GIRL FROM LOST AND FOUND by Curio (1999)
Another very melodic Antarctica-titled song comes from this Boston group. Antarctica, Id go so low, Know when to leave, And where to go, And when to rise, And shake the deep, Delicious, prized Antarctic sleep. Im never, ever, ever, ever coming back, No one can stand my frozen kiss. Wasabi Records WSBCRCD01
ANTARCTICA - The Bliss Out, Vol. 2 by Windy and Carl (1999)
Despite the dreamy green Antarctic ice photos in the cover/liner, the 22-minute title cut Antarctica is a drone/dirge that has our vote for most pointless track of Antarctic music we have encountered. DRL 027-2
I'M IN LOVE by The Jackie Papers (1999)
X-rated lyrics in a song called Antarctica and polar confusion from a Florida-based thrash group that wails Its a very thick sheet of ice, if you wanna get a suntan it isnt paradise. For such a big land mass it cant produce one blade of grass. If its an entire continent, Why are no cities or towns in it? Even eskimos wont live there, Its even too cold for polar bears. Panic Button PB278CD LK229CD
HAPPY, DEATH, HEAVEN by Tri-State Killing Spree (1999)
This Seattle synthesizer/guitar rock band includes a slow burning vocal track called Antarctica. Windraven Records; www.3sks.com
ANTARCTICA by Capital!Capital (1999)
There are no liner notes about this U.S. rock bands name or why it has an Antarctic extent of sea ice map on the inside cover. There is also an outline of Antarctica on the front of the CD. No Antarctic songs either. SCR 001
RICH BITCHES & SUPERSTUDS #1 by Justin Berkovi (1999) (Vinyl LP only)
London, U.K-based Berkovi is a dance music producer, international live performer of techno/electronica and creative sound designer. This is a disc from his earlier days and the 4-track LP contains the 6-minute Antarctica, beat-heavy and overlain with a topping of light atmospheric electronica. Justin told us in 2009 that he wrote the track after an inspirational visit to Antarctica, being one of the rare musical artists with an Antarctic track to have visited the continent. Predicaments Recordings PRED005; www.justinberkovi.com; www.myspace.com/justinberkovi
THE GOON SHOW AND GUESTS Volume 16 (1999)
The Goon Show was an iconic, irreverent BBC radio comedy series that aired from 1951 to 1960. It is still re-broadcast internationally to this day and has been influential in the formation other major British and American comedy troupes. Originally created by Spike Milligan, the shows core cast included Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe in zany skits with absurd storylines and catchphrases, combined with the use of strange sound effects. The current double CD compilation of four episodes includes The Curse of Frankenstein, which aired on January 27, 1958. Despite the title, its a wild Antarctic adventure. Dick Emery fills in for Harry Secombe on this track. According to the liner notes, the characters Jock Moriarty and Neddie McSeagoon go on a bold bagpipe mission to the frozen wastes (via the Sahara Desert and the Woolwich Ferry). Laird Red Hairy McBurk has left his fortune to the first Scotsman to play the bagpipes at the South Pole and suddenly everyones a piping Scot. But owing to a blizzard – and a Christmas cracker compass – theyre all up the Pole. Whats their position? Standing up, Jim. You need to hear the disc to figure this out, and even then, the silliness and British accents will leave you scratching your head and returning to the beginning to get another dose of the zaniness. BBC Radio Collection; www.bbcshop.com; (See also THE GOONS AT CHRISTMAS Volume 15 (1998) in this section.)
THE GOONS AT CHRISTMAS Volume 15 (1998)
The Goon Show was an iconic, irreverent BBC radio comedy series that aired from 1951 to 1960. It is still re-broadcast internationally to this day and has been influential in the formation other major British and American comedy troupes. Originally created by Spike Milligan, the shows core cast included Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe in zany skits with absurd storylines and catchphrases, combined with the use of strange sound effects. This double CD of four episodes broadcast over Christmas weeks in 1954, 1956, and 1959 includes Operation Christmas Duff, which aired on December 24, 1956. According to the announcer, This program is specially dedicated to Her Majestys Forces Overseas, and to the Trans-Antarctic Expedition, the Falkland Islands Dependency Survey Teams and the Royal Society Expedition at Halley Bay. In the episode, Christmas was coming and the Minister of Military-type foods disclosed that the picture regarding Christmas puddings for the forces overseas looks pretty bleak. The Services decided to combine and build a giant pudding and increase the size to allow for an extra slice for the Antarctic base. True to Goon form, the Antarctic delivery never quite makes it. BBC Radio Collection; www.bbcshop.com; (See also THE GOON SHOW AND GUESTS Volume 16 (1999) in this section.)
PHANTOM POWER by the Tragically Hip (1998)
The Tragically Hip, formed in 1983, is one of Canadas best-known rock bands. Many of their hard rocking, literary albums have reached No. 1 status in Canada and the group has won many Canadian music awards. Their sixth record has two tracks with references to Antarctica, Chagrin Falls and Emperor Penguin.
On their Web site, bassist Gord Sinclair, explains that Chagrin Falls is a wealthy community near Cleveland. The song deals with a wandering spirit and the setting is really effective to emphasis how low you can sink, as low as the Antarctic or Chagrin. Sample lyrics: By design by neglect, for a fact or just for effect, when they met where they connect, at the confluence of travel and sex, more a trip than a quest, plunged into the deeply freckled breast, where to now? If I had to guess, Im afraid to say Antarcticas next, or Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where the unknown wont even go, to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where the unknown dont even go.
For Emperor Penguin, a song about family, lead singer and guitarist Gord Downey explained the song on the Web site:
The title comes from the name of a species of penguin. Emperor Penguin is arguably the hardiest of all Earths dwellers. You see them on nature shows. Basically, around the time that they have the egg, the female does this intricate transfer in subzero temperatures, and the male puts it on the top of his feet, under a sack of fat to keep it warm. The mother takes off, for I think four, five or six months, travels the oceans, feeding, stocking up - feed, feed, feed, feed, feed - makes her way back, treks across land, and then feeds the now ready-to-hatch egg what she got. In the meantime, the males, only males, congregate and form this massive mass against ridiculous temperatures and conditions, not a living thing except them, and basically they form this mass where they kind of rotate from the centre of the mass to the outside. So you have to do your time and youre always moving in a kind of circle, and you have to do your time out against the elements, but then eventually you get to move in and get warm, and that way they survive. The Mom shows up, takes the egg, it hatches, she feeds it, and then it goes on.
Sample lyrics:
I like the tone of your trumpet, cmon lets spill some paint, lets raise a
glass of milk to the end of another day, and to the kiss thats still
intangible, the kids are alright just unmanageable, they wont do a damn thing
you say. Your voice is all detached on a radio-wave breeze, we have another
caller with a bachelor degree, talkin alien invasion as the only chance for
unity, well sorry to interrupt you caller
but
thats a physical impossibility. Youd be tossed up or wash up, the narrator
relates, in a Spartan Antarctican walk for many days, meet with Emperor Penguin
devotion to the egg, and their women are swimming from half an ocean away.
Dont sound so detached this is you and me, just give me your opinion before
you turn to leave, but your crust is just incredible, the radio was edible,
when you said dont wipe your asses with your sleeves, youre a physical
impossibility. Universal UMSSD-81083; www.thehip.com; (See also IN BETWEEN
EVOLUTION by the Tragically Hip (2004) in
this section.)
MINIMALIST VISION by Patrick Wilson and Adam Routh (1998)
This is a CD of short thematic, atmospheric instrumental tracks composed by Britons Patrick Wilson and Adam Routh, for a sound library production company. Included are the swirling, arpeggiated synthesizer tracks Antarctic Wilderness 1 and Antarctic Wilderness 2, described in the liner notes as relentless rhythmic motion with high drama. Bruton Music BR152; www.patrickwilsonmusic.com; www.myspace.com/adamrouth
ASIA 2001 by Ama Zone (1998)
Ama Zone is the musical project of France-based electronic musician-producer Gilbert Thvenet (a.k.a. Martin Cooper and other production aliases). With his goa trance style of music, he has preformed live in Europe and the Americas through the 1990s and 2000s. The present stirring, melodic disc has the upbeat 8-minute dance track Antartica. Avatar AVA CD1/NMC 930051-2
ALASKASONGS by Matt Hammer (1998)
Veteran folk musician Matt Hammer has been based in Alaska, U.S since the mid 70s and has opened for many major acts touring the State, played festivals and performed at local fundraising events for Norman Vaughans Iditarod efforts in the worlds best known sled dog run. Norman Vaughan was the chief sled dog driver for American Richards Byrds first Antarctic Expedition of 1928-30 and later a military search and rescue dog driver in Greenland during WWII. Byrd later named an Antarctic mountain in his honour, Mt. Vaughan, which Vaughan climbed in 1995, just short of his 89th birthday. He died in 2005 at the age of 100. Matt Hammer also helped to produce and record a 1994 music video, Its a Marvelous Adventure in support of Vaughans climb up Mt. Vaughan. On this CD is the wonderful track Col. Vaughan (Its a Marvelous Adventure). Sample lyrics: Col. Vaughan, its a marvelous adventure mushin on, to a place in history, a man of courage, with undying devotion to the spirit of adventure, on the trail to destiny. Way back in 28 you heard, the call from Admiral Byrd, one hundred dogs on the Pole, something man had never done. But your courage was there, down in Antarctic air, and the history in your eyes, sparkles clearly that you won.
Matt told us in 2011: Col. Vaughan is almost my favorite topic. I met Norman is 1982 when he was starting another Iditarod run. I asked him what it was like to run the Iditarod at his age. He said it was just a camping trip. But, he said, this summer Im going to Greenland to search for a squadron of airplanes that went down during World War II. Now I call that a marvelous adventure. Thats when the song got its start. I sat down with a friend of mine, Don Doc Schultz, who had introduced me to Norman and had known him for a long time. We sent a copy of the song to Norman, who was in Greenland at this time. They had found the planes and were working on finding a way to get them out from underneath 230 feet of ice. Norman called me when he returned to Alaska and we were friends for the rest of his life. I would like to add another verse honoring his climb up Mt. Vaughan but I havent found the right words as yet. AH01; www.heymatt.com
81.03 and 23.03 by ANTARCTICA (1999, 1998)
The only connection with The Ice on these two CDs is the name of this now-defunct U.S. East Coast rock band. FT029 and FT25
THE X FILES: FIGHT THE FUTURE - Original Motion Picture Score by Mark Snow (1998)
This is the soundtrack for the movie, which was a continuation of the popular TV series of the same name, which began in 1993. Directed by Rob Bowman, the movie features David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, John Neville, Blythe Danner and Martin Landau. Paranormal investigators Mulder and Scully find themselves at a secret lab underneath Antarctica, where an alien space ship has been dormant. Mark Snow is a veteran American composer who has been nominated for many Emmy and other awards and also wrote the music for the television series. This low-keyed suspenseful score uses both a studio orchestra and electronic music and includes the 1½-minute Antarctic-related track, Ice Base. Elektra 62217-2
PAUL McDERMOTT UNPLUGGED – The Good News Week Tapes Vol: 1 (1998)
Paul McDermott, an Australian comedian/writer, author and television performer, may be best known for hosting a satirical Australian TV news/quiz program, Good News Week, which aired from 1996 to 2000 and was revived in 2008. A collection of monologues from the beginnings of the 1997 shows are presented on this CD and many topical news items of the day and personalities are finely skewered. One of the tracks is the short Antarctic Tourism. Our transcription: The Federal Government has recommended that two of Australias Antarctic bases be phased out and tourism phased in. Gee, I bet the Gold coast is worried. Itll be like Phillip Island in reverse (ed. note, Australian island famous for its Penguin Parade tourist site): the penguins will stand around and watch the tourists waddle up on to the beach. Stlll, think of what Club Ant could offer: its economical. If you pay for an overnight stay, it can last for months. Fine restaurants, except the last course is always the dogs. And dont forget, the Antarctic is the only place in the world where you can dip your toe into the water and it stays there. GNW Records 7243 4938282 4
GREAT NORWEGIAN EXPLORERS by Cube & Sphere (1998)
German experimental electronic musicians Gerhard Potuznik and Hans Platzgumer include the bass-heavy instrumental track Amundsen on this CD. In a stretch, one can imagine the snowy washes in the background and the trials of polar travel in the musical starts and stops. Disko B db77cd efa 29477-2
MERIDIANS by Torbjrn Sunde (1998)
Sunde is a Norwegian jazz-trombonist who began his touring career in the 1970s as a player in a group led by another elite Norwegian musician, guitarist Terje Rypdal. According to the liner notes for this debut CD, Just like meridians are circles, invisible connections between Poles, they are also metaphors for the polarities in music. The CD is bookended by the first track Arctic and ends with the 7½ minute punchy and rhythmic Antarctic, the southern gathering of meridians. ACT Music 9263-2; www.kjentfolk.no/musikere/sunde
SINGIN SONGS OF SCIENCE by J. P. Taylor and the Academics (1998)
Florida-based Taylor has written a CD of rockin songs to help students learn serious science concepts, such as plate tectonics and laws of motion. Included is Antarctica, based on his own trip there. The song explains the Antarctic food chain and well it gives me a thrill, to tell you bout krill. SS100. It is also included on their follow-up CD for the environment, SINGIN FOR THE EARTH (1999). SS200CD; www.singinsongs.com
GOZZOZOO - PICTURES OF THE NEW WORLD (1998)
Gozzozoo, a French jazz-rock fusion group fronted by keyboardist Didier Erard and drummer Alain Gozzo, includes the fluid instrumental Antarctica on this CD. MUSEA Parallle MP 3030.AR
BONZAI GERMANY COMPILATION - Volume 1 (1998)
A collection of synthesizer dance club music from Germany including a track called Fire and Ice - Antarctica (Land of Illusion). This awful music will pound you into stupefaction or boredom, whichever comes first, but at least the song title got our attention. Bonzai CD 001
THE VERNA CANNON (1998)
Antarctica - folky, contemplative light rock. Spin your soul like a globe. Stop it with your hand. I set out to find the Antarctica of my soul. Education Records RE.ED00
THREE DAY WEEKEND by Evan Marks (1998)
Funky jazz-tinged instrumental rock track Antarctica by Marks, an American musician and producer from Southern California. Marks has toured and recorded with many notable name artists, such as The Platters, The Drifters and Billy Eckstine. He told us in 2008 that I wrote Antarctica after seeing a special, I think, on the Discovery channel. We were joking about Antarctica being cool (freezing). Verve Forecast (Polygram) 314 537 690-2; www.evanmarks.net
ANTARCTICA by WordSearch (1998) (Vinyl LP only)
The first side of this record has the rap track Antarctica by Poitier Wright and Robert Arroyo. There are separate vocal and instrumental versions, with a documentary-serious spoken introduction: This is the most empty place on Earth, the place almost no one goes. Antarctica. Its the last continent discovered by explorers. The last place to be charted and examined and understood. The last place to be inhabited. Even the wildlife here knows this land is different and perhaps it is a mark of how harsh this land can be that there is no creature here that cannot swim or fly away. Sceptre Records (no record # given on label)
ANTARCTICA by the Monkees (1997) (track appeared on a TV program only)
The Monkees were a pop group, assembled for the U.S. TV comedy series, The Monkees, which aired from 1966-68. They had numerous international hits and while originally they only provided vocals for the songs on the show, they later began playing full concerts and have recorded and performed individually or in various combinations of member reunions up to the 2000s. In 1997, they reunited for a 1-hour ABC television special, Hey Hey Its the Monkees, a spoof of their original shows, which was written and directed by Mike Nesmith, a Monkee. One of the musical numbers was Antarctica, in which the four Monkees are seen with a piano on a warm beach, which is then transformed into a mountainous Antarctic view, with the four Monkees in heavy silver coats, piano and a husky being taken for a walk. The repeating lyrics for the song: Antarctica, its where I want to be. This song was written by Bill Martin, a song and TV writer, who was a friend of Nesmith. The song also appeared on Martins 1981 comedy video, An Evening with Sir William Martin.
MUSICWORKS 69 by various artists (1997)
This is a Canadian sampler CD of live concerts and electroacoustic instrumental works for the 69th issue of Canadas Musicworks magazine. Included are four short Antarctic field recordings in the track Antarctica by Douglas Quin: Weddell Seals (under water), Emperor Penguins, Glacier Recording (sounds of the Canada Glacier from the McMurdo Dry Valleys) and the most interesting one, Atmospheric Whistlers, recorded at Palmer Station and provided by the STAR Laboratory at Stanford University. Musicworks; www.musicworks.ca; (See also ANTARCTICA by Douglas Quin (1998) in the Non-Classical, all Antarctic or with significant Antarctic content section.)
AURA ANTHROPICA by Hans Platzgumer (1997)
Aura Anthropica began as a solo electronica project of Austrian native singer/guitarist Hans Platzgumer, after his American-based rock group, H. P. Zinker, disbanded. Platzgumer has since moved to Germany and gone on to success in electronic music for his own account and as producer for various groups. In addition he has toured, written books and done film soundtrack and multimedia work. This German disc of largely instrumental electronic music is heavy but melodic. The closest track to an Antarctic theme is named Gondwanaland but the CD booklet has a very attractive and colourful schematic map outline of an iced-in Antarctica. There is also an enlarged map view of the continent on the back of the CD jewel box. LAge dOr Music LADO 17042-2; www.myspace.com/auraanthropica; www.platzgumer.net
OBLIVION SEAS by Guardian Angel (1997)
Guardian Angel was a Greek metal band formed in the early 1990s which turned to progressive/orchestral metal with this mini CD, which includes the track Antarctic Fire. Sample angst-laden lyrics: Iceberg without a tip, a threat that lurks beyond, Cant see; cant find the truthAntarctic fire that stands between, And burns all we built, A war without an end, A fault that never stops, Antarctic fire that stands between, This cold I cant stand. This madness freezes my mind. Metal Mad Music MMM 002; www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomguardianangel
DOSE HERMANOS – Live from California by Tom Constanten and Bob Bralove (1997)
Constanten and Bralove are a pair of veteran California keyboard musicians who have both been involved with the Grateful Dead as band members (Constanten appeared on three records in the late 1960s and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) or in sound design, co-songwriting and production (Bralove). Their second CD of weird and wacky instrumental music has the track Antartica, an alien-sounding, other-worldly musical trip. Bob told us in 2009: Sometimes, as in the case of Antartica, we would title the track before the music was created. When that track would come up in the set we would then do an impromptu interpretation of the title we had created beforehand. In this case, I believe we were interpreting the vast amount of ice and open space with the sheets of sonic textures, and a sense of wind. By the way, the misspelling comes from the fact that that was the way it was spelled on my version of the set listso I decided to keep it. Of coincidental note is that two of the other tracks on this CD have improvisational/avant-garde instrumental guitarist Henry Kaiser, who went to Antarctica in 2001-02 on a U.S. National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Program grant. He recorded his guitar playing at McMurdo Station and at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and later returned to work as a research diver and underwater cameraman on two documentaries, including one of his own. DH-002; www.seconddose.com; www.tomconstanten.com; www.bobbralove.com
THE GOTHIC GRIMOIRE Compilation 1 by Various Artists (1997)
This German music magazine compilation CD of various Goth rock bands includes the propulsive track Zero Below (Antarctic Mix) by Second Skin, a Swedish industrial metal group, formed in 1994, with core members Jonas Hedberg and Kristian Lundquist. Celtic Circle Productions; No CD catalogue number issued; www.myspace.com/secondskinlab
THE BODY NEEDS TO TRAVEL by Ian Tamblyn (1997)
This CD is a collection of folk songs composed while the veteran Ottawa-based songwriter was working on Adventure Canada tourist expeditions, largely in the Northern Hemisphere. Included is The Emperors, written in 1992 during his trip to Cape Evans, Antarctica. The song is about the advice given by three emperor penguins encountered. There I thought of poor old Scott and how he must have felt, wandering through a land where no man belongs and dying with his hands reaching out, oh but the Emperors they belong here and they gave me this advice, oh dont go reaching for that brass ring when youre walking across the fields of ice. North Track Records NT-20; www.tamblyn.com
OZEANE – Wogende Impulse (1997)
This is a German CD (roughly translated, OCEAN – Fast Waves) from a firm specializing in nature recordings. The disc has tracks of sounds of various oceans interspersed with relaxing instrumental synthesizer interludes. Included are the instrumentals Antarctica and Antarctica Reprise. AMPLE CD-294.005; www.ample-edition.com
UNAMUNO by David Rothenberg (1997)
American Rothenbergs clarinet is backed up by various other rhythmic instruments. The instrumental CD includes two pieces, Antarctica Melting, which features the trickling sounds of the polar icecap slowly dripping away and The Pleas of Weddell Seals, for each other, for some hopeful future, or just for the hell if it. He says that music is made out of nature, but must struggle so hard to fit into nature, like anything else that we do. Only humanity must work so hard to feel at home. Douglas Quins live recordings of from Antarctica are included on these two tracks as soundscapes. Felmay 2175070062; www.inrete.it/robidroli/home.html
NOT WE BUT ONE by the Mike Nock Trio (1997)
This jazz trio, led by Nock, a New Zealander now resident in Australia, includes a piece called Antarctic Ice. Naxos Jazz 86006-2
PHIL COMES ALIVE by Phil Pritchett (1997)
Texan Phil Pritchett has recorded in this live performance the only country and western Antarctic song weve encountered on CD. Entitled Antarctica U.S.A., the good ol boy tongue-in-cheek lyrics proclaim so Im taking my Texas flag to the South Pole, Im going to make myself a Capitol and an Alamo out of snow; well we aint got but one season throughout the entire year, so in a way its just like home with that igloo full of beer; the yellow rose please come on down, only you can make it right, for my armadillo you can care, keep it warm tonight, look away, look away, Antarctica U.S.A. Spitune Records PP42397; re-release in 2004 as Smith Entertainment 70323-2; www.philpritchett.com
SOUND OF THE WHALES - MUSIC FOR RELAXATION (1997)
Whale calls are combined with tranquil mood music composed for the oceans by David Britten. This will take you on untold journeys that will leave you feeling relaxed and renewed. One of the pieces is entitled Antarctic Chorale. SUMCD 4154
CRNIVAL OF CHAOS by GWAR (1997)
This American theatrical shock-rock heavy-metal group slashes and burns from their opening number, Penguin Attack (stumbling from the ice age, they were last in flight, they would write a new page, if they could only write, rumbling from the ice age they were last in line, they would start a new age if they could just tell time), and then does further damage to the ears with Antarctican Drinking Song. GWAR (apparently God What a Racket) have been known to cause moral panic and the music takes a back seat to the visuals. Metal Blade /Attic Records 3984-14125-2; www.gwar.net
An earlier indignity is their video, available on DVD, LIVE FROM ANTARCTICA, issued in 1990. And no, its not live in Antarctica.
The marketing package is rounded out by the paperback GWAR - Rumble in Antarctica - Miniature Game by Aaron Overton (DemonBlade Games, Inc. 1999); www.demonblade.com
Combatants wrestle among themselves for control of the GWAR temple in Antarctica. Has to be seen and thumbed through at ones own peril - its beyond mere words to explain.
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY by the Peechees (1997)
American grunge-rock group thrashes its way through a song called Antarticists, mangling geographical references to the North and South Poles, penguins, seals and ice. Kill Rock Stars 285
ANTARCTICA by Dolores Haze (1997)
Despite the drawings of Antarctica on the disc and the penguin in the liner notes, nothing Antarctic is apparent here from this West Coast U.S. rock group. Delmar Records DR11C1
RESTRAINING BOLT by Radish (1997)
East Coast U.S. heavy metal group includes a track, which gets our vote for best Antarctic song title, called Dear Aunt Arctica. Mercury Record 314 534 644-2
FROZEN BY HEAT by the Company (1997)
The German heavy metal band has a track Antarctica, portraying the angst and alienation of todays society: Coldness is creeping above in my soul, seeping in my heart. Im frightened but Im angry, too. Dont know what to do.Cant you see were living in Antarctica. Lying awake in a cold dark room, after a cruel dream, my sweat stinks. I hate myself. What else can I do? Were living in Antarctica, were living in Antarctica. High Gain Records 8800960; This track was also included in a Japanese edition of an earlier CD by the group, THE COMPANY (1995) Teichiku Records TECW-25097.
IMMENSE OVARY REJECT by Mens Recovery Project (7 vinyl) (1996)
The Richmond, Virginia-based experimental absurdist/comedy punk rock group, founded by Sam McPheeters and Neil Burke, was active from 1993-2002 with numerous records and tours. Included on this record is the two-minute instrumental track Ant Arctica, which perfectly conveys with a percussive track and a howling guitar the sense of a dripping glacier, overlain by an ominous, howling storm. Walkabout Records 01, Paralogy 2.5
BY TIME ALONE by Orphanage (1996)
Orphanage was a Dutch heavy/doom metal band, formed in 1993 and disbanded in 2005. It included a melodic female co-vocalist paired with the genres usual male grunter. This EP disc included the track At the Mountains of Madness, named after H. P. Lovecrafts Antarctic novella of the same name, in which Byrd-era explorers find more than they bargained for in a lost city underneath the icy surface. A video of this was still on YouTube in 2010. Sample lyrics: The lavas that restlessly roll, Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek. In the ultimate climes of the pole, That groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek, In the realms of the boreal pole...Its been not so long I accidently sold, My former frame of reference to the cold, Thinking back, remembering, my tale seems so unreal, Im closed up but the time has come to reveal. Anxious, also ignorant, my investigative mind, Had led me there and led me to be so blind, Haunted are the mountains, I plead for your restraint, Or hope for mens survival will be faintWhat is frozen you dont feel, what hurts is what you lose, But at this moment I gave up, the ice had blown my fuse, Made out of cold, made out of fear Gods will attracts, Gods will is here, All had begun, when led by fear, right at the end of the world, High in the sky, here at the end of the world. DSFA 1004; A shorter video mix of the track also appeared on their mini disc of remixes and live tracks AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS (1997) DSFA 1008.
CITY OF TOMORROW by Jean-Paul Genr (1996)
This German CD of instrumental New Age and synthesizer music includes the track Antarctica, portraying the harsh moods of a blizzard and cracking ice. Slam Music SLAM 0093
LIFE IN ANTARCTICA by El Sob (1996)
Wistful melodic rock CD from an El Sobrante, California trio about lost love, but with no particular Antarctic songs. Abominable Records ARS51696
DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC FORevents, reports, movements, landscapes, exhibitions, documentaries, dramatic events by Milos Krkoska (1996)
Despite the dry title, this German CD has contains some very musical, themed instrumental synthesizer music. One of the tracks is the 1.36 minute Antarctica, described appropriately in the liner notes: calm powerful theme, muted energy, respectful. Selected Sound 5188
WORKS by Gary D. (1996)
Hamburg, Germanys Gary Mahlke is a DJ of Techno and Trance music, whose CD of his own music includes the pounding Antarctica. Metronome Music 533 433-2; www.garyd.de
ANTARCTICA by the Prayer Chain (1996)
A live recording of a California heavy metal group. Despite the title, king penguins on the cover and a view of Antarctica on the disc itself, there is only one Antarctic song here, Antarctica, whose lyrics were inspired by a pastoral poem from the 16th century English poet Christopher Marlowe. Brainstorm BAI 4034-2
This song is reprised by the group Canary on SALUTATIONS - a tribute to the prayer chain (2002) by various American bands. Audiolab ALD-02-62502; www.salutationstribute.com
JUNGLE JACK HANNA'S WORLD (1996)
Another musical journey across the continents, composed and played by Mark Frye and inspired by Hanna's wildlife television specials. Included is The Antarctic Voyage. At the bottom of the world lies a continent of glacial peaks, icy waters and soaring birds that inspired this music. High Chief Records 7 243 8 41557 28
CINEMATIC by Adrian Borland (1996)
Borland (d. 1999) was an English singer/songwriter/guitarist and part of the early British punk music scene. This CD has the spacey track Antarctica. Setanta, Inc. SET US-003; www.brittleheaven.com
GREATEST HITS by Men Without Hats (1996)
This Montreal-based techno-pop group had a string of international hits in the 1980's and their song Antarctica was originally released as a single in 1982. Aquarius Records Q2-00579
PLUG IN & TURN ON X.3 - Electronic Trip Hop Abstractions (1996)
Included in this New York compilation of bouncy, melodic tracks is the not-so-interesting Antarctica Dehydration Part II. Instinct Records ex329-2
TOUCH WITHOUT FEELING by Antarctica (1996)
Despite the band name, the Australian heavy metal/hard rock trio doesnt have any Antarctic-themed songs on this independently-made disc.
SUPER ATRAGON - METAL PULSE MUSIC EDITION (1996)
This CD is the soundtrack to the Japanese animated movie Super Atragon, which itself was based on the Japanese adventure novel series Kaitei Gunkan by Shunrō Ohshikawa and the 1963 live action movie. It tells the story of two American and Japanese submarines lost shortly after the Hiroshima atom bombing. Fifty years later, UN forces are sent to investigate a missing team at an Antarctic base. They find a large black object in the ice cap, aliens from inside the earth and the reincarnated Japanese submarine. The rich soundtrack, with music composed, arranged and conducted by Masamichi Amano, is played by the Warsaw Philharmonic National Orchestra of Poland. The CD includes the track Departure for the South Pole. ADV Music CSA/001
TEKKEN 2 – STRIKE ARRANGES (1996)
This is a collection of various arranged music from Tekkens popular second fighting arcade game series, which contains the synthesizer instrumental Almost Frozen – Antarcticas Theme Arrange Version. It drips with icy and spacey alien sounds, underlain by rhythmic chants. NEC Avenue NACL 1238
TEKKEN 2 – STRIKE FIGHTING Vol. 1 (1996)
This is another collection of arranged music for the TEKKEN 2 series as well as of some TEKKEN 1 musical themes. It has the wind blown synthesizer instrumental Almost Frozen (for Antarctica) - Annas Theme. NEC Avenue NACL 1225
TEKKEN – Original Soundtrack – Namco Game Sound Express Vol. 17 (1995)
This collection of music from the first Japanese Tekken arcade game (released in arcades in 1994 and on PlayStation in 1995), contains the short, energetic synthesizer track, King George Island, Antarctica. Tekken was one of the earliest martial arts fighting game franchises, where players chose characters and engaged in hand-to-hand battles in various locations, including Antarctica. Tekken was the first PlayStation game to sell over a million units. Victor VICL-15039; also released as TEKKEN (1995) JVC-9003-2; another version, TEKKEN (1996) VICL 23120, contains two additional remixes not on the other CDs.
HIGHER UP THE FIRETRAILS by Bluebottle Kiss (1995)
Bluebottle Kiss is a Sydney, Australia-based rock group formed in 1993. Led by Jamie Hutchings, it went through various personnel changes but was active in international touring and recording in the 1990s into the mid-2000s. Their debut CD has the melancholy track One Way Ticket to Antarctica. Sample lyrics: I guess everybodys told you, About my strange disease, Mass appeal will mould you, Anaesthetise your dreams, Mirrors are all broken now, Cause you cant face yourself, Fossils of a nations consciousness, As the brain dead reimburse themselves. I don't want to be left out, Spread the sickness all around, I don't want to climb within, Wallow in myself. Jamie told us about the song in 2012: As its a pretty ancient song I cant give you a lot of background behind it, due to it being written when I was pretty young, but the idea was based on wanting to be or feeling isolated. Murmur MATTCD006; www.myspace.com/bluebottlekiss; www.myspace.com/jamiehutchings
GATHERED ON THE EDGE by Beasts of Paradise (1995)
Beasts of Paradise was a San Francisco, U.S.A. quintet who specialized in delicate, earthy, original world/folk music, played on a variety of exotic instruments, with hypnotic vocals by the incomparable Eda Maxym. One of the tracks is Cuppa Tea, about the origins of natural elements. Sample lyrics: Where has the water been, in my morning cup of tea, Did trilobytes swim, was it the juice in Apples Eve...Where was the air that I breathe, Where was the air around me, Did it run from the sea on its legs, to an earth so green, Was it where elephant seals sing, or on a breeze in Helens perfume. At the seals reference, the music has a great otherworldly, spacey, bubbling accompaniment that the liner notes say was The sound of a Weddell seal, recorded underwater in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica by Dr. Jeanette Thomas, 1976. City of Tribes cotcd 008
BURNING / FILAMENT / ROCKETS by Pelt (1995)
Pelt began as a Virginia, U.S.A-based rock quartet that specialized in free-form guitar and percussion instrumental atmospherics, drones and distortion and by the late 2000s had become the solo project of Jack Rose. This early CD has the unexplained track Shackleton: Incinerator Wheel and Shackleton: Ice Floes, which gives a great electronic and percussive impression of grinding icebergs. The sounds are the equal of any better known atonal symphonic classical pieces that have attempted the same icy effects. Interestingly, the songs are noted as copyright of 1995 Voyages of Polar Exploration. Econogold Records EGO 002
EMOCEAN by Bil Vermette (1995)
Vermette is a veteran Chicago, Illinois-based electronic keyboard artist who has released five CDs of sonic landscapes for the imagination. This one contains the tingly, ethereal Aurora Australis and Antarctic Ice. BILCD 702; www.myspace.com/bilvermette
THE MERIDIAN CROSSINGS - Hermit IV Symposium Plasy 1995 by various artists (1995)
This is a compilation CD largely of live recordings from the Entartic Shelf Festival and recorded in various chapels and rooms in the Plasy Monastery, West Bohemia, Czech Republic. The vocal and instrumental music is improvisational and experimental and includes the title track The Meridian Crossings by the otherwise unidentified group Antarctica. The 2-minute track, recorded in the granary, is very percussive, with bells and a background whine that has hints of a howling katabatic Antarctic wind. The event was an annual international multi-media, interdisciplinary artist residency program on the grounds of a former monastery. It was established in 1992 and largely supported by the Hermit Foundation, which provides assistance to experimental non-commercial cultural activities in Czech Republic. Avik AV 0078-2 931
COBRA – LIVE AT THE KNITTING FACTORY by John Zorn (1995)
New York-based John Zorn is a prolific avant-garde jazz composer and performer (saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist). This CD was recorded live in 1992, and is a series of pieces for group improvisation, with strategies and detailed rules, written on cue cards and co-ordinated by a prompter. Included is the track Acanthopis Antarcticus, which is not a species of Antarctic moss or lichen, despite the interesting name, but rather the Common Death Adder. A native of Australia, it is the worlds fifth most venomous snake. All the tracks on the CD are named after various snakes and cobras. According to the liner notes description, when excited, inflates itself into a sausage shape. Its bite leaves practically no mark. Chiefly active at dusk. Come to think of it, this may also describe many Antarctican party animals, though their bites are thought to be harmless. Knitting Factory Works KFW 124
FECUND HAUNTS by Me (1995)
An interesting, eclectic disc by a Bristol-based British indie rock group, with emphasis on vocals. Includes Green Antarctica Scene. No apparent Antarctic-related lyrics in this track or any band information in the liner notes. Popgod PGCD37
FAX COMPILATION II (1995)
Double compilation CD of ambient background music includes the chilly Antarctica by Daniel Pemberton. Instinct Records FAX-5560-2
ACROSS THE WHITE PLAINS by Deborah Liv Johnson (1995)
This San Diego-based folk artist entitled her CD, and one of the best songs on it, to our ears, in honour of the American Women's Antarctic Expedition, whose four members achieved the South Pole in 1993. In a crystal clear voice, with understated, top-notch musical backing to the haunting melody, she sings, There are no trees, There is no grass that grows, There are no flowers, No autumn leaves to blow, But theres a distance, Where my heart must go, Across the white plains, Across the white plainsAnd in my home on ice, I feel the silence of the night, Sleep has missed my eyes here tonight, The wind will bring the morning, The wind will close my eyes tonight. Mojave Sun Records MS 1233
MUSIC FOR THE FRIENDS OF THE WHALES by Gregor Theelen (1995)
Theelen is a Dutch composer-musician whose New Age orchestrations take us on a soothing whale-seeking journey. One piece is entitled Antarctica, an arrangement of an Eric Satie composition. In an act of pole reversal, the accompanying track notes indicate Life of the whale underneath the ice of the South Pole. There they go to feed. Oreade ORN 5239-2
A CARDI and BLOKE by Les Barker (1995)
Manchester, U.K. humorist, writer and entertainer Barker has recorded a live CD of monologues of parody and wordplay. Included is a track that may have the spoofiest Antarctic title ever, Spot of the Antarctic. Les told us in 2009 about the background for the song: No particular reason; I was playing with words. I do have a fairly extensive collection of books on polar exploration, so I was familiar with the stories of the Scott and Amundsen expeditions, amongst others. After my first ever gig in North America (in Santa Cruz, California) one of the audience told me shed been kissed by Amundsen when she was a small child. An excerpt: As you ply through the snows of December, remember that poor Captain Scott, wasnt he the second to reach the South Pole? Well, no, he was not. Roald Amundsen, he was the first, thats what everyone reckoned – weve all been under a misapprehension; Ive been toald that Roald was the second, when he arrived at his goal a small patch of yellow snow marked it, for who was the first to the Pole? - Spot of the Antarctic. It was an elementary mistake that put Roald out of the hunt - how can the man on the back of the sledge beat the doggie thats tied to the front? Mrs. Ackroyd Records DOG 011
A double CD compilation of Les Barkers songs and poems was issued in 2003 as GUIDE CATS FOR THE BLIND, which includes a reading of Spot of the Antarctic by Nonny James. Osmosys OSMO CD 020/21
TALL CLOUDTREES by Aqueous (1995)
British electronic keyboard duos CD of live improvised instrumentals contains the languid Antarctica (Swimming under Ice). HERM 222
AMERICA ROSA by America Rosa (1994)
America Rosa is an Edmonton, Canada-based hot Latin music group that plays a range of styles from traditional dance music to contemporary. Still going strong in 2013, the group has grown from a quintet to ten members, led by original member and vocalist Sergio Gonzalez Jr. On its Website, the band says that America represents both the North and South Americas while Rosa describes the natural beauty of the countryside you find when traveling through these continents. Together they could be thought of as The Beautiful Americas - which is what we truly feel they are. One of the unusual and unexpected songs on the disc is the mysterious and percussive 2-minute instrumental Antarctica. www.americarosa.com
MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by H. P. Zinker (1994)
H. P. Zinker was a New York City-based heavy rock power trio led by Austrian native singer/guitarist Hans Platzgumer, which disbanded shortly after this record, for which the cover art received a Grammy Award nomination. Platzgumer has since moved to Germany and gone on to success in electronic music for his own account and as producer for various groups. In addition he has toured, written books and done film soundtrack and multimedia work. This disc is named after the title of an Antarctic novella by early 1900s American horror/suspense writer H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness, in which Antarctic explorers discover horrors in a long lost underground city. Included on the CD is the dense, hard rocking track Mountains of Madness, in which the lyrics are direct quotes from a passage in the story when a group of scientists in an airplane first spy the jagged line of witchlike cones and pinnacles that become part of the setting for the horrors that follow beneath the Ice. Energy Records NRG 81113-2; www.platzgumer.net
DISTANT MUSIC by various artists (1994)
This is a Finnish compilation CD of electronic instrumental music. It contains the bubbly track Hypnologique (Antarctic) by Corporate 09, formed in the early 1990s by the Finnish duo of Mika Vainio and Pertti Grnholm, who later carried on with the group name as a solo performer. Unitunes UNI–1.
ABOUT PATHOLOGICAL HAMBURG by Mariann Kfer (1993) (Web site download only)
Mariann Kfer was a Paris, France-based early 1990s experimental, industrial electronic music duo. They recorded numerous tapes, went their separate musical ways in 1995 and then reunited in 2010 for further recordings. This album was originally recorded as a cassette and includes the 7-minute track Antarctica Hysteria, which is a good impression of a howling, grating Antarctic whiteout. The group told us in 2012 about the track title: It was in reference to Arctic Hysteria by the Residents (an American avant-garde performance and musical collective), on the album ESKIMO (1979). Nothing more, I think. UUU036; www.gurdulu.org/mariannkafer.htm; www.gurdulu.org/sitemk/discog.htm; www.myspace.com/guuurduuuluuu
LE DONNE DEL MONDO by Antartica (1993)
This is an Italian mini-CD of five non-Antarctic pop-rock tracks and the album title track (The Women of the World), by the Italian group Antartica, was the winner of a 1993 song contest. Polydor 859 545-2
BEN ELTON LIVE 1989 by Ben Elton (1993)
Ben Elton is a brilliant award-winning British comedian, writer and director, known in North America largely because of his scripts for the late 1980s British Blackadder comedies featuring Rowan Atkinson, his compilation work for the 2003 musical We will Rock You and his work with Andrew Lloyd Webber, lately involving a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. In the early 1980s Elton became a huge stand-up comedy success, which has continued in the 2000s. This CD was made during 6 sell out shows at London, Englands Hammersmith Odeon and concludes with the track Antarctica. The 3-minute track is in tune with his other eco-friendly hilarious tirades on the disc but may be the least funny material on it but reflects the real fears of conservationists prior to the eventual implementation of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. Our polite, edited transcription of the track follows:
Lets consider the evil that we do upon this world, weve destroyed it like a colossus, lets face it. Lets look at something big to compare against our smallness. Ill tell you a big fact, its only little but its also big. Did you know the ecosystem in Antarctica is so delicate that a footprint in the moss would last for 10 years? A dedicated environmentalist, despite the fact that vegetation is very scarce in the Antarctic, a dedicated environmentalist sought out possibly the only patch of moss in the entire subcontinent and stamped on the bastard and thus learned the world of the infinite fragility of the last great wilderness. And Im here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that we, the British people, are supporting our government and many other governments in the world to develop the Antarctic. Thats the word theyve chosen, to develop, well wank, wank, wank. God didnt do a good enough job, yet were going to go down there and improve it, were going to develop it. They use the word develop to sanitize it. Look, if a footprint lasts 10 years, how long is the rubbish from the first Antarctic McDonalds going to last? How long are the drill platforms going to stay, forever, a long time, longer than even British Telecom understand when they say theyll be around soon to put in your new phone in, thousands of years. And theyre going to develop it. As I speak, there are people in the Antarctic being paid for by us, making decision that will outlive them by 50,000 years. The human race has only been in existence twice that long. They really must have some confidence, eh? Call me an old hippie if you will, but ladies and gentlemen, we are not big enough for the decisions we are taking, but if we all realize how small we are, then how big we would be. Laughing Stock LAFFCD 16
THE DUPLEX PLANET HOUR by David Greenberg, music by Terry Adams (1993)
Greenberg began The Duplex Planet in 1979 as a small-scale publisher of the stories and conversations of nursing home residents, presenting them as individuals in their current states, not only as people with past histories. The concept has grown to include other forms of media, including spoken-word and musical CDs, musical and theatrical shows, books and public radio programs. This CD of narrated stories, with music composed by NRBQs Terry Adams, includes the short track The South Pole, a narration of a story told to Greenberg by Arthur Wallace, about his mistake in signing up for the Byrd South Pole Expedition of 1928-29 and his dreams about it. According to the liner notes, Up until then, Arthur had always been very precise and factual in his recounting of events historical, political and otherwise. Over the years he always kept himself abreast of world events and it was remarkable for me to hear a slow dissolve of this precision; his facts were becoming dislodged. And in a way it seemed as though it was a survival technique of some sort, although an unconscious one. His mind was helping him make sense of things which made no sense to him - his pain and dying. In this last story Arthur told me, he makes reference to Byrd and his expedition to the South Pole. The expedition was, in fact, recruited in the Boston area and Arthur would have been aware of this at the time. But he didnt go, or even sign up. He told me this lying in his bed, and it was the last time I saw him. East Side Digital ESD 80762
WAITING FOR THE LOVE BUS by the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy (1993)
Formed by Pat Fish, this British rock group of revolving members issued many CDs of melodic, literate rock in the 1980s and 90s. Pat Fish has been playing as a solo act in the 2000s. The CD has the anthemic song Penguins, with a very simple tune that will be impossible to erase from memory after a few listenings.
The lyrics may be the most succinct existential summary of a penguins Antarctic life ever put on paper: We are penguins. We are penguins. We are flightless. We are standing on our eggs. In the snow. Coz we're penguins. And were standing on the ice floe. Of the Antarctic. And its freezing. We are penguins. Only penguins. We are flightless. We are standing in the snow. Without food. Coz were penguins. Its what we do. On the ice floe of unknowing. And its freezing. We are penguins. We are penguins. We are flightless. And quite amusing. You can laugh if you want. Coz were penguins. And were standing in the space. That you have left us. And its freezing. Creation Records crecd 156; www.jazzbutcher.com; www.myspace.com/patfish77
MOVING WINDOW by Cathie Travers (1993)
Cathy Travers is an Australian musician whose CD includes her first completed work, the instrumental track, Antarctic Defeat, scored for clarinet, percussion, piano and synthesizers. In the liner notes, Cathy explains that At the time of writing this piece I had recently seen a television documentary about Antarctica. The stark contrast of witnessing a HUGE blue iceberg majestically rolling over and then viewing abandoned scientific bases which have now become mini rubbish tips, created an emotional impact which stirred my creative effort. The mood of the piece reflects my hope that the might of tourism and mining will not eclipse the struggle to preserve a wondrous site. A Sunset Music Production CTCD01; available from the Australian Music Centre; www.amcoz.com.au/
SHREWD – A Compilation of NZ Womens Music (1993)
This compilation of womens rock music honoured the fact that in 1893 New Zealand women became the first to gain a national electoral vote and celebrated the increasing amount of womens music heard in the country. Included is Cathy Bulls track Antarctic which, however, has a flat vocal track buried in the music and the lyrics are undecipherable. Flying Nun Records FNCD270 D31025
SAME RIVER, SAME SONG by Kym Pitman with Ibis (1993)
Mellow nature-attuned acoustical folk music from an Australian group. Their haunting, melancholy song Antarctica ends with the farewell wish, so stand pure and free you southern land, forever left to mother natures hand, there is so much we all can gain, by leaving this windswept land unstained. Available in North America as Small World Music, Inc. NS 1431 CD
SEA POWER - A GLOBAL JOURNEY by Michael Whalen (1993)
This is the soundtrack to a joint U.S./Japanese/British television series of the same name, which examined the power and mystery of the oceans, including the frozen pack ice of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. Narada Cinema ND 66005
WE ARE ALL EARTHLINGS – Sesame Street (1993) (Cassette only)
The famous TV Muppet characters appeared on this eco-themed cassette, which includes the track Antarctica!, sung by Anything Muppet Travel Agents and Penguins. Sample lyrics: If youre sick of being hot, why not try a place thats not - Antarctica! Antarctica! Where all you see is snow and ice – the new vacation paradiseWont get much sun, it doesnt matter. Youll love the way your teeth will chatter Night lifes great, you cant go wrong. Cause nights down here are six months long If you like it when its snowing and the icy winds are blowing, just head south and keep on going to Antarctica! Antarctica!...Wanna shudder, shake and shiver? Come to us, cause we deliver. Antarctica! Antarctica! Golden 5212-1;
ZALDIBOBO by Basajaun (1992)
Basajaun was a Spanish Basque folk and rock group, active in the early 1990s, led by vocalist/guitarist Mixel Ducau and vocalist/accordionist Joseba Tapia. They made two albums that mixed electric guitar-based rock with accordion-flavoured folk/Zydeco-sounding music. This, their first record, had the 5-minute quiet guitar-driven rock ballad Antartika. Mixel told us about the track in 2014: When I wrote all the music for this album, I had to propose some themes to several authors because Im a musician and not a writer. For a long time I had this fascination for the Antarctic, without having been there (still true today!). So for this slow and majestic music, I thought Antarctica was the right theme and Itxaro Borda wrote the lyrics very well. Elkar
LIVING PLANET by Peter Lennon (1992) (reissued 2012)
Peter Lennon is a U.K.-based guitarist and musician who has released a number of albums, has composed music for commercials and television and runs his own music production company. This CD of guitar-based jazz/rock instrumentals, backed with saxophone, keyboards and percussion, has the 3½-minute track Antartica. 02001; www.lennonmusic.co.uk
UNDER THE ANTARCTIC by Ivan Hajek, Inga Sira & Rolf Berger (1992)
This is a CD of modern accordion music by the trio of Czech native and Germany-based master accordionist Hajek, backed by drummer Berger and percussionist Sira. The liner notes describe their music as being as mysterious as the continent of Antarctica. Included is the enigmatic sounding 3-minute track Antarctic. hs 0003; www.ivan-hajek.de
WENN ICH DOCH EIN WOLF WR by Joana (1992) (Web site download only)
Joana (a.k.a. Johanna Emetz) is a veteran German singer-songwriter and TV entertainer whose career began in the late 1960s. Still active in the 2000s, she has recorded over 20 records of pop music and has received many awards. This 1992 disc (IF I WERE A WOLF), has the punchy track Antarktika. The CD seems to be out of print but the tracks are available on iTunes and other Web sites. Merkton; www.joana.de
DREAMS ON FIRE by Boom Crash Opera (1992)
Boom Crash Opera, a pop/rock band formed in 1985 in Melbourne, Australia, has had numerous CDs and chart successes in their home country. Though there have been personnel changes, the band was still together in 2009 and issued a new CD of acoustic performances of previously released songs with a DVD. Their 1992 Dreams on Fire EP included the track Antarctica, a twangy, moody instrumental. The group told us in 2009 that The reason for the name Antarctica was purely inadvertent. Perhaps because the melodies conjured images of desolation and/or beautywe are not really sure! East West/Warner Music Australia 903175894-2; www.myspace.com/boomcrashoperabco.
PSYCHIC DOME by Mathias Grassow (1992)
Ambient spiritual synthesizer music from Germanys Grassow includes the 17-minute dirge Antarctica Iceland. Mathias told us in 2005 that Its long ago, that I composed this piece. After several listenings, I decided that this music had to do with a cold solitude - not in a romantic way, but more in its merciless strength against life, as the South Pole represents. The might of nature is in this piece. I always like to describe landscapes with my music. Aquarius International Music AIM 0013; www.mathias-grassow.de
ANTARCTICA by Corinne Allal (1992)
Allal is an established Israeli singer/songwriter, whose song Antarctica is a soft rocker sung in Hebrew. Lyrics include thoughts such as There are no horses that speak Hebrew, there are no people who do not die, Search in AntarcticaLove is a light that comes and goes, If you ask for it forever, Search in AntarcticaAnd I stand here with you, Not your princess forever, Search in Antarctica. NMC Marketing (1992)/CBS 462886-2
HYPNOVEL by Mighty Force (1992)
Repetitive percussion and synthesizers from this American group, including the track Antarctica. Sub Bass/Relativity 88561-1148-2
CANDY ON THE CROSS by David J (1992)
The mini-CD of a forthcoming album contains a version of John Cales Antarctica Starts Here. David J. has been a member of British bands Bauhaus, the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy and Love and Rockets. MCA Records MCADM 54424; www.davidjonline.com
ALTEREAL by Emeric Donath (1992) (cassette only)
Toronto, Canada-based Donaths record of experimental jazz/rock improvisations includes the 2-minute instrumental track Antarctica, a pleasant snowstorm of a pastiche of bongos/horn/bass and other instruments. BEAM103
BURNING THE HARD CITY by Djam Karet (1991, reissued 2000)
Djam Karet is a Topanga, California-based progressive rock group, formed in 1984, which began with a reputation for live jams incorporating music from various influences. The original four members are still in the group as at 2010. Over its lifetime the band has moved from guitar excursions to more tightly controlled acoustic sounds. This early CD has the guitar work-out At the Mountains of Madness, based on the title of H. P. Lovecrafts spooky novella about a 1930s Antarctic expedition gone wrong. In 2010 we asked Chuck Oken, jr., the groups drummer, percussionist and keyboardist about the track. He said: I read the story and lots of others by H. P. Lovecraft and in the final composition of the song, the tension and melodies seemed to reflect that story and title well. Musicians are often inspired by bits of literature or titles/lines in poetry and of course, the visual arts of painting and photography, while artists and writers often use music in the background while they do what they do. Quite a relationship in the end. Cuneiform Records Rune 128; www.djamkaret.com; www.myspace.com/djamkaret
THINK POSITIVE by Boys are Back in Town (1991) (Web site download only)
Boys are Back in Town was a Randers, Denmark-based rock group from the period 1988-1995, touring Europe and issuing two albums. This one has the melodic 5-minute Antarctic Nightclub. In 2013 they played several reunion concerts in 2013 and their music was been re-leased in 2014. For twenty years they have been working under the name Muddi & Salamidrengene as a very successful childrens music act. www.muddi.dk
UNDER A BELGIAN MOON by William Souffreau (1991)
Souffreau is a veteran Belgian rock/blues singer/songwriter with over 40 years of performances under his belt. This was his first CD and has the track Antarctica. In 2008 William told us that My motivation (for the track) those days (1990) was to hear that even Antarctica was in danger from all the things that we as humans do to this blue planet. Theres also always been a great connection from Belgium with Antarctica (Adrien De Gerlache), and that history I learned in my schooldays can maybe also play a role in why I, as a Belgian, wrote this song. But I wont save this fascinating country with one simple song...I hope the music can. Unfortunately, the CD is out of print has been unavailable for review. Cobra CR78; www.williamsouffreau.be; www.myspace.com/williamsouffreau
THE FLYING PENNTA – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1991)
This is the soundtrack for a very elusive Japanese film about Antarctica and its Adlie penguins. The soundtrack music was composed by Tohru Shigemi and performed by him on synthesizers, with accompaniment by additional musicians. Amongst the pleasant New Age and rock instrumental tracks are titles such as The South Pole, One fine Morning, I woke up in a Penguins Colony, Spring, Punta Arenas, Santiago Strut, and A Song of Birth. The last song on the CD is Melt, sung by Julia Fordham, a veteran British writer-singer who has recorded many albums since the late 1980s. The lyrics are appropriately icy and prescient of climate change: Like a mountain of ice, you move me inside, all through these cold dark waters and the complex ecology of life At the eleventh hour - will you be holding my hand, will we be innocent victims of some crazy battle for power, these unforgivable crimes devastating this land. Well I dont mind admitting that theres some things Ill never understand. And I, and I melt. Inside Im melting. In this endless winter of our time, endless winter of our time, Im melting, Im melting, Im melting. The cover and booklet have lots of photos of penguins in various fledging stages of development as well as photos of icebergs and shoreline scenes. Virgin Japan VJCP-28058; THE FLYING PENNTA – ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK (1991) was also issued as a 3 mini CD with just two tracks from the main soundtrack album: The South Pole and Melt, sung by Julia Fordham. The small CD and case may well be a collectors item and the front cover has a photo of an Adlie penguin, more Adlies on a frozen shoreline on the back, plus a shot of a tabular iceberg. Virgin Japan VJDP-10162; I THOUGHT IT WAS YOU by Julia Fordham (1991), YRC 69, was 4-song cassette single, which included the song Antarctica. Its first appearance on CD was in 2013 on the reissued, deluxe two-CD reissue of Fordhams original SWEPT CD of 1991. In the 2013 reissue it appears on the bonus CD of non album B-sides, remixes and alternate takes. Julia told us about her Antarctic tracks in 2013: Many years ago, I was asked by a Japanese company to be involved in two movies about the Antarctic. One was about penguins, and I covered a song called Melt (that two of my friends wrote for that) and then Antarctica was for the other film. The crazy thing is, I dont even know if the movies came out, but if they did I would love to see how the songs worked with the picture, as I was really proud of them! Cherry Pop CRPOPD122
RUDE AWAKENING by Andy Irvine (1991)
This veteran British Celtic-folk musician began his music career in the 1960s and was a member of prominent Celtic groups such as Sweeneys Men and Planxty. His second solo album has three noteworthy songs about Antarctic explorers and events. The 4-minute title track, Rude Awakening, recounts the disappearance and deaths of Captain Aeneas MacIntosh and Victor Hayward in 1915 on the sea ice of McMurdo Sound. They were part of the Ross Sea party of Shackletons Endurance Expedition, responsible for laying supplies across the Ross Ice Shelf for the Endurance party following their planned trek across Antarctica. According to the song liner notes: With the comforts of the base hut nearly in view, a gale blew up and blew them out into the open sea on an ever diminishing piece of ice - with fatal consequences.
Irvine sings, Well the game was lost half way across/ A furious gale set the ice in motion/ And for this old pro its the end of the show/ And this is no way to go out on the ocean/ If you act in haste youll repent at leisure/ History will say he should have known better/ Outward bound on a final trip/ And I have a sinking feeling that Im on a sinking ship.
The second Antarctic song is the 6½-minute Douglas Mawson, whose epic and tragic Antarctic journey has been referred to as probably the greatest story of lone survival in Polar exploration. A man of incredible determination and strength of character, he weighed 210 lbs. of muscle and bone at the outset of his journey which had become 112 lbs. of skin and bone on his return.
During the 1911-13 Australasian Antarctic Expedition, Mawson lost his two sledging companions, Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz, his dog teams, tent and most of his supplies while far from home base. His return from near-death is a classic story of survival.
As Irvine tells the tale, The soles of my feet became detached/ Teeth, nails, muscles are all gone/ Down icy pits I fell through space/ Til brought up by my harness trace/ Give up, theres no point in going on/ Three weeks I staggered on across the ice/ Then a cairn of snow by sheer chance I struck/ A letter there told the tale of searching men that very day/ Even now, I cant believe my luck/ My pulse was racing as I saw the men/ My journey at an end, no more to do/ My skeleton was easily raised/ And gently on the sledge was laid/ My God, they cried, which one of them are you?
The third song, Love To Be With You, has references to Robert Scotts fateful South Pole Expedition in 1910-12. Lyrics: We pulled up our anchor and set sail in sweet November/ That day was fine, the sun did shine/ Such moments I remember/ Your face so sad and lonely, fading from my view/ But some small part of me remains with you/ Chorus: Sometimes I feel I must just fly away/ Sometimes I feel goodbyes a word I just cant say/ But Id love to be with you/ Id love to be with you./ Outside the blizzard raging cares not for our distress/ The bitter taste of failure so nearly sweet success/ Brave enough we were alas, to no avail/ Such stories we could tell you/ Had we lived to tell the tale/ Chorus/ The music I heard at the moment I was born/ Was like crystal raindrops falling at dawn/ All my life Ive listened just to catch one sweet refrain/ And gave up hope of hearing that sweet sound again/ I heard it all around me now/ I heard it all around me now/ I heard it all around me now/ I heard it all around me now.
Andy told us about these tracks in 2015: I was always interested in Antarctic explorers and from an early songwriting age I had it in mind to write a few songs on the subject. Douglas Mawsons story is almost unbelievable and his courage, fortitude and stamina were miraculous. I wrote the song about him in 1988 after reading a book called This Accursed Land by Lennard Bickel. Im not sure now if that book is a little bit racy - I never saw the details of Mertzs biting of his finger again and have some doubt as to its veracity. I visited the Mawson Institute in Adelaide after that and was always struck by the fact that the people who worked there referred to Mawson as Sir Douglas, as if he were still alive. The song, Douglas Mawson, is still in my repertoire but does not get sung very often as its quite difficult to play. I did re-record it in the outback of Australia on a recent album I recorded there called PARACHILNA (2013) with Rens van der Zalm).
The other songs on that album about Antarctic exploration are Rude Awakening and Love To Be With You (vaguely). Rude Awakening was needed, I thought, to balance the story that Shackleton never lost a single man under his command. The story of the Ross Sea party is harrowing in the extreme when one remembers that Shackleton never even landed, let alone started his drive for the pole. I made it a little bit lighthearted; there were too many serious songs on that album! (Last time I listened to it, I had to go and have a lie-down halfway through!!). Love To Be With You was vaguely about Scott. I had the chorus from a song Id written many years before and had also written a couple of verses about Scott years before; I managed to fit the two together and I wrote the verse about the birth music and hearing it again, finally, on his death bed in the tent - a motif that I still like a lot. Green Linnet Records, Inc. CLCD 1114; www.andyirvine.com
THE LIVING WORLD - Volume 2 by James Hillside (1990)
Andy Quin (working as James Hillside) is a London, U.K.-based composer and pianist who has been making music for films and television since the 1980s. To 2015, he has also created over 60 albums of themed music for music production libraries. According to the CD notes, the music is atmospheric impressions for Nature featuring keyboards and sampling machines. One of the tracks on this album, with music composed for various geographical locations and natural phenomena, is the 2-minute Antarctica, described in the notes as icy, weird textures, leading into haunting melody - slow. De Wolfe Music DWCD 0088; www.andyquinmusic.com
ECHOES OF OLD LOVE SONGS by Colin Wilkie (1990)
Colin Wilkie is a British-born singer/songwriter/guitarist whose career developed out of the early 1960s folk scene and he then began touring in Europe with singer/guitarist Shirley Hart, who later became his wife. They settled in Germany in the mid 1960s, where they have recorded, performed on radio, television and in theatre. Colin has recorded or appeared on over 30 LPs/CDs. This CD contains the track Shackleton, Worsley and Crean, which dramatically tells the tale of the famous 1914-16 Endurance Expedition and the climb the trio made over South Georgias mountains to reach help at the Norwegian Stromness whaling station. Sample lyrics: We sailed for Antarcticas acres of snow, Were trapped in a slow-closing vice; Our ship The Endurance failed to endure The embrace of the ravishing ice...Alost and alone our spirits sank low, As the warship of Death hove near, Till Shackleton said: Lads, were going to go home, first to Elephant Island well steer. The sound is the sun of an ivory coast, with a climate humid and hot, But no elephants lumber across this bare isle, and the jungles a tangle of rockNear one thousand miles they sailed. They reached South Georgias rugged south side: Where no man had landed before. Their courageous craft was shattered and torn By the terrible teeth of the shore. Theres only one way if were going to fetch help For our comrades we left behind on Elephant Island, Shackleton said, We must walk to Stromness, or theyll die. So Canny Jack Shackleton, Worsley and Crean Fixed screws to the soles of their boots; Marched over the mountains unexplored range, With no map to charter their route Colin told us in 2009 that Many years ago I read a book entitled Of Whales and Men by Dr. R. B. Robertson, which tells of his life on his first voyage as doctor on a whaling expedition. I havent got the book to hand, so cant give you any details; but somewhere he relates the story of Shackletons travels, and how he, with Worsley and Tom Crean set out to get help for the stranded crew. I was absolutely enthralled by this amazing story, and it was that which eventually inspired me to write the song. Shamrock Records 1009-2; www.colinwilkie.de; www.myspace.com/colinwilkie
HOODOO TRAIN by The Hellcats (1990)
The Hellcats were a Memphis-based, usually all-female indie roots/rock group which toured and recorded over 1985-1991, several of whose members went on to further music careers. Their only CD, Hoodoo Train, alternately brooding, swampy and steamy, includes the track Antarctica, a very melodic and strong protest song against industrial exploitation of the continent, written by Lisa McGaughran. First verse lyrics: Meteors, the falling stars go by / Away from city smog that hides the sky / Pristine water washing glacier snow / Other lands explored till nothing grows. / One land left to claim / Rape in moneys name / And turn it black with oil -- Antarctica. Lisa told us in 2009: Indie producer Doug Easley recorded this with us in his Memphis studio years ago. The song is about the consequences if an ecosystem as crucial as Antarcticas is ever disrupted by pollution from commercial accidents. When I wrote the song in 1990, I had been reading Cousteau Society newsletter articles about nations staking claims in Antarctica. The newsletters discussed the organizations worries that mineral plundering or increased human traffic might result in accidents. Shipping oil spills had already occurred by then near Antarctica and Alaska both. In 1991 the Madrid Protocol was drawn up by member nations to prohibit mining in the area for 50 years; it was ratified in 1998. The issues from that period continue to be relevant; lately, the opposite pole is being fought over for oil rights. If we wind up with pipelines at the poles, lets hope nothing goes wrong mechanically that might spoil the most environmentally sensitive areas on the planet. Rose 197 CD; www.myspace.com/thehellcatsmemphis -- official band history page. (Antarctica written by Lisa McGaughran; 1990 Airelle Music (BMI) Administered by Bug; All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.)
BLUE SKY MINING by Midnight Oil (1990)
In the track Antarctica, the legendary Australian eco-rockers sing, There must be one place left in the world where the mountains meet the sea, There must be one place left in the world where the waters real and cleanThere must be one place left in the world where the skin says it can breathe, Theres gotta be one place left in this world, Its a solitude of distance and relief, Theres gotta be one place left in this world There must be one place left in this world where we can be. Lead singer Peter Garrett, a two-term president of the Australian Conservation Foundation and on the International Board of Greenpeace, was elected a member of Australias Parliament in 2004. In 2007 he became Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, which includes the management of the countrys Antarctic affairs. Columbia CK-45398
EARTH: VOICES OF A PLANET by Paul Winter (1990)
A tribute to the 20th anniversary of Earth Day by this prominent, spiritual, earth-friendly jazz musician. The disc includes songs dedicated to each continent, including Antarctica. Living Music Records, Inc. LD 0019
LIBERTY by Duran Duran (1990)
1980's glam-rockers from Britain included a pleasant song called My Antarctica on this CD – in this place nothing changes, my Antarctica. Capitol CDP 7 94292 2
UNIVERSAL PERSPECTIVES by Universal Perspectives (1989)
Universal Perspectives was a Freetown, Massachusetts-based progressive rock trio. Their only CD has the 5-minute instrumental Antarctica. Carbon-14 Records 143-C
HERE WE STAND by Torvill & Dean (1989) (cassette only)
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are famed British skaters who received unprecedented perfect scores from all judges for artistic impression in the ice dance program at the 1984 Winter Olympics. They won the gold medal for their interpretation of Ravels Bolero. After becoming professionals, they returned to the 1994 Olympics as amateurs and won a further bronze medal. They continued dancing, separately and as a pair and in 2006 began their involvement in the British TV program Dancing on Ice, in which celebrities were trained to dance before judges, as well as continuing with live tours. This cassette, an Australian production, presents their capable singing, backed by various choirs and singers, of a variety of middle-of-the-road contemporary hits. A great surprise is the inclusion of a soothing New Age instrumental, Antarctica, written by G. Frittman and K. Stanton, who also wrote other vocal tracks on the cassette. Hammard CAS HAM 196
CHOOSING SIDES by Joanne Rand (1989)
From the U.S West Coast, Rand is a full voiced folksinger-songwriter with a good piano-backed protest song Antarctica. Well theres a great big hole growing over Antarctica, And theres a great big hole growing in the heart of America. And its growing every day. Pretty soon were gonna blow away, When the sky comes tumbling down someday. Homefire Productions HF 1000; www.joannerand.com
COOL ISLAND by Cusco (1989)
This German synthesizer group has recorded many thematic CDs over the years and their polar instrumental disc include three Antarctic themes, Aurora, Antarctic Continent and the bouncy Penguin Dance, in addition to Arctic titles. Prudence 398.6142.2; www.bscmusic.com
LAST DAYS OF THE CENTURY by Al Stewart (1988, reissued 1997)
Stewarts Antarctica may be one of the most swinging Antarctic songs we have heard, with lyrics such as: Who knows what the powers may be that cause a man to go mindless of the dangers out across the virgin snow. The Scottish soft-rocker was reported to have introduced his song in concert as follows: In England, just south of where I was born, there was a fascination with going to the South Pole: we had two explorers that tried it at the beginning of this century. There was Shackleton, who was the punk-rocker of polar exploration; he believed in making minimal preparation, just going, putting on a warm sweater and seeing how far he got, and needless to say, he never got to the South Pole. He nearly died a few times, but never made it. There was another man called Scott, who was a boyhood hero to English people because he died on the way home. He actually got there, but that wasnt important. What was important was that he died coming back again. In England we revere people not for what theyve done, but for whether or not they died while they were doing itof course, this song isnt about any of this, its about a very cold and frosty woman. EMI 7243-8-21616 2 2. Also available in the 2005 Stewart compilation box set JUST YESTERDAY.
COLD AS ICE by Mariska Van Kolck (1988) (Vinyl LP only)
Mariska Van Kolck is a versatile Dutch singer who had several Europop and disco singles in the late 1980s. She went on to a larger career in television and stage musical performances and as a solo performer. This mini-record from her early days has three versions of the danceable disco title track, including Cold As Ice (The Antarctic Version). Red Bullet R.B. 12.58
DESCANSO DOMINICAL by Mecano (1988)
This Spanish pop/dance group's Heroes de la Antartida may possibly be the worlds only vocal dance track homage to Robert Scott and his groups fateful return attempt from the South Pole. Ariola 8 516-2-RL
THE CONTINENTS - An Electronic Suite by Mickie Willis (1988)
American Willis recorded this continental imaginary journey throughout the world on a digital Synclavier keyboard in 1987. Included is the ho-hum seven-minute icy eternity of Antarctica. NEBULA NU 5005
DREAMS OF FLIGHT by Edgar Meyer (1987)
Edgar Meyer is a Tennessee, U.S.A.-based virtuoso double bassist and multi-instrumentalist/composer/music scholar whose styles range from classical to jazz and bluegrass. He has won many prestigious awards and may be best known for two commercially popular collaboration CDs, Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey, both with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Mark OConnor. The latter disc won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album in 2000. This instrumental CD is one of Edgars earliest and has a colourful cover of an Emperor penguin standing on an iceberg with a penguin silhouette in the background, floating over the sea. The title track Dreams of Flight has Edgar on bass and synthesizer with Mark OConnor soaring on violin. Another penguin-related track is the playful Webbed Fee, with Jerry Douglas on dobro. The final track is the bluegrassy Life in Antarctica (Is Cold and Lonely), with Edgar, Mark OConnor and Jerry Douglas. MCA Records MCAD-5964; www.edgarmeyer.com; www.myspace.com/edgarmeyerdb
ANTARCTICA by John Elder (1987) (Vinyl LP only)
This LP of some strange sounds, as described on the cover, was composed by John Elder, a writer with The Sunday Age newspaper in Melbourne, Australia and co-author with Peter Hillary of the 2004 book In the Ghost Country - A Lifetime Spent on the Edge. He was also a crew member on the Southern Quest, the support ship used by Robert Swan, Roger Mear and Gareth Wood for their 1985-86 In the Footsteps of Scott unsupported trek to the South Pole. While the expeditioners were reaching the Pole, their support vessel was being crushed in the pack ice off Beaufort Island in the Ross Sea. The subsequent return of the party by U.S. transportation became a political football and soured official relations between the U.S. government and private expeditions. The mesmerizing music contains a mixture of hypnotic voices, chants, keyboards, exotic sounding instruments and percussion, which at times seem more Asian and equatorial than Antarctic. The five tracks include Somewhere in the Far South, Somewhere Else in the Far South and One Discreet Dog Team and Other Lonely Moments. The front cover has a photo of a pinkish iceberg and the back has two photos of the sinking Southern Quest. Jarra Hill Records JHR 2004
LIZARDS IN LOVE by Kim Blackburn (1986) (Vinyl LP only)
New Zealand poet and husky-voiced vocalist Blackburn included the 2-minute chant Antarctica on this eco-themed collection of percussive tunes. Lyrics: Antarctica, tica, tica, Oh, Oh, frozen island, glacier faces painted white, white is the colour of the summer nights, can we open your eyes, no rain falls, the polar winds are blowing, Aurora, your colours kiss the sky in a lonely land, the land of the midnight sun. Flying Nun FN064
MUSIC IN THE EXTERNAL WORLD by (This) Hungry Glass (1986) (Vinyl LP only)
Hungry Glass was an Ontario, Canada-based rock group, whose only LP has the track Antarctica, about love gone cold. Sample lyrics: I cant touch you now. How does it feel in Antarctica? Nothing is real in AntarcticaYou know you cut me through sheets of pain. Youll never hurt my life again. You cant touch me nowIll see you down in Antarctica. Theres lots of room in AntarcticaYou cant touch me now. Ill see you down in Antarctica. They say its cold in Antarctica. Hyperspace 001.
OCEANSCAPE by William Goldstein (1986)
According to the liner notes, this is one of the first CDs to be recorded directly from computer via synthesizers to a digital master. The numerous brief orchestral compositions on this Sony Music disc include a very short jumpy piece called Window to Antarctica, noteworthy only for the title. Synthesized musical sounds have mellowed considerably since the era represented on this disc. PEG031/A 33937
VICTORIALAND by Cocteau Twins (1986)
Ethereal instrumental-vocal music from Britain. The album may be named after a part of Antarctica, and includes polar references in the song titles such as Throughout the Dark Months of April and May, How to Bring a Blush to the Snow, Whales Tails and The Thinner the Air. Beggars Banquet CAD 602CD
THE MRS. ACKROYD ROCK N ROLL SHOW by Les Barker (1985)
Manchester, U.K. humorist, writer and entertainer Barkers first CD of monologues, recited with backing by a rock band has the track Weddell Waddle Penguins-O, about what may happen to remote Antarctic researchers who have spent too long in the cold. Les told us in 2009 about the background for the song: No particular reason; I was playing with words. I do have a fairly extensive collection of books on polar exploration, so I was familiar with the stories of the Scott and Amundsen expeditions, amongst others. The Weddell Waddle Penguins is a parody of an old British song, the Raggle Taggle Gypsies.
The transcribed lyrics: The snow lay thick on the Antarctic, while the penguins played at the Pole-eo. Two scientists shut inside their hut, were watching the Weddell waddle penguins-o. They scarce set foot from their warm white hut, sat sending the weather information-o, on graphs and charts, but in their hearts, they wished they were Weddell waddle penguins-o. They saw the snow and the blizzards blow and they oft said so on the radi-o. And the scientists sighed, for deep inside they wished they were Weddell waddle penguins-o. One scientist awoke and he nearly choked at the sight of the note on the table-o. His comrade gorn in the ice cold morn, gone to paddle with Weddell waddle penguins-o. His comrade gone with his snowshoes on and his sealskin slippers like an Eskim-o. And he went outside and he shouted and cried to the wind and the Weddell waddle penguins-o. Well, he took his sledge to the waters edge and there he joined his comrade-o. He lost his head and his goose feather bed just to paddle with the Weddell waddle penguins-o. And what cared he for his morning tea, his meteorological portfoli-o, and his three square meals when he swam with seals and paddled with the Weddell waddle penguins-o. Well, word of this reached the Met Office and the word spread high and the word spread low. Over morning tea, theyre wild and free with the wind and the Weddell waddle penguins-o. Two lumps lease and perhaps theyll freeze with the wind and the Weddell waddle penguins-o. DOG 001; www.mrsackroyd.com
The track Weddell Waddle Penguins is also available on a compilation CD of Les Barker tracks, LES BARKER: PROBABLY THE BEST ALBUM EVER MADE BY ANYBODY IN OUR STREET (1997) Terra Nova TERR CD007
TUBA LOVE STORY by Pinguin Moschner (1985) (Vinyl LP only)
This is a recording of tuba solos, improvised and recorded one evening in 1984. The digital recording was made with the then newly developed dummy head technique, which was supposed to provide a feeling of sitting in front of the instrument, when the record was heard through headphones. The tracks include the tooty Antarctic Love Song. In 2008 we asked Pinguin, who is from Aachen, Germany, about the reason for the track title and he replied, Just look at my name. He has appeared in solo concerts and with groups at events across Europe and has appeared on numerous recordings. Sound Aspects SAS 005
POWERSLAVE by Iron Maiden (1984)
Iron Maiden is a long-surviving British heavy metal band, formed in 1975, and one of the most successful of its genre. This album was their fifth, in a career-spanning output of nearly 40 albums over 40 years, as at 2015. The highlight is the 13½-minute Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the second-longest track in their recorded repertoire. It was based on The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, an epic poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published in 1798, about a mariner who shot an albatross in the Antarctic seas and was doomed to wander and tell his tale. In the bands own lyrics, Driven south to the land of snow and ice, To a place where nobodys been, Through the snow fog flies on the albatross, Hailed in Gods name, hoping good luck it brings. And the ship sails on, back to the north, Through the fog and ice and the albatross follows on. The mariner kills the bird of good omen, His shipmates cry against what hes done, But when the fog clears, they justify him And make themselves a part of the crime. Sailing on and on and North across the sea, Sailing on and on and North til all is calm. The album has been remastered and reissued numerous times. Parlophone 7243496962008
SEMANTICS by Australian Crawl (1983 - Vinyl EP, 1996 - CD)
Australian Crawl, led by singer/pianist James Reyne, was a popular Australian rock group from Victoria State, over 1978-86, being later inducted into the Australia Recording Industry Associations Hall of Fame for their breezy pop but also dark-sided best-selling records. Their fourth recording, the EP SEMANTICS, in 1983, contained the Australian # 1 hit single Reckless (Dont Be So). While not a full Antarctic song, it contained a rare reference to Robert Scott and other explorers and the writer warns himself not to be so reckless as he waits for his girlfriend from the ferry on the Sydney Harbour. Sample lyrics: Feel like Scott of the Antarctic, Base camp too far away, A Russian sun beneath the Arctic, Burke and Wills and camels, Initials in the tree, She dont like that kind of behaviour, She dont like that kind of behaviour, So, throw down your guns, Dont be so reckless, Throw down your guns, Dont be so EMI Music Australia 8147262; www.australiancrawl.com
The song was originally issued on an Australian 4-track EP, SEMANTICS, in 1983 by EMI Australia and in the U.S. and Europe as an expanded full vinyl LP, SEMANTICS (1984), by Geffen Records GEF 25934. This 1996 recording is a remastered version of the original 4-song 1983 EP. ONE NIGHT IN MELBOURNE by James Reyne (2007), Liberation Music LMCD00063, is a CD & DVD combo package of a live performance in which he also performs Reckless. The song has been covered by other artists on the following discs: HIDDEN THINGS by Paul Kelly & The Messengers (1992), Mushroom Records D30748; I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS YOUNG – SONGS FROM THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN SONGBOOK by John Farnham (2005), SONY/BMG 82876743732;
NEW MUSIC FROM ANTARCTICA – Volume I (1982) (Vinyl LP only)
Produced by Kit Fitzgerald and John Sanborn on the new Antarctica label, the LP contains various avant garde jazz/rock tracks written and played by New York musicians, including multi-media artist Jill Kroesen, Ned Sublette, Peter Gordon and David Van Tieghem. The record cover shows a photo of a giant iceberg with an insert of Frank Hurleys famous shot of Shackletons crew on Elephant Island, looking at their rescue ship in the distance. The back cover has the well known Home of the Blizzard photo of men chopping ice in front of Mawsons hut. Antarctica ACR-6201
HELL I WANT MORE by Gillian Scalici (1980) (Vinyl LP only)
This German-produced record has a rocking track called Antarctic Arias, sung in a rock-operatic voice by Scalici, about a would-be diva who sings a song that is wrong for the place where she lives, all the neighbours try to make her feel that they like something elseWhats left but Antarctic ice, to the South Pole then she flies, although it is freezing cold, she quavers arias real bold, she sings a song that is grand for her penguin fans and the tailcoated crowd makes her feel that they love nothing else. Mercury/Phonogram 6435 071; Antarctic Arias was also issued in 1980 as a 45 rpm single, with flip side Urban Cowgirl Jerk. Mercury 6005 086.
ICEBERG by Joel Loret (1979) (45 rpm vinyl single only)
This single by French artist Loret has the two 5-minute instrumental tracks Arctic and Antarctic, which are variations on the same main theme, with Antarctic being the slow version, with a slower New Age/jazz feel
Emotion Record EM 6415
ROCK AND ROLL HERMIT by Malcolm Tomlinson (1979) (Vinyl LP only)
Tomlinson is an ex-British singer/songwriter who moved to Toronto in 1969 and became and remains a local fixture, having played with prominent bands Syrinx, Bearfoot and Rhinoceros. His own group recorded two albums for the A &M label, including this one, which has the slow-rocking song Antarctic Woman, written by Scott Cushnie, his keyboardist. Lyrics: Antarctic woman you know you chill me. Antarctic woman you know you thrill me. If I get back I will be, what you want me to be, throw my compass in the sea, If youll stay with me. Its such a long way to the base comp. I went the wrong way, I lost my heat lamp. So I laid out in the fog and the snow with my dog. And I entered in my log I need your love. Dont freeze me out dont freeze me out. Dont freeze me out dont freeze me out. I want you I need you to know me and show me, What its all about, Antarctic Woman. A & M Records SP 4765
ICE by Margret RoadKnight (1978) (Vinyl LP only)
Margret RoadKnight is a veteran Australian singer-musician, lecturer and teacher who has been entertaining internationally through radio, television, festivals and concerts since 1963. Her styles have included folk, jazz, blues and comedy and social commentary. The first of her 10 solo records was released in 1973 and she has appeared on many compilations with other artists. ICE was her third recording and has two polar-related tracks on the first side, which Margret told us in 2011, were based loosely on the coming of the next Ice Age. Ice, written by the English singer-songwriter Colin Campbell, who lived in Australia in the 1960s/70s, is a very bleak keyboard-based dirge. Sample lyrics: There is a whiteness all around, Looking up I see no sky, Looking out I see no distance, Looking down I see no ground, Only cliffs of ice are moving, Frosty breath the only sound, I hear the ice, I hear the glaciers return. Sample lyrics for the very dramatic and prescient track Prepare Your Bed For Sleeping (The Melting of the Polar Ice-Caps), by Bill Davis: Drowning men die clutching at a straw they are all reaching, You ignore what they are teaching, they are fools, We are farmers growing, we are reaping, we are sowing, We are laughing without knowing, we are fools, Ash to ash, and dust to mud, we sink, we sink beneath the flood, The water dares to quench the blood of foolsMethought I heard the seagull cry a secret it was keeping, Methought I saw the water rise, go softly, gently creeping, Nature floating upside down, drifting like a broken crown, Wind come by and softly soundprepare your bed for sleeping. Tide come in, tide come in, your fingers crawl around my skin, Sink or swim, sink or swim, firmament oblivion, Water rise, water rise, firmament you damn my eyes, End begin, end begin, water to let the end beginTheyre not frowning, theyre not thinking, They are drowning, they are sinking, They will wallow in the tears they cannot show, They are blind, you see, they cannot see, That water is their destiny, It covers them, it covers me. Festival Records L 36334; www.members.iinet.net.au/~margretr/intro.htm. The track, Ice, was also included on a since-discontinued compilation of Margrets work, SILVER PLATTER – the Collection 1975-84 (2001), Festival Mushroom Records.
ENCOUNTERS OF EVERY KIND by Meco (1977) (Vinyl LP only)
This record is a musical time machine voyage through time from the age of dinosaurs to the near future in 1979 from Meco (Domenico) Monardo, a successful 1970s and 1980s American musician and producer of disco-styled music whose records were on the Billboard music charts. Much of his music was based on popular movies of the time, such as Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This LP has the track Icebound, written by Harold Wheeler, a Tony and other award-winning composer, producer and musical director. Its a dramatic 1½-minute instrumental, which the record cover describes as: 1880 A.D. The Antarctic. The ANTARCTCIC!! Trapped. What am I doing HERE!?! Millennium Record Co. MNLP 8004
ROXY & ELSEWHERE by Zappa/ Mothers (1974, CD reissued 2012)
This recording of various live performances during 1973-74 was originally released in 1974 by iconic rock guitarist/vocalist/composer Frank Zappa (1940-1993) and his ever-changing group, the Mothers. One of the songs is the 7-minute Penguin in Bondage, which gets in a snide, cryptic Antarctic reference: Shes just like a Penguin in Bondage, boy Oh yeah, Oh yeah, OhHowlin over to some Antarcticulated moon, In the frostbite night, With her flaps gone white, Shriekin as she spot the hoop across the room. Zappa ZR 3852. Three other live versions of this song appear on the Frank Zappa albums: a 1984 performance on DOES HUMOR BELONG IN MUSIC? (1986, CD reissued 2012), Zappa ZR 3874, a 1988 performance on THE BEST BAND YOU NEVER HEARD IN YOUR LIFE (1991, CD reissued 2012), Zappa ZR 3881 and PENGUIN IN BONDAGE/ THE LITTLE KNOWN HISTORY OF THE MOTHERS OF INVENTIOM (a 2011 digital release of a 1974 Mothers Day performance).
I DONT THINK IT WILL HURT IF YOU SMILE by Norma Tanega (1971) (Vinyl LP only)
Norma Tanega, a singer/songwriter from California, U.S.A. had a #22 hit on the Billboard charts in 1966 with the novelty song Walkin My Cat Named Dog. In 1971, her fifth single release had the B-side track Antarctic Rose, which was included in the above-mentioned LP, her second release. She later turned to art and teaching in California and recorded five CDs in the 1990s and 2000s as an instrumentalist in collaboration with other musicians. In 1999 she appeared as a commentator in a television documentary about the late singer Dusty Springfield, who she knew and for whom she had co-written a song. Norma provided us with a copy of the song in 2009. The lyrics of the bouncy, bluesy track are: You say Ive got Antarctic blues, You know my feet are cold, Ive been living in an iceberg so long Im difficult to hold, Ive been living in an iceberg and Im two billion years old. Antarctic Rose has got the blues, Alaska bluenose blues, The ice refrigerates my heart, Theres nothing for me to lose. The Antarctic froze my lovin earlobes, and Iceland froze my toes, I know whatever the weather, Im minus 10 degrees below. I know whatever the weather, my face is covered up with snow. Aurora Borealis lights have turned my lips cold and blue, A love that lived in snow time flew, and now youre no longer true. The LP was only released in the U.K. as RCA SF 8217 and the single, Antarctic Rose as RCA 2072; www.normatanega.com
SOUNDS OF MY LIFE by Peter Scott (1970) (Vinyl LP only)
Peter Scott (1909-1989) was the only child of famed British Antarctic explorer Robert Scott and was a noted naval officer, conservationist and one of the founders of the World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund). He was also a television personality, painter and world-class sailor. On this album, he describes his early life and conservation career and mentions the letter written in his diary by his father, Robert Scott, to his mother, as he lay dying in his tent in the Antarctic on the fateful return from the South Pole: Make the boy interested in natural history, he wrote. Well, she was quite clever at this and instead of ramming it down my throat and spoiling it for me, she evidently put me in the way of it so that it developed as an enormous consuming interest, which it has been all through my life. One of the tracks is the 7-minute Antarctica, in which Peter briefly describes his two Antarctic visits, described on the cover as Reasons for not visiting Antarctic earlier. Travels to Falkland Islands and McMurdo Sound. The South Pole. Ambitions for the future. BBC Records REC 59M
IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD by the Moody Blues (1968 - Vinyl LP) (1997 - CD)
While not a direct Antarctic song, a cut by this long-popular British rock group has an Antarctic reference. Dr. Livingston, I Presume contains the lyrics Captain Scott, you were so bold, Now youre looking rather cold out there in the snow. What did you find there? Did you stand awhile and stare? Did you meet anyone? Ive seen polar bears and seals, Ive seen giant Antarctic eels. Ive still not found what Im looking for. Deram 422 844 768-2
UNIVERSE/ DEADLY NIGHTSHADE by Richard Hill/ Andrew Jackman (1979) (Vinyl LP only)
This is a British soundtrack of short symphonic atmospheric suites made for stage and screen audio with numerous dramatic and psychological themes. The first side, by Richard Hill, has the two tracks Antarctica and Antarctica Link, a 2-minute mood piece with a shorter summary, reflecting the mystery, tranquility and solitude of the continent. Richard Hill is a veteran British classical, rock and jazz musician, composer and producer who has played in orchestras under world-class conductors and has composed for television, film and theatre. One of Richards projects in 1994 was The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, for operatic tenor, baritone with an electronic score – a 1½-hour musical drama presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Stage and recorded versions were in development in 2011. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was an epic poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published in 1798, about a mariner who shot an albatross in the Antarctic seas and was doomed to wander and tell his tale.
Richard explained to us in 2011: Regarding the Antarctica track, this was commissioned as a library recording only. Like Coleridge, who had only been on the Chepstow ferry before he wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, I had to use my imagination to visualise the scenery! Strangely enough, the Antarctic played a seminal role in the start of my career in music. Whilst at school, I was taken to the Royal Festival Hall to hear Vaughan Williams Sinfonia Antartica, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. I sat directly behind the trombone section and was mesmerised by the music, the conductor - and the sound of those bones at close range! Less then a year later I won an Open Scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where I studied trombone, piano and composition - and played under Sir Adrian for three years, so got to know him really quite well! Inspirational place, your Antarctic!!
Of note, the composer of the second side of this record, Andrew Jackman (d. 2003), was a performer and arranger who was also associated with members of the British art rock group Yes and his father, Bill, played on several Beatles recordings during the 1960s. Bruton Music BRJ11; www.richardhillmusic.co.uk
DA MIRRIE BOYS – SHETLAND TRADITIONAL MUSIC by various artists (1978) (cassette)
This is a compilation of old Shetland Islands fiddle tunes from Scotland, recorded over 1950-52 by Pat Shaw and edited by Peter Kennedy. It includes the 1½-minute Antarctic Ice (McPhersons Rant), played by fiddler Peter Scollay of East Yell. According to various reports, the melody may have been composed and played on the fiddle by the Scot, James MacPherson, in 1700 on the eve of his execution as a highwayman. An earlier story told of the same man, then an Irishman, playing the tune on a bagpipe before being hanged in 1678 for robbery. The tune may also be known as MacPhersons Lament, MacPhersons Rant, MacPhersons Pibroch, MacPhersons Farewell, McPhersons Farewell, McFarsances Testament, MacForsets Farewell, MacFossetts Farewell and The Freebooter. Folktrax FTX-068
LEVIATHAN! Ballads and Songs of the Whaling Trade by A. L. Lloyd (1967) (Vinyl LP)
A. L. (Bert) Lloyd (1908-82) was a prominent English folk singer, folklorist/musicologist and journalist/broadcaster who recorded many albums and published books about folk music. In 1937 he joined a factory whaler, which worked seven months in the whaling grounds of Antarcticas Southern Ocean. He also appeared in the role of a shantyman in the 1956 whaling film, Moby Dick, and recorded numerous records and songs about the sea. Many of his songs were recorded with another leading folk artist of the era, Ewan MacColl.
This album, originally released in 1967, re-issued in 1998 on CD and now available in digital format, has the 2-minute track Paddy and the Whale, about an Irishman who goes to South Georgia on a whaler, is swallowed by a whale and escapes when he is coughed up six months later.
Sample lyrics: Well, Paddy Maloney left Ireland in glee. He had a strange notion to sail the Ross Sea. He shipped in a whale catcher South Georgia bound. And the way that she pitched made his head go around. Well, Paddy had never been whalin before. It made his heart leap when he heard the loud roar, As the lookout he cried that a whale had been spied. Begod, says poor Pat, Ill be ate by and by.
A. L. Lloyds album notes to the song explained: From the latter days of whaling, this jokey remake of the Jonah legend. South Georgia lies east of Cape Horn, toward the fringes of Antarctic. Till recently there was a land station there, to which the whales were brought for flensing and processing. Presumably Paddy and the Whale originated late in the 19th century, though its debatable whether it was a sea-song first and a stage-song after, or tother way round. Irish stage comedians knew it, and perhaps it was one of them who set the words to the tune of The Cobblers Ball. Topic 12T174; released on CD in 1998 as Topic Records TSCD497. This recording was also released on a 1978 German LP, LEVIATHAN! Balladen und Lieder der Walfnger, Plne 52 520.
One of the musicians on the Paddy and the Whale track is fiddler Dave Swarbrick, who became one of Britains most influential folk artists and was a member of the iconic folk-rock group, Fairport Convention. Swarbrick also recorded an Antarctic-themed song, Antarctic Ice. See THE CEILIDH ALBUM by Dave Swarbrick & Friends (2002) in this section.
Folk songs can be constantly in evolution: another version of this song by Lloyd appeared on the record THAR SHE BLOWS! / WHALING BALLADS by Ewan MacColl and A. L. Lloyd (1957), Riverside RLP 12-635 / Washington WLP724. However, in that version, Paddy was an OBrian and was on a Greenland whale catcher. Burl Ives also recorded a version on SONGS OF IRELAND (1958), Decca DL 8444, in which Paddy, an ORyan, sailed instead on a whaler to England.
FOLKLORIC RECORDING: Folk Songs Sung by Harry Robertson and Don Henderson (1967)
This CD is a collection of fifteen songs performed by Robertson and Henderson and recorded on an analog tape recorder by Declan Affley in 1967. It is part of a collection of recordings and related material collected during the 1950s and 1960s by Norm OConnor and others for the Folk Lore Society of Victoria, Australia. It includes Robertsons unaccompanied version of his The Antarctic Fleet. Harry Robertson, a native Glaswegian who immigrated to Australia in 1952, worked during 1950-51 as an engineer with the Norwegian whaling fleet in the Antarctic and wintered over at South Georgia. He became a seminal influence in the Australian folk movement of the 1960s and made an LP in 1971, WHALE CHASING MEN - Songs of Whaling in Ice and Sun. This was released on CD in 2001 by Australias National Film & Sound Archive (www.nfsa.afc.gov.au) and includes an accompanied version of the song. Don Henderson was another singer/songwriter who became an icon of the 1960s Australian folk movement. Declan Affley, a Briton who immigrated to Australia in 1959, was yet another leading figure of the countrys 1960s and 1970s folk era, performing the songs of Roberson and Henderson. He recorded the instrumental The Antarctic Fleet on his own LP in 1967, THE RAKE AND RAMBLING MAN, issued on the Union label, also on Score POL 040 (record not verified). The lyrics to this version of Robertsons The Antarctic Fleet are:
I went down south a while ago, To the land of ice and snow, And 20 pound a month for that, Was all I had to show. They fed me on some pork and beans, Stewed up in a pan, I wished that I was back at home, In dear old Glasgow town.
Chorus: Hey Oh Whale O,
With the Antarctic fleet, I got a drip upon me nose, And Im frozen in me feet.
South Georgia is an island, It is a whaling base, And only men who hunt for
whales, Would live in such a place, Theres little entertainment there, Unless
you drink home brew, And then wed have some singin, Wed have some fightin
too.
Our gunner came from Norway, Like many of our crew, While others spoke with gentle brogues, Like Scotsmen often do, But when the ship was closin in, To make the bloody kill, The Scots and the Norwegians worked, Together with a will.
We sailed into the Weddell Sea, Where big blues can be found, We spent some time a huntin whales, We chased them round and round, And when the whales grew tired, And they stopped to take a breath, Our gunners shot harpoons in them, Till they lay still in death.
Its twenty years since I was there, I wont go back again, I didnt like the climate, but I liked the whalin men, But now even on a sunny day, When Im walkin down the street, Ive got a drip upon me nose, And Ive still got frozen feet. National Library of Australia TRC 2539/81, Record # 7886154; www.musicaustralia.org; (See also WHALE CHASING MEN by Harry Robertson (2001) in the preceding Non-classical, all or significantly Antarctic section.)
GORATH: CALAMITY STAR – ORIGINAL FILM SOUNDTRACK (1962) (reissued 2012) (Web site download only)
Great soundtrack music from the 1962 Japanese science fiction film, directed by Ishirō Tanaka. The orchestral music was composed by Kan Ishii. Based in a near-future 1980, a spaceship is launched into space to track the mysterious star, Gorath that may be on a collision with Earth. The ship is destroyed and the United Nations decide to build atomic thrusters below the South Pole to force the Earth out of Goraths path. Unfortunately, a monster is released from the ice and attacks the polar base. One of the tracks is the 2-minute Construction of the South Pole Base, a musically methodical and ordered portrayal of a difficult job in an unforgiving climate.
CALLING ALL DETECTIVES - Episode #278 (1948) (Web site download only)
Calling all Detectives was a detective/quiz radio program that ran on Mutual-WGN, Chicago from 1945- 50, sponsored by the Sealy Mattress Company. Paul Barnes played Detective Jerry Browning and all the characters, with help from a sound effects man. In the early shows, after a short drama, he called a random phone number from the phone book and the listener was asked to solve the plot, but once the program was syndicated, it became a straight drama. The 8-minute episode of October 4, 1948 was known as A Man Wearing Sleigh Bells Hires Jerry to go to the Antarctic. The story begins, Once in a while a private detective like me, Jerry Browning, gets a case that stops him cold. Jerry tells the tale of a sleigh bell-carrying rich man who invested in an Antarctic venture. The expedition chief has just returned with a sample of iridium and wants more money to launch a mining expedition. The investor asks Jerry to verify the situation and the phony expeditioner is finally caught by his gift of a polar bear cub, which he claims was from the South Pole and which every good detective knows, is only a northern animal. www.archive.org/details/Calling_All_Detectives
AMOS n ANDY – Episode #159 (1948) (Web site download only)
Amos n Andy was an early radio comedy series and one of the most popular in North America, originated in Chicago, U.S.A. by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. Although Gosden and Correll were white, their two characters were African-Americans. The sketches ran as a nightly dramatic serial from 1928 to 1943, then weekly as a situation comedy to 1955 and in disc jockey format to 1960. It was also turned into a TV adaptation for two years in the early 1950s.
In episode #159, Amos Plays Matchmaker, originally broadcast on January 13, 1948, Andy threatens to join Admiral Byrds expedition to Little America for five years in order to escape an unwanted engagement, although the reference is travel to the North Pole, not the South Pole. The episode is in the public domain. www.archive.org/details/AmosAndy286Epspg2Of2
THE MAN CALLED X (1947)
The Man Called X was a popular American espionage radio drama that ran from 1944 to 1955 during the Golden Age of Radio. It began as a summer replacement on CBS for Lux Radio Theatre and then moved to NBC. Briton Herbert Marshall played the lead role of Ken Thurston, an agent who had dangerous capers in many exotic places around the world. In the mid-1950s, the program was made into a television series with Barry Sullivan. In this particular radio episode from April 3, 1947, Antarctic Expedition, Mr. X travels to the tip of South America to track suspicious characters involved in the mysterious earlier death of a scientist on a ship. He ends up on a ship going to Antarctica and foils the culprits, who had plans for uranium production on the continent. Old Time Radio Digital Center; www.onesmedia.com; www.otr.biz
ADVENTURES OF ADMIRAL BYRD (c. 1934)
Also known as Admiral Byrds Antarctic Adventures, this American radio show was broadcast on the CBS Network for 15 months over 1933-35 during Richard Byrds second Antarctic expedition. The program was sponsored by Grape Nuts Flakes, which made available many trinkets for its audience, such as medals, buttons and a much sought-after commemorative watch. The episodes were sent by short wave from Antarctica to Buenos Aires and then to New York. The shows included skits, musical numbers and news from the expedition camp, Little America. In this particular 11½-minute episode, Mail Coming, there is an introduction by famed polar explorer Richard Byrd, followed by a loose comedic skit about a prank incoming radio transmission from home with love letters directed at one of the men, complete with cheesy organ interludes and howling winds. www.archive.org/details/Adventures_Of_Admiral_Byrd
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A good place to search for Antarctic-themed music is the iTunes.com Web site store. The use of any Antarctic related word in the search box may reveal a world of single tracks, albums or even podcasts that might otherwise not be available on hard copy CDs. Other good sources are cdbaby.com and Amazon.com.
The MP3.com web site for downloadable music was a very fluid and evolving collection in the early Web days. Available tracks came and went but we have seen titles such as Swimming for Antarctica by Lee Asbury and even a band called Antarctic Beach Party. The following Antarctic-related tracks were available on full CDs:
ALIEN WORLDS by S.A. Fred - Antarctic Pursuit (2955845907 - 28341)
DOWN by Warcrime - Antarctic (2955845907 - 3477)
SASSYSTARX - Arctic/Antarctic (2955845907 - 7748)
TRI-STATE KILLING SPREE - Antarctica (9955848216 - 11970)
EVOLUTION OF ORIGAMI by Word Search - Antarctica (955848216 - 21358)
ANTARCTICA RECONSIDERED by Dan Fioretti - Antarctica Reconsidered (9957665324 - 25683)
DREAMTIME909 by Dreamtime909 - Antarctica (71005524414 - 134101)
FILMSCAPES 1 by Shiver - Antarctica (71005524414 - 81632)