Jacob Kirkegaard

Danish field recording artist Jacob Kirkegaard’s latest work features the sound of Mother Earth letting off steam. Collecting sounds via accelerometer — a type of microphone inserted into the Earth — his main areas of interest are the geyser-strewn regions of Iceland. Unlocking the Earth’s geothermal vibrations gives access to auditory effects normally unobserved in ordinary human experience. As mysterious experiences go, this one is superficially mundane. The treated rumblings have a uniform quality common to most non-dynamic loud sound sources. Minimal filtering to alter tone and volume varies the experience slightly, giving the impression of echoing voids or increased agitation. The cumulative effect of such consonant evidence is a purity of experience that can be moving, in many ways. In naming each of the nine tracks after a different mythology’s mother goddess figure, Kirkegaard intimates the breadth and commonality of this hidden soundworld.