ARTIST...: Sam Mallet
TITLE....: Wetlands
YEAR.....: 2019
LABEL....: Musique Plastique / Recurring Dream
CAT.NO...: MP006 / RD01
GENRE....: Ambient
TIME.....: 43:49
SIZE.....: 100.52 MB
QUALITY..: 320kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo
ENCODER..: LAME
SOURCE...: WEB
RLS.DATE.: 2020/08/14
WEBSITE..: https://play.google.com/store/music/album/?id=Bru7sbejpfygud6jyxdhcvqstqm
TRACKLIST
01) (01:56) Javanese
02) (07:49) Tropics
03) (02:30) Building And Wind Corridors
04) (04:55) Skateboard Terrains
05) (04:48) Amber
06) (01:48) Holiday On The River Yarra
07) (03:11) Sun Glints On The Ocean
08) (08:36) Up There Down Here
09) (04:25) Marine Life
10) (03:51) 40 Day Desert Voodoo
"Sam went into an almost psychotic state when making music. He wasnÆt himself. He was
immersed in the creativity to such an extent that it was almost like a psychotic
trance. HereÆs an example. He found all this giant kelp down at Western Port bay and
he would bathe himself in it for weeks. He would replenish the water and put salt in
the bath, but leave the kelp in there. I used to ask Julie, his partner and wife,
ôHowÆs everything going?ö and sheÆd say, ôJust go and have a look at the bath.ö -
Tony Rogers
Sam Mallet could have pursued a career as a French literature professor in Paris, but
decided his true calling was to remain in Australia, dedicate himself to his music
and find the plateau; a word he used to describe the sensory worlds residing in
music. Under the influence of Eno, Jon Hassell, Arvo PΣrt, John Coltrane and Robert
Fripp, Sam explored a wide variety of musical styles and put them to service
soundtracking the time based works of his peers. He crafted spatial ambience, somber
jazz, and drum computer driven rockers for short films and experimental video works,
television shows (including the original Australian Wilfred series), feature films
and live theatre. The avant garde Anthill Theatre, known for its departure from
conventional staging practices and having a keen eye for talent, enlisted Mallet to
provide soundtracks for approximately 40 productions throughout the 1980s and early
1990s.
Sadly, Sam passed away in 2014. A crucial piece of his legacy is undoubtedly the body
of work he produced during his life, and the archive of recorded works is vast and
deep. Sam seemingly saved everything, from fragments to finished pieces; and often
repurposed previously released tracks by collaging them into new pieces. He self
released a small number of cassettes and CDs from the mid 1980s onward, the contents
of which were culled from soundtrack work and original pieces, but the majority of
his music was experienced only within the ephemeral live performances.
Wetlands is the product of countless hours spent with this archive by Rowan Mason
(Sanpo Disco/Recurring Dream) and Tony Remple (Musique Plastique), offering a dynamic
survey of SamÆs work, and housed in a jacket evoking the minimal design and colour
palette of his earliest cassette releases. Two selections of Sam MalletÆs music were
featured on the compilation Midday Moon (also produced by Rowan), released last year
by Bedroom Suck Records. Along with Left Ear RecordsÆ Antipodean Anomalies, Midday
Moon has served to highlight outlier musics and scenes from Australia and New
Zealand, and Wetlands plunges deeper into the catalog of this obscure yet
groundbreaking artist.
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