Listening Blog #7: Helena Gough’s Mikroklimata

Helena Gough’s Mikroklimata is a four-track album spanning over 30 minutes of music. A rather consistent sonic aesthetic is present throughout the album, consisting of dark, buzzy drones interrupted by sharp, glitchy sounds. It creates such a vivid setting to me, like a distopian cyber-punk city devoid of life or some kind of malfunctioning electronics. Immediately with the first track, “Tephra”, I was entranced by the sudden transitional passages that would explode or collapse the previous sonic space into a new one. Even the drones, the sound between glitches, may be quiet but have so much weight. It is rarely a single sound source but rather layered stereo-separated noises that create dissonant textures. These drones are feel unstable like they are ready to burst at any second. The “bursts” are aggressive and dense, creating such a striking contrast while still remaining dark and unholy.

At times, however, the tracks become less aggressive but much more intimate. On the closing track, “Protonema”, there is a soundscape of hundreds of tiny, squishy creatures. It even reminded me of a dark, synthetic version of Westerkamp’s barnacles sucking and tickling the mix. It made me think the setting Helena Gough is creating is like taking the listener inside some electronics, and showcasing the digital world of all the synthetic “organisms” inhabiting it.