About Cucusonic

A 19 track compilation raising awareness of the biodiversity in Colombia’s neotropical rainforests. Including tracks from Brian Eno, Coldcut, Kate Simko, Laima Leyton, Martyn Ware, Matthew Dear, Osunlade and more. Each using sounds and field recordings from the unique Cucusonic sounds archive created by a diverse group of local communities, bio-scientists and anthropologists.

Released on digital and a 100% recycled physical release - Double 180g vinyl made from 100% recycled PVC pellets and 100% recycled 12” sleeves and inners.

In Place of War, in partnership with ‘Cucusonic’, a collective of Colombian biological scientists, anthropologists and musicians and the University of Manchester’s Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology, invited a team of electronic music producers to use a bank of natural and bioacoustic sound recordings (about bats, frogs, birds, lizards) from the Neotropical forests of Colombia to create new some music and this is the result.

The sounds were recorded through the Cucusonic collective working with various local communities, who are living in environmental situations of conflict, post-conflict and climate change as well as with the effects of ‘lockdown’ imposed by the global Covid-19 pandemic. The project itself is supported by the UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund. Our vision was to produce a collaborative album inspired by the sounds and frequencies of the Colombian Neotropical forests, combining artistic, social and scientific perspectives so as to raise awareness of its biodiversity with the world.

What is Cucusonic?

Cucu: meaning the Spanish vocalisation of the sound of frogs (as in the chant ‘cucu, cantaba la rana, cucu, debajo del agua’ translated as ‘cucu, sang the frog, cucu, under the water’), representing for us the capacity of language and culture to convey a human relationship to nature. Sonic: referring to the nature of sound and representing for us the full spectrum of animal vocalisation: as sound waves registered by biological science, as part of the natural soundscape and as a feature of language and song.

This album was made possible through the work of Cucusonic, a Colombia-based interdisciplinary art-science collective, led by Alejandro Valencia-Tobon, with Carlos Restrepo, Danny Zurc and Ana María Gómez. They were supported by the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester, led by Rupert Cox. If you want to know more about the Cucusonic collective please contact cucusonic@gmail.com

The team set up a network of diverse local communities to capture sounds and stories from the Colombian Neotropical forests, inviting high profile artists and producers to create tracks from these field recordings. The aim of the project, and the resulting album, is to raise awareness about the biodiversity of Colombia, and its importance globally – by translating natural soundscape recordings and bio-acoustic data into new music.

The album features music by Bræv, Brian Eno, Coldcut, Fer Isella, Fingathing, Iggor Cavalera, Kate Simko, Laima Leyton, Martyn Ware, Matthew Dear, Mexican Institute of Sound, and Osunlade.