earthsounds

In every country lockdowns are progressively lifting but it seems that we still have to stay at home a bit longer, its still uncertain for our club scene. Times are strange. We all have to push ourselves forward digitally in order to maintain a "Social DJ Life," which reveals how our social image and music are intrinsically connected; the status of a DJ becomes instantly meaningless without actual people gathering and communing through music. With the overflowing amount of information, it is sometimes easy to get lost in an endless consumption of content. I am of course, also part of this social media game, and thought a bit about what I wanted to present within these messy times, I decided to compile a mix of birds singing to help relaxation. Now that cities are running at idle speed, nature is slowly coming back through unexpected forms: Butterflies can live their life without getting hit by a car, plants are retaking what is theirs and birds fly and parade in front of us, not nagging us but just beautifully expressing their freedom. This mix idealises my dream journey in nature after lockdown, with all its phases, from apprehension to hope. I hope you, like me, enjoy the original singers of this world. This includes a recording I made at the botanical garden of Melbourne when I toured Australia in May 2018. Thank you

In the hill rainforests of north-eastern Sabah, tiny Bornean Treehole Frogs (Metaphrynella sundana) call to create a magical nocturnal soundscape. In order to make their calls as loud as possible, males of this species adjust the frequency of their 'toop' call to match the natural resonance of the small water-filled treehole they live inside. Often a number of males can be heard calling from different sized holes in the same area, creating a delightful soundscape of 'toop' notes at various pitches.

A vivid dawn chorus from the steamy forests of lowland West Papua. While the rainforest is still dark, Hooded Butcherbirds sing melodic fluty phrases to welcome the new day. The calls of nocturnal frogs and insects gradually fade as other diurnal species become active. Other species heard on this track include Black-sided Robin, Grey Whistler, Triton Cockatoo and Lesser Bird-of-Paradise.

We are not just at an ecological tipping point, but a social one, too. Brazil’s Indigenous people and the forests they protect are facing annihilation. If the Amazon rainforest alone is destroyed, the resulting carbon emissions could make it extremely difficult to limit global warming to less than two degrees. Burning fossil fuels is often seen as the only culprit in climate breakdown, but tropical deforestation is the second-largest source of carbon emissions in the world. Even losing part of the Amazon could cause a tipping point where the forests no longer create enough rain to sustain themselves. This would cause droughts that would drive many species to extinction, devastate farming in the region and likely cause further violence.