| 1194 | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Woob | |
| Released | August 1994 |
| Recorded | Square Centre Studios |
| Genre | Electronic music, Ambient music |
| Label | Em:t Records |
| Producer | Paul Frankland |
Woob 1194 was the debut album of British soundtrack and ambient musician Paul Frankland. It was recorded over the span of two months and was released in the summer of 1994 on Em:t Records. It was also re-released in late 1994 on Instinct Records in the United States. It was Em:t's second release and is considered today to be a classic ambient album, and enormously influential.
Contents |
The album blends together elements of ambient, dub, and world music into long pieces, combined with samples from field recordings, movies and television shows such as Quantum Leap and Star Trek. The cover art depicts several Emperor Penguins in the wild, and they can also be heard near the end of final track of the album, "Emperor".
1. On Earth
At 31:59, this is the longest track on the album, and Woob's longest track to date. On Earth mixes rhythms and voices from around the world with clips of dialogue from TV shows and numerous natural sounds, such as birdsong. The track also contains live instrumentation - Frankland improvised the synth solo (heard from 27:23 – 28:46) during recording; he has said this is now his favourite part of the album.[1]
The sample beginning at 5:25 comes from an episode of the TV show Quantum Leap, (“Killin’ Time”, from 1992) and features the voices of Deborah Pratt as Ziggy and Dean Stockwell as Al.[2]
The second, larger vocal sample at 15:48 comes from the 1974 BBC album “English With an Accent” by Peter Hunt.[3]
The repeated plucked-string melody that recurs throughout the track is a version of Camille Saint-Saëns' "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" which originally featured in the soundtrack to Sergei Paradjanov's film Ašik Kerib,.[4] This film was also a source for many of the vocal samples, including the female chanting at the start of the track, and the male chanting at the very end.
2. Odonna
One of Frankland’s two personal favourites of the tracks on 1194, Odonna is mostly built around two samples - one an interview with classical cellist Yo Yo Ma, and the second a sample of dialogue from The Mark of Gideon, an episode of the original series of Star Trek,, which features the voices of Sharon Acker and William Shatner. The track is named for Acker’s character in the episode, though it is spelt differently. Frankland spent five hours making the vocal loop on an Akai s1000 “so that it didn’t click!” [5]
3. Amoeba
Amoeba is the shortest track on the album, and is notable for the harmonica solo, reminiscent of the soundtrack to Betty Blue, and the sample of frogs croaking en masse as the track fades. This is not the only Woob recording to end in this fashion, the other being the track Fourteen Thirty Three from the Em:t 2295 compilation.
4. Wuub
A simple drumbeat and vocal refrain build to a crescendo. It opens with a sample of dialogue from the 1971 film Night of Dark Shadows. The second Woob album would continue the pattern of featuring a track referencing the band’s name, featuring a track called Woobed. Frankland almost removed the track from the album entirely, as it “seemed too nice” .[6]
5. Strange Air
Built around a long dialogue sample (once again, from Night of Dark Shadows ), the track is the darkest and most ominous on the album, culminating in the blood-curdling scream at 3:32. Frankland has said that, during recording, nine passes were made at this track, all of them different.
6. Emperor
The deepest of bass notes underpins samples of the unearthly sounds made by Emperor Penguins in the wild. These creatures can also be seen on the album’s cover. Frankland claims that this was a coincidence, with Em:t records providing the image after the track was recorded and named.[7]
1194 is probably the most well-known release on the Em:t label, and is sought after by collectors even today. It still appears on many "all-time best-of" lists of ambient albums, along with other such as Biosphere's Substrata, Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II and The Future Sound Of London's Lifeforms.
As of December 2009 the album has been re-released on iTunes Music Store worldwide.