Beijing-based American electronic producer and multi-instrumentalist thruoutin (Brad M. Seippel) has just released Tchefuncte Soundmap《切丰特河声音地图》, out now on Bandcamp.
Tchefuncte Soundmap arrives as an 11-track abridged cassette edition of the original 27-track release, tracing a sonic journey along Louisiana’s Tchefuncte River from north to south like a slow-moving boat. Composed of single-take field recordings, the work employs a variety of microphone placement techniques to present layered, multi-perspective sound environments. Rather than presenting “pure” environmental documentation, it constructs an intentionally “unnatural” listening experience, where simultaneous sonic viewpoints merge into something immersive.
Inspired by Annea Lockwood’s 2008 piece A Sound Map of the Danube, the album documents the river and its tributaries as they flow through Tangipahoa, Washington, and St. Tammany parishes — an ecological haven home to alligators, egrets, and beavers, and a landscape shaped by Tchefuncte culture dating back to 800 BC through French, Spanish, and British colonization.
The release is issued by Zoomin’ Night (燥眠夜), the long-running Beijing experimental collective and label rooted in the open, DIY performance culture of D-22. Zoomin’ Night continues to support exploratory and unconventional sound practices today through their underpass performances and cassette releases.
Listen and download at thruoutin.bandcamp.com.