Jules Verne’s Volcano
1130 14th July 2011
BBC Radio 4
It’s a year since a volcanic eruption in Iceland grounded air travel over Europe, and the skies fell silent. But it’s another Icelandic volcano which has always obsessed world renowned sound recordist Chris Watson. Snaefellsjokull , the glacier which conceals the fictional passage to the Centre of the Earth.
For BBC Radio 4, with a trunk full of those hi-spec microphones, (see photos below from the trip) he shares his passion for the Icelandic landscape with the many artists, painters and musicians who live in this unique environment. He also gains privileged access to cult Icelandic band Sigur Rós’s recording studio, to share his sounds and talk to Kjartan, the band’s keyboardist.
An expert in recording wildlife, for this programme Chris takes on the perils of this often hostile landscape to record its sounds from above and beneath the surface, in his own sonic adventure in the shadow of “Jules Verne’s Volcano”.
Producer and photos below: Rose de Larrabeiti
from The Radio Times 9-15 April 2011
and you can read a review in The Guardian.
