47. Guest Garage: Bungalow Brutal - July 11, 2022
Here’s another recording from Laura and Brad of Bungalow Brutal. This one was taken during a visit to a neighborhood park and packs in a menagerie of sounds: the creak of a swing, a bell sound, water, a meeting between strangers. It’s a pleasure to listen to. Thanks Laura and Brad!
46. Field Trip: San Miguel - July 9
This was recorded on my phone on a farm I was camping at in San Miguel. It was sunset after a very hot day, a little over 100º. It’s quiet, but you can hear frogs croaking in the background, the songbirds beginning to chirp, and some crows cawing as the sun disappears behind the brown rolling hills in the distance.
45. Guest Garage: Blial Cabal - July 5 2022
This episode is from the home of illustrator and printmaker duo Steven & Maranda, aka Blial Cabal, where they raise goats and chickens, keep a beautiful garden, and of course produce their incredible artwork. You can hear their chickens clucking and giving themselves dust baths in the midday heat. Follow them on Instagram @blialcabal.
44. Guest Garage: Bungalow Brutal - July 4, 2022
I am out of town this week and so instead of posting recordings from my garage, I’m handing the feed over to some friends who have made ten minute recordings capturing their own lives. This first Guest Garage—posted one day late because of spotty internet—is from Chicago-based designers Laura and Brad (aka Bungalow Brutal) and their kiddo Xeno (check out @bungalowbrutal on Instagram!). Laura writes,
“Today was July 4, 2022. The weather was clear and sunny, bordering unbearably hot for most Chicagoans. Today’s recording is of sounds from the Pro-Choice Abortion March at 39th and King organized and led by Kido Chicago and the Chicago Abortion Fund. You can hear individual voices of people marching, protesting, talking, sharing stories and uniting together to collectively uplift one another and protest the recent overturn of Roe v Wade.”
43. June 30, 2022, 4:47 PM
It’s warm out (84º) but cooler than it has been so far this week. The neighborhood seems especially calm this afternoon. There’s the usual traffic in the background, but the alley is person- and car-free. You can hear the whirr (and perhaps the squeak?) of air-conditioners, and the birds— a mockingbird and a house finch, I think, and also a rooster—are especially predominant. It’s a soothing soundscape, with some of east LA’s key hallmarks.
42. Field Trip - June 29, 2022, 9:47 PM
It’s a warm night after a very hot day. I’m recording out in the yard to get away from the crickets in the garage, which, when combined with its slight echo, have an annoyingly piercing sound. You can hear the explosion of fireworks both in the distance and on our street, close to our house. My neighbor came home while recording and you can hear me saying goodnight. It’s 68º and slightly cloudy.
41. June 28, 2022, 6:15 PM
84º and clear ☀️
40. June 27, 2022, 5:15 PM
It was hot out today, around 88º. Too hot to spend much time working in the garage. You can hear the neighbors hanging out in the alley and throwing buckets of water out for reasons I couldn’t discern. After recording I quickly escaped back into the sweet, sweet air-conditioning of our house.
39. June 24, 2022, 4:29 PM
91º and sunny. Trying to enjoy the sound of the wind, the birds, and even the dull din of traffic on a truly dark day for politics in the US.
38. June 23, 2020, 11:36 PM
There've been constant explosions in the distance tonight. Perhaps people getting ready for July 4? Or maybe it's because the Dodgers won earlier today? Otherwise, it's a pretty relaxed Thursday eve. In addition to explosions you can hear some birds out and the ever-present rumble of traffic. It's 63º and mostly clear. Goodnight!
37. June 22, 2022, 7:50 AM
We had a rare thunderstorm in LA today, with intermittent brief periods of extremely heavy rainfall. I’m happy that I was able to capture some of it on tape.
36. June 21, 2022, 9:44 PM
It's 9:44 and 70º. It's cooled off a bit from today's high of 92ª, but it still feels too warm out and I still feel sticky with sweat. It's relatively quiet in the alley, though there's some indistinct conversation in the background and cars revving their engines speeding down the residential roads.
35. June 20, 2022, 5:44 PM
I'm back! I had a long weekend camping and I missed last Friday's recording. Today's recording is a little different. The birds are out, there was some traffic in the alley, and maybe an explosion somewhere in the distance near the end? But throughout, I was working in the garage listening to a conversation with Neil Brenner and Nikos Katsikis, doing research for a video project called "Anti-Frontier." There’s a trailer up on my website (tovar.io). Check it out. It was hot today — 89º I think — and the sky was clear with a slight breeze.
34. June 16, 2022, 7:30 AM
The city is working on the pavement in front of our house. You can hear the trucks doing...something...out there. The temp is 61º and the sky is clear.
33. June 15, 2022, 10:25 PM
65º and overcast ☁️
32. June 14, 2022, 11:04 PM
It's 65º and clear this evening. A very still Tuesday night in the alley.
31. June 13, 2022, 11:27 PM
I usually EQ these episodes subtly but I had to significantly tone down the piercing noise (at least to my overly sensitive ears) of a cricket that must have landed near one of the mics. What a racket. It's 64º and overcast.
30. June 10, 2022, 10:05 PM
The traffic sounds relatively heavy in the background and the neighborhood is out: loud music, kids screaming, and cars revving their engines, leaving a trail of blaring alarms in their wake. It’s Friday night and the weather was 90º and “haze.”
29. Field Trip - June 9, 2022, 8:42 PM
A break from the usual garage recordings, this one comes from my yard, which is located directly behind the garage. After a long day working on another project in the Mojave Desert, I was sitting in the yard, enjoying the sounds of the city in the evening, so I decided to record there instead. The car sounds are a bit more muffled and the birds are closer, some in the tree directly above where I was sitting. The recording starts out with me applying bug spray.