João Machado

João Machado is a Brazilian interdisciplinary artist who has spent years recording the native stingless bees of Brazil (the meliponini, from which the title comes). His field recordings form a sound library now held in international collections such as the British Library and the Animal Sound Archive in Berlin, and his research into how these insects communicate has slowly turned into a body of experimental electronic music.

Meliponica, released by Baroque Sunburst, is its first appearance on vinyl. Every sound on the record comes from the bees, electronically processed and reshaped, with two small exceptions: a mouth harp and a flexatone played by Decio Gioielli on side A, a leaf rattle played by Rodrigo Netto on side B. Forty minutes of continuous music move from dense, almost dance-like percussive patterns to melodic passages and wide soundscapes that sound both earthly and extraterrestrial, without ever losing a sense of groove.

The nine pieces are named after species and behaviours: Uruçu, Zangão (the drone bee), Zumbido Noturno, Voo Nupcial (the nuptial flight), Mandaçaia, Geoprópolis. Written, produced and mixed by Machado, mastered at Dadub Studio, cut at Analogcut, with design by Chris Thompson and photographs by the artist. A good companion to the bioacoustic records of Bernie Krause or to the more rhythmic end of field recording based electronics.