"Refrigerator Defrosting" is a found sound composition by french-american artist Anne Tardos. It was recorded in 1975 and released in 1982 on a cassette release titled "Gatherings" along with her other sound experiments. The track is situated on side 1 and lasts for approximately fourteen and a half minutes. "Gatherings" cassette was part of Charlie Morrow's "New Wilderness Audiographics" series - it was recently digitized and re-released - check it out.
"Refrigerator Defrosting" is a minimalist musique concrete piece in a vein of Fluxus conceptualism. Sonically - it is just an elaborate recording of refrigerator defrosting and water dripping and hitting the panels creating resonance coupled with subsequents mutations of sounds. Microphone was placed inside the refrigerator. Its position creates weird ambience - it feels really uncanny although it shouldn't - probably it is just some tape distortions.
Composition sounds barebones but it is extremely hypnotic. Its seeming monotony turns out to be very dynamic. It feels all the same but it is always different. It marvelous how simple it is. While listening to it i was trying to catch probably non-existent barely audible tweaks and tricks - overlay of tracks, slight phasing, panning, flanging or just collaging. But no - it is all happening as it is. It is funny how your mind just don't want to get over it and desperately tries to find some shenenigans.
One of the more bizarre elements of "Refrigerator Defrosting" is its kinky (really) groove. It is basically a prototype for much-much later minimal techno and trance music. The rhythm is steady and supplemented with a variety of elements - along with the basic line there are lots and lots of deviations, variations and fills. It makes the track really dynamic. Due to similar pitch of different water drops it blends together and the resulting sounds are really disorienting. It helps to maintain cautious attention.
Conceptually "Refrigerator Defrosting" represents two things. First it is reappropriation of found sound. Second it is defamiliarization of mundane periodic routine. It is eye-opening in its tricky nature. "Refrigerator Defrosting" is turned into musical composition by sheer force of will of the author. Because why not. By the way - here is how the score looked like:
But whimsical "why not?" doesn't make it a joke. It is not some static ambience - quite the opposite - there is a lot going on and for some carnal reason - it sounds very structured. The tinkling resonance is very textured. Drones and pulses start to grow on it over time. It is fascinating showcase of organic generative music.
It reminds me of very streamlined riff on "Ionisation" by Edgar Varese - very percussive and generative but also exteremely alienated. It is just a water dripping but over time notion of reality goes away and a ripples of frequencies start to sound like bleeps and whoops of some sort of trautorium. You adjust yourself to it - adapt your senses to its shape. And it is wonderful experience.
I once neglected my fridge for too long and then wanted to extract piece of meat out of it.
While surfing for information
It is fascinating how simple
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