Скачать или смотреть No instruments... and it's about vowels? Kathy Kennedy’s “Vowel Jams”

Kathy Kennedy – Vowel Jams, release date: October 31 2025
Available now via Bandcamp: https://kathykennedy.bandcamp.com/alb... 

About the album:

Kathy Kennedy, based in Montréal and Québec’s Gaspé region, presents her first solo vocal recording after 30+ years of work as a community sound-artist and choral director. 

Vowel Jams is a fully a cappella album — layered solo voice, loop pedal, minimal processing, occasional field-recordings — everything built around the voice, the vowel, the texture of sound. 
Influences include the acoustic-ecology philosophy of R. Murray Schafer and the deep-listening practice of Pauline Oliveros. 

Kennedy describes the album as a move toward “just making the sounds I like” after a long period of large-scale installations and community projects. 

What to listen for:
• The opening "Howooh" track uses looping and vocal-effects so convincingly you might think you hear strings or cello — but it’s all voice. (Interview clip at 01:56)
• “Lololo” features water-field recordings and improvisation rooted in her childhood on the Atlantic coast of Québec. (Track intro at ~15:49)
• “Owayo” is basically an exploration of vowels, the shapes of the vocal tract, and how our mouths make sound (track starts around 26:10).
• There are no traditional song-lyrics; instead the voice is treated as instrument, texture, landscape.

Why this is a must-listen:
• This album bridges art-sound, voice experimentation, and accessible listening in a rare way. It’s both intellectual (with theory behind it) and playful (you can hum along).
• It rejects easy genre labels — neither noise, nor dance, nor purely classical — and sits in that sweet zone for those who like weird music done well.
• If you’re a fan of vocal improvisation, loop-based vocal layering (think of work by the likes of Crystal Beth) or ambient voice-sound art, this is very fresh.

Get it here:
📥 Download/stream & order physical CD + booklet via Bandcamp: https://kathykennedy.bandcamp.com/alb... 

Bonus / physical edition info:
• The CD version includes a booklet/zine of drawings by Kathy that accompany each track — she started in visual art and these sketches map the sound world. 
• The booklet includes a download code so you still get digital files. 
• Price noted in the interview: CA$10 for download (≈US$7). 


00:00 “Howooh”
01:56 Opening track discussion: “Almost entirely vocals”
02:18 Discussion of pedal/voice loading / album concept
04:12 Kathy on her career, community sound art, doing this album now
06:01 Recording process: looper, improv, field-recordings, editing
07:52 Inspiration: feminist choir work, media-centre, stepping into solo work
12:15 Industry boxes, genre-free art
15:49 Intro to track “Lololo” – water recordings, coast of Québec
21:46 Pre-order & pricing info (CD+book, download)
23:28 The booklet/zine: sketches that map to the music, physical object
26:10 Intro to track “Owayo” – vowels, mouth-shapes, voice as instrument

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