Lia Kohl - "Ignition, Sneakers"

“Ignition, Sneakers” is an engaging new composition by Lisa Kohl - “a cellist, composer, and multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago. She creates and performs sonic landscapes utilizing cello, synthesizers, field recordings, and live radio to explore the mundane and profound possibilities of sound.” The track combines some truly inspired cello playing and atmospheric drifts into blissed out ambient worlds. According to the press release, “The backbone of this track is a recording of the repetitive beep indicating keys in the ignition when you open the car door. I took this recording in an old van in northern Wisconsin -- it took me a while to find a car that had that old style resonant sound; I don't have a car myself so I had to ask several friends. It's a pretty bizarre thing to ask "can I record your car?". The van belongs to ACRE, an artist residency in Steuben, WI, where I was in residence last summer. You can hear the birds singing around the van at the end of the track. In making this record, I'm interested in the fact that a lot of these sounds are just synthesizer sounds, created for a specific purpose. In this case, it just plays one note. The tempo made me feel like it would make a good energetic, almost dance-y little tune.”