matralab’s Jen Reimer and Max Stein share a fascination with reverberant spaces. Drawing inspiration from the hidden harmonies and secret rhythms present in urban sound environments, they create immersive multichannel sound works for processed horn and field recordings. Their pieces are conceived, composed, performed and recorded in the spaces themselves.

Jen and Max recently released a tape that features two of their performances in resonant, yet very different locations. “Lisboa” was recorded in the former cistern Mãe D’Áqua, an architectural cathedral for water that is known for its sounds. In “Skagaströnd”, Jen and Max take their listeners inside an old chimney in Iceland and slowly reveal its glistening, fulminating wavy sound. Both works make the entanglement of sound and space tangible for those who let themselves glide into the recordings.

You can listen to both performances here and explore the group’s other projects on their website.

Read a review of the release on Tiny Mix Tapes.