A Closer Listen
Here’s a fun tape that would also make a wonderful holiday gift for the chef and/or experimental music lover in one’s life. Somatic Steamed Eggs is the first release from Pauline Lay & Angi Brzycki’s OSO (One Sound Object): a cassette in a recipe box designed by Ryan Ross, plus “a recipe card insert and small tin of curried salt made by Heidi Ross.” Should one choose, one may cook at home to the sounds on the cassette while using the salt, in effect performing a second layer of culinary duet.
Most people cook, but only a small subsection of include the sounds of cooking in their compositions. Two notable exceptions include David Vélez (Comfort Food) and Ai Yamamoto (Pan De Sonic). These sounds are instantly warm and comforting, redolent of safety, family and home. Last year, Rachel Beetz sent Heidi Ross a score for two oscillators, and Ross responded with a recipe for steamed eggs. And voilà, Somatic Steamed Eggs was born!
Side A begins with the sounds of prep work: setting out the tools and ingredients in what sounds like an incredibly cavernous kitchen. There is great joy in the anticipation. The faucet runs as the kettle is prepared. Then what one interprets to be the amplified sound of the burner as it is turned up, growing into a hungry drone. A musical hum enters the frame, imitating the possible hum of the chef as she imagines the finished product. In the seventh minute, a mini-symphony begins to break out. We are now so hungry that we imagine twelve eggs in an orchestra pit, each reading their harmonic instructions. Have steamed eggs ever sounded so triumphant?
By the 16th minute, the music recedes. The spatula scrapes the pan. Metal – light, not heavy – offers percussive commentary. A bowl resounds like a bell. Preceding uninterrupted into Side B, the sounds increase in density and resonance, with rest breaks between stirrings. Spices are shaken; the lid is placed on the pan. As the whiskings and pourings reverberate, one realizes that the musical portion has already begun.
The food produces one echo, Beetz another. And then a series of brief silences, punctuated by confident sound; it’s no longer clear who is steering the narrative, highlighting the collaboration. The drone of Side B is deeper at first, welded to the sound of steam. Tension arrives in the fourteen minute, aloft in organ tones; will the eggs be done? Will they be perfect? Does it matter, or is the goal a beautiful, tasty imperfection?
As the drone recedes, a deep calm descends. The meal is ready! Then dessert arrives in the form of “Egg Play,” a track that includes frying, tapping, boiling and buzzing, highlighting the activity of the kitchen. As the sounds loop and swirl, one thinks of stirring and other repetitive actions that eventually produce pleasure. Toward the end, the chef clears her throat as she prepares to scrub and clean. She sounds satisfied, as she should be: the steamed eggs came out well, Rachel’s notes were cooked to perfection, and together they produced a hearty meal. (Richard Allen)
Sat Nov 29 00:01:18 GMT 2025