Rodentia is an artist from Louisiana, and as near as I can tell Black Swampy Water is their only release. Originally put out in 2020, it got the cassette treatment a year later by the Dungeon Tapes label, part of its Dungeoneer’s Field Guide series.
I played this before looking into it any further and was stuck by the organic space of the sound. It has some drone-ish qualities and the single 21-minute track lacks any formal composition, but there are ebbs and flows here, a rising and falling that feels real, almost like nature sounds from another world. And it turns out there’s a very good reason for that, because the track was created using swamp field recordings and running them through a digital modeling analog synth. Coming on the heels of experiencing the four-hour field recording epic The Pines, I was definitely in the right frame of mind to connect with Black Swampy Water. It’s perfect background listening, creating a certain feel while also at times introducing elements that pull you deep into it for a moment or two.
You too can experience Black Swampy Water on the Rodentia Bandcamp page HERE. As for cassette copies, you’ll probably need to check Discogs (as of this writing there is a copy listed for $15) or eBay.