Scents & Sounds, part 2
three more pairings
Closing out this week with a selection of three more fragrance and music pairings to share, all with a bit of an incense undertone to them but with vastly different results. Incense is one of my favorite notes (if not my favorite) and I will pretty much sample any incense-forward fragrance I can get my hands on.
Filippo Sorcinelli - Contre Bombarde 32
Meandering through the great hall of an old stone abbey, past old wooden pews. Some vegetation creeps through the cracks, with moss growing in cool, damp corners. A lingering hint of mildew floats in the air. A breeze through broken windows stirs up burnt incense resins in an old thurible - somewhat stale but still potent. A beam of sunlight pierces through and hits the pews - the warmth releasing a subtle sweetness in the air...
This is an atmospheric incense with an underlying burnt vanilla sweetness that is done with such a gentle hand to not be overpowering, sticky, or syrupy. The opening is a little bit cold and funky and woody, but then dries down to more of an incense & burnt caramel/vanilla. Eventually the incense settles with the rest of the base notes to more of an amber accord. A contemplative fragrance that departs from the intensity of freshly burning church incense during mass to more of a memory.
This is reflected in the brief on this fragrance in a more practical manner, as the bombard being the deepest/most powerful section of the organ, the rods are quite large and will be covered in incense, polish, dust, etc. over long periods of time. One could imagine walking into an old abandoned cathedral and playing the organ to see a cloud of dust suspended in the air from the vibrations. Catch that in a bottle like a firefly.
For me, the song that comes to mind is ‘Parce mihi domine’ from the stunning album 'Officium.’ On this track (and album) Jan Garbarek improvises on top of the sacred music from The Hilliard Ensemble. Recorded live in the monestary Propstei St. Gerold, the reverb allows Jan’s soaring playing to hover in the air. Pensive, reflective, and beautiful — just like this scent.
Andy Tauer - L’air du Desert Marocain
One of Andy’s earliest fragrances and a cult classic, this award-winning indie fragrance now enter its 20th year (!) in production is considered by some to be one of the greatest ever made and is the first independent fragrance I ever smelled.
Over the past decade+ I’ve owned countless bottles of this — I need to buy a new bottle now, actually — and I never cease to be impressed with it. A contemporary, spicy take on a fougere, it is evocative of a freshly shaved traveler walking through a souk in the evening — coriander and cumin wafting from the spice merchants, dried flowers nearby, and a breeze from the dry, now cooler, desert air.
As it wears down over time, a woody, amber base settles in without becoming sweetened. While it may possibly layer well with a base vanilla, I prefer this spicy dryness that is suitable for all times of year. Tauer’s masterpiece.
What comes to mind when smelling this is the superb Oud playing from Anouar Brahem, specifically the title track from his album ‘The Astounding Eyes of Rita.’
Zoologist - Squid
A recent addition to my personal collection, Squid is one of my favorites from the Zoologist line. Ink, pepper, incense, saltwater, and ambergris combine to create a unique take on an aquatic scent — very evocative of marine life in general.
While I typically do not like many aquatic fragrances, the unique notes here diverge quite a bit from most others in the genre. The initial blast of ink and pepper is quite strong, though quickly fades down into a smoky and salty incense. After some time, the ambergris and amber notes start to shine through in the base. A unique aquatic that works very well in cooler weather.
When I think of squid, I imagine solitary creatures swimming in the deep — a desolate environment that feels otherworldly. The music of Daniel Herskedal conveys this feeling quite well for me with his sweeping horn playing that at times feels majestic. ‘Gæjkedh-vearelde’ is a beautiful track from his most recent album (a favorite of mine in 2024) and easily conjures up the image of a squid drifting along the deep ocean floor.
Have you tried Trompette 8 by Filippo Sorcinelli? I have not yet had a chance to encounter Contre Bombarde 32 yet, though I imagine that a similar tune must be carried through both. It is also atmospheric; evoking the familiar stale yet pungent “church” textures of wooden pews, damp and cold stone, a waxy residue, decomposing hymnals, and the remnants of burned incense.