- Immersive soundscapes to get lost in.
- In 2017, Sugai Ken's "Japanese electronic-folklore" found a wider audience with the release of UkabazUmorezU on New York's RVNG Intl. Since then, the Kanagawa-based artist has released two albums—Tele-N-Tech-Da and -yOrUkOrU-—each turning field recordings, garbled voices and twinkling ambience into something heavier. For Shinshunfu, Ken reunites with EM Records, the Japanese label behind his strange, synthetic recreation of a serene riverside soundscape, Goto No Yoniwa, or "garden in the night." Joined by the koto performer Kōhei Amada on this split release, the homecoming frames the experimental musician's work in a new light.
Tradition and the avant-garde are split across Shinshunfu's two sides. The first is a gorgeous, plaintive folk song by Amada, composed in the mid-'50s. Crystalline, plucked koto strings tumble past one another before a vocal, taiko drum and glistening shō make the composition more song-like. Ken's rework renders the original unrecognisable—only the taiko and occasional koto reappear. Instead, the listener is greeted with digitised bird cheeps, chiming bells and flat, atonal synths that build to a sticky, oscillating crescendo. While the playful idiosyncrasies of Ken's previous work remain, they're given fresh clarity in opposition to Amada's more traditional sounds. This is a jumbled-up sonic history. Opening with the sound of running water—a persistent motif throughout his work—before submerging the listener in its cool bubbles, Ken's music has never felt more immersive.
TracklistA Shinshunfu (1970 Recording)
B Shinshunfu (Sugai Ken Rework)