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LP
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HG 2403LP
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FUJI||||||||||TA returns to Hallow Ground with his second full-length for the Swiss label after it had released his international breakthrough album iki in early 2020. Active since 2006, the Japanese composer and sound artist has become prolific since the release of iki, releasing a slew of records while also touring the world. His new album MMM is Yosuke Fujita's most complex so far. Changing the set-up of his pipe organ by switching to an electric air pump allowed him to activate new sonic and compositional potentials of the instrument, while he also expanded upon his experiments with his own voice. MMM is a masterpiece of conceptual and formal rigour -- a testament to how multi-layered and versatile the music of FUJI||||||||||TA can be. Previous releases had already showcased Fujita's interest in working with the rhythmic potentials of the organ he built himself in 2009. Replacing its hand-operated air pump with an electric one allowed him to work with it more freely and simultaneously record its sounds. The subtle tonal shifts of the organ take on a more subdued role this time, and Fujita's scat growling and singing reappears in processed form. Just like its title can mean a lot of different things, MMM itself is ever-evolving, traversing different moods and opening itself up to a plethora of interpretations at each of its many turns.
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LP
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HG 2003LP
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FUJI||||||||||TA, real name Fujita Yosuke, is a Japanese sound artist. After countless performances in different contexts either solo or along artists such as Yamantaka Eye of Boredoms and the legendary avant-gardist Suzuki Akio as well as a slew of solo releases, his LP iki ("breath") for the Swiss-based Hallow Ground label is his first sin 2011. On these four pieces, Fujita explores the idiosyncratic sound qualities of the pipe organ he has built all by himself in 2009. This -- quite literally unique -- instrument features only eleven pipes, an air pump called "fuigo" which was modelled after a traditional blacksmith's one and has no keyboard. Inspired by traditional gagaku, it was designed to evoke rich landscapes rather function as just another musical instrument. While his previous records saw FUJI||||||||||TA explore various modes of abstraction, iki is a highly emotive yet meditative album, musically restrained but full of imagination. "keshiki" immediately sets the mood for this record with a long sustained note that is punctuated by the soft clicking of Fujita's air pump. Once Fujita carefully starts bringing melodies into play, the interplay of the drone and the discrete rhythmic element gives way to a fuller harmonic whole. "keshiki" is an intimate piece that perfectly displays the artist's knack for painting a rich sonic picture with only a reduced palette. "nNami" juxtaposes the sounds of two pipes that are out of tune with each other, creating a hypnotic sensation of ebb-and-flow ("nami" translates to "wave") that is full of subtle friction. It's a staggering artistic interpretation of the instrument's material characteristics. Clocking in at ten minutes, "osoi" ("slow") is an overall melancholic piece that explores the relationship between different tone colors through minute changes in pace. Finally, "sukima" ("blank space") is the shortest and the most rhythmic piece of the four. Composed of only staccati, it is a masterful exploration of the harmonic qualities Fujita's stunning pipe organ has to offer. Recorded between September and December of 2019, iki marks the culmination of FUJI||||||||||TA's ten-year-long work with the instrument that he had built without any prior knowledge and started to teach himself to play without a manual in sight. It is, in other words, the unique result of a unique musical mind paying his dues to the uniqueness of his own creation; introspective and welcoming at once. 180 gram vinyl.
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