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PRICE:
$15.50
IN STOCK
01. Kuunatic - Dewbow
02. Kuunatic - Desert Empress Part 1
03. Kuunatic - Desert Empress Part 2
04. Kuunatic - Full Moon Spree
05. Kuunatic - Tītián
06. Kuunatic - Lava Naksh
07. Kuunatic - Raven's War
08. Kuunatic - Para Bennyà
ARTIST
TITLE
Gate of Kluna
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
GB 117CD GB 117CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
11/12/2021

Kuunatic is a thrilling Tokyo based tribal-psych trio bolstered by diverse global sonics and powerful female vocals. Drawing on the members' different musical and cultural perspectives, their music explores ritual drumming, pulsing bass lines, atmospheric keyboard sounds and Japanese traditional instruments. Gate of Klüna is Kuunatic's much awaited debut album. Produced by Tim DeWit (Gang Gang Dance) the record reveals a mesmerizing soundworld that transcends genres and hemispheres and succeeds in being both boldly experimental and wildly catchy. Kuunatic are: Fumie Kikuchi on keys and vocals, Yuko Araki on drums and vocals, and Shoko Yoshida on bass and vocals.

Although formed in Tokyo in 2016, a city that is very much on this planet, Kuunatic first looked to another heavenly body to shape their project. In interviews the band have cited that their name is drawn from kuu, the Finnish word for the moon; inspired in part by original Finnish guitarist, Sanni. The listener is advised not to cast their net too narrowly, as Kuunatic's music seems to invoke many responses around the world. You might hear echoes of weird off-kilter hybrids and psyched-out chamber music from the likes of Os Mutantes, Basil Kirchin, The Raincoats or Manfred Hübler. But musical interpretations will inevitably circle around their home base on their "other" planet, Japan. Japanese audiences sometimes consider Kuunatic as "amplified" Shinto shrine maidens (miko). Fumie chips in. "Our sound consists of many different kinds of music, but certain unique Japanese instruments and their sounds give a special atmosphere to Kuunatic's world. Japanese traditional music exists in very close proximity to us even if we don't go to see Gagaku (Japanese shrine music) or Kabuki (Japanese traditional theatrical performance). Fumie has been playing the Kagura flute (Japanese shrine music flute) since childhood, Shoko's name includes the Japanese character 笙 which means a Japanese traditional instrument, and Yuko sometimes visits a Homa burning at a temple and listens to their powerful chanting rhythm..." The possibilities to project onto Kuunatic's music are endless. This is because the band has created that rare thing, catchy music that is impossible to pigeonhole. The track "Lava Naksh" is a form of renaissance dance; a pavane, maybe, albeit with Kraftwerk's early organ sound. "Full Moon Spree" could be a ritual version of The Fall's "What You Need". "Raven's War" is a dry-as-dust progressive soundtrack, it could be a lost cut from the Valley of the Dolls record. The transportive elements in all are key: certain beats and near-melismatic melody lines hark back to archaic processional and ritual music.