On the surface an album of organized field recordings, which Eric Cordier recorded in both France and Japan, from outdoor sounds (frogs/birds) to indoor environments, over which Murayama added percussion and vocal utterances, synthesizing unusual and engaging environments.
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Eric Cordier
Seijiro Murayama
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Label: Herbal International
Catalog ID: 1004
Squidco Product Code: 20797
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2010
Country: Malaysia
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels
Composed in 2007-2008
"A very unusual and enjoyable collaboration and a good example of a fresh approach to field recordings as integrated with improvisation. At Murayama's request, Cordier conducted a number of recordings at various sites in Japan (and some in France) ranging from actual field, replete with frogs and birds, to urban environments, households, temples, etc. To this soundtrack, Murayama added percussion and vocal sounds although one of the fascinating and ingratiating things about the disc is that, more often than not, the listener is hard-pressed to distinguish any particularly percussive sounds from the environmental ones. One can make guesses although concentrating on that aspect quickly becomes meaningless and distracting. You're better off simply allowing yourself to drift off into this dreamlike construction with its enormous variety of sounds, gentle and harsh, serious and comic, almost always multi-layered and extremely enticing. Richard posted a fine review a couple months back with more detail and Cordier, in the comments section, offered more and linked to a related video involving "painting with fire" (whence the cover image of this disc) which is quite enjoyable and interesting to play, at volume, along with the CD (!).
Cordier also explains the brief electronic portion that disrupts things, not in a bad way, toward the latter half of the disc, a disconcerting intrusion that somehow works, jolting us just as we're beginning to settle in and accept this sound-world. Further, "Nuit" ends with a massive "drum solo", a rather magnificent one, a barrage of clattering cymbals, struck skin and rubbed surfaces, more sleet storm than anything else.
A fine recording--check it out."-Brian Olewnick, Just Outside
Get additional information at Brian Olewnick's Just Outside
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Seijiro Murayama "Percussionist Seijiro Murayama was born in 1957 in Nagasaki, Japan. He started performing improvised music in 1972, under some influence of Vinko Globokar and musicologist Fumio Koizumi. After graduated from Tokyo University in 1982 in Urdu studies he toured the USA with Keiji Haino as part of the seminal psychedelic band Fushitsusha. Returning to Japan after a period in NYC he continued playing drums and electronics in K.K. Null's noise/rock band A.N.P. (Absolut Null Punkt), while further exploring free improvisation. A relocation to France in 1999 led to collaborations that extended into dance, theatre and performance as well as ongoing partnerships with musicians Jean-Luc Guionnet, Eric Cordier, Michel Doneda, Mattin, Lionel Marchetti, among many others. After over a decade in Europe he relocated back to Japan in 2013. His artistic principal is to work with the idea of the plural or inter-disciplinary relationships between music and other disciplines of art: dance, video, paintings, photos, literature etc. In this way, he collaborates with musicians, composers, and sound artists. Improvisation is always the major concern for him, even if it is not his artistic goal. His approach is based on the attention to space and place, to the energy of the audience and to the quality and perception of silence on various levels." ^ Hide Bio for Seijiro Murayama
3/13/2024
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Track Listing:
1. Untitled 8:53
2. Untitled 7:47
3. Untitled 15:45
4. Untitled 13:00
5. Untitled 10:06
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
Field Recordings
Improvised Music
Duo Recordings
New in Experimental & Electronic Music
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Herbal International.