Three CDR items from the Japanese micro-label Kirigirisu Recordings, 29 Aug 2024.
Hayashipooo (from Akashi in Japan) with their Awasemiso (kgr047) record. Highly idiosyncratic take on electronic music made with synths and drum machines, and additional “muttering”. They are proud of using meaningless words with this chatter aspect. A charming salad of unheard sounds, beguiling simple tunes, alien rambles, and modern intrigue. Even when rhythms emerge from the unpredictable stew, they are all off-kiltre, cock-eyed, and slippery underfoot. Put a Casio in the hands of an untutored genius, and a corner of the world can be changed.
Trond Jervell from Norway and Eiko Weishaupt from Germany perform as Trond & Eiko on Wunderkerze und Räucherkerze (kgr045). Playful, but slightly uncertain concoctions made from glitch, samples, synths, and whatnot. Oddball anecdotes and guessing games, rendered in quietly unassuming drones and fizzes. Eleven tiny miniatures in the gallery, with titles like ‘Autumn in June’ and ‘Frogs at Dawn’; they may not take us anywhere, but create pleasant moods and daydreams for three to four minutes at a time.
Heavy Cloud is the English performer Ryan Hooper from Cornwall. On An Unmapped Absence (kgr046), he draws inspiration from looking at landscapes, and his own memories; also intending to express a personal sense of loss or grief. Entwining these forces is a difficult task, but he makes a good stab at it. The cover collage (also by him) is a visual analogue to the process, using superimposed photos to some extent. Evocative, lonely, washed-out drones contain a lot of wistful emotions.