Reading · Clementine Blue

Last Friday, 8th of August, myself and talented collaborator Aki Kitagawa released our first album with our project ‘Kodama’. Aki plays the koto (traditional Japanese harp) and I play analogue synthesisers. For these tracks I have also played around with field recordings, vocals and found sounds. For fans of Mary Lattimore, Brian Eno, Hiroshi Yoshimura.

I truly believe beauty comes from imperfection, surprises, the way sounds can move in such an organic and uncertain way.

I tried to follow this mindset when recording and producing these pieces. I also did my best to avoid spending too much time overthinking and dragging on until the final mix - a composition can be infinitely reworked or tweaked and sometimes it is just a choice to decide when it’s finished.

Please find here a link to listen to our album everywhere : https://lnk.to/Kodama-LP

Cover photo by Josef Ball and mastering by Nicholas De Carlo.

0:00

-7:00

This song is one of Aki’s mind-blowing compositions ‘Tabidori 旅鳥’. For this piece, I really liked the idea of having a soft reverb on the koto and an ethereal/dream feel for the instrumentation in general, which would then contrast with the natural sound of atmosphere recorded around Japanese shrines last year. This song is about migrating birds, and how it can metaphorically echo our own lives, when we move country. We have this feeling of leaving things behind, emotionally and culturally.

The field recordings are from around Nezu shrine in Tokyo. I liked the warmth of the footsteps, people moving and kids talking with lightness. You can also hear the sound of Ema blowing in the wind, this one is near Hakusan shrine, a short walk away. All these wishes, floating together, give a sense of community.
We can also hear the famous Japanese bush warbler, a bird song I’ve been very much obsessed with the last few times I visited. These ones were captured in Kamakura’s Sasuke Inari shrine. So much comfort reside in these sounds, and I’ve been fascinated with recording sounds instead of taking photos in public places - this idea of a ‘sonic postcard’.

Walking up the steps to the Sasuka Inari shrine. This clip makes me feel so nostalgic.

I’d like to tell a little story about each song, but is this going to be too long?

In the meantime, it’s probably important to mention that we have made CD’s for this album release. How Japanese. How 2000’s. I don’t know who has a CD player these days but we have already sold quite a few, and I’m making friends again with these objects from the past.

If you would like to support us and buy some merch, please head to our bandcamp page, where you’ll also find a limited edition bundle with a handmade print of a heron!

Mist Kami 霧神 comes from a strong feeling and vision I had around the Myōjin Pond in Kamikōchi, 上高地 national park. We were spending a few days exploring the area, and this shrine and pond quite far into the valley were totally breathtaking.
It was lightly raining and there was a soft mist floating and moving quite fast near the surface of the water. There was a really strong spiritual feeling in the place. I also got the Goshuin-cho from this shrine and it felt really special.
When I came back to the UK, I wanted to present a new synth song to Aki, and I still had this really powerful image in my head, paired with the sound of airy bells. I knew I wanted to create a kind of ‘mountainous sound’, moving high and low, with space in between for koto and synth to softly interact. the final result is pretty crazy, I added some organic percussive sounds, Aki started getting experimental with his koto - it’s like a journey to the top of the nearby mountain to connect with the Kami (shinto deities).

this exact moment!!

The blissful thing with Aki-kun, is that we also get to perform together (even if we’re quite far apart!), and it’s always so much fun.

Here are our next shows if anyone is about in Nottingham :
19.10 - Japan Fest Nottingham
20.11 - The Church of Sound Nottingham