state, state, state

CD
ftarri-995
Limited edition of 500
Out on December 9, 2012
Purchase price in Japan: 1,500 yen (tax not included)
(For purchase outside of Japan, prices vary.)

1. State (15:24)
2. sTate (27:25)
3. stAte (4:23)
4. staTe (9:55)
   
   mp3 excerpt: track 1
   mp3 excerpt: track 2
   mp3 excerpt: track 3
   mp3 excerpt: track 4

Katsuyoshi Kou: guitar
Satoshi Hironaka: drums

Recorded on July 9, 2012
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by H.H. at Nanahari, Tokyo
Design by Yuhei Saito

Up-and-coming young musicians Katsuyoshi Kou (guitar) and Satoshi Hironaka (drums) recorded these four tracks in July 2012. The first track is a duo recorded and edited using a wealth of ideas from Kou. The solos by Kou and Hironaka (Tracks 2 and 3) are enhanced by simple but effective additions. Track 4 is a completely improvisational duo performance.

Track notes by Katsuyoshi Kou

Track 1
A duo performance by Katsuyoshi Kou and Satoshi Hironaka. The drums, then the noise and guitar, were recorded individually. The same guitar sound was played several times, and about a second afterwards the electricity was cut for a brief instant. Just where that happens in the recording, I inserted a split-second blank in order to shift the drums' rhythm very slightly. I repeated this a number of times. Occasionally the noise covers the drums, making their sound difficult to hear (although the volume remains the same).

Track 2
A solo by Kou. I randomly inserted mechanical "beep" sounds three times into a recording of a live improvisational performance. To make these sounds stand out, I left the recording unedited so that its slightly poor sound quality remained. The result, it seems to me, is a sound that confounds listeners' expectations, abruptly moving their consciousness away from the performance.

Track 3
Satoshi Hironaka's solo. The theme of "dislocation" is expressed by overdubbing different recordings which have different rock-style rhythms and phrases. It sounds straightforward and simple, but on listening several times I felt there was a fascination that was different from that of improvisation and jazz rhythms.

Track 4
This is an improvisational duo performance by Kou and Hironaka. The recording has not been altered in any way.

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