10 years past when release "ripple" as fonica.
this is remastered track "twang".

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fonica "ripple"
01. soar 02. twang 03. whirr *04. perch 05. fluid 06. coda 07. rusl 08. skim 09. zephyr 10. perch (mitchell akiyama rmx)11. rusl (sogar rmx)
*trk03:material by sogar

Fonica is a male - female Duo from Tokyo, Japan - Keiichi Sugimoto and Cheason. Their debut "Ripple" (released as CD version in Japan) in November 2002 has been highly acclaimed in their home country and is now published by Tomlab in Europe and North America. The Tomlab version comes as CD/LP with special Artwork and a reduced tracklisting. The Japan release contains 2 additional tracks - remixes by Sogar/12k as well as by Mitchell Akiyama/Raster Noton.

Fonica use a lot of live instruments and DSP processing in parallel. Their approach of combining electronic and acoustic is very spontaneous and is so beautiful, revelling and dreamy in a way that can only be described by using the band Mum as a reference. "Ripple" works without ressorting to clichees or kitsch and somehow reminds "Endless Summer" - with Sack+Blumm waving their hands in the background.

The most wonderful part in all of this: "Ripple" doesn't sound like a typical, eclectic, japan style combination of references. Fonica have been inspired by quite a couple of things out there but at the same time they have managed to record an album that shows a unique character, verycharming, joyful - a pleasure to listen to.

PLOP: http://www.inpartmaint.com/pdis/
TOMLAB: http://www.tomlab.de/

Twang

Keiichi Sugimoto is an international artist and composer from Japan. He plays in several sound projects such as FilFla, FourColor, Vegpher, Minamo and Fonica. His compositions have been released from record labels　throughout the world such as 12K (US), apestaartje (US), TOM LAB (Germany), and HEADZ (Japan). As FourColor, his album "Water Mirror" was chosen among the best electronica albums in the THE WIRE magazine (UK). He has also toured extensively in Europe, Asia, Australia, the United States, and Canada.
He has provided numerous tracks to films, visuals, plays, exhibitions, television, web commercials, and company videos. In 2004, FourColor provided the music for director Jun Miyazaki's "FRONTIER", appearing at the Cannes film festival. In addition, the film won the "Young Viewpoint" award during the director's week. In 2006 at the France Aix-en-Provence film festival, Keiichi Sugimoto won the original soundtrack prize, for his soundtrack of "Whirr", a film by German director Timo Katz. By 2007, these achievements had lead Sugimoto to be registered to the French film composers association (U.C.M.F).
In addition to his artist activities, in 1999 he established Cubic Music, a record label to release music and to organize events. Some of the artists he has released include World's End Girlfriend, Kyo Ichinose, piana, and No.9. He has also been active in inviting foreign labels and artists to perform in Japan, as well as organizing tours for international labels such as 12K, Hapna and TOM LAB.

// artist statement //
It is not too difficult to appreciate the melodies of the piano. We have all been familiar with for such a long time, and to notice it as "beautiful". But when you hold piano strings inside of a piano, wrapped around each other, it makes a dull, dim sound, and you realize a different appeal that is separated from the way it originally sounds. My music is a quest in search of these new, unique, and funny sounds underneath, that would attract listeners, not only to perceive beautiful sounds as beautiful, but by layering each of the sounds delicately, it would form original subtleness and textures. By composing them together precisely, they are transformed into "music": Harmonies and dis-harmonies, vagueness and clearness, digital and analog, necessity and accidents. My aim is to deal with these opposite factors on the same level to create a unique music.

Twang

frolicfon