Wow! Atoundingly well crafted sounds, i am blown away!

Artist: Giant Claw
Album: Mirror Guide
Format: Digital / Vinyl
Release: May 7 or 14, 2021

Music by Keith Rankin
Visual art by Ellen Thomas and Keith Rankin
Mastered by Starkey

Artist Statement:

I have been recording Mirror Guide off and on since my previous album Soft Channel came out in 2017, working on pieces in my spare time while co-running Orange Milk Records and trying to make a living as a freelance visual artist. 

I wanted Mirror Guide to feel less frenzied than some of my previous music, and decided to use a hyperreal string sound as a lead instrument the rest of the sounds could orbit around. I improvised long stretches with the digital instrument and picked moments that elicited some emotional response in me as the foundation for each piece. It helped to imagine a small synthetic ensemble playing every additional part, considering the choices an individual might make if they were focused primarily on their instruments’ role within the group. 

In my improvised sessions I also gravitated towards what I called a ‘bouncing ball’ rhythm - later described to me as an exponential rhythmic sequence. After thinking about how genres often center around a core rhythmic pattern I adopted the sequence as another consistent feature for the album. 

In the past I’ve cut up pop acapellas as vocal elements, but on Mirror Guide decided to work with several artists I had come to know from three very different music scenes. I traveled to Pittsburgh for a few days and recorded with vocalist Tamar Kamin (from the band the Van Allen Belt) generating hours of improvised and lightly prepared melodic material that I later edited into several songs. I also incorporated more poetic almost spoken word vocals from Japanese musician and photographer NTsKi and a small segment of screeching moans from fellow Ohioan Diana Gruber. 

More generally I found inspiration from artists like Paul Lansky, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and the range of emotion in the music of Geinoh Yamashirogumi Orchestra, best known for scoring the Akira soundtrack which is a longtime favorite. I was also encouraged to complete Mirror Guide through conversations with the late composer, tape collage pioneer, and friend Noah Creshevsky, who gave me several boosts of confidence after hearing early versions of the music.

Giant Claw - Mirror Guide Pt. II {you And Me} (vocals: NTsKi)

Artist: NTsKi
Album: Orca
Format: Digital / Vinyl / CD on EM Records Japan
Release: Aug 6, 2021

NTsKi is a Kyoto-based artist, musician. She began making music while living in the UK and began working in earnest in 2017 after returning to Japan. She works seamlessly to create tracks with gentle but somewhat eerie vocals and a mixture of diverse musicality. In 2021, she was selected by Bijutsu Techo as one of the newcomer artists who will open up the 2020s. Her collaboration with 7FO, released through EM Records, was selected as one of the best of the year by Shintaro Sakamoto. In addition to her self-produced works, she has participated in the works of Giant Claw, CVN, Shokuhin Matsuri a.k.a foodman, Dengaryu, KM, etc., and has released through overseas labels including TAR and Orange Milk. Also, she has contributed music to the Japan Pavilion hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry at SXSW 2019, where Yoichi Ochiai was the general director, virtual singer te'resa, and an Australian bag brand. On August 6th, 2021, her debut album "Orca" will be released via Orange Milk / EM Records. 

---

Orca ~

Music & words by NTsKi, except “Parallelisme” by Haruomi Hosono & Miharu Koshi 

All tracks produced by NTsKi, except track 3, 4, 5, 6 co-produced by Yem Gel, track 2 co-produced by Le Makeup, track 8 co-produced by Dan Shutt, track 10 produced by Giant Claw

Guitars on track 2 by Le Makeup, vocals on track 2 by Dove, vocal editing on track 6 by Hiroto Taniguchi, guitars and bass on track 9 by Yosuke Shimonaka

Track 1, 5, 8, 9 mixed by The Anticipation Illicit Tsuboi @ RDS Toritsudai 

Mastered by Rick Essig @ REM Sound NYC 

Visual art by Keith Rankin based on a montage by NTsKi

NTsKi - On Divination In Sleep Feat. Dove

.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。Dark Jungle Stars .:.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:
.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:.Crushing Diamonds :*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:
.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:



*Diamond Dust* 。

ふしぎのふ

E.O.Uによるアルバムサイズのミックステープ。”流れ”に焦点を当てた今作はサンプリングコラージュを軸としたサウンドのアーカイブであり、遊び、アンビエンスといった前回のミックステープで提示された要素を継続しながら、それらがより大きな流れとなって多様なサウンドスケープを描き出す。

An album-sized mixtape by E.O.U. Focusing on "stream", this work is an archive of sounds centered on sampling collage. Continuing the elements presented in the previous mixtape, such as play and ambience, they form a larger flow that draws diverse soundscapes.

E.O.U - Arc

1 hour long prerecorded mix originally aired on Odyxxey Radio [25/07/22]
cover by @/phattie321 on instagram
RWR002
@odyxxey

Giant Claw - Mirror Guide Pt. II {you And Me} (vocals: NTsKi)

Orange Milk Records

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