FUJI||||||||||TA, MMM, LP
Hallow Ground
Vinyl / digital, catalogue nr. HG2403
Ltd. purple vinyl / digital
Release date 18. April 2024

FUJI||||||||||TA returns to Hallow Ground with his second full-length for the Swiss label after it had released his international breakthrough album »iki« in early 2020. Active since 2006, the Japanese composer and sound artist has become prolific since the release of »iki,« releasing a slew of records while also touring the world. His new album »MMM« is Yosuke Fujita’s most complex so far. Changing the set-up of his pipe organ by switching to an electric air pump allowed him to activate new sonic and compositional potentials of the instrument, while he also expanded upon his experiments with his own voice. »MMM« is a masterpiece of conceptual and formal rigour—a testament to how multi-layered and versatile the music of FUJI||||||||||TA can be. 

Previous releases had already showcased Fujita's interest in working with the rhythmic potentials of the organ he built himself in 2009. Replacing its hand-operated air pump with an electric one allowed him to work with it more freely and simultaneously record its sounds. This marked the starting point for the opener »M-1,« for which he recorded the pipes by waving a gun microphone close to it, thus creating shifting rhythmic patterns. The piece engages in a perpetual play of repetition and difference, balancing sonic intensity with compositional dramaturgy. For »M-2,« the artist uses his voice and works with a singing technique he has developed over more than a decade: constantly exhaling and inhaling, he puts a strain on his internal organs in order to create what he calls a »third voice.« The resulting piece is built on a throbbing rhythmic foundation topped by wordless melodies.

»M-3« closes the album as a synthesis of these two pieces, but is far more than the mere sum of its parts. The subtle tonal shifts of the organ take on a more subdued role this time, and Fujita’s scat growling and singing reappears in processed form. »M-3« combines the rhythms and melodies of the previous pieces to let something entirely new emerge out of them, much like the album is based on perpetual changes and recombinatory strategies. In fact, Fujita explains, the acronymic title can be read in many ways: this album is minimalistic, but freely mixes and mingles different materials in magical and even metaphorical ways while also paying its dues to his wife and daughter—M. and M. Just like its title can mean a lot of different things, »MMM« itself is ever-evolving, traversing different moods and opening itself up to a plethora of interpretations at each of its many turns.

FUJI||||||||||TA  -  M-3

‘Sjunger För Varandra’ (which translates to “Singing for each other”) is a brilliant new work by Swedish composer Marta Forsberg, and her third release on Warm Winters Ltd. Originally commissioned by Nymus, a local association for contemporary experimental music in Marta Forsberg’s hometown Härnösand in Northern Sweden, the piece is both an exploration of her roots and memories, as well a work which perhaps opens a new chapter in the composer’s remarkable creative practice.

The piece – presented as an intro, outro and 4 parts – is built around recordings of Marta Forsberg’s brother Tomasz singing in a tunnel underneath train tracks in central Härnösand. These tunnel recordings of a melody for five male voices (all sung by him), combined with studio recordings of his voice, as well as voice snippets of various conversations, electronics and strings by Marta Forsberg and percussions by Bex Burch are moulded into a characteristically compelling and powerful composition. Like Forsberg’s previous works on Warm Winters Ltd., ‘Sjunger För Varandra’ is impactful and striking, positioned somewhere between choral music, contemporary minimalism and electronic music.

Sjunger För Varandra

Marta Forsberg - Part 1: Echo

evo-lation five is evo-natura's fifth fundraising compilation, featuring Werner Levant, 111X, Hajj, Softmatter, Ice_Eyes, MIRA新伝統, Zaumne.

Focusing on natural sounds, the project skilfully blends field recordings, drones, and electronics, with each artist sonically reflecting towards the subject.

All profits made will be donated to Eden Reforestation Projects. (www.edenprojects.org)

Artwork & Cassette Design by Ronja-Elina Kappl
Curated & Mastered by Ioannis Nafpliotis

evo-lation five

Cassette / Digital

Zaumne - Śnieżycowy Jar

Composer/sound producer/cover art: Sofia Parma

dŏlĕo

Enregistré sur 4 pistes k7 dans l'impasse de la france , à l’exception des voix, enregistrées par François Beaugendre dans le dalby libre.
Voix : Clara Réthoré
Mix & master : François Beaugendre
Photo : Liza Rassinoux

RUNNER WALKMAN x WAHHMAN - 2NITE

RUNNERWALKMAN