KITCHEN. LABEL

“The reason never lies in oneself. The others do. Its just a matter of reception, not emission.”

Following 2009’s critically acclaimed ‘The Setting Sun”, FJORDNE (aka Shunichiro Fujimoto) releases his second album on Kitchen. Label entitled “Charles Rendition”. The lyricism of that earlier album, and stories of tragedy and social decline are intact but further explored. “Charles Rendition” is an introspective piano study through a child’s eyes set in a self-penned short story, inspired by Charles Dickens’ 1861 novel “Great Expectations”, about a morality tale of a forest boy and girl struggling to accept and adjust to the decadence of society in a mysterious timeless era. “Charles Rendition” takes its cues from the antique patina of time, with traces of a lingering past that continue to intrude onto the present.

The opening of the album sets the tone to FJORDNE’s take on the album – texture-focused piano jazz unfolding against the twist of a field of subtle electronics. On “Gathering”, the metronomic tick-tock of an ancient grandfather clock peters out as the muted horn section and bright attack of a piano refrain slowly kick in at an easy, handsome pace like a gentleman stroller of the city street. The jazz haze continues on the following track, “awakening”, where FJORDNE showcases, among other tracks like “forfeiture” and “Ald square”, a stunning newfound freewheeling approach to his craft that is more groove-based, as it wraps itself around a loose, roving beat, the rustle of an errant saxophone and the suspended quiver of sound assemblages extracted from old records.

Seemingly channeling the languid decadence of life, the more pensive piano outings “constellation”, “Ebenze” and “antidotal” are a result of the influence pianists such as (to name a few) Bobo Stenson, Marc Copland and Paul Bley had on FJORDNE. These are then fractured and enhanced sonically with his trademark treatment of bristling echoes and dissonance and a plaintive string section. Elsewhere, on “hope”, this twinkling, whispery interlude ends with a spirited free jazz flourish; evoking the wan light leaking from smoky bars as patrons slink out the door and emerge into the steely glint of radiant surfaces under the city’s neon, moonlight, and street-lamps.

“Charles Rendition” is available on CD and digital formats on 15th July 2011. The physical CD copy comes in a customized 7-inch LP-sized paper edition, professionally offset printed and made with a careful selection of materials and processes – Letter-pressed and individually numbered 300gsm premium matt cardboard folio; and loose newsprint broadsheet fold-outs that include FJORDNE’s self-penned short story accompanied with visual reflections and ambiguities. Limited to an edition of 700 copies only. 

FJORDNE - Gathering (excerpt)

FJORDNE - constellation (excerpt)

FJORDNE - Ebenze (excerpt)

FJORDNE - hazel (excerpt)

Taken from the demo EP 'Children's Haiku Garden' 

Produced by Ricks Ang
Written by Ricks Ang

Vocals by April Lee
All Instruments by Ricks Ang

© 2002 www.kitchen.label.com · www.aspidistrafly.com

No Chance of Reconciliation (Children's Haiku Garden EP, 2002)

Taken from the album 'A LITTLE FABLE' out now on KITCHEN. LABEL
http://www.kitchen-label.com/catalogue/ki007r-aspidistrafly-a-little-fable 

Produced by Ricks Ang
Written by Ricks Ang

© 2011 www.kitchen.label.com · www.aspidistrafly.com

SEA OF GLASS (A LITTLE FABLE, 2011)

KITCHEN. LABEL SHOWCASE 2012 
"EPILOGUE OF AUTUMN"
 8th December 2012 at Fujimigaoka Church, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo

April Lee (vocals) 
Ricks Ang (guitar & programming)

Live mix by Ken Inamori 
Additional production by Ricks Ang

Originally from the album "A LITTLE FABLE" by ASPIDISTRAFLY (2011, KITCHEN. LABEL)
http://www.kitchen-label.com/catalogue/ki007r-aspidistrafly-a-little-fable/

© 2011 www.kitchen.label.com · www.aspidistrafly.com


LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS (live at Fujimigaoka Church, Tokyo)

▶ LP / CD / Digital
▶ LP available in-store: 18th April 2015 (List of stores TBA)
▶ Official release for all formats: 24th May
▶ Album Launch Event: 29th-30th May (Details TBA) 

PRE-ORDER NOW:
http://www.kitchen-label.com/ki016-hanging-up-the-moon-immaterial/

Sean: Vox, Guitar
Leslie: Vox, Guitar
Alexius: Guitar, Vox
Victor: Bass, Effects, Vox
Dean: Drums, Vox

Karen Lee: Violin
Zhong Ren: Cello

Written by Hanging Up The Moon
Mixed by Victor Low at Affixen
Produced by Victor Low & Hanging Up The Moon
Mastered by James Plotkin

Released & distributed by Kitchen. Label
Ⓟ & © 2015 Kitchen. Label
© 2015 Hanging Up The Moon

Hanging Up The Moon : http://www.hangingupthemoon.com
Kitchen. Label : http://www.kitchen-label.com

Hanging up the moon - The Divers (Immaterial, 2015)

Taken from the album 'Taking The Veil', released worldwide on May 24, 2015 on Kitchen. Label

Pre-order on CD + Art Book here: 
http://www.kitchen-label.com/ki015-hior-chronik-taking-the-veil/

Tracklist: 
1 - London Bridges (Feat. Amber Ortolano)
2 - Nest of Autumn (Feat. Sophie Hutchings)
3 - Twice (Feat. Amber Ortolano)
4 - Small Wonders (Feat. Yasushi Yoshida)
5 - Cold Winter Morning (Feat. Lüüp)
6 - Simple is Beautiful (Feat. Field Rotation)
7 - Sailing Away (Feat. Amber Ortolano)
8 - We Are All Snowflakes (Feat. Yoshinori Takezawa) 
9 - Oblivion (Feat. Field Rotation)
10 - Can You Hear (Feat. Familiar Trees)
11 - When The Night Comes (Feat. Daphne Farazi)
12 - Between Two Rooms (Feat. Seiji Takahashi)
13 - The Sense We Make (Feat. Halo)
14 - Quiet Inside Your Chest (Feat. Aaron Martin)
15 - The Ghost You Left Behind

“Shadows surrounding, this lucid veil that will not conceal.”

‘Taking the Veil’ is the debut solo album on Kitchen. Label by Berlin-based musician Hior Chronik. Originally from Athens, the new album is a follow-up to his previous work on the label as the duo Pill-Oh in ‘Vanishing Mirror’. The established foundation are intact on ‘Taking the Veil’: the bitterly romantic strings and gentle electronics whisper melting over plaintive piano scores. Hior Chronik has a penchant of producing subtly immense and cinematic compositions which are remarkably chilling in its beauty.

The latest release follows Hior Chronik’s distinctive compositional path with the pairing of a collaborator on each track. This time the instrumental colors are most intimate, honed to evocative perfection with each collaboration bringing its own nuances to a permeable set of motives. Through the contemplative moments, what give it life is the varied scoring which goes from solo piano to string orchestra, opening up a space that shimmers with stirring melancholy. Featuring classically aligned contemporaries such as Field Rotation (Denovali Records), Sophie Hutchings (Preservation), Lüüp (Experimedia) and Japanese composers Yasushi Yoshida (noble), Yoshinori Takezawa (Schole Records) among many others. The biggest change in this new album is the addition of vocals by Amber Ortolano and Fabiola Sanchez (Familiar Trees) on four songs. Figured centrally in the soundtrack as recurring lyrical voicing, the Amber Ortolano and Hior Chronik pairing also produced a rearranged version of ‘Twice’ originally written by Swedish electronic band Little Dragon.

‘Taking the Veil’ is presented in a 16-page art book format, also featuring the New York based Amber Ortolano as a photographer. The subject in the visual narrative of ‘Taking the Veil’ is of young women imprisoned by their flow of thoughts and their dark imagination. The delicate beauty and ambiguous gestures of feminine protagonists serve as powerful metaphors of the veil as the title of the album reflects – They reveal and conceal all at once, reviving emotions conjured by a sense of mystery. The album underlines this atmosphere that probe the consciousness imbued with burnished hues of something half-remembered and half-dreamed. ‘Taking the Veil’ is the best company for late hours and memory searching in a world of mist and shadows.

Released & distributed by Kitchen. Label
Ⓟ & © 2015 Kitchen. Label

MORE INFO:
www.kitchen-label.com

Hior Chronik - When the night comes (Feat. Daphne Farazi) (Taking The Veil, 2015)

Taken from the album 'Taking The Veil', released worldwide on May 24, 2015 on Kitchen. Label

Pre-order on CD + Art Book here:
www.kitchen-label.com/ki015-hior-chr…king-the-veil/

“Shadows surrounding, this lucid veil that will not conceal.”
Released & distributed by Kitchen. Label
Ⓟ & © 2015 Kitchen. Label

MORE INFO:
www.kitchen-label.com

Nest Of Autumn with Sophie Hutchings

KITCHEN. LABEL PRESENTS
"ICHIKO AOBA - LIVE IN SINGAPORE (WITH ASPIDISTRAFLY)"
19th November 2015 at The Substation, Singapore

April Lee (vocals, guitars)
Ichiko Aoba (vocals, guitars)

Originally from the album "A LITTLE FABLE" by ASPIDISTRAFLY (2011, KITCHEN. LABEL)
http://www.kitchen-label.com/catalogue/ki007r-aspidistrafly-a-little-fable/

© 2011 www.kitchen.label.com · www.aspidistrafly.com

LANDSCAPE WITH A FAIRY - Feat. Ichiko Aoba (Live at The Substation, Singapore)

Taken from the album 'Taking The Veil', released worldwide on May 24, 2015 on Kitchen. Label

Pre-order on CD + Art Book here: 
www.kitchen-label.com/ki015-hior-chr…king-the-veil/

Tracklist: 
1 - London Bridges (Feat. Amber Ortolano)
2 - Nest of Autumn (Feat. Sophie Hutchings)
3 - Twice (Feat. Amber Ortolano)
4 - Small Wonders (Feat. Yasushi Yoshida)
5 - Cold Winter Morning (Feat. Lüüp)
6 - Simple is Beautiful (Feat. Field Rotation)
7 - Sailing Away (Feat. Amber Ortolano)
8 - We Are All Snowflakes (Feat. Yoshinori Takezawa) 
9 - Oblivion (Feat. Field Rotation)
10 - Can You Hear (Feat. Familiar Trees)
11 - When The Night Comes (Feat. Daphne Farazi)
12 - Between Two Rooms (Feat. Seiji Takahashi)
13 - The Sense We Make (Feat. Halo)
14 - Quiet Inside Your Chest (Feat. Aaron Martin)
15 - The Ghost You Left Behind

“Shadows surrounding, this lucid veil that will not conceal.”

‘Taking the Veil’ is the debut solo album on Kitchen. Label by Berlin-based musician Hior Chronik. Originally from Athens, the new album is a follow-up to his previous work on the label as the duo Pill-Oh in ‘Vanishing Mirror’. The established foundation are intact on ‘Taking the Veil’: the bitterly romantic strings and gentle electronics whisper melting over plaintive piano scores. Hior Chronik has a penchant of producing subtly immense and cinematic compositions which are remarkably chilling in its beauty.

The latest release follows Hior Chronik’s distinctive compositional path with the pairing of a collaborator on each track. This time the instrumental colors are most intimate, honed to evocative perfection with each collaboration bringing its own nuances to a permeable set of motives. Through the contemplative moments, what give it life is the varied scoring which goes from solo piano to string orchestra, opening up a space that shimmers with stirring melancholy. Featuring classically aligned contemporaries such as Field Rotation (Denovali Records), Sophie Hutchings (Preservation), Lüüp (Experimedia) and Japanese composers Yasushi Yoshida (noble), Yoshinori Takezawa (Schole Records) among many others. The biggest change in this new album is the addition of vocals by Amber Ortolano and Fabiola Sanchez (Familiar Trees) on four songs. Figured centrally in the soundtrack as recurring lyrical voicing, the Amber Ortolano and Hior Chronik pairing also produced a rearranged version of ‘Twice’ originally written by Swedish electronic band Little Dragon.

‘Taking the Veil’ is presented in a 16-page art book format, also featuring the New York based Amber Ortolano as a photographer. The subject in the visual narrative of ‘Taking the Veil’ is of young women imprisoned by their flow of thoughts and their dark imagination. The delicate beauty and ambiguous gestures of feminine protagonists serve as powerful metaphors of the veil as the title of the album reflects – They reveal and conceal all at once, reviving emotions conjured by a sense of mystery. The album underlines this atmosphere that probe the consciousness imbued with burnished hues of something half-remembered and half-dreamed. ‘Taking the Veil’ is the best company for late hours and memory searching in a world of mist and shadows.

Released & distributed by Kitchen. Label
Ⓟ & © 2015 Kitchen. Label

MORE INFO:
www.kitchen-label.com

Hior Chronik - The Sense We Make with Halo

Taken from the album 'niji', to be released worldwide on December 24, 2015 on Kitchen. Label

Order on 3CD here: 
www.kitchen-label.com/ki017-ironomi-niji/

Tracklist: 
1-1 風草 (Feat. 沢田穣治)
1-2 茜空 (Feat.今西玲子)
1-3 水藻 (Feat. hofli)
1-4 紫陽花 (Feat. ASPIDISTRAFLY) 
2-1 光旅 (Feat. haruka nakamura) 
2-2 舟月 (Feat. ARAKI Shin)
2-3 睡蓮 (Feat. Rie Nemoto) 
2-4 楓 (Feat. Coupie)
3-1 朝靄 (Feat. 中島ノブユキ) 
3-2 碧空 (Feat. 内田輝)
3-3 箒星 (Feat. 沢田穣治)
3-4 日向 (Feat. haruka nakamura)

Following 2010’s release of the Kitchen. Label classic “sketch”, ironomi returns with their long awaited seventh album, a 3CD 164 minutes collection entitled ‘niji’ (English Translation: Rainbow). Joining pianist Junya Yanagidaira and programmer Yu Isobe are a stellar line-up of their most loved collaborators and contemporaries. In ‘niji’, the record is marked by the same tranquility and fleetingness of their sound but also offers a slight departure from the traditions of ironomi’s previous recordings with the addition of other instruments (Saxophone, Contrabass, Koto, Violins etc) contributed by the guest musicians on each of the 12 tracks - Featuring Nobuyuki Nakajima, Jyoji Sawada (Choro Club) as well as members of the Kitchen. Label family ASPIDISTRAFLY, haruka nakamura, ARAKI Shin, Akira Uchida, Rie Nemoto among many others.

ironomi has a sound which is almost enigmatic to describe. One could listen to their albums on an ambient level and just let the music flow through. Or one could listen closer and find a detail in the sound that is intricate and palatable. ironomi’s impressionistic ripples of piano fragments generate the cumulative feel of a gently flowing river or the shifting play of light through the leaves of trees. ironomi is like nature, a sound of nature that has existed from the beginning and free from any judgement.

The duo’s music is distinctively less about conventional compositional structure than it is about the creating and sustain of mood. For each of the recordings in ‘niji’, improvised sessions were recorded and the best takes were kept intact with very minimal post production. The works showcase ironomi’s capacity to construct compelling music in real-time, their melodic-harmonic imagination as an improviser and ability to consistently find and shape new forms with each of their collaborators also sharing the same strong sense for the dialectics of sound and silence. A wishful charm imbues this entire recording of pieces which, though not written together, seem to have been predestined for each other in this album.

The latest album is highlighted by almost 40 minutes worth of music recorded together with haruka nakamura on classical guitar, whom he had spent his early formative years touring and collaborating with the duo on numerous occasions. In the collaboration with April Lee and Ricks Ang of ASPIDISTRAFLY, voices are striving to be heard and a song was unexpectedly born from the improvisational session. The result is perhaps the most strongly lyrical piece of ironomi’s releases to date.

“niji” is available on 3CD and digital formats on 24th December 2015. The physical CD copy comes in a customised letter-pressed folio. The cover is designed with a unique holographic foil which cause a refraction that creates constantly changing light reflections and prismatic colors. All linking back to the symbolic representation of the miraculous hues of ironomi’s sound world, trapping the listeners in a peaceful space of pure sound and sonic allusions.

Released & distributed by Kitchen. Label
Ⓟ & © 2015 Kitchen. Label

MORE INFO:
www.kitchen-label.com

ironomi - 紫陽花 (Feat. ASPIDISTRAFLY) (niji, 2015) - preview

aspidistrafly - candlescape (i hold a wish for you, 2008)

"ethereal froth scudding across the sky
the sunset cleanses today, leaving it glowing
shining water, silent waves"

aspidistrafly is a Singapore-based unit comprising of April Lee (vocal, programming) and Ricks Ang (guitar, programming). Since 2006, their participations in media art installations &amp; performances have gained attention for their sound and visual works. aspidistrafly have been regarded as one of the new wave of artists to emerge from Asia other than from Japan.

"i hold a wish for you" is their anticipated first full album. Drawing references to Banana Yoshimoto's literary classic "Moonlight Shadow", aspidistrafly weaves through the solitary atmosphere of the novel with their own narratives inspired by several excursions outside the confines of their immediate surroundings.  This latest release invokes delicate moments with nine tracks that combine acoustic instrumentation across April's warm vocal harmonies, soft floating textures and binaural field recordings. "i hold a wish for you" is an invitation to travel with sound through lyrical melodies and pastoral sonic scapes.

'Refined and robust, these well organized aural assemblages give ample animation and seriousness to the light and prosaic elements of the everyday' – Cyclic Defrost (Australia)

'Lovely collection on both sonic and visual grounds. aspidistrafly's transporting music glistens like sunlight passing through a spider web on a damp summer morning. Listeners whose taste runs from Sawako to Akira Kosemura will do themselves a grave disservice if i hold a wish for you doesn't immediately become a part of their collections' – Textura (Canada)

'With an eye for details like Taylor Deupree, it's in the vain of the Japanese musician Piana. "i hold a wish for you" is an overall a nice album which with the amazing artwork becomes something not to miss out on.' (8/10) – EARLabs (Netherlands)

'it feels like a soundtrack of sorts to the wonderful literary universe of Murakami in a sense – both present and down-to-earth, unassuming and kind, yet also retaining some mysterious, delicate qualities to distinguish aspidistrafly’s music from their peers' – Soundscaping (Norway)

'Its not easy to pin down aspidistrafly’s music into a specific genre, which of course is a good thing. Can you imagine Richard Chartier playing dreamy pop music? With some female vocalist? Well, there you go. I’d say aspidistrafly is microsound and pop.' – Vital Weekly (Netherlands)

'music like this would get assigned mawkish adjectives such as “ethereal”, “dreamy” and every other word used to describe a dimension beyond this one—except that in aspidistrafly’s case, the dimension is very much Planet Earth, and its lifeblood is the fountain of human imagination that refreshes all who draw from it.' - Junk Magazine (Malaysia)




aspidistrafly - common colors in the air (i hold a wish for you, 2008)

More Information : http://www.kitchen-label.com

We are pleased to announce the 9th edition of the label, the first full-length album by Evade entitled “Destroy & Dream” to be released on the 30th of June.

Since 2008, artists such as Kitchen. Label’s very own ASPIDISTRAFLY (Singapore) and Flica (Malaysia) have ventured successfully to Japan, presented music made in the Asia Pacific to the rest of the world. Following in these footsteps, electronic trio Evade have been honing their repertoire of sounds crafted from within their immediate surroundings of the urban pastoral landscapes of former Portugese colony, Macau. In this much anticipated full-length album entitled “Destroy & Dream”, Evade takes on the view of a distant observer, questioning life, the earth, the universe and the values of its living creatures, yet with the consolation of dreams, seclusion and shelter.

Evade was born in the summer of 2004. Formed by Sonia Ka Ian Lao (vocals), Brandon L (guitar) and Faye Choi (sound), the trio released their first EP “Evade” in September 2009. Despite the fact that it was released on a small Macau-based label, with the help of Kitchen. Label producer Ricks Ang (who also mastered the EP and this album), the band attracted critical notice in Japan for their inventive and original style of electronic music, described by some as a wayward blend of minimalist electronic and dubstep combined with an ethereal pop sensibility. In August 2010, Evade was invited by Japanese independent music label PROGRESSIVE FOrM to perform at their curated event “New Sounds of Tokyo Vol.6″. Evade has also toured Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, and Singapore, and has lent support to Kashiwa Daisuke, ASPIDISTRAFLY and Flica’s Asian tours.

Evade builds tension through sustained silences and broken down electronic arrangements by Faye Choi, electronic whiz kid and producer of the band. Sonia Ka Ian Lao, an award-winning poet and novelist, pens poignant mantras and softly expresses them in layers of arresting whispers in her native Mandarin dialect Cantonese in “Forgetting”, “Endless” and “God”. As much an imagist as a writer, she creates these characters and Freudian dream-like scenarios that seem circle each other in unpredictable rhythms, intersecting without premeditation. In “Crush”, a carefully-crafted dream pop elegy, Brandon L strums the guitar so languidly as if in acceptance with the disenchantment of the world, and all is swallowed beneath a symphony of bit crushed synths and white noise.

What seems like a continuous vision of despair is destroyed as if the Looking Glass has shattered – in “Love”, all self-seriousness and heroism is clean forgotten now as disorienting, idiosyncratic elements are spasmodically injected – these are puzzling as they are almost self-depreciating, for here lies what really makes Evade so elusive. In “Seeking Mr. Freud” and “Pavillion”, textures are unconventionally amalgamated with minimalist beat loops, traditional oriental instrumentation and fragments of sounds sampled from old Hong Kong films. Despite the mélange of growing-up influences such as Cocteau Twins and Slowdive, Evade may be just what you get when James Blake meets Cocorosie. A slowing burning eruption on all counts, the moments in “Destroy and Dream” are excruciatingly intimate one moment and hauntingly deconstructed the next, yet these are powerfully sequenced images, with flashes of light that cut through the haze of illicit memories.

This album also features three remixes by three acclaimed producers/musicians from Japan. For Kitchen. Label fans, FJORDNE pushes the boundary of his constantly evolving jazz piano in the remix of “Pavillion”, and it may very well provide a glimpse of his future work. Lastly, Serph from established Japanese independent label noble and arguably one of the brightest new talents in the Japanese electronic music scene adds his masterful interpretation of “Love”.


EVADE - Untitled Dream (Destroy & Dream, 2012)

KITCHEN. LABEL SHOWCASE 2012
"EPILOGUE OF AUTUMN"
8th December 2012 at Fujimigaoka Church, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo

April Lee (vocals)
Ricks Ang (guitar & programming)

With special guests 
Janis Crunch(chorus) 
Junya Yanagidaira (piano)
haruka nakamura (guitar)

Live mix by Ken Inamori
Additional production by Ricks Ang

Originally from the album "i hold a wish for you" by ASPIDISTRAFLY (2008, KITCHEN. LABEL) 

http://www.kitchen-label.com
http://www.aspidistrafly.com
http://www.ironomi.com
http://www.janiscrunch.com
http://www.harukanakamura.com

Endless Dreamless (live at Fujimigaoka Church, Tokyo)

ironomi - 空色 (sketch, 2010)

FJORDNE - Last sun (The Setting Sun, 2009)

From the album "Stranger to my room", Kitchen. Label (KI-013, 25th July 2013) 

▶ Preorder (World): http://www.kitchen-label.com/catalogue/ki013-sonicbrat-stranger-to-my-room
▶ Preorder (Japan): http://www.inpartmaint.com/shop/sonicbrat-stranger-to-my-room/
▶ iTunes: Available 25th July 2013

Release Info (ENG): http://www.kitchen-label.com/catalogue/ki013-sonicbrat-stranger-to-my-room
Release Info (JP): http://www.inpartmaint.com/shop/sonicbrat-stranger-to-my-room/

Ⓟ & © 2013 Kitchen. Label 
Released by Kitchen. Label 
Distributed in Japan by p*dis / Inpartmaint Inc.

http://www.kitchen-label.com
http://www.kitchen-label.com/artists/sonicbrat
http://www.sonicbrat.com
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KITCHEN. LABEL

_khdenim