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7"
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PING 054EP
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For the fifth anniversary of Sven Kacireks's 2011 legendary album The Kenya Sessions (PING 020CD), Kacirek delivers two more songs with previously unreleased material: The Kenya Encores. "Siguera" is a beautiful gem featuring the voice of the 80-year-old singer Ogoya Nengo. Recorded in Rangala Village at the Viktoria Lake, it's produced by Kacirek and Stefan Schneider. "Gonda", featuring Mr. Karisa Kobe, is built upon a recording which Kacirek had made in the process of The Kenya Sessions. Kacirek chooses not to change or process the source material at all, merely adding percussion to create a balanced dialogue.
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CD
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PING 048CD
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On Songs from Okinawa, Sven Kacirek searches for traces of a unique, traditional music of the famous Pacific islands in the south of Japan. He has recorded various musicians -- amateurs as well as local celebrities -- and subsequently added his trademark instruments marimba, xylophone, and piano. The result is an incomparable album of timeless beauty and elegance. The South Japanese archipelago of Okinawa has seen quite a turbulent past. Anciently attached to the Chinese kingdom and then torn between Japan and America in the context of World War II, their complex history has resulted in an exceptionally rich musical tradition through the centuries. With the influence of American culture during the US army occupation of the islands, the Okinawans started mixing traditional songs with Western music styles. In Japan Okinawan music is now considered a genre of its own. "I'm fascinated by the sublime simplicity and precision of Okinawan Music, from the orchestration to the phrasing of the singing voice," says Kacirek. This album offers intimate insights into both Kacirek's art of composition and the outstanding sonic heritage of instrumental and vocal techniques in Okinawa. In its gentle style, with asymmetrical chord progressions and highly dynamic volume proportions, Songs from Okinawa challenges listening habits and develops its strength in the gaps and pauses. "My goal was to add something new to traditional Japanese music without banishing the ghosts of the old songs," says Kacirek. It is an artistic approach similar to his 2011 album The Kenya Sessions (PING 020CD), on which he juxtaposed musicians whom he had met and recorded in villages in Kenya with his own drumming and composition. The main difference is that this time Kacirek has completely maintained the basic arrangements of the recorded songs, which were performed by Mr Tonohara, Tadashi Haraguchi, Tetsuhiro Daiku, Mina Mermoud, Shigeo Arakaki, Keiko Kina, Hiroji Yokome, Mrs. Uesedo, and Sadako Yokome. With Songs from Okinawa Kacirek returns to the Pingipung label after releases on famous imprints like Honest Jon's, Bureau B, and Naïve. The comprehensive liner notes give further information about the musical culture of Okinawa, the recording sessions, and the lyrics of the songs. Kacirek's busy touring schedule has included performances with Nils Frahm, Ogoya Nengo, and Hauschka; this release comes in advance of concerts with musicians from Okinawa as well as an event with Shabaka Hutchings (Sons of Kemet) and a European tour with John McEntire (Tortoise) and Stefan Schneider.
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LP
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PING 048LP
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LP version. On Songs from Okinawa, Sven Kacirek searches for traces of a unique, traditional music of the famous Pacific islands in the south of Japan. He has recorded various musicians -- amateurs as well as local celebrities -- and subsequently added his trademark instruments marimba, xylophone, and piano. The result is an incomparable album of timeless beauty and elegance. The South Japanese archipelago of Okinawa has seen quite a turbulent past. Anciently attached to the Chinese kingdom and then torn between Japan and America in the context of World War II, their complex history has resulted in an exceptionally rich musical tradition through the centuries. With the influence of American culture during the US army occupation of the islands, the Okinawans started mixing traditional songs with Western music styles. In Japan Okinawan music is now considered a genre of its own. "I'm fascinated by the sublime simplicity and precision of Okinawan Music, from the orchestration to the phrasing of the singing voice," says Kacirek. This album offers intimate insights into both Kacirek's art of composition and the outstanding sonic heritage of instrumental and vocal techniques in Okinawa. In its gentle style, with asymmetrical chord progressions and highly dynamic volume proportions, Songs from Okinawa challenges listening habits and develops its strength in the gaps and pauses. "My goal was to add something new to traditional Japanese music without banishing the ghosts of the old songs," says Kacirek. It is an artistic approach similar to his 2011 album The Kenya Sessions (PING 020CD), on which he juxtaposed musicians whom he had met and recorded in villages in Kenya with his own drumming and composition. The main difference is that this time Kacirek has completely maintained the basic arrangements of the recorded songs, which were performed by Mr Tonohara, Tadashi Haraguchi, Tetsuhiro Daiku, Mina Mermoud, Shigeo Arakaki, Keiko Kina, Hiroji Yokome, Mrs. Uesedo, and Sadako Yokome. With Songs from Okinawa Kacirek returns to the Pingipung label after releases on famous imprints like Honest Jon's, Bureau B, and Naïve. The comprehensive liner notes give further information about the musical culture of Okinawa, the recording sessions, and the lyrics of the songs. Kacirek's busy touring schedule has included performances with Nils Frahm, Ogoya Nengo, and Hauschka; this release comes in advance of concerts with musicians from Okinawa as well as an event with Shabaka Hutchings (Sons of Kemet) and a European tour with John McEntire (Tortoise) and Stefan Schneider.
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12"
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PING 035EP
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Six artists remix tracks from Sven Kacirek's LP Scarlet Pitch Dreams (PING 032CD/LP). Robert Lippok (To Rococo Rot) turns the title-track into a Balearic sunshine dance while Opiate syncopating beat-works dive into the pool of Sven's percussions. Stefan Schneider (Mapstation, To Rococo Rot) delivers a dub version of "About Me and You," while RSS Disco & Sugarwater transform the title-track into a disco track. F.S. Blumm adds his characteristic guitar to "Scarlet Pitch Dreams" and Peter Presto adds his own sense of humor.
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CD
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PING 032CD
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Sven Kacirek, the much-praised multi-instrumentalist from Hamburg, releases his third album with Pingipung. Scarlet Pitch Dreams presents intimate solo works, following his debut The Palmin Sessions (2007) and the international success The Kenya Sessions (PING 020CD), which was honored with a German Record Critic's Award for the second quarter of 2011. While The Kenya Sessions revealed fruitful collaborations with Kenyan musicians, almost every single instrument on Scarlet Pitch Dreams has been played, recorded and produced by Sven Kacirek himself. Within these dreamy séances of percussive virtuosity, Kacirek has effortlessly found his original sound -- from the first whirring of the prepared grand in the opener to the massively rolling drumset crescendo in the last track. Jazzbrush patterns define Sven Kacirek's sonic identity. They create beat structures on wood, glass, and paper which sound like digital sampler tweakings -- but they are not. "For the previous records I had been led by the production process in the first place, cutting loops, use of FX and so on. But here, everything has been written down in notation first, and has then been properly recorded," Kacirek says. This handcraft -- and the craftiness in Sven Kacirek's handling of his recording and production technology -- are two blessed aspects to this record. The 11 tracks burst with sonic details and never dwell on aimless repetition -- they are tied together with wide melodic arcs, and at times they sound like a classical jazz recording, at other times they show their influences from dub techno and clicks & cuts. Featured guests on this record include Jana Plewa (Old Splendifolia, The Kat Cosm) on vocals, and Johannes Huth (Efim Jourist, Anthony Braxton) and John Eckhardt (Alvin Lucier, Evan Parker) on upright bass.
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LP
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PING 032LP
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LP version. Sven Kacirek, the much-praised multi-instrumentalist from Hamburg, releases his third album with Pingipung. Scarlet Pitch Dreams presents intimate solo works, following his debut The Palmin Sessions (2007) and the international success The Kenya Sessions (PING 020CD), which was honored with a German Record Critic's Award for the second quarter of 2011. While The Kenya Sessions revealed fruitful collaborations with Kenyan musicians, almost every single instrument on Scarlet Pitch Dreams has been played, recorded and produced by Sven Kacirek himself. Within these dreamy séances of percussive virtuosity, Kacirek has effortlessly found his original sound -- from the first whirring of the prepared grand in the opener to the massively rolling drumset crescendo in the last track. Jazzbrush patterns define Sven Kacirek's sonic identity. They create beat structures on wood, glass, and paper which sound like digital sampler tweakings -- but they are not. "For the previous records I had been led by the production process in the first place, cutting loops, use of FX and so on. But here, everything has been written down in notation first, and has then been properly recorded," Kacirek says. This handcraft -- and the craftiness in Sven Kacirek's handling of his recording and production technology -- are two blessed aspects to this record. The 11 tracks burst with sonic details and never dwell on aimless repetition -- they are tied together with wide melodic arcs, and at times they sound like a classical jazz recording, at other times they show their influences from dub techno and clicks & cuts. Featured guests on this record include Jana Plewa (Old Splendifolia, The Kat Cosm) on vocals, and Johannes Huth (Efim Jourist, Anthony Braxton) and John Eckhardt (Alvin Lucier, Evan Parker) on upright bass. Vinyl version contains 9 of the 11 tracks on the CD, plus an mp3 coupon for the entire album.
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10"
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PING 021EP
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The response to Sven Kacirek's album The Kenya Sessions (PING 020CD) was overwhelming. Pingipung now releases a 10" vinyl with reworks of tracks off the album. Lawrence reduces "Kayamba Tuc Tuc" to its essence -- an edit full of wisdom with heartfelt warmth. Taprikk Sweezee builds his soul-glitch beats with ease and there's also a rework of "Paperflowers" by Kacirek himself. The secret highlight is the exclusive Kacirek track "Takaye Village."
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CD
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PING 020CD
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This is the second album on Pingipung by German drummer/percussionist Sven Kacirek. The Kenya Sessions is an enchanting cooperative mission featuring Kacirek, an experimental drummer and electronic producer, and musicians from Kenya. This album is the result of Sven's extended visit to the country with live and fieldrec sessions which he later processed in his studio in Hamburg. Sven Kacirek plays with local Kenyan stars such as 80 year-old female vocalist Ogoya Nengo, and with Joseph Oganga, who delivers amazing patterns with his nyatiti, a traditional string instrument. It's sometimes difficult to tell the parts recorded in Kenya from those overdubbed by Sven Kacirek himself. His own compilation of marimba, bass drums and brush patterns forms a musical thread that he weaves skillfully into the live sessions -- at times joyfully straight, at times mellow and melancholy. The liner notes by Goetz Steeger illustrate the detailed recording process of this record. Kacirek has a background as a virtuoso jazz drummer. He studied at Drummer's Collective in New York, played several solo shows at the World Drum Festival and has written books on the experimental use of electronics on the drum set. On his solo debut The Palmin Sessions in 2007, he presented his original ambient aesthetics made from silent patterns recorded on paper, wood, or glass surfaces.
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