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ARTIST
TITLE
Solo Improvisations
FORMAT
CD
LABEL
CATALOG #
SIWA 003CD
SIWA 003CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
3/12/2007
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"CD reissue of Chie Mukai's second solo album originally released on LP in 2000. Three tracks recorded at Kid Ailack Art Hall in Tokyo in the late '90s. Just over 40 minutes of solo improvisations featuring the beautiful deep drone of the er-hu (a traditional bowed Chinese instrument), augmented by voice, kengali, rings and cymbals. Mukai is an important (and underdocumented) figure in the Japanese underground whose work goes back to her time as a student under Takahisa Kosugi in the late '70s which resulted in her participation in the legendary East Bionic Symphonia album. Since then, she has continued to work with her own Ché-SHIZU outfit and appear on recordings with artists such as Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Rinji Fukuoka (Overhang Party), Sei'ichi Yamamoto (Boredoms) and Masayoshi Urabe. This CD is housed in a screenprinted gatefold chipboard sleeve and is released in an edition of 600." "It is such an unadulterated pleasure to have this Siwa album, her first release outside of Japan, back in print. Three longish pieces, all recorded live in the late nineties. There's a far fuller drone sound to her er-hu here, compared to that on her previous solo release (Kokyu Improvisation, on PSF), a wavering intensity that pulls your brain straight into a sensation-dulled trance. And with none of the evil wince often associated with solo violin improvs, you're free to fully appreciate the fractional control and deep humming resonance of the instrument. It's a beguiling sound, seeming to combine both earth and air in one eternal thrumming, shimmering pull of gut on steel string. Mukai augments the sound with an occasional percussion crash, and a verse or two of wordless higher-mind vocalization. What more could a human ask for? This is sumptuous late-night improv, a fine goose-feather pillow for addled minds everywhere." --Alan Cummings
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