Tenniscoats: Temporacha
ROOM40

Accompanied by Lawrence English and his field recording kit, Saya and Ueno transport the listener to the Wako-Jurin Park and Koma-Gawa river in Japan for an intimate, twenty-five-minute session with Tenniscoats in its natural environment. Recorded in November 2008, the results are documented in the seven sparsely-arranged settings that compose Temporacha, all of which merge musical elements and real-world sounds in varying states of balance. “Ichinichi” surrounds the wheeze of a harmonica or accordion (instrumentation details aren't specified in the release) and acoustic guitar with bird chirps, making the listener feel as if he/she is within the very environment where it was recorded. “End Of The Day - Slight Hunger” offers a pretty, melancholic setting for what sounds almost like a toy piano, acoustic guitar, and clarinet. In “Ninichime,” the clop-clop-clop of a pedestrian and the march-like rhythm played by acoustic guitar and a simple organ-like instrument are occasionally drowned out by traffic sounds, while “Timeless” backs a sparse pairing of wooden flute and kalimba with the amplified sound of dribbling water. Downplayed on this recording, Saya's vocals appear twice, first on “Do,” where she appears to sing to herself while throwing rocks into the river, and on “Hajimari / Owari - Dream Is Refreshing,” where the voice is added more as colour for the song's keyboard drift and acoustic picking. Much of Temporacha is restrained in style, which makes the inclusion of the spirited acoustic guitar romp “Sitting By” all the more refreshing.

May 2009