Articles
2010 Artist Picks
Francesco Tristano
Albums
36
Access To Arasaka
Aeroplane Trio
Christian Albrechsten
Gilles Aubry
Andreas Bick
Wil Bolton
Caroline
Chaim
Scott Cortez
Dead Voices On Air
Margaret Dygas
F. Gerard Errante
Seren Ffordd
Field Rotation
Marcus Fischer
The Ghost of 29 Megacycles
Tania Gill
Gord Grdina Trio
Herion
Hummingbird
Ironomi
Yoshio Machida
Machinefabriek / Liondialer
Phil Manley
Matta
Mem1
me:mo
Miko
Momus
Moshimoss
Roger O'Donnell
orchestramaxfieldparrish
Cédric Peyronnet
Resoe
Danny Saul
Dirk Serries
Shedding
Clive Tanaka y su orquesta
Robert Scott Thompson
Two People In A Room
Undermathic
Wires Under Tension
Clive Wright
Compilations
Joachim Spieth Selected 6
Playing with Words
Reconstruction of Fives
20 Centuries Stony Sleep
EPs
Balmorhea
Clara Moto
d_rradio
Deepgroove
Kyle Bobby Dunn
Fear Falls Burning
Hammock
ptr1
Quiroga
Sawako
Miko: Chandelier
Someone Good
Rie Mitsutake's sophomore Miko collection Chandelier (the first appeared on Plop) provides a concise if fleeting portrait of Miko's delicate artistry. In simplest terms, she creates densely layered electro-pop songs of enchanting shimmer that are harmonic and folk-like in spirit. In keeping with the material's intimate character, Chandelier exudes an appealing, home-made feel. One pictures Miko laying down the album's eight songs after squeezing recording gear, acoustic guitar, piano, glockenspiel, and assorted percussion instruments into a tight space at her home on the outskirts of Tokyo. A given tune's instrument sounds and vocals sparkle—Miko unconventionally choosing to embed her voice within the mix alongside the instruments rather than at the forefront—for three minutes and then fade away. Buoyed by lullaby-like melodies, Miko's soft voice, and a slow, lulling tempo, “Sea House” starts the album on a positive note. On “New Town,” the insistent plink of a piano, wheeze of a melodica, and strum of an acoustic guitar form a delicate web against which her voice gently intones. Elsewhere, lilting electronic-folk ballads and miniature sound universes, like a child's dreams distilled into sonic form, abound. There's an appealing modesty to and innocence about the material, and a pang of regret undeniably arises when the album—mini-album is more like it—ends after a mere twenty-seven minutes.
January 2011