Articles
2011 Top 10s and 20s
Spotlight 4

Albums
Akhet
Cory Allen
Alva Noto
Aun
Bass Communion
Alexander Berne
Birds Passage / Rosado
The Black Dog
BNJMN
Ursula Bogner
Cokiyu
Steve Coleman
Cubenx
Mats Eilertsen
Elektro Guzzi
eleventhfloorrecords
Ben Fleury-Steiner
Golden Gardens
Goldmund
Thom Gossage
Steve Hauschildt
Helvacioglu & Pancaroglu
Illuha
Larkian & Yellow6
Clem Leek
Mamerico
Milyoo
Hedvig Mollestad Trio
Nao
Yann Novak
Sasajima & Hirao
Scissors And Sellotape
Ryan Scott
Till von Sein
Shaula
The Silent Section
Scott Solter
Spheruleus
Talkingmakesnosense
thisquietarmy
Anna Thorvaldsdottir
tINI
Tycho

Newly Issued
The Beach Boys

Compilations / Mixes
Deetron
Mike Huckaby
Radio Slave
Rebel Rave 2: Droog

EPs
Thavius Beck
Niccolò Bianchi
Falko Brocksieper
Alex Cobb & Aquarelle
Deru
Everything Is
Ed Hamilton
Hammock
Herzog
Oknai
SlowPitch
Tracey Thorn
Damian Valles

Hiroki Sasajima & Takahisa Hirao: Hidden Bird's Nest
3LEAVES

Hidden Bird's Nest features two sound portraits sourced from the mountainous area of Togakushi, renowned as one of Japan's richest repositories of natural resources and filled with broadleaf trees and various wild bird species. Hiroki Sasajima and Takahisa Hirao chose particular location points as recording sites as a way of documenting seasonal change, and specifically focused on incorporating the sounds of living things and the vibrations of the landscape itself into the album's twenty-minute soundscapes.

Low-pitched, cavernous rumble dominates the opening quarter of “Woodland” before the sounds of other life-forms emerge, including the caw of birds, the crunch of a hiker's footsteps, and the rush of a nearby river. A steady mutation occurs as one episode bleeds into another, with woodpecker-like knocking backed by bird chirps and flowing water followed by a clamorous section of thunder and rainfall so intense it sounds as if the land is being submerged. During the piece's final minutes, humanity re-surfaces in the form of a drum circle, hand percussion, and chanting. “Sympathetic Sound,” which likewise moves through numerous episodes, presents the magnified sounds of water dribble and creaks and the interactive chatter of various creatures of the land and sky, their vocalizations heard as a captivating array of croaks, chirps, and calls. Powerfully evocative, the material enables one to not only visualize the Togakushi setting but imagine oneself situated within it, and, luxuriating in the richness of the recording's detail, one finds one's senses sharpened. Perhaps the strongest compliment one could offer to Sasajima and Hirao is to say that listening to their recording makes one desperately long to physically explore the site rather than just imagine doing so.

December 2011