artist: YUI ONODERA
title: Suisei
catalog number: and/28
release year: 2007
format: CD
status: sold out
title: Suisei
catalog number: and/28
release year: 2007
format: CD
status: sold out
Yui Onodera first attracted attention with work released on his own Critical
Path label in 2005. It wasn't too long after that he attracted the attention of
Drone Records, and/OAR, Mystery Sea, Taalem and Gears Of Sand (releases
still forthcoming on Mystery Sea and Gears Of Sand).
Suisei is a work composed from field recordings and pump organ.
Edited and re-mastered by Dale Lloyd.
With Suisei, each listener's inner cinema will find its camera lens slowly
panning and cross-fading from one enigmatic location to another, as if
unveiling ambiguous visual clues pertaining to some wondrous culminating
event that many might not fully understand, yet it will still manage to leave an
indelible impression upon the subconscious mind and a very subtle pull on the
emotions. A mystery drone soundscape journey along the shores of an
unfathomable glistening sea...
"Suisei is a composition by Yui Onodera that I like very much.
Almost tactile like use drone material, a seeming mix of environmental and
instrumental sounds (water seems to be a key element, and a pump organ is
mentioned). The piece builds slowly and inexorably, with a nice sense of
pacing. We might think it is over after about a half an hour but happily the work
continues even beyond. We never know where the composer is leading us, but
we are happy to find ourselves there." (Carl Stone)
Path label in 2005. It wasn't too long after that he attracted the attention of
Drone Records, and/OAR, Mystery Sea, Taalem and Gears Of Sand (releases
still forthcoming on Mystery Sea and Gears Of Sand).
Suisei is a work composed from field recordings and pump organ.
Edited and re-mastered by Dale Lloyd.
With Suisei, each listener's inner cinema will find its camera lens slowly
panning and cross-fading from one enigmatic location to another, as if
unveiling ambiguous visual clues pertaining to some wondrous culminating
event that many might not fully understand, yet it will still manage to leave an
indelible impression upon the subconscious mind and a very subtle pull on the
emotions. A mystery drone soundscape journey along the shores of an
unfathomable glistening sea...
"Suisei is a composition by Yui Onodera that I like very much.
Almost tactile like use drone material, a seeming mix of environmental and
instrumental sounds (water seems to be a key element, and a pump organ is
mentioned). The piece builds slowly and inexorably, with a nice sense of
pacing. We might think it is over after about a half an hour but happily the work
continues even beyond. We never know where the composer is leading us, but
we are happy to find ourselves there." (Carl Stone)
REVIEWS
EARLABS (MARCH 2008)
Suisei describes a gradual movement along a horizontal plain,
hedged by field recordings and drones that are ever changing, as
multiple frequencies interact through the vertical laminates, revealing
a microtonal world simmering with low-key drama and incident.
With past works already released on labels such as Mystery Sea, this
recording represents his most comprehensive and cogent statement
to date. A narrative is erected before one's minds eye, one which
knows how to capture one's desire in anticipation of what might be
revealed at the end. In this vein, Onodera exploits the harmonic
space to spread out chordal shifts and inject mood and tension into
pure, abstracted soundworlds. Change and continuity are then united
in his carefully tending to the interplay of the field recordings with the
pump organ, as he patiently waits for the interaction to reach a natural
endpoint before gradually weaving in new elements as the old die
away in a wonderfully slow cross-fade.
Another part of his approach is to diligently explore a few different
aspects of one thing. This is then mixed with incremental
developments, which makes for a dream-like environment, one in
which the sounds assume a startling physicality while at the same
time seeming inexhaustible in character.
The pacing is in keeping with this, moving smoothly as it does from
lulling to edgily ambiguous. The production is done with delicacy and
minimalist rigor, and as with a stick or rock, it's consistent the entire
way through. Indeed, that it is so well organized in every regard only
helps further the sense that all of these pieces have emerged from a
consistent and rigorous aesthetic. (Max Schaefer)
Suisei describes a gradual movement along a horizontal plain,
hedged by field recordings and drones that are ever changing, as
multiple frequencies interact through the vertical laminates, revealing
a microtonal world simmering with low-key drama and incident.
With past works already released on labels such as Mystery Sea, this
recording represents his most comprehensive and cogent statement
to date. A narrative is erected before one's minds eye, one which
knows how to capture one's desire in anticipation of what might be
revealed at the end. In this vein, Onodera exploits the harmonic
space to spread out chordal shifts and inject mood and tension into
pure, abstracted soundworlds. Change and continuity are then united
in his carefully tending to the interplay of the field recordings with the
pump organ, as he patiently waits for the interaction to reach a natural
endpoint before gradually weaving in new elements as the old die
away in a wonderfully slow cross-fade.
Another part of his approach is to diligently explore a few different
aspects of one thing. This is then mixed with incremental
developments, which makes for a dream-like environment, one in
which the sounds assume a startling physicality while at the same
time seeming inexhaustible in character.
The pacing is in keeping with this, moving smoothly as it does from
lulling to edgily ambiguous. The production is done with delicacy and
minimalist rigor, and as with a stick or rock, it's consistent the entire
way through. Indeed, that it is so well organized in every regard only
helps further the sense that all of these pieces have emerged from a
consistent and rigorous aesthetic. (Max Schaefer)
THE WIRE (FEBRUARY 2008)
Suisei translates from the Japanese with a number of meanings. It
could be a comet, or the Japanese name for the planet Mercury, or an
adjective for "aquatic", particularly with reference to the strength of a
river current. In the case of Yui Onodera's album, the watery
metaphors apply. Sourced from field recordings and pump organ,
Suisei is a meditative album which transitions effectively between
humble drips, wet smacks and lulling patter of water tumbling through
the landscape. Onodera doesn't pretend that his field recording
techniques enjoy the pristine fidelity of Chris Watson or a Douglas
Quin, rather his mottled sounds embrace the abstraction produced
through contact microphones and consumer-grade dictation mics.
Sustained drones from his pump organ buttress the quiet hypnosis of
these field recordings, thanks to the instrument's woozy oscillations.
The organ's harmonics gradually swell as ghostly slippages of sound
descend gracefully into compressed wintry din and aquatic
percolations. (Jim Haynes)
Suisei translates from the Japanese with a number of meanings. It
could be a comet, or the Japanese name for the planet Mercury, or an
adjective for "aquatic", particularly with reference to the strength of a
river current. In the case of Yui Onodera's album, the watery
metaphors apply. Sourced from field recordings and pump organ,
Suisei is a meditative album which transitions effectively between
humble drips, wet smacks and lulling patter of water tumbling through
the landscape. Onodera doesn't pretend that his field recording
techniques enjoy the pristine fidelity of Chris Watson or a Douglas
Quin, rather his mottled sounds embrace the abstraction produced
through contact microphones and consumer-grade dictation mics.
Sustained drones from his pump organ buttress the quiet hypnosis of
these field recordings, thanks to the instrument's woozy oscillations.
The organ's harmonics gradually swell as ghostly slippages of sound
descend gracefully into compressed wintry din and aquatic
percolations. (Jim Haynes)
AQUARIUS RECORDS (JANUARY 2008)
Not much information to present about who Yui Onodera is. Nor is
there anything in the way of a conceptual framework to guide one
through this album beyond its sources from "environmental sound
and pump organ." Not that it really matters anyway, as Suisei is a
gorgeous album of darkly textured drones with parallels to Thomas
Koner's isolationist compositions or Keith Berry's precious
deconstructions. Wind, rain, and water all make themselves known in
the collection of field recordings, as does the pump organ, which
reveals itself in harmonic sustained tones with a spectral timbre (e.g.
Niblock, Radigue, Chalk, etc.). During a particular enigmatic episode,
wooden creaks and sodden groans duet with a motorized persistant
soft-grind, giving the impression that some unscrupulous machine is
quietly compacting sinews, meat, and bone. Strangely, it never
sounds macabre or unsettlingly grotesque; rather, these crunching
textures situate humbly next to a hypnotic wash of compressed static
and melancholic shadowy drone, which sublimely shift into a slippery
crescendo of grey massed sound. Very, very well done!
Not much information to present about who Yui Onodera is. Nor is
there anything in the way of a conceptual framework to guide one
through this album beyond its sources from "environmental sound
and pump organ." Not that it really matters anyway, as Suisei is a
gorgeous album of darkly textured drones with parallels to Thomas
Koner's isolationist compositions or Keith Berry's precious
deconstructions. Wind, rain, and water all make themselves known in
the collection of field recordings, as does the pump organ, which
reveals itself in harmonic sustained tones with a spectral timbre (e.g.
Niblock, Radigue, Chalk, etc.). During a particular enigmatic episode,
wooden creaks and sodden groans duet with a motorized persistant
soft-grind, giving the impression that some unscrupulous machine is
quietly compacting sinews, meat, and bone. Strangely, it never
sounds macabre or unsettlingly grotesque; rather, these crunching
textures situate humbly next to a hypnotic wash of compressed static
and melancholic shadowy drone, which sublimely shift into a slippery
crescendo of grey massed sound. Very, very well done!
TOUCHING EXTREMES (MAY 2008)
Sometimes I feel in dire trouble, cornered in the condition of finding
words to describe what is a relatively simple record that
nevertheless touches certain depths, which not many artists can
manage to, their display of technical prowess notwithstanding. In the
case of Yui Onodera, a clue was reading the “special thanks” to
Mystery Sea’s boss Daniel Crokaert on the sleeve: where this man is
found, the presence of water is all but assured (and the Japanese
artist has releases out on that label, too - stay tuned). Indeed this
album is strongly based on different aquatic hues in various kinds of
sonic gradations and dripping intensity. Not only that, Onodera also
made good use of uncertainly definable “environmental sounds” -
apparently slightly treated, at least in well (in)determinate foggier
sections - and splendid ghostly emergences of his pump organ,
whose static chords enter the picture in sparse appearances, like a
detached narrator would in a minimal theatre performance where the
audience understands what happens but somehow still appreciates
to be led amidst the subplots. The composer succeeds in chipping the
commonplace off the utilization of water as a compositional means,
an austere processing the key factor in creating a natural path
through which the piece slowly walks, delivered from useless
glittering clothes, extremely profound in its almost religious
concoction of deep-breath silent prayer and severe concentration.
Elemental innocence that doesn’t promise an easy penetrability.
(Massimo Ricci)
Sometimes I feel in dire trouble, cornered in the condition of finding
words to describe what is a relatively simple record that
nevertheless touches certain depths, which not many artists can
manage to, their display of technical prowess notwithstanding. In the
case of Yui Onodera, a clue was reading the “special thanks” to
Mystery Sea’s boss Daniel Crokaert on the sleeve: where this man is
found, the presence of water is all but assured (and the Japanese
artist has releases out on that label, too - stay tuned). Indeed this
album is strongly based on different aquatic hues in various kinds of
sonic gradations and dripping intensity. Not only that, Onodera also
made good use of uncertainly definable “environmental sounds” -
apparently slightly treated, at least in well (in)determinate foggier
sections - and splendid ghostly emergences of his pump organ,
whose static chords enter the picture in sparse appearances, like a
detached narrator would in a minimal theatre performance where the
audience understands what happens but somehow still appreciates
to be led amidst the subplots. The composer succeeds in chipping the
commonplace off the utilization of water as a compositional means,
an austere processing the key factor in creating a natural path
through which the piece slowly walks, delivered from useless
glittering clothes, extremely profound in its almost religious
concoction of deep-breath silent prayer and severe concentration.
Elemental innocence that doesn’t promise an easy penetrability.
(Massimo Ricci)
ART OF MEMORY (NOVEMBER 2007)
So far, one of my favourite discs of 2007, simply beautiful and
delicate, produced and designed by Dale Lloyd, one of his (and/OAR)
best yet. (Matthew Swiezynski)
So far, one of my favourite discs of 2007, simply beautiful and
delicate, produced and designed by Dale Lloyd, one of his (and/OAR)
best yet. (Matthew Swiezynski)
