Hitoshi Kojo ‘High Tide Mirror’ CD ICR DISTRIBUTION

The new (October’12)album from Hitoshi. 200 copies (numbered).Beautiful music & beautiful packaging(Double envelope / Hand printed silk screen on 300g card stock) Track List: 1. Interstellar Creepers, 2. Seminal Weavers, 3. Unbraced Constellations, 4. Lunar Germination, 5. High Tide Mirror, 6. Subterranean Ocean ***REVIEW FROM VITAL WEEKLY*** Active as Plexia, Plexus, Spiracle and member of Bloxus, Juupala Kaapio, Libellula, Revenant and Turquoise (to lift off some info from discogs), but mostly reviewed here under his own name, Hitoshi Kojo with a new album here, of sets recorded in Vevey (Switzerland) and Lyon (France), edited later on in Brussels, where he lives these days. I must admit I never studied his website before, but now I did and learned he’s into music, composition, installation, performance, painting, sculpture, video and photo ‘and those mixtures’ of which ‘the extensive activities are based on his animistic sensitivity that all the matters and the spaces have their own memories. Touching the objects, Talking to animals and plants, Resonating with atmosphere in the space. Such daily activities since the childhood are the basis of his works.’ His work is best described as drone like I should think and this new release is a fine example of that. Its hard to say however what he uses to create his drones, but my best guess would be that it is some sort of mixture of acoustic instruments and electronics, perhaps with the use of objects of an electro-acoustic nature. Something like that. It sounds pretty good, altogether. The six lengthy pieces here display a fine sensitive character, without falling too much in the trap of ‘easy’ drone music – the ‘cigar wave form’ as someone once called it. Kojo mixes together his sources in an elegant way, with ringing and singing overtones, bowing cymbals, strings and god knows what else. A delicate yet not always necessarily quiet release – powerful drones yet smooth when necessary. Excellent stuff. (FdW)