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Sachiko, "Kunado"
The cover photograph of this disc paints a darker picture than is actually to be heard. Which is not to say that this release doesn't continue Utech's ARC series of dark, opaque experimentalism, it just has some serene, beautiful elements that are not immediately apparent from the pseudo-1930s crime scene looking photo that adorns the front cover.
Sachiko, also a member of Overhang Party and Kosokuya, apparently works in a more psychedelic context most times, but here is delving mostly into purely "bad trip" territory. The dark ambient opening of "Dmu-Bdud Kam-Po So-Zan" with its drifting dark tones and sinister disembodied sounds like traversing through unexplored oppressive caverns. Harsher noise elements are here as well like the blasting loops of what could almost be a mutilated trombone in "Route 21" strewn atop a vaguely musical, but no less bizarre backing loop.
Tracks in which Sachiko includes her own vocals make for the most disturbing on the whole, like the cut up fragments of voice that are processed like creepy little children from beyond, like almost any Asian-inspired horror movie in the past 10 years. The culmination of this vibe is "The Voice From The Border," which stacks up scraping electronic noise and feedback squall with inhuman screeches and other vocalisms that rival that of any Hollywood voiceover artist. It is seriously creepy, disturbing sonics that pushes it into a dark place that rivals anything similar I have heard in the past year.
I referred to the fact that as a whole the album is no as dark as the artwork would indicate, and if the disc were to end here, I would be wrong. The final two tracks help elevates the disc from the ninth circle of hell and more into purgatory. "Gakida No Mori" takes the vocals and cut them up into a chanting motif that, even with the deep tones and rumbles feels somewhat lighter than what preceded it. However, the closing "Chiacona Und Konzert In G Moll" strips away the noise elements and centers itself more on soft, ethereal vocals that are really quite beautiful and constitute the entire track with the exception of some subtle background hissing.
I must take my hat off to Keith Utech for putting together this ARC series. As it is winding down (I just received the final two discs earlier this week and will be covering them very soon), it is not hard to reflect on all of the volumes and see just how many up and coming artists in the whole experimental/avant garde scene have been presented here, all complimented nicely with Max Aguilera-Hellweg's great photographs. Kunado is yet another great installment from an artist I had never heard before, but will definitely be looking for in the future.
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