Jodo by Chihei Hatakeyama ＋ Stijn Hüwels

The first collaboration album of Stijn Hüwels and Chihei Hatakeyama has been completed.
Stijn Hüwels is runing Slaapwel label in Belgian, which releases high quality ambient works.
also, he is mucian forcusing minimalism by long-form pieces, using processed guitar and field recordings.

This album was recorded in during twice in 2018 European tours of chihei hatakeyama.
chihei hatakeyama has used for this recodings a small Arturia analog synthesizer and an electric guitar.

Jodo means Buddhist paradise in Jaonese.
In Buddhism, there is the world after death called "the Land of Happiness".

A whisper-like, fine-grained analog synth sounds like an empty can thrown away on a longing road

The tone of the analog synth with an indefinite pitch overlaps with the melodic tone of the electric guitar and fades away as it is sucked into a huge gravity or black hole.

The reverbs and delays of strymon and eventide invite guitar drone into the poetics of sorrow that is sucked into a huge mist, and it becomes a reverberation of rage.

良質なアンビエント作品をリリースするSlaapwelの主宰者で、2019年にはHome Normalより、Tomoyoshi DateやNorihito Sudaとのコラボレーションアルバムを立て続けにリリースしたStijn Hüwelsと2018年にはヨーロッパを中心にトルコなどのフェスに出演するなど
世界を彷徨するChihei Hatakeyamaの初のコラボレーションアルバムが完成した。

Jodo(浄土）と名付けられた今作はささやくように微細なアナログシンセの、掠れた道に打ち捨てられた空き缶のような音色から物語が始まる。
ピッチの定まらないアナログシンセの音色は巨大な重力に、あるいはブラックホールに吸い込まれるように、エレクトリックギターのメロコリックな音色に重なり、消えてゆく。
strymonとeventideのリヴァーブとディレイは巨大な霧に吸い込まれるような悲しみの詩学の中へギタードローンを誘い込み、怒濤の残響となって響き渡る。

Chihei Hatakeyama is a sound artist , an organizer and mastering engineer who was born in 1978, and lives in the Tokyo. He has performed for years under his given name and also as one half of the electroacoustic duo Opitope, along with Tomoyoshi Date. Hatakeyama got involved in playing music through strumming a electric guitar in a few rock-oriented bands in his teenage years. Subsequently a laptop computer superseded his bands as his main platform. Hatakeyama polychromes memory-evoking soundscapes with various recorded materials of acoustic instruments such as guitars, vibraphone, and piano; mostly played by hand and processed time and time again via laptop. His first album Minima Moralia was commissioned for release by the Chicago-based label kranky in early 2006.
Since then his many album was released by Room 40, Under The Spire, Hibernate Records, Magic Book Records, Home Nomal, OwnRecords, Spekk, Dronarivm, Constellation Tatsu, Glacial Movements Records and his own label White Paddy Mountain.
In 2013 Hatakeyama founded the record label White Paddy Montain, which since then has released over 40 recordings by some of the most accomplished musicians and modern ambient musicians, Shoegazer and folk musicians in Japan.
Recent years Hatakeyama continues to evolve his sound by analog synthesizer, modular synthesizer and compact guitar effector. Hatakeyama approaches some modular synthesizer and electric guitar drone project with an expectation of new directions.

http://www.chihei.org/
http://chihei-mastering.com/

Stijn Hüwels is a Belgian musician with a profound fascination for minimalism. His work is defined by long-form pieces, using processed guitar and field recordings. Next to solo work, he collaborated with Tomoyoshi Date, Norihito Suda, Danny Clay and Ian Hawgood. Together with James Murray, Hüwels is part of Silent Vigils. His music is released on Dauw, Eilean, Glass Reservoir, mAtter and Home Normal.
https://stijnhuwels.bandcamp.com/?fbclid=IwAR1xJ37-GHpTkeF-9rgm_EViDJNlWZXlPH9eI-tI_9MHH299GxclPqwqlY4

Credits: Lustr Festival, Prague
Photo credits: Katerina Pisackova)

white paddy mountain is a small record label based in Japan.
Chihei Hatakeyama is A Sound Artist And Musician Living On The Outskirts Of Tokyo.
http://chihei-mastering.com/

chihei.org