Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Includes unlimited streaming via Bandcamp + high-quality download in MP3 / FLAC, a PDF with liner notes, and two high-quality digitised ink-drawings by Laonikos
Purchasable with gift card
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Limited Edition / 50 copies / Hand Numbered / Hand Made Packages / Linen cardboard 240 gram / Various colored wallets / Each edition comes with a digital print of original artwork by Laonikos / Professional duplicated high quality AZO cdr /
Includes unlimited streaming of loess
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
The music on this album is a selection of improvisations on shakuhachi and live electronics on the banks of River Lea in east London.
For years I have been visiting this particular section of River Lea — to sit still, to observe, to listen, to try and meld with the more-than-human that make up this place. Improvising on the shakuhachi and a small, portable live electronics setup, I explore my place by the river and how I can blend in, creating long moments of birdsong, trains, wind, shakuhachi and technology.
The word “loess” (LOW-ess) refers to a type of sediment that is the result of wind depositing small amounts of dust on the same location over geological time. Visiting and recording in the same location over several years, this work has been about deepening my awareness of the place — my music every time I return is changed, each visit another layer deposited.
With many thanks to all the stewards of the soil, insects, birds, and trees of River Lea, and all those who keep fighting against the rife and unregulated raw sewage discharges and industrial pollution, which threaten the stability and peace of this place and those who live around it.
1. sakura sakura (2021)
This is an improvisation on the Japanese folk tune “Sakura sakura” which translates to “cherry blossom.” Recorded early on a misty and cold morning in April, when nature was at the cusp of blooming.
2. reveil #1 (2021)
On International Dawn Chorus Day in May 2021, I set up a livestreaming listening station on the banks of River Lea, broadcasting the dawn soundscape as part of Soundcamp Reveil 8, a 25-hour project organised by Soundtent. This improvisation was recorded just after dawn, at around 5.30am.
3. reveil #2 (2022)
Following the same process, I revisited the same spot for Soundcamp Reveil 9 on International Dawn Chorus Day in May 2022.
credits
released October 24, 2022
Laonikos Psimikakis Chalkokondylis (shakuhachi, live electronics)
Recorded on the banks of River Lea, in East London.
Mastered by Andrea Porcu
Released on Slow Tone Collages in 2022
Laonikos (he/him) is a shakuhachi player and composer based in London. He improvises, teaches, repairs shakuhachi and enjoys spending time outdoors and improvising long, unhurried plays with the more-than-human.
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