KOTONASHISO â Umwelt, room LP
Edition of 300 copies, silkscreened sleeve w/ obi, postcard, inserts
With Umwelt, room, Anâarchives releases the first vinyl LP by Japanese singer, songwriter and guitarist, Kotonashiso. An elegant collection of seven slow-moving, free-ranging song forms, Umwelt, room is reflective, pensive, and yet has a great, expansive sense of movement, each songâs parameters feeling almost infinitely flexible.
Born in Tokyo in 1984, Kotonashiso began playing music in 2000. After taking a long break from making music between the years 2005 to 2016, he returned with renewed focus, and over the past eight years, heâs toured Japan and Europe, performing in venues, street performances and open mic events. Currently, Kotonashiso plays either solo, on in three separate duos, with Sou Mori, æł„, and Hideya Kyooka, respectively. Heâs not released much music, as yet â a single, âin the cavernâ, with Sou Mori, in 2021, and a soundtrack to Hiroki Nakajimaâs solo exhibition, Ray, the following year.
All of this gives Umwelt, Room the feeling of a major statement, a debut shot across the void. The seven songs collected here were recorded in 2024, with a guiding principle, for Kotonashiso, being his desire to â[imagine] the time when people started recording blues and folk songs on analog records,â creating a ghost-like presence in the listenerâs room. When talking about the songs on Umwelt, Room, Kotonashiso focuses on a number of concepts, such as prayer, tragedy, âthe cycle of lifeâ, and the disappearance of the gulf between fantasy and reality.
Theyâre songs with deep, rich resonance, performed without guile. You might be able to hear, at times, the fragility of fellow Japanese singer-songwriter Hisato Higuchi, or the bluesy touch of Loren Connors in the guitar. However, Kotonashisoâs aesthetic remit is wide, identifying with artists like Bill Callahan, Scout Niblett, Inukaze, and Tomoko Shimazaki, and sharing sympathies with âthe psychedelic rock, avant-garde and ambient communities.â Ultimately, though, the pellucid, dream-like songs of Kotonashiso, somewhere between folk, pop and blues, sit, disarmed and lovely, within their own universe.
Edition of 300 copies, silkscreened sleeve w/ obi, postcard, inserts
With Umwelt, room, Anâarchives releases the first vinyl LP by Japanese singer, songwriter and guitarist, Kotonashiso. An elegant collection of seven slow-moving, free-ranging song forms, Umwelt, room is reflective, pensive, and yet has a great, expansive sense of movement, each songâs parameters feeling almost infinitely flexible.
Born in Tokyo in 1984, Kotonashiso began playing music in 2000. After taking a long break from making music between the years 2005 to 2016, he returned with renewed focus, and over the past eight years, heâs toured Japan and Europe, performing in venues, street performances and open mic events. Currently, Kotonashiso plays either solo, on in three separate duos, with Sou Mori, æł„, and Hideya Kyooka, respectively. Heâs not released much music, as yet â a single, âin the cavernâ, with Sou Mori, in 2021, and a soundtrack to Hiroki Nakajimaâs solo exhibition, Ray, the following year.
All of this gives Umwelt, Room the feeling of a major statement, a debut shot across the void. The seven songs collected here were recorded in 2024, with a guiding principle, for Kotonashiso, being his desire to â[imagine] the time when people started recording blues and folk songs on analog records,â creating a ghost-like presence in the listenerâs room. When talking about the songs on Umwelt, Room, Kotonashiso focuses on a number of concepts, such as prayer, tragedy, âthe cycle of lifeâ, and the disappearance of the gulf between fantasy and reality.
Theyâre songs with deep, rich resonance, performed without guile. You might be able to hear, at times, the fragility of fellow Japanese singer-songwriter Hisato Higuchi, or the bluesy touch of Loren Connors in the guitar. However, Kotonashisoâs aesthetic remit is wide, identifying with artists like Bill Callahan, Scout Niblett, Inukaze, and Tomoko Shimazaki, and sharing sympathies with âthe psychedelic rock, avant-garde and ambient communities.â Ultimately, though, the pellucid, dream-like songs of Kotonashiso, somewhere between folk, pop and blues, sit, disarmed and lovely, within their own universe.
Description
Edition of 300 copies, silkscreened sleeve w/ obi, postcard, inserts
With Umwelt, room, Anâarchives releases the first vinyl LP by Japanese singer, songwriter and guitarist, Kotonashiso. An elegant collection of seven slow-moving, free-ranging song forms, Umwelt, room is reflective, pensive, and yet has a great, expansive sense of movement, each songâs parameters feeling almost infinitely flexible.
Born in Tokyo in 1984, Kotonashiso began playing music in 2000. After taking a long break from making music between the years 2005 to 2016, he returned with renewed focus, and over the past eight years, heâs toured Japan and Europe, performing in venues, street performances and open mic events. Currently, Kotonashiso plays either solo, on in three separate duos, with Sou Mori, æł„, and Hideya Kyooka, respectively. Heâs not released much music, as yet â a single, âin the cavernâ, with Sou Mori, in 2021, and a soundtrack to Hiroki Nakajimaâs solo exhibition, Ray, the following year.
All of this gives Umwelt, Room the feeling of a major statement, a debut shot across the void. The seven songs collected here were recorded in 2024, with a guiding principle, for Kotonashiso, being his desire to â[imagine] the time when people started recording blues and folk songs on analog records,â creating a ghost-like presence in the listenerâs room. When talking about the songs on Umwelt, Room, Kotonashiso focuses on a number of concepts, such as prayer, tragedy, âthe cycle of lifeâ, and the disappearance of the gulf between fantasy and reality.
Theyâre songs with deep, rich resonance, performed without guile. You might be able to hear, at times, the fragility of fellow Japanese singer-songwriter Hisato Higuchi, or the bluesy touch of Loren Connors in the guitar. However, Kotonashisoâs aesthetic remit is wide, identifying with artists like Bill Callahan, Scout Niblett, Inukaze, and Tomoko Shimazaki, and sharing sympathies with âthe psychedelic rock, avant-garde and ambient communities.â Ultimately, though, the pellucid, dream-like songs of Kotonashiso, somewhere between folk, pop and blues, sit, disarmed and lovely, within their own universe.
