Monday, April 20, 2020

HARUTAKA MOCHIZUKI/KAWASHIMA MAKOTO – Free Wind Mood (LP-2018)




Label: An'archives - [An'14]
Series: Free Wind Mood –
Run by Cédric Lerouley who also run COmmA
Sublabel 情趣演歌
Format: Vinyl , LP, Limited Edition to 275 / Country: France / Released: 2018
Style: Free Jazz , Free improvisation
Side A, Recorded on June 25, 2017 at Ichibangura, Esashi
Side B, Recorded on November 18, 2017
Printed by Alan Sherry
Liner Notes by Michel Henritzi
Matrix / Runout (Side A): 1A – ANARCHIVES [An'14]
Matrix / Runout (Side B): 1B – ANARCHIVES [An'14]

Comes in a heavy old style silkscreened jacket with obi (black, dark green or grey), postcards and inserts.
Thanks for their help: Iris Nguyen Duc Long, Jean Noël Rebilly, Fergus Cullen, Jon Dale, Alan Cummings, Hideo Ikeezumi, Alan Sherry & Michel Henritzi

side 1:
A - Harutaka MochizukiUntitled (Free Wind Mood) ............................................. 18:30

side 2:
B - Kawashima MakotoUntitled (Free Wind Mood) ............................................. 17:50

Musicians:
Harutaka Mochizuki – alto saxophone
Kawashima Makoto – alto saxophone



"During the past decade, a number of free music players in Japan have fiercely, with no compromise, continued to grapple with the questions that lay at the heart of the solo saxophone recital: how to tease and tear new formations out of the interface between human breath, human flesh and skeleton, and the instrument itself, its keys, holes, pads, reed, and brass body.
With Free Wind Mood, An’archives splits one vinyl record down the middle, giving a side each to two of the most rigorous, exciting, and committed players from the scene: Harutaka Mochizuki and Makoto Kawashima.
While there are elements of their playing that places them in a history of Japanese free blowing, from Kaoru Abe through Masayoshi Urabe to now, they both have a singular voice: Harutaka more stringent and tart, Kawashima, perhaps, more melancholy. Tellingly, they’ve both intersected with rock music and free sound ensembles, with Kawashima working alongside Nishizawa Naoto of EXIAS-J (Experimental Improvisers’ Association of Japan), while Harutaka has worked in a duo Tomoyuki Aoki of psych-rock group Up-Tight, and guitarist Kondo Hideaki (also of EXIAS-J).
But both of them have made their most massive strides forward with their own solo releases, Kawashima’s potent Homo Sacer one of the final releases on PSF, and Harutaka’s Pas LP and Through The Glass CD exploring new terrain for the nexus of breath and brass. Moving on from those releases, Free Wind Mood is a devastating listening experience, blood and guts on the floor as the players fully inhabit the architecture of the space, and of the self, and play like their lives depend on it."       (By Jon Dale)




Divine, wracked solo saxophone improvisations courtesy of the magnificent An’Archives and their extraordinary new ‘Free Wind Mood’ series. Absolutely beautiful to behold too, edition of 275 housed in heavy “old style” silk-screened jacket with obi strip, postcards and inserts, including liner notes by Michel Henritzi. Monastically committed reedsmen Harutaka Mochizuki and Makoto Kawashima (whose Homo Sacer was one of the final releases on PSF) are given a side apiece to grapple with their instrument; Mochizuki’s offering is certainly engaging, but it’s the more lyrical, melancholy drift of Kawashima’s performance that we’re instinctively drawn to, the use of negative space reminding us a little bit of John Butcher at his most expansive or even the Bill Dixon of November 1981. But even at its most emollient and near-ambient, Free Wind Mood Vol.1 is serious, searching, masochistic... sonic/spiritual enquiry doesn't get much rawer, or purer, than this.


Please see here:
https://anarchiveslabel.bandcamp.com/album/free-wind-mood



If you find it, buy this album!

21 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Respecting the rights of the An'Archives label, you will no longer be able to get a free download link for this album.

      Find good music from this house here:
      https://anarchiveslabel.bandcamp.com/album/free-wind-mood

      We support small and quality labels.
      Vitko

      Delete
  2. Very cool and just new for me. Many thanks, Vitko!

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  3. I'm grateful to have this! Thank you so much.

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  4. This is terrific. Thank you! --gil hodges

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  5. Thanks for unearthing this gem!

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  6. Thans for offering some releases you don't owe ! But thanks for your enthusiasm with the album, that's much appreciated ! Please add a bandcamp link as many small labels know some hard times these days and they need your support. You can play the album on streaming and also order a digital copy if you like it and would like to support the label activities. Be safe, take care, Cedric from An'archives

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    Replies
    1. I completely agree with you, Mr. Cedric. I added the bandcamp link. Thanks also for your understanding ..... You have great releases and are worth a look. Be safe, Vitko

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  7. thank you so much!!
    all the best!!

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  8. This is rather wonderful. Thanks for the tip - I'd never had listened if you hadn't posted. And very happy to pay for the BandCamp d/l too.

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  9. I haven't got to side 2 yet, but loving Harutaka Mochizuki. Great to see this is on Bandcamp. I'll check what else An'Archives has available. Thanks for letting us know about this.

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  10. Many thanks for the latest batch of excellent rips. Truly appreciated.

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  11. Many thanks for what you do!

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  12. Thank you very much for getting to know us these 2 great musicians. A true discovery for me.

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