the3rd2nd
THE3RD2ND_017
Junichi Uesugi and Renick Bell - Reaped, Reconciled, Released (audio) (2011)
Junichi Uesugi and Renick Bell intended to get a different sound for this EP. Previously, for their first EP together (Signal Farming), the target was largely drones, but for this EP they changed their emphasis to recorded improvisations and a minimal approach. The sound they wanted let mistakes and noises coexist with more conventional music. The tracks use traditional instruments such as acoustic guitar and acoustic viola with as little processing as possible. They also used a wider range of instruments this time, such as drums, bass guitar, synths and so on.
The composition of this EP had many changes of direction, so it took three years, or six months per song. In fact, they could only manage one day a month to work on this EP, but by any calculation this EP took much more time than they anticipated.
They did two or three recordings in order to gather materials, with arrangement work done between recording sessions. The basic process was very similar to the first EP. Improvisations were recorded. They went over the recordings, selecting parts that they thought might make good songs, and then looked for other parts that might fit those foundation parts. Once enough sounds had been selected, they started to arrange them. Frequently, they found themselves going back to patterns similar to those they used on their first EP. When they noticed that, they tried to reconsider the selections or arrangement in order to get this revised sound.
Junichi joined an orchestra, which proved to be more useful than just as practice. It led to new ideas for how to construct their songs, they believe.
The location for editing and processing sounds moved from Gotanda to near Tokyo Station, and Junichi became a delivery service for vegetarian food from the Taiwanese vegetarian shop near his apartment exclusively to Renick’s home. Even today they can’t figure out which dish included amazake, but still music and eating made a good combination.
Finally, they reached a certain satisfaction with where the songs had arrived and decided to release them. The mixdown process revealed good things that had gone unnoticed, but also showed them many things that they would like to improve in their next set of compositions.
The result, six tracks of edited improvisations, can be found in the zipped filepack below.
Junichi Uesugi: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, acoustic viola, acoustic electric viola, electric bass
Renick Bell: drums, electronic drums, synths, effects, programming
cover illustration by Norio Kozima: http://kozimanorio.web.fc2.com/
THE3RD2ND_017 - Junichi Uesugi and Renick Bell - Reaped, Reconciled, Released (audio) (2011)
Download the release: http://the3rd2nd.com/releases/THE3RD2ND_017.zip (61.5 MB)
tracklisting
ichi (3:49) http://the3rd2nd.com/mp3/THE3RD2ND_017/1-ichi.mp3
interlude (2:17) http://the3rd2nd.com/mp3/THE3RD2ND_017/4-interlude.mp3
total playtime: 25:48