I’ve got a few copies of Tujiko Noriko / Lawrence English / John Chantler – ‘U’ back in stock here if anyone is after a copy.
Cheers,
John.
Tag Archives: U
TADA Music Interview
I had a wee chat with Jon from Tada Music. You can read the interview on their website. They are also offering up a free download of ‘The Sky and Us, 2 Girls’ from ‘U’. Nice One. Thanks Jon!
U write-up from NORMAN RECORDS
seems the good folk at norman records love it, too:
“Room 40 is that Aussie label with the impeccable credentials, earned from showcasing the outer reaches of electronic & avant garde, uber minimal techno & futuristic ghost pop. They’re like a big conceptual tree made out of origami orchids & unfolding, intricate birds constructed from snow crystals. That’s what the Tujiko Noriko / Lawrence English / John Chantler collaboration CD says to me. Opening with otherworldly poetry from a Japanese lady set to a subtle, organic techno ballad that I could really see appealing to fans of (especially) mid period Bjork or Cocteaus, her voice trailing wispily over a beautifully stunted half paced beat with some gorgeous atmospherics. What an opener! I love the beats on this album, they’re so pure & rudimentary, on ‘Hyouga’ they’re like echo-laden wooden snare cracks mingling with warm guitar shimmers & gently pulsing bass thrums whilst the voice meanders dreamily around the song. I think they’ve, between them, discovered the essence of the magic of 3. This is a beautifully constructed & very pure ambient record full of magic, wonder & the power of voice vs. instruments both electronic & organic. For an experimental label, you’ve got quite an accesible recording here, full of sweet esoteric vocals, dynamic minimalism & spellbinding astral sound that will totally absorb you, if you’ve ears. U is marvellous stuff!!”
U is album of the week on BOOMKAT
“Having been a staple of the Mego label for some years Tujiko Noriko has established herself as one of the foremost songwriters in the realm of experimental electronica, which ironically, probably makes her even more of an outsider than many of her more avant-garde labelmates. Tujiko has become a major presence within the ranks of the room40 stable, following up the ‘Blurred In My Mirror’ album with this collaboration alongside John Chantler and label boss Lawrence English. True to form, Tujiko’s voice integrates brilliantly with the more abstract sonic elements supplied by her co-conspirators, able to preserve a grasp on song structure through the most unlikely and uninhabitable of musical backdrops. No doubt the Bjork comparisons that have followed her around for the past decade or so won’t be dying off any time soon: the Homogenic-like grooves of ’12 O’Clock On The Highway’ usher the album into life with a blend of stacked-up, looped motifs and the most minimal of melodies. Next, ‘Hyouga’ shifts into a more obviously songlike format with guitar strums acting as pillars, keeping the piece upright, but thereafter rhythm seems to dissolve away a little, leaving room for floating chords and multitracked vocals on ‘I Can Hear The Heart’ while ‘Make Me Your Private Party’ is governed by a fluid narrative kept in check by Tujiko’s knack for a hook. An Oval-like (or would that be Ovular?) rapidly glitching sound reinstates a certain amount of rigidity on ‘Today The Scene Is Yours’, but it’s the freedom offered by the more dishevelled compositions (like the closing track ‘Papergirl’) that makes this album so distinctive. Brilliant stuff = Essential Purchase….”