Album review by Anhedonic Headphone

It’s at this point that I would like to acknowledge that, despite my real lack of interest in music as a whole in 2015, I am feeling very #blessed that we are living in a time when there is great ambient, experimental, and droning music being created.

2015 has been a pretty good year for those genres—you’ve got a marquee name to the scene like William Basinski, you’ve got a solid release from Alex Cobb, an odds and ends collage from the Tape Loop Orchestra—with the promise of a new full length before the end of the year—and then you have marvelous pieces like A Chance Happening, or the masterful How Could You Believe Me When I Said That I Loved You When I’ve Been A Liar All My Life by Celer.

Inserting itself right into that “masterful” camp is a new collaborative effort from the gawd himself, Federico Durand, and experimental artist Chihei Hatakeyama.

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You can read the hole revie HERE.

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Thank you very much Kevin Krein and Anhedonic Headphone for listening and the kind words about this music, F.

Magical Imaginary Child ~ Review by Textura

Chihei Hatakeyama + Federico Durand: Magical Imaginary Child 

White Paddy Mountain

Chihei Hatakeyama would appear to be an inexhaustible fount of energy, given the number of solo and collaborative releases with which he's been involved during the past couple of years. And as if that isn't enough, he also oversees the operation of the White Paddy Mountain imprint and performs mastering work on a seemingly never-ending stream of releases. This first collaboration between the Tokyo-based sound artist and Federico Durand came about in early 2014 when the Buenos Aires, Argentina musician was on a Japan tour. Recorded at Hatakeyama's home, the two drew for inspiration from a small statue of Buddha in a neighboring temple and produced it using nothing more than an electric guitar (Hatakeyama) and cassette tape (Durand).

*~ You can read the full review HERE.

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Thank you very much Texrtura, F.

Magical Imaginary Child ~ Review by Music Won't Save You (Italy)

Chihei Hatakeyama & Federico Durand - Magical Imaginary Child ~ Music Won't Save You

Sempre più intense e diffuse si fanno le frequentazioni giapponesi di Federico Durand, come del resto è naturale che sia, vista la delicatezza impressionistica e il fragile equilibrio che caratterizzano la sua peculiare tavolozza elettro-acustica. Dopo Tomoyoshi Date, con il quale condivide l’ormai stabile progetto Melodía, è ora la volta di un altro tra i più ispirati sperimentatori ambientali nipponici, il prolifico Chihei Hatakeyama, l’incontro con il quale è avvenuto proprio in occasione dell’ultimo tour che durante lo scorso anno lo ha nuovamente condotto in Giappone.

Da quell’incontro sono scaturite le quattro lunghe tracce adesso raccolte in “Magical Imaginary Child”, realizzate attraverso l’esclusiva combinazione tra le modulazioni chitarristiche dell’artista orientale e le registrazioni ambientali impresse su nastro da parte di quello sudamericano. Oltre alla naturale curiosità che ha sempre spinto entrambi i musicisti alla collaborazione, motore dell’ispirazione che ha condotto al lavoro è stata – si legge nelle note di copertina – una piccola statua del Buddha conservata in un tempio nei dintorni dell’abitazione di Hatakeyama, dove i quattro brani sono stati registrati.

Il contesto, la suggestione concettuale e la sensibilità che accomuna entrambi gli artisti hanno costituito gli elementi propedeutici a donare a “Magical Imaginary Child” una marcata sensazione domestica e meditativa, che attraverso minuti dettagli compositivi e variazioni graduali definisce una materia sonora dolcemente evocativa. Mentre i primi due brani sono pressoché uniformemente incentrati su morbidi loop e frequenze basse, appena intessuti da fremiti e ologrammi di field recordings, i due – più lunghi – restanti presentano qualche increspatura in più, determinata dalle irregolarità dei nastri, che infine si trasformano esse stesse in riflessi adamantini.

È questo il suggello e probabilmente il fine ultimo delle vaporose modulazioni sviluppate da due artisti dalla spiccata sensibilità minimale, la cui interazione non ha prodotto una sommatoria meccanica degli elementi da ciascuno di loro apportati al progetto comune, bensì ha plasmato cinquanta minuti di ambience raccolta, cinematica, spiritualmente avvolgente.

Magical Imaginary Child ~ Reviewed by Fluid Radio

Magical Imaginary Child ~ Chihei Hatakeyama & Federico Durand

Chihei Hatakeyama, Japan’s ambient auteur of all things light and airy, has been fairly busy of late, pouring out sunbeamed sub bass radiation and a host of space pads since 2008. His most acclaimed works probably remain those on the esteemed Hibernate label, concillatorily ‘The River’ for quenching a periodic state of the year’s unease. But by and large, Hatakeyama has pulled in new ears on every new record, and here he’s joined by the very able and revolvently contrasting Farewell Poetry styles of Federico Durand.

Durand I’d like to state is not a member of Farewell Poetry, but this ideology – of mistaken identity, of transcendent stylish mane, blossoms the individuality of both collaborators into a delightfully tranquil hotchpotch. There are also shadows of David Tagg’s ‘Waist Deep Seas Of Milk’ about the whole (some) affair, a lush bathe in absorbent honeydew drones.

The first sound you hear on this lp, Magical Imaginary Child is a careful tone float, a quintessence chord, stapled together with that gentle field recordist touch both artists carve from the bark. The last melody contrariwise creates a sense of essential ascendente.

Instead of wonderfully raggedy, ‘Magical Imaginary Child’ is wilfully astral, applying a sensuous approach to tone and texture. A tone ripples like a bicep of the World’s Supplest Organism competition, Hatakeyama and Durand shaping promising verses that fade with the penny being dropped. Whether that child is imaginary we may know, and whether this music is greatly interesting we may know as well. In magic, never is a truer word spoken; the ultimate paradox, and the ultimate reason for musical adventure.

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Thank you very much Mick Buckinham and Fluid Radio for this hearfelt review! F.

New album! ~ Chihei Hatakeyama + Federico Durand

A very special album.

Inspired by a small statue of Buddha in the hatakeyama's house neighboring temple, “Magical Imaginary Child“ is the first collaborative recording between Hatakeyama and Durand. Sourced from only an electric guitar (Chihei Hatakeyama) and cassette tape (Federico Durand).this album recorded on March 2014 in hatakeyama's house during Federico Durand Japan tour.These four works are true meditations and poetic sounds. 

Chihei HatakeyamaとFederico Durandの初のコラボレーションアルバムが遂に完成。Federico Durandの演奏するカセゥトテープと、Chihei Hatakeyamaのエレクトリックギターのみで作曲された本作は彼ら自身が語るように、詩的で、情景的な音像を描く。淡い水彩の単色画のような音色は儚さの中に強さを抱くような、まさに『秘すれば花』とで言えそうな哲学的な深さを感じさせる。録音当日の朝、二人は畠山の家の近くの古いお寺を散歩していた、そこで出会った『幻覚童子』という仏像からインスピレーションを受けた本作はMagical Imaginary Childと名付けられ、これから生まれてくる子供達に捧げられた作品となった。

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profile

Chihei Hatakeyama

Chihei Hatakeyama is A Sound Artist And Musician Living On The Outskirts Of Tokyo. He Has Performed For Years Under His Given Name And Also As One Half Of The Electroacoustic Duo Opitope, Along With Tomoyoshi Date. Hatakeyama Polychromes Memory-Evoking Soundscapes With Various Recorded Materials Of Electric, Acoustic Instruments Such As Electric Guitars, Vibraphone, And Piano. His Releases Is On Kranky, Room 40, Under The Spire, Hibernate Records, Magic Book Records, Home Nomal, OwnRecords And Spekk (As Opitope)..

www.chihei.org


Federico Durand

Federico is a sound artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since his highly acclaimed 1st album on SPEKK (2010), he has been constantly delivering new materials from Home Normal, Own Records and Desire Path label, most of them sold out quickly. He also released album as Melodia (collaboration with Tomoyoshi Date from Optiope) and Every Hidden Color (collaboration with Nicholas Szczepanik). He uses a lot of fieled recordings which he took in his daily life mixing with guitar, cassette, and the overall impression is always warm and organic just as his personality.

credits

released 29 July 2015

all musics written by Chihei Hatakeyama + Federico Durand
mixed and mastered by Chihei Hatakeyama

photograph by Chihei Hatakeyama

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Muchas gracias Chihei & White Paddy Mountain por editar este álbum tan especial, F.

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