YUKO ARAKI - IV (2023)

A note from Yuko Araki
This might sound a little antithetical, but I am interested in making noise music that is free from unnecessary noise. I do realise how this sounds, but it is absolutely at the core of my new recording. I want to create maximum impact and dynamics in the music through using only the essential elements and materials.

I am a huge fan of noise music, and in many cases I enjoy the excessive nature of that music. For my own work though I am interested in reducing this, boiling it down, to the very critical parts that can allow the music to profoundly affect those who choose to listen to it. I want to use what I have at my disposal with intent and with force.

I also wanted to deepen my connection to, and place in, this music. To this end I have started to explore how it is I fit into the work. I explored how is my body part of this project beyond being a gestural interface between the various machines I use to make it. I’ve started to think about voice a lot and this has come into the process of the recording. I’m not so much interested in the way voice can speak to stories or singing for that matter. I’m more interested in how voice might haunt the music.

I invited another artist, Taichi Nagura from the band Endon, to contribute some voice to this album too. He is featured on Sloshing and his voice absolutely captures this quality I am interested in exploring. It’s as if he is trapped in that piece, fight for and against the other materials in the sound. This tension captures, for me at least, the relationships I think are so powerful about making, and also listening to music.