Paper, not plastic Dubs (New 12")

Label: FPE Records

"Kioto Aoki is a taiko artist whose familial roots in taiko practice extend back to Japan's Edo period. Her musical expression through taiko drum, while fully informed by tradition, and honed since childhood, exists firmly in the present. Her style is characterized by both her own steady presence as a performer and shaper of sound, and her singular ability to bring her own tradition into collaborations with musicians steeped in totally different environments.

Aoki has now teamed with Chicago techno producer and Gesamt Records label head Takashi Shallow for the towering release Paper, not plastic Dubs. Using three tracks from Aoki's 2023 FPE Records release, Paper, not plastic, Shallow explores process and medium, treating the sounds to a variety of analog production techniques. Three tracks emerge, retaining the pulse and spirit of the taiko's reverberations, but transfigured in affect. It's a sonic operation analogous to Aoki's process-based work in photography and film, as well as Alvin Lucier's early flirtations with musique concrète..."