Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano

Portland, Oregon duo Visible Cloaks in creative conversation with Yoshio Ojima and Satsuki Shibano, two trailblazers of the Japanese avant-garde music and visual arts scenes of the 1980s and 90s. The recent album ‘serenitatem’ as part of the long-running FRKWYS series (shorthand for Freakways) from the NYC-based boutique label RVNG Intl is a pure synthesis of artistic vision, technological sophistication, futurist ambition, and, occasionally, ancient polyphony.

FRKWYS has been set up to pair contemporary artists and their progenitors by way of remix, reinterpretation and original collaboration. Each release explores a different style of electronic music. (with previous contributors such as Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith X Suzanne Ciani, Steve Gunn X Mike Cooper, Laurel Halo / Julia Holter among others)

 

Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano are part responsible for a lot of music that prompted Visible Cloaks to life. Yoshio Ojima is a composer of environmental and ambient music, with a bias toward the possibilities of generative software. Together with pianist Satsuki Shibano, known for her renditions of Debussy and Satie, they programmed influential radio experiment St. Giga’s constant stream of field recordings, sound collage and readings of Japanese poetry, often read by Satsuki. Recordings of St. Giga was a big inspiration for Visible Cloaks first records, so it’s a natural conclusion for them to work together.

Originating from the exchange of MIDI-based musical ideas, this is music that blurs concepts between the human-made and machine-made, intertwining technology into composition. Read Visible Cloaks' track-by-track guide to the album with Yoshio Ojima and Satsuki Shibano here.