So Takahashi 12

About

Carpark is repressing the first So Takahashi 12″! We are keeping the attractive record sleeve and the 31 locked grooves, but So presents a new ambient track for the a-side.

The new a-side is quite different from the old one. While still retaining the ambient feel of the original track, So has introduced percussion elements into this composition. More shaken and stirred than bleepy and sparky, this track could be dubbed music for fleeting moments (e.g. first love, car crashes, et.al.) if one could elongate the process of a cork coming off a champane bottle to 18 minutes, this would be the musical accompaniment.

The b-side contains 31 locked grooves. The grooves range from dance beat-oriented locks to blasts of noise. Have fun all day hopping back and forth from one locked groove to another! Sure to appeal as much to the professional DJ as to the traditional trainspotter, So’s locked grooves showcase his clever knack for subtlety and humor in music.

Artist Bio

On Nubu:

Lotus Magazine – (spring 2000) The debut album by Yokohama native/New York resident So Takahashi sounds a bit like a compilation of different artists—and that’s a compliment. While some techno experimentalists spend entire recordings obsessing on a single stylistic theme—often yielding tedious results—Takahashi employs a nice range of moods and timbres, making Nubus a continually intriguing and surprising listen. While this variety will no doubt lure listeners back again and again, it’s Takahashi’s unique, minimalistic melodicism and deft production that will capture their attention in the first place. Combining elements of Coil, Autechre, Hafler Trio and countless others, Takahashi’s palette covers everything from nouveau ambience to noise deconstruction, 1970s experimental film music and techno bleepiness. If the artist’s masterful sample manipulation and sparkling use of found sounds are the building blocks of his work, it’s his outstanding sense of pacing and composition that holds it all together. We may very well be following So Takahashi’s work for decades to come, so jump aboard now.

Lotus rating: 8

— Al Ritchie

On 30/30:

inaudible.com A cool release of constantly evolving experimental electronica that shifts back and forth from raster-noton-style or ryoji ikeda-style minimalism to a denser electronica sound then eventually to a more percussive experimental techno sound in one long track. Another solid experimental release from So Takahashi. Fans of Nobuzku Takemura, Ryoji Ikeda, Terre Thaemlitz, Taylor Deupree, Frank Bretschneider, and Noto should give this one a listen.

— Lance