- From age seven, Japanese producer Kyoka was chaining together cassette recorders to create phasing and delay effects. From the sound of SH, her willingness to take apart the recording and sound creation process has remained. These four tracks are full of wheezing breaths and crackle like wood fire, but this isn't the work of a naive producer cultivating a deliberately lo-fi aesthetic. In fact, it's the opposite—SH is immaculately designed music that uses varying levels of fidelity and carefully selected sound sources to achieve a particular set of goals. It's perfectly executed and every detail has its place—you'd never know it was recorded during sound checks and live shows.
"Susurrus" is terse, sparse and menacing, especially in its quiet moments, when feather-light percussion pricks like acupuncture. Swathes of soft hiss are interspersed with bass tones that sound like a hoover laid low by sickness, and each element is placed around the sound field with the feng shui of an interior decorator. It's a red-herring opener—the listener becomes a sitting duck as "Smash/Hush" clatters through a range of offensive manoeuvres that experiment with timing and pace, like a boxer working the bag. "Hovering" sits tantalisingly on the dance floor's edge, sounding like a Livity drum track remixed by a Jedi. As with most Raster-Noton releases, SH could sound like a dispassionate piece of music, but those willing to inhabit Kyoka's hostile, flawless environment will be rewarded.
TracklistA1 Susurrus
A2 Smash/Hush
B1 Hovering
B2 Shush