ENXPL21 - STACKED by MAKOTO OSHIRO

Makoto Oshiro, from Okinawa and now based in Berlin, has developed an artistic practice spanning sound, site installation, field recording, language, instrument design, and more for over a decade. His performances and installations have spanned the globe, regularly appearing across Asia, Europe, North America, and further - often collaborating with other artists, most recently with Nick Klein on the album 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 released by the cult Italian label Superpang last year.

𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 documents four live and studio performances from 2020-2023 in Tokyo and Berlin, and marks Oshiro’s first solo album since 2014. Small electro-mechanical devices made by Oshiro, which he calls 𝘬𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪-𝘬𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘴, are coaxed into physically generating sound by rapidly opening and closing relays. The speed of the relays is controlled by Oshiro, producing a distinctive clicking (“𝘬𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪-𝘬𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪-𝘬𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪…”) at lower speeds - then bursting into squeals, squawks, and drones at their maximal activity, occasionally creating sympathetic harmonics with the surface they have been placed upon. Functioning as acoustic oscillators, numerous 𝘬𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪-𝘬𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘴 build a richly layered environment, approaching sonic phenomenon at its most fundamental aspects.

These recordings bridge installation and performance, machine and organism, abstract and physical, subconscious and rapture - especially on the title track 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅, with over 40 minutes of densely unfolding square waves and their superpositions.

Listen loud, lay down, walk around, meditate, stretch, and wander through the void.

Tracklist

1.	A1. TALK TALK TALK	10:54

2.	A2. NEW PHASE	10:49

3.	A3. WANDER THROUGH THE VOID	16:55

4.	B1. STACKED	40:48

Credits

released January 31, 2024

Audio finalized by Glyn Maier
Design by Dominque S
𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌 and 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑷𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 recorded at UdK Berlin Sound Studies and Sonic Arts Studio in 2022.
𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒐𝒊𝒅 recorded at Morphine Raum (Berlin) in 2023.
𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 recorded at Permian (Tokyo) in 2020.

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