{"title":"Tujiko Noriko","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"crepuscule-i-and-ii","title":"Crpuscule I and II","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the early days of Mego prior to it's transformation into Editions Mego a most unexpected release appeared amongst the radical roster. Out of all the twisted hard drive activity from PITA, General Magic, Farmers Manual etc appeared a very different kind of release. One made from a computer, but one with a softer atmosphere, cloud-like in sonic shape and even containing discernible melodies (!). This was the debut release from Japanese artist Tujiko Noriko which not only launched her career to a larger audience but opened the doors of Editions Mego to a broader range of experimental musical forms.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNoriko's particular synthesis of electronic abstraction, melody, voice and atmosphere has few peers as sound gently circles her mystical words morphing into a succession of emotive aural experiments framed as songs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNoriko's evolution since her debut Mego release has seen further solo works alongside collaborations as well as a shift into cinema, both acting and as director.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn \"Crépuscule\" one can hear the influence the film medium has had on her music as visual insignia are invoked in the evocative audio at hand. Instrumental interludes further conjure a film landscape alongside the titles which also reiterate the cinematic form.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is synthetic music with a deep human presence. The mind of a human captured wandering the fantastic realms of the internal sphere is exquisitely rendered through machines which usually prompt one to disfigure such humanistic tendencies. The warmth, serenity and dream-like environment that Noriko conjures from her tools is what makes her such a unique and outstanding artist and \"Crépuscule\" is an epic testament to these powers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe title \"Crépuscule\" perfectly encapsulates the somnambulant nature of the music where the nocturnal shifts evoke a broad sense of calm. \"Crépuscule I\" features a selection of shorter 'songs' whilst \"Crépuscule II\" allows more room for these songs \/ moods to breathe with only three songs running at broader longer duration. \"Crépuscule\" allows the listener to view the world through Noriko's eyes. With her cunning ability to humanise machines a world of calm wonder is allowed to take focus in the frame.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Editions Mego","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50466048213323,"sku":"2005900","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cover.ki_1_58fa677e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727302810"},{"product_id":"kuro-ost","title":"Kuro (OST)","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten and directed by Joji Koyama and Tujiko Noriko, Kuro tells the tale of Romi, a Japanese woman living in the suburbs of Paris with her paraplegic lover Milou. Tending to Milou by day and working in a karaoke bar by night, Romi reminisces about a time she and Milou once lived together in Japan with a mysterious ailing man named Mr. Ono. Weaving together personal history, anecdotes and myths, her stories soon turn ominous. When we first decided to ‘split’ the film into what might be described as two parallel layers — the narrated story and the visual story — we found that it opened up an ‘in-between’ space, a space where what is heard and seen continually wrestle with one another. We envisaged that the true setting of the film would emerge from this friction, as something imagined and projected by the audience. After a few screenings we were struck by how some audience members would refer to scenes or events in the film that, for us, did not take place… We both thought of the music of Kuro as a score to this space in-between. -Joji Koyama\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComposed and recorded during the editing of the film in Berlin, the Kuro OST by Tujiko Noriko (with contributions from Joji Koyama, Sam Britton and Will Worsely), is a crucial and integral part of the film, acting not only as a glue to bind the layers of the film together, but along with the sonic palette of the film’s sound design, evokes it’s claustrophobic atmospheres and moments of haunting beauty. I tried to think of the pieces in abstract terms, like moods and atmospheres. In a way, the process was quite similar to how I usually make music, in the sense that I have images in my head. Of course in this case there were actual images and a lot of them very close to me, but I didn't want to get overly conscious about them either—I didn't want to get stuck by trying to be too specific. -Tujiko Noriko \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe music, which in the film is largely heard in tandem to the narrating voice of Tujiko Noriko (who also stars as Romi), is presented and arranged here as a separate piece in its own right. ENTOPIA is the latest offshoot series from PAN seeking to amplify and redefine our ideas of what a soundtrack can be. The series will survey critical works across the spectrum from musical composers on PAN and beyond, commissioned for the worlds of film, art, performance, installation works, theatre, dance and fashion.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pan","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":53739088019787,"sku":"R0310-1191","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":53739088052555,"sku":"R0310-3920","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/TujikoNoriko-Kuro.jpg?v=1761580652"},{"product_id":"pon","title":"Pon","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePon\u003c\/em\u003e is Tujiko Noriko’s sixth album for Editions Mego and a further extension of her already significant body of work as both a solo and collaborative artist. Dedicated to her cat who she adopted as an infant and passed away due an accident having been born deaf, Pon is imbued with abstraction, tenderness and a deep emotional resonance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNoriko’s palette of electronics, romantic melodies and surprising sonic details are all fully present here, and like her last full length, 2023’s Crépuscule this is an epic work, released as a 2LP by Editions Mego alongside a Japanese CD release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe unmistakable hue of Japan hovers throughout this emotional rich landscape. Subtle field recordings and fragile, abstract motifs drift through the album, all cloaked in a warmth and humanity that only Noriko seems able to conjure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePon moves effortlessly between the childlike and the obscure. There are moments of deceptive simplicity where unexpected elements suddenly surface — strange voices emerge on Boku Wa Obaka, Knife of Yonder is a standout: a startling ten-minute unfolding that begins with a warm, almost Eno-esque drift before launching into a soaring mid-section and finally landing somewhere unexpectedly blues-adjacent.\u003cbr\u003eKikoeru Pon is brimming with childlike wonder — a heartfelt ballad that dissolves into domestic field recordings, including sounds of the feline for whom both the album and track are named. A quietly devastating ending that brings the personal nature of the record into sharp focus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a deep sense of the human in the way Noriko embraces technology. This is far from cold abstraction; rather, Pon feels like a colourful photo album, documenting Noriko’s inner world and instincts with remarkable intimacy. Hovering in liminal states between pop, ambient and abstraction, this is a deeply affective and moving release that reveals new surprises with each listen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe emotional range of Noriko’s latest offering inspires hope in a world in disarray. It is both gentle and epic and one which we feel embodies the work of an artist fully at the height of her powers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Editions Mego","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":56937270837579,"sku":"R9409-8570","price":39.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2d609334-47f4-e937-65c7-3c1f05e5e15f.jpg?v=1775132550"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/tujiko-noriko.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}