Kioto Aoki is a taiko artist whose familial roots in taiko practice extend back to Japan's Edo period. Her musical expression through taiko drum, while fully informed by tradition, and honed since childhood, exists firmly in the present. Her style is characterized by both her own steady presence as a performer and shaper of sound, and her singular ability to bring her own tradition into collaborations with musicians steeped in totally different environments. Aoki has now teamed with Chicago techno producer and Gesamt Records label head Takashi Shallow for the towering release Paper, not plastic Dubs. Using three tracks from Aoki's 2023 FPE Records release, Paper, not plastic, Shallow explores process and medium, treating the sounds to a variety of analog production techniques. Three tracks emerge, retaining the pulse and spirit of the taiko's reverberations, but transfigured in affect. It's a sonic operation analogous to Aoki's process-based work in photography and film, as well as Alvin Lucier's early flirtations with musique concrète. Imagine: you're in a room with a drummer. Is the room big and echoey? That's fun. Walk around the room. Or, approach it from a distance. Put in some earplugs. Go outside for some air, hang out by the window. Record it! Hold your phone up in the air, or stick it in your back pocket and have a seat. Booms morph into pillow poofs, attack and decay interfere with each other, loud and bold becomes little and shrill. No sound is absolute; immediacy and fidelity are subject to uncountable permutations. We present here a quantum of possibility, pulses produced by stick contact with drum head, layers of membranes and electronic impulses manipulated into a concrete trip through the grooves.
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Recommended equipment and accessories
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Cartridges - Top Picks
A selection of turnatble cartridges that provide great performance and sound quality
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Pro-Ject Phono Box DC Pre-Amp
Compact, high-performance phono preamplifier for both MM and MC cartridges, delivering a clean, detailed signal with minimal noise.
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HumminGuru: Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner
Advanced ultrasonic technology with customizable cleaning cycles and a large tank capacity to thoroughly remove dust, dirt, and contaminants
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Audioengine A2 Plus
Precision-engineered 2.75-inch woofers and a 0.75-inch silk dome tweeter, featuring built-in DAC and Bluetooth connectivity for seamless integration.
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Nagaoka MP-110H Cartridge
Features a high-quality elliptical stylus that provides excellent tracking and minimizes distortion, delivering a detailed sound reproduction with an output voltage of 5.0 mV
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