Artist : Gurun Gurun
Title : Gurun Gurun
Genre : Electronic
Year : 2010
Date : 01/2011
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 12
Label : Home Normal
Source : CDDA
Encoder : Lame 3.97
Length : 43:22 min
Size : 61,1 MB
Tracklist:
----------
01.Fu (ft. Moskitoo) 04:17
02.Karumi 04:27
03.Emoto 01:02
04.Kodomo (ft. Rurarakiss) 03:46
05.Yume No Mori (ft. Sawako) 05:15
06.Io 01:26
07.Ano Uta (ft. Moskitoo) 04:20
08.Kuko (ft. Rurarakiss) 03:39
09.Ato Toa Ota Tao 01:19
10.Yuki Hawaiian Snowflake (ft. Sawako) 04:19
11.Karumi (Kora Et Le Mechanix Mix) 04:32
12.Fu (Opiate Mix) 05:00
-------
43:22 min
Japan has been a huge influence on my
life, there is no question. Perhaps its
obvious as I moved from England to Japan
a number of years ago now, but I love
the culture, the food and some of the
music here is fantastic. I always wanted
to release something with a typical
Japanese twinkle, only not too cute as
it rubs me up the wrong way to be
honest. I desperately wanted Home Normal
to release something in this vein, only
not sickly sweet like so much of the
work I hear here, but arse-kickingly
beautiful, delicate and cute without
sticking candy down your gob. So imagine
my excitement when I received an album
that was all of these things, only by a
group from the Czech Republic!
Gurun Gurun have never lived in Japan,
yet somehow capture everything that good
Japanese pop music adheres to be, taking
it a lot further than the limited
borders of such music often is. Their
musical work combines guitars, analogue
synthesizers, turntables, various
acoustic instruments and digital effects
to span musical spaces ranging from
hypno-minimalist atmospheres to warm
tones of slow moving, repetitive melodic
stanzas. It shouldnÆt really have been a
surprise to me that the album felt so
Japanese, as two thirds of the main band
are members of the excellent
experimental pop outfit Miou Miou (on
the celebrated Japanese label - Rallye).
Jara Tarnovski and Tomas Knoflicek are
ably assisted in Gurun Gurun by Federsel
of the Buchty a Loutky Theatre Company,
improv band B4, noise project Radio
Royal and art group Handa Gote. The
result of which makes Gurun Gurun
perhaps the more dynamic, and certainly
more noise based and experimental of the
two outfits. The group is also topped
off with some amazing guest artists,
including three Japanese vocalists:
Moskitoo from the 12k stable providing
gentle, airy vocals across æFuÆ and æAno
UtaÆ. Another 12k artist (also on
Anticipate), the enormously talented
Taylor Deupree collaborator Sawako
providing touchingly open and raw vocals
on the ever so weird but tender æYume no
MoriÆ and æYuki ~ Hawaiian SnowflakeÆ.
Rurarakiss (from the Miyachan Akichan
project with Daisuke Miyatani) sings in
the most hushed of tones over the
glitchy, noisy pieces æKodomoÆ and
æK·K≤Æ. Beyond these, the varied group
is made up of Artem Vartanian on
clarinet, trumpet and shepherds pipe,
Daniel Meier on violin, Floex on
clarinet and koto, Irena and Vojtech
Havlovi (The Havels) on alto and tenor
viola da gamba, and finally with
remixers Opiate (Morr Music, City-Centre
Offices and Raster-Noton) and Kora et le
Mechanix.
Its a remarkable debut (such as it is
given their various backgrounds),
covering so much ground yet keeping
things restrained enough to have a
perfect fluency about it. I was
instantly struck by the way its cute
without actually being overly so, noisy
yet structured and multi-layered without
being overly complex. In terms of great
experimental pop music, there is very
little you can really ask for. Its
wonderfully melodic, quirky, touching
and tender, and the guest artists feel
very much part of the fabric of the
album and band, making the whole album
seamless under the careful guidance of
Tarnovski, Knoflicek and Federsel.
Perhaps the best summary I can leave you
with, and one which covers the magical
nature of the album, is the fact that
æGurunÆ is a fictional planet from the
old school Slovak childrenÆs sci-fi TV
series ôShe Came Out of the Blue Skyö.
Somehow, that makes sense of the album
perfectly on so many levels.
Ian Hawgood
Recorded in Copenhagen, Chrudim, New
York, Pardubice, Prague, Saitama,
Ostrava and Tokyo.
Mixed by Jara Tarnovski and Tomas
Knoflicek (1-10), Kora et le Mechanix
(11) and Opiate (12)
Mastered by Ondrej Jezek
Photography by the brilliant Hitoshi
Ishihara
Link:
www.gurunas.net
http://www.homenormal.com