I had always intended to return to Japan after hiking the Tokaido: It's a truly magical country and I enjoyed my adventure so much I planned to hike the other four 'Gokaido' routes leading from Tokyo as part of a series of albums. The question was when it might happen - money is an obvious concern (especially when I gave up on forging a career in the arts) and if I go too frequently I risk becoming "that guy who just records hikes in Japan" like I'm some weeaboo with no other ideas (although, admittedly, that might still be the case). Eventually, I got a sort of sign which motivated me to double down on research (I've continued to read Japanese travel literature ever since my Tokaido trip) and get back over there.
The recordings from my first album 'Dochuki: Recordings from a Soggy Sleeping Bag' have been used in other people's creative projects several times - I'm not unused to that request now. But one day I received an email from a musician I've previously collaborated with who made the same request due specifically to a supposed thematic connection to his project inspired by Matsuo Basho's travel writing. I responded by pointing out that those recordings had been kind of overused by now and instead suggested I make similar recordings following Basho's actual route and recording the sounds and soundscapes he describes in his diary. He never really got back to me about that idea which was somewhat disheartening but I figured if people were going to keep asking to use my recordings from Japan (noone ever asks about my other recordings for some reason) I might as well restock with new material.
So here we are with another album of recordings of an historic Japanese road, but the finished product is a lot shorter than previously: Soggy Sleeping Bag consisted of 55 recordings spanning 53 minutes whereas 'Bloodied Socks' is almost half that length with only 16 tracks (would have been 71 tracks if I had maintained the same rules as last time). In short, a major flaw of 'Soggy Sleeping Bag' is that after having adhered to a strict overarching form - one recording for each post station - it is fair to say that not every track is particularly remarkable. Even though I had found quotes and references to cover the entire route - and made many more recordings than the ones presented here - I didn't particularly care to retread old sonic ground; I got my fill of birds, rivers, and the wind through trees last time. Of course, some of that stuff is still in there, it's just not fucking 71 tracks of the shite. Basically, it is my hope that this release is a bit more killer and less filler while still maintaining the spirit of the original concept.
I have no current plans to produce a physical edition of this album (although if any label is interested do get in touch).
The recordings from my first album 'Dochuki: Recordings from a Soggy Sleeping Bag' have been used in other people's creative projects several times - I'm not unused to that request now. But one day I received an email from a musician I've previously collaborated with who made the same request due specifically to a supposed thematic connection to his project inspired by Matsuo Basho's travel writing. I responded by pointing out that those recordings had been kind of overused by now and instead suggested I make similar recordings following Basho's actual route and recording the sounds and soundscapes he describes in his diary. He never really got back to me about that idea which was somewhat disheartening but I figured if people were going to keep asking to use my recordings from Japan (noone ever asks about my other recordings for some reason) I might as well restock with new material.
So here we are with another album of recordings of an historic Japanese road, but the finished product is a lot shorter than previously: Soggy Sleeping Bag consisted of 55 recordings spanning 53 minutes whereas 'Bloodied Socks' is almost half that length with only 16 tracks (would have been 71 tracks if I had maintained the same rules as last time). In short, a major flaw of 'Soggy Sleeping Bag' is that after having adhered to a strict overarching form - one recording for each post station - it is fair to say that not every track is particularly remarkable. Even though I had found quotes and references to cover the entire route - and made many more recordings than the ones presented here - I didn't particularly care to retread old sonic ground; I got my fill of birds, rivers, and the wind through trees last time. Of course, some of that stuff is still in there, it's just not fucking 71 tracks of the shite. Basically, it is my hope that this release is a bit more killer and less filler while still maintaining the spirit of the original concept.
I have no current plans to produce a physical edition of this album (although if any label is interested do get in touch).
