Ryoko Akama has released her new album Senu Hima on Melange Edition. Akama's previous release, Code of Silence, was the inaugural release for the small label in 2014. Senu Hima features compositions, both old and new, from Jürg Frey, Sarah Hughes, Antoine Beuger, and James Saunders. The press release for the album gives an explanation of the title:
‘senu hima’ is a traditional art concept derived from Noh culture in Japan in which where nothing is (silence, gap, space, absence etc) is explored as the most important passage of works. As if opposing to my anticipation, I was given scores that requested me to ‘perform’ actively with sequences, numbers and certain rules. It was a challenge for me to come up with my correspondence to the scores but somehow I discovered how I could propose my performance in relation to the pieces. With these propositions that score suggested, I attempted a way to establish a fine balance between where there is and where there is nothing. As a result, this has become the strangest, qwertiest and the most loving album for me. / ryoko akama
Throughout September and October, Melange Edition has a deal that involves getting a discount on the first two releases of the label when purchasing Senu Hima. You can purchase the album and hear snippets from the album here. The tracklist is below.
1. Die meisten Sachen macht man selten 10:00
2. I Love This City and its Outlying Lands (1.2) 26:50
3. touw (voor joop) 21:45
4. overlay (with transience) 15:00
Track 1 composed by Jürg Frey (1994/97)
Track 2 composed by Sarah Hughes (2014/15)
Track 3 composed by Antoine Beuger (1996)
Track 4 composed by James Saunders (2014)