Jüppala Kääpiö (literally "woops" in Swiss-French and "gnome" in Finnish) is a Swiss/Japanese duo formed in 2006 by Carole and Hitoshi Kojo. They are settled in Belgium since 2011 after living in Switzerland, Japan, Canada and Mongolia. The duo uses various folk/ethnic instruments, handmade devices, found objects, field recordings and voices. They delicately weave them into colorful and textural organic sound tapestries through electric devices. This hybrid style crosses over various fields which would be described as cosmopolitan folk, psychedelic drone, authorial ambient, atmospheric noise, psychic field recordings… However, the inspiration has always been derived from the nature and the supernatural on the earth. Their recordings have been mostly released by their own label omnimemento, except two cassette releases from Peasant Magik (USA) and Lal Lal Lal (Finland). Their later titles from omnimemento are presented in crafted packages made by themselves, which are also a vital part of their work.
Carole Kojo is a book lover (professional librarian), a needleworker, a singer and primarily plays viola in Jüppala Kääpiö. Her handmade stuffed-animal/spirit and other figures are deeply related to the world of Jüppala Kääpiö, so that the works have been featured in the album cover of Jüppala Kääpiö since the beginning. Her sensitivity for contemporary folk music and European classical music creates an unique reaction to Hitoshi's sensitivity for ethnic music and abstract sound, which also gives intimacy to their experimental approach. She also played viola as a member of In Gowan Ring during his tour in 2006.
Hitoshi Kojo has worked with multiple media, such as music composition, installation, performance, painting, sculpture, video, photo and those mixtures since late 80's. His work has been lately getting focused on music composition and the release of those recordings via his own label omnimemento (formerly Octpia until 2006). His recordings have also been released by various experimental music labels such as Drone Records (Germany), Mystery Sea (Belgium), Kaon, Taâlem (France), Helen Scarsdale Agency, Alluvial Recordings, Olde Spelling English Bee(USA), etc. Several early works were released by aliases, mostly as Spiracle until 2010. He has been also working with other artists such as Michael Northam(as Kodama), Yannick Dauby, Jonathan Coleclough, Colin Potter, Paul Bradley, Emmanuel Holterbach, The New Blockaders, Uton, My Cat Is An Alien and so on. (omnimemento)
.
OdpowiedzUsuńWow, incredible and beautiful.
OdpowiedzUsuń