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WADA, YOSHI - Off the Wall

Format: LP
Label & Cat.Number: Saltern SLT 003LP
Release Year: 2016
Note: re-issue of YOSHI WADAs second LP from 1985 (recorded end of 1984 in Berlin) with powerful droning / archaic bagpipe sounds and additional organ + percussion... "It may be more accurate to think of Wada as a sculptor than as a composer, because his music seems to be a physical reality, like wood or stone, and also because of the way he treats this material..."; gatefold-cover with score, pics & liner notes
Price (incl. 19% VAT): €25.00
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"Vielleicht die (Wieder)-Entdeckung des Jahres, diese ungemein kraftvoll-dronigen Aufnahmen des japanischen Klangkünstlers YOSHI WADA (der auch bei der Fluxus-Gruppe dabei war und Schüler von LA MONTE YOUNG). Meist basieren seine archaischen Klangmonumente auf äusserst lebendige Dudelsack-Drones, bei diesen beiden Aufnahmen (1984 Berlin, erschein 1985 als LP) setzte er noch Orgel & Perkussion ein. Dazu gibt es auf diesem Re-Release noch als Bonus-Stück das 27minütige "Die Konsonanten Pfeifen", das vorher nur auf MC erschienen war." [Drone REc. info zur CD]


"Saltern is proud to present the first-time vinyl reissue of composer and Fluxus artist Yoshi Wada's second album Off The Wall, originally released in 1985 by famed free jazz label FMP. Recorded in Berlin in 1984 by a quartet featuring Yoshi Wada and Wayne Hankin on bagpipes, Marilyn Bogerd on adapted organ, hand built by Wada, and Andreas Schmidt Neri on percussion. “Off The Wall belongs somewhere between the exuberant harmolodic ritual of Ornette Coleman’s Dancing In Your Head, a damp, medieval dirge and the inner ear soundings of composer Maryanne Amacher.” David Keenan, The Wire. Edition of 750. Mastered by Rashad Becker and housed in old-style gatefold jackets printed by Stoughton.
“It may be more accurate to think of Wada as a sculptor than as a composer, because his music seems to be a physical reality, like wood or stone, and also because of the way he treats this material. Most composers work with ideas. Their basic interest is in melodies, harmonies, thematic relationships, tone rows, tonal centers, emotional qualities, and other rather abstract things, all of which can then be conveyed in sound, but none of which really are sound. Wada, on the other hand, works directly with the sound itself. His music would sound silly arranged for church organ for example. And if he prefers to preserve some improvisatory freedom rather than to notate specific musical ideas, this is at least partly because he is not so interested in the kinds of musical ideas that can be written down on paper. He wants to maintain direct contact with the physical reality of the sound.” – Tom Johnson
Personnel :Yoshi Wada & Wayne Hankin, bagpipes Marilyn Bogerd, adapted organ, Andreas Schmidt Neri, percussion. Composed by Yoshi Wada. Recorded on May 11th and 12th, 1984, in Berlin Recorded and produced by Jost Gebers Mastered by Rashad Becker. Originally released in 1985 by Free Music Production (SAJ-49).
Liner notes : “Since 1979, I have built several bagpipe and reed instruments; and have written compositions for them. The musical instruments and the compositions went through changes over the years.
I began this project in the fall of 1983 after I arrived in Berlin. I had a studio at Künstlerhaus Bethanien to practice music. Marilyn and I practiced the bagpipe together in the space. The acoustics of the room was rich and dense. When we began playing the bagpipe, it was quite loud and we physically felt the strong bounce back of the sound from the walls. I noticed this phenomena had to do with the combinational tones—it strongly happens when the interval is in tune. But it was difficult to tell where it was happening, either in my inner ear or in the outside air. While we were playing, we developed the composition and the technique of the bagpipe by staying close to these phenomena. It was possible to create the spacial timbral structure by moving around in the space while playing.
After this sound experience, I wanted to extend the search in the meticulous variations of the timbre and to build up the sound spectrum in constant transformations to its maximum density. I found the possibility of using the organ pipes to be able to produce variational complexed sonority combined with the bagpipe instruments. I ran around to a few churches in Berlin to hear the acoustics and the pipe organ. It was an experience for me to get into building the pipe organ from scratch. I somehow managed to build a five octave range homemade organ for this ensemble composition. We got a small ensemble together in a short time and practiced at Künstlerhaus Bethanien’s studio.
I appreciate very much the support from DAAD, specially Helga Retzer who is no longer with us unfortunately, Jost Gebers who gave me the right advice for this recording and the friends who made this project possible.” - Yoshi Wada"

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