I'm being treated to some real sonic lovelies today. Got this CD by Aspidistrafly called 'I Hold A Wish For You' and it's a remarkable sounding/looking package. Housed in a concertina booklet full of tasty photography, this is a boy/girl project (from Singapore I believe) - full of dreamy post shoegaze soundscapes, ethereal female vocals & lullaby folk textures. It kind of reminds me of the pastures between Cocteau Twins, Lamb & Sigur Ros, the voice fluttering & hovering around tantalisingly between absorbing passages of crisp acoustics, subtle found sound samples, gentle ambient/drift textures and blissed laptop glitch. It's definitely of a high pedigree, lovingly produced and a delight to look at as well hear. If you're in need of a stress relieving boost, then add this soothing baby to yr cart!
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What their label says...
Kitchen. Label is proud to present the first full-length album by aspidistrafly, a sound & visual project formed by April Lee and Ricks Ang. 'i hold a wish for you' is an artbook + cd with references to Banana Yoshimoto's story 'Moonlight Shadow' which weaves through their own narratives inspired by several excursions outside the confines of their immediate surroundings. 'i hold a wish for you' invokes delicate moments and a feeling of connection with people and places faraway. Nine tracks combine acoustic instrumentation across broad washes of warm vocal harmonies, soft floating textures and binaural field recordings. From the pure lyrical intentions of 'On the Summer Solstice' to the densely layered sonic scape of '花火', 'i hold a wish for you' shows a a group as equally invested in melody as it is in experimentation. 'i hold a wish for you' also features a collaboration track with Haruka Nakamura (schole records) and is packaged in a customized 6 fold accordion photo album with photography by aspidistrafly’s April Lee and Kobe-based artist, Rika Motodoi. This album is an invitation to travel with sound and go forth into the world created by the artists.
Tracklisting
1 candlescape 3' 50" 2 Moonlight Shadow* 7' 39" 3 common colors in the air 5' 22" 4 sampling atmosphere 1' 51" 5 On the Summer Solstice* 5' 00" 6 porcelain sky wink 4' 37" 7 sui 4' 23" 8 Endless Dreamless* 3' 06" 9 花火* 7' 13"
About the band aspidistrafly is the sound, visual & music project formed by April Lee (b.1984) and Ricks Ang (b.1980). April is an art director, photographer and vocalist. She has a background of study in architecture. Ricks also works in design and curates the burgeoning Kitchen. imprint. He is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and also a music producer. Since 2002, aspidistrafly had produced a couple of handmade self-releases, sound/performances for new media installations and art exhibitions, as well as participating in works for independent labels in North America, Japan, Australia among others. They have also performed internationally in Japan and other Asia-pacific regions. Their list of past collaborators includes Takayuki Fujimoto (Dumbtype), Daito Manabe, Haruka Nakamura, Chihei Hatekeyama among others. As a producer, Ricks has worked on “windvane & window” by Flica and “Weekend” by Rist.
“This album is filled with a simple elegance in it's beautiful sounds, much like a mix between Taylor Deupree and Haruka Nakamura... Singapore's electronic duo aspidistrafly's debut album is a masterpiece !" - Masami Shimomura (p*dis manager)
“The album sounded like a bond of cool breeze. Very soothing and comfortable!. Amazing production and packaging. You can tell instantly just by looking and hearing it. - Nao Sugimoto (Spekk, Plop - Label A&R)
"A gentle album thats shines like a jewel arrives from Singapore, like sunlight through the leaves of trees..." - Tower Records, Japan ”We are enchanted by the sounds and rich content of this album which has fascinated many listeners. aspidistrafly and their label Kitchen. are noteworthy names for the future. " - Pastel Records, Japan
