Two times Sontag Shogun on TMT 2014, now. And they just continue to crush it. “Jubokku” sounds a lot like Mpala Garoo mashed up with some Lucky Pierre sonics. As well, they sent me a wonderful press release on the track, including a description of their creative process, which is interesting, and how they changed from their original melodic sound to what we hear now, especially in “Jubokku.” Read a brief bit on it below:
[The narrative of] “Jubokko” lent us the imagery from which the album’s title came forth. It is both literally and figuratively the centerpiece of this album. We composed the tune around my newfound ability to accurately bend a sine-wave oscillation between F and Eb. This modulation whistles out eerily across a landscape of tones, then leads into the stasis-inducing introduction of a low-octave F, recalling the natural blanketing of nightfall. When the oscillations arrive again to complete the piece, entrenched in darkness, something sinister has awoken. The Jubokko in Japanese folklore, is a “Vampire Tree,” a youkai tree which grows upon former battlefields and nourishes itself on the blood of dead warriors. Thus, dictating the composition of this piece. - Sontag Shogun & Charlotte Hornsby
Personally, my creative mind stirs as a listener to this piece as a practice in patience. There are incredible sounds that spiral around “Jubokko” in a reoccurring way, and waiting for these sounds and sifting through others, makes the waiting game seem WAY more rewarding that a traffic jam clearing. The same is extremely well represented in the visuals of the video for “Jubokko.” It all revolves around the viewer trying to and then figuring out what they’re witnessing, as is the same with the sounds they hear. In a contemplative way, Sontag Shogun has metamorph’d into a being of pure imaginative journey, and their newest album Tale, featuring “Jubokko,” is exactly that in CD form via Palaver Press, CD form UK style via Luau Records, and Ricco Label just popped it off on CD yesterday, so GRIP!!!!!
• Sontag Shogun: http://www.sontagshogun.com
• Palaver Press: http://www.palaverpress.com
• Luau Records: http://www.luaurecords.com
• Ricco Label: http://www.fleursy.com
More about: Sontag Shogun
