Sukora

[none.friendly]

Anyone familiar with this artist? Sukora (real name Takayoshi Kitajima) has a small discography yet has made some of the most perplexing and mysterious music I've ever heard. Usually they are described as an Onkyo artist along the lines of Sachiko M or Taku Unami, however Sukora predates both of those artists by a few years and utilizes quiet sounds or silence in ways that the artists I mentioned never did, at least to that level. In fact I'd say that Sukora has more in common with the extremely dense, raw, and cryptic music made by artists like Jeph Jerman or Gabi Losoncy.

My all time favorites from them are "Tower"(1998 CD, label - Meme), as well as "Ice Cream Day! Nice Day!"(2019??? CD, label - Tristes Tropiques)
They have a few other releases as well, ranging from very short tapes to a few more longer releases. I haven't gotten my ears on "Center"(2001 CDR, Denshi Zatsuon) nor do I know anyone who has heard it.

Anyone else familiar with or appreciate this puzzling yet fantastic project?

[Atrophist]

I've read about this project before somewhere, but never got my mitts on any actual recordings.

I actually do enjoy music that is very quiet and minimalist. However from what I've understood Sukora is actually just more or less regular field recordings, only recorded at an extremely low volume. Conceptually an interesting experiment, sure, but doesn't really sound like something I'd be seriously invested in.

I realize this reply isn't super helpful, sorry about that.

[Zeno Marx]

I thought about Sukora the other day while I was frying something, but I was quickly onto the question, "Was 2673 the US version of Sukora?"  I didn't bother answering my own question.  Maybe?  I don't think Sukora was ever on Trente Oiseaux, but he wouldn't have been out of place on that label.  I wonder what a collaboration with S*Core would have been like.

[none.friendly]

I actually do enjoy music that is very quiet and minimalist. However from what I've understood Sukora is actually just more or less regular field recordings, only recorded at an extremely low volume. Conceptually an interesting experiment, sure, but doesn't really sound like something I'd be seriously invested in.

Some releases yes, are composed of very quiet field recordings, like "Tower", or the second track of "Ice Cream Day! Nice Day!", but it's never just that, there's always something more going on. "Tower" for example varies in amplitude and volume, and at times sounds less like regular field recordings and more like ghosts whispering to each other in broad daylight. There are a few other releases that implement more tape/concreté-work ("Saturday-Night Dance Date" tape), as well as other minimal sounds on other releases.

Anyway, definitely give the two albums I initially recommended a shot, if you would like. Both are very rewarding.

[none.friendly]

I thought about Sukora the other day while I was frying something, but I was quickly onto the question, "Was 2673 the US version of Sukora?"  I didn't bother answering my own question.  Maybe?  I don't think Sukora was ever on Trente Oiseaux, but he wouldn't have been out of place on that label.  I wonder what a collaboration with S*Core would have been like.

I'm not familiar with 2673, anything you may recommend?

Sukora definitely had a lot more in common with the artists featured on Trente Oiseaux than most of the people that would later define "Onkyo" (though I still hesitate to apply such a label to Sukora), however even there they would be in a league of their own with how dense their music is.