Mr. Valvona at Monolith Cocktail wrote wonderful review (preview) for forthcoming New Single “Where the Birds Fly Now?” by Senji Niban! Please read quotes of the review below and visit Monolith Cocktail website!
Quotes
The last time the Monolith Cocktail featured the Tokyo electronica composer and remixer Senji Niban aka Koichiro Shigeno, he was sharing a Bearsuit Records split EP showcase with The Moths Poets, back in 2016. Recording under his Senji Niban appellation, the experimental wiz produces the kind of busy accompaniment you might find sound tracking a speeded-up film collage of Russian constructivism; melding the Yellow Magic Orchestra with Sky Records’ Dadaist fringe. Other explorations take in the strange aural fragrance of liquid bossa nova and a neo-classical Roedelius, and the minimal kinetic techno kookiness of early Kreidler.
It’s no wonder that Shigeno’s sound and style is so open and eclectic; growing up, as he did, introduced to Classical and Modern Jazz by his music lover parents, but shocked by listening to Haruomi Hosono/Tadanori Yokoo‘s ‘Cochin Moon’ – borrowed from a junior high school friend. It changed his life.
Those influences were gradually expanded over the years to include Krautrock, Mondo Music, Ambient and Acid. Shigeno has released music on a number of imprints, including his very own private label, Yorozu: a long-established Japanese Techno-Pop label.
Shigeno joined fellow Tokyo traveler Ippu Mitsui’s burgeoning Pure Spark Records label rooster in 2019, joining the label boss on the limbering tropical electronic co-production Melting Pot. His inaugural solo release for the label, is the trance-y chorus of bird calls, barracking drum rolls, metallic whiplashes and cybernetic nature, Where the Birds Fly Now? This eight-minute odyssey is a minor opus of avant-garde electro, deep bass and evolving tropical atmospherics. Enjoy the preview ahead of its release on Friday 3rd April.
Written by Mr. Valvona - Monolith Cocktail