Vital Weekly (NL)

Of the three new releases on 12k/Line, only one is really new, which is the second album by Sawako for 12k, following Hum (Vital Weekly 502), which we enjoyed very much back then. More than the previous, this is an album in which she receives help from others, such as Jacob Kirkegaard (cello), Radiosonde (guitar and tea), Ryan Francesconi (co-mixing and guitar), Lila Sklar (violin) and Jess Ivry (cello). Some of them play on more than one track. Sawako plays the rest, which I think is mostly electronics and computer processing of field recordings. This new album sees a continuation but also further exploring of Hum. Sawako still explores the deep end of microsound and ambient glitch, but it’s all a bit more abstract than before, but all is gently humming down the lines. The addition of real instruments add another layer to the music and marks a fine album. Nice progress is made here.