Musical Environment
Birdfeeders
Illustration by Yuriko Kawase
Volume One, Issue Three, “Plein Air,” Music
The “musical environment” for our Plein Air issue consists of an acoustic soundscape composed by the freak-folk musician Birdfeeders, paired with a sumi-e ink painting by the artist Yuriko Kawase. Birdfeeders’ composition comes in two parts: “For Air” and “With Air.” Read about his process and inspiration below. As you listen, try to trace the sounds through Kawase’s lightly spun lines while they float in spindly stops and starts to above where you’re even aware of them — the music and image share a soft surge upwards like feeling a gust come from nowhere out in the open air.
—The Editors
Yuriko Kawase, Untitled, 2020, Ink painting.
“For Air” consists of sounds from Kagoshima, Japan, each recorded during a moment of intimacy within the air. Rain from outside a bar, the lull of the street as people are drawn in from the rain... piano and marimba in an empty school classroom, a moment of quiet with the school in a rare quiet moment... bamboo from a mountain side... a tour group touching base, on a bench in a hilly city... a walk in the forest with a friend and laughter from strangers leaving a night of drinking, when the streets were alive after the rain. The guitar picks at the open spaces in and between all of this open air, drawing in and lost in thought. This song was made for the air.
“With Air” was recorded in one take one night not too long ago (depending on when you read this). A Roland SP-404 played through a speaker sitting next to me, playing guitar sitting before a microphone. All the sounds of buttons pressed and guitars bumping are the rustlings which the birds outside left for me. It is simple and it is open. It was made with the air.
Birdfeeders is Conor Emerson, a rosy musical friend to all who lives and works in Massachusetts. More of his music can be found here or here.
Yuriko Kawase is a sumi-e artist based in Tokyo, Japan. Her art is expressed through equal parts sumi, water, paper, and inspiration, seeking to offer a simple worldview that is gentle, yet impressive; strong, yet delicate — a style that remains quietly in one’s mind. Yuriko defines her work thusly: “Be free from all imprinted definitions of art and trust yourself.” You can follow her work here or here.