CD - Gruenrekorder
Between 2010 and 2011 Rupert Cox and Angus Carlyle captured a broad collection of audio recordings that focus on the planting and harvesting of specific cultivations in Japan. The farm in question came into being in 1966 and is the last place in the area to survive an ongoing project of development and urbanization. Although now located within the borders of the Narita International Airport, the farm still operates as a small organic setup producing fruit and vegetables and raising pigs and chickens. The sound artists’ selection includes the noise trails of jets and ethereal and surreal sounds coming from the airport, which overlap in a spontaneous way with the field recordings of daily farm activities. The farmers of the Shimamura family continue to cultivate their special varieties of vegetables with love, spokesmen of a local tradition that resists the demands of contemporary existence, a lifestyle in accordance with the traditional rhythms of the countryside. We are unsure if they still consider themselves activists of the movement of resistance and protest that took place in the area, which saw farmers chained to trees to defend their land, forced police evictions and several dead on both sides. “Air Pressure” generates an oppositional, tense mood, while “A Soundfilm” presents a more peaceful balance, though one still infused with the multiple pressures that characterize the entire album.
Aurelio Cianciotta