- Of all the voices to make a return in 2016, one of the most unexpected and rewarding was that of Miyako Koda. Her elegant duo Dip In The Pool had the exquisite, crystalline pop of their 1989 single "On Retinae" reissued in the beginning of the year by Music From Memory. Koda popped up again more recently, this time lending her airy but evocative voice to Visible Cloaks' Valve / Valve (Revisited) single for Rvng. Now comes this five-track EP from Chee Shimizu's 17853 label, which takes a few songs from Koda's forgotten 1998 solo album Jupiter and lets a new generation of producers reimagine them.
Shimizu has been rather busy this year putting un-slottable Japanese pop music back into circulation, from reissuing Aragon's lone 1985 album to the crucial More Better Days compilation—this EP is the cherry on top. He reworks "Io" with the gentlest of touches, adding chirping crickets, a flickering pulse and nothing more. He knows Koda's gorgeous voice needs no further adornment. Same goes for Shimizu's adding of ocean waves to the spoken-word piece "Sea Of Love."
Towa Tei's skipping-CD backdrop for the original "Butter" remains intact, and it's bizarre. Koda's spoken word and the off-kilter backing voices gives the track a feel not unlike a Laurie Anderson or Robert Ashley composition, especially with observations like: "We don't make much / When I try to think / It hurts me lot / Actually, I'm nothing." Jordan GCZ's re-edit of "Ndembu"—with a sprinkling of hand percussion lifted from an unused take with the Ochi Brothers—makes the song shimmer like something from a Folkways Records field recording.
It's hard to pick the standout, but the In The Shadow remix of "Sleep In Peace" might be the most satisfying. Originally produced by Haruomi Hosono, GCZ adds a new synth line and Wolf Müller adds some metal bowl percussion. "Peace comes," Koda iterates over and over. Though she may have first whispered it 18 years ago, that sparkling voice feels all the more assuaging and vital now.
Tracklist01. Io (Chee Shimizu Re-Edit)
02. Ndembu (Jordan GCZ Re-Edit)
03. Butter
04. Sleep In Peace (In The Shadow Remix)
05. Sea Of Love (Seahorse Remix)