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Penguin Kids

by Nao Otsuka

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €7.99 EUR  or more

     

  • Limited Edition CD
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Professionally manufactured high quality CDr's, limited to 70 copies.
    Handmade artwork, each hand numbered.
    White wallets with envelopes.
    Wallets 250g paper, outside cover envelope 120g paper, transparent bag.
    Photo's.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Penguin Kids via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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  • Limited Edition CD/CASSETTE Penguin Kids PACKAGE

    Contains CD + CASSETTE editions with download code
    14 packages

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  • Limited Edition Cassette
    Cassette + Digital Album

    Limited Edition Cassette, 15 cream ivory copies, pro dubbed by Tapeline, download code included
    15 handmade, hand numbered, each cover unique, photo included.
    COMES WITH A ORIGINAL ART PHOTO FROM A NAO OTSUKA PAINTING

    Includes unlimited streaming of Penguin Kids via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
A Jangle 04:11
2.
Fountain 03:24
3.
Silent Creek 03:35
4.
5.
Flow Sound 03:50
6.
7.
8.
Splash 03:13
9.
African Frog 05:12
10.
Home Sounds 03:01
11.
12.
Penguin Kids 04:29
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.

about

From the Japanese mountains comes this debut album by Nao Otsuka.
Acoustic sounds from a experimental mind......

FLUID RADIO REVIEW by James Catchpole:

Nao Otsuka’s Penguin Kids is a blindingly-bright debut, populated with gentle drones, stone-washed harmonies and coalescing birdsong, resting in the shadows of the Japanese mountains. Shimmering pools of water are mixed in with cooler drones, and the music of the natural world filters in through a series of field recordings, sitting in a state of equilibrium beside Otsuka’s ambient drones.

The gentle ambulation takes in a near-silent creek, slow-walking towards a glinting lake where a set of bright chimes dance upon the water. Deeper vibrations pulsate within the singing bowl’s spheres of infinity, hinting at a meditation practice and at a more experimental pathway, but the notes are perpetually encased in good karma.

Penguin Kids is perfect listening for the summer months – it’s bright and dripping with sunshine, and the soft harmonies are reflected in a pair of aviator sunglasses. The experimental vibes aren’t dissonant or jarring – they melt into the overarching music, becoming one with it. Distant major chords are splayed out among the leaves, appearing as loose, Side B versions as original chords morph into a smooth, outgoing flow of trickling notes. The lines are blurred: when you slow down a chord far enough, the strum loses its shell and you get its arpeggio. There isn’t a single rough edge in sight, but there is an eye-opening spell of clarity on ‘Splash’ thanks to the clearer and sharper strings. However, even the strings are dazed, and the melodies that emerge lose themselves in vast oceans of delay.

The first section of ‘African Frog’ sees Otsuka in experimental mode, but it calms as it progresses. The music sways to the trickling rhythm of a tribal dance. The soft arpeggios of the guitar produce a cool glare against the afternoon sunlight. And the ten-minute ‘Tape And Insect’ is a soothing evening meditation. Sometimes the music is reminiscent of early Tim Hecker, in the pre-glitched days of Radio Amor or Harmony In Ultraviolet, when a radiant luminescence played upon the surface of the track, its emerald colours emitting a healthy glow. The experimentation is light, playful, and tropical. The Orb were right when they called on the world to chill out, and this is the resulting bliss.

credits

released June 27, 2017

All tracks by Nao Otsuka
All field recordings by Takashi Kokubo
studio-ion.com/profile/
Mastered by Early Reflections

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Shimmering Moods Records Amsterdam, Netherlands

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