1. Part 1
2. Part 2
about
Ayami Suzuki, a musician based in the Tokyo area, performs a unique kind of ambient drone using electronics and voice. Since 2020 she has been performing at Ftarri in Tokyo, both as a soloist and with other musicians. Acclaimed guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama is active on the international improvised music scene. In 2021 Akiyama gave many outstanding performances at Ftarri; recordings of a number of these concerts were subsequently released as CDs. “Allelopathy” is one of these recordings.
Akiyama and Suzuki performed together at Ftarri on October 10, 2021. This CD contains two of the pieces they played in that concert. In alignment with Suzuki’s characteristic ambient drones and carried along on her electronics and Akiyama’s electric guitar playing, a voice performance incorporating Suzuki’s cryptic word-like sounds unfolds calmly and spaciously throughout. This superb work abounds in entrancing charm.
鈴木彩文は東京界隈を中心に活動する音楽家。エレクトロニクスとヴォイスを使って、独特なアンビエント・ドローンを演奏する。東京、水道橋の Ftarri には、2020年からソロや他の演奏家との共演で定期的に出演を続けている。秋山徹次は即興音楽シーンで世界的に活躍するギター奏者。2021年の Ftarri での秋山は素晴らしい演奏を何度も披露し、それらの多くはその後CDリリースされることとなる。本アルバムもその一枚。
秋山と鈴木は2021年10月10日に Ftarri で共演。本CDには当日のライヴ演奏２曲を収録。鈴木らしいアンビエント・ドローンに沿った演奏で、鈴木のエレクトロニクスと秋山のエレクトリック・ギターの演奏に乗って、鈴木の怪しげな言葉もどきを交えたヴォイス・パフォーマンスが全面にゆったりと展開される。幻惑的な魅力に満ちた快作。
credits
released December 23, 2022
Tetuzi Akiyama: electric guitar
Ayami Suzuki: voice, electronics
Recorded live at Ftarri, Tokyo, October 10, 2021
Recorded by Ftarri
Mixed and mastered by Toshimaru Nakamura
Artwork by Stable Diffusion
Design by Ayami Suzuki
Then we have the remarkable concert by Tetuzi Akiyama (electric guitar) and Ayami Suzuki (voice, electronics). The first I have known for many years, and the second I heard a few works of, of which ‘Vista’ was her first solo release (Vital Weekly 1365). She has roots in singing Irish folk music. Still, in her solo work, she uses electronics and together with the spaced-out electric guitar of Akiyama, this is one hell of an atmospheric musical trip. Very rarely do we recognize the guitar of Akiyama as such. Whatever he does on the guitar this time, it very little resembles the sort of guitar playing we know him for. He creates invisible textures; you have to assume they are there. We often hear Suzuki’s voice in a wordless (at least, that’s what I believe) chant that isn’t chant. Here too, we deal with atmospherics rather than something very concrete. The music never becomes static and consistently is on the move; slow, steady, and yet moving. Only in a few instances the music reminds us of this improvised music. It’s very hard to pinpoint these places, but I think they are definitely there. I found this a most remarkable CD, something that I could not see coming from Ftarri, but, on the other hand, it also fits the label’s catalogue very well.
(Review by Vital Weekly)
I’ve probably said it a million times, but I’ll reiterate again that Tetuzi Akiyama is one of my all-time favorite guitarists. In a duo with Tokyo sound artist Ayami Suzuki, an enigmatic vaporous presence haunts every corner of these two sprawling pieces. Allelopathy has an arcane spirit throughout, as though this music always existed in the ancient ether waiting for Suzuki and Akiyama to tap into its mystical threads. Angular guitar shards glow with volcanic heat, primordial and undeterred. Akiyama says so much with just a few clandestine notes. Yet Suzuki’s vocal incantations are something else entirely, an elemental force filling the cracks left in Akiyama’s wake. It’s an incredible collaboration that elevates each artist’s practice into finding new ground.
(Review by Foxy Digitalis)
