Futari
Underground
Libra Records
Futari is the collaboration between pianist Satoko Fujii and percussionist Taiko Saito. Both women are prolific composers, improvisers, and performers. Like everyone else, they’ve had to make adjustments while we deal with the plague. Taiko spent lockdown in her Berlin apartment homeschooling her kids and sneaking over to practice on her marimba when she could. Satoko went to ground in Kobe and continued producing new records at an astounding pace.
In what is becoming the new normal, Underground was produced long distance. The women sent their parts to each other to see what the other would come up with. Normally they would play off the other in a studio or concert hall, but these are not normal times.
The record is very meditative. The first two tracks are so subdued that they make Brian Eno’s ambient works sound like AC/DC. “Underground” does give me the feeling of being deep in a cavern with little light and something scurrying about in the darkness. “Air” has me imagining shimmering veils of color in the sky during an Arctic winter. I really like the spartan arrangements, the slow accumulation of sound and atmosphere the duo creates. The record closes with “One Note Techno Punks” which proves the ladies have a sense of humor. Satoko and Taiko basically hammer away at a single note while Satoko hoots, vocalizes, and makes animal noises. It’s a little silly and it’s fun.
