256 Pi
always up for a good classical crossover project every now and then, this was a very pretty and solidly exciting listen with a few interesting experimental twists
There is a philosophical quality to MIZU’s second full-length, ‘Forest Scenes’. Through layers of gorgeous, yearning cello, pulsating electronics, and hyperreal field recordings, MIZU evokes a sense of depth by interrogating systems and exploring unknown territories both physical and cerebral. By way of its daring experimentalism, ‘Forest Scenes’ is patently modern and brilliantly ontological.
Proceeding from Robert Schumann’s ‘Waldszenen’ in name and, to some extent, concept, MIZU began work on ‘Forest Scenes’ immediately after completing ‘Distant Intervals’, conceiving and writing the record over the course of two inspired weeks in São Paulo, Brazil in Summer 2022 and completing it over the following year in New York. While ‘Distant Intervals’ engaged and inverted the classical idioms in which MIZU was reared, ‘Forest Scenes’ lunges even further away from that world. It is in no small way an acknowledgment of transcendent experiences and the thrills of self-discovery, whether in the vast urbanity of São Paulo, in the community among New York City’s queer spaces and dancefloors, or in the more abstract place of a self in transition. Pulling from these energies, MIZU loops in techno producer Concrete Husband, who features on “prphtbrd”, to further ornament the dancefloor flirtations.
While MIZU was socially transitioning during the creation of ‘Distant Intervals’, she began a physical gender transition in step with the inception of ‘Forest Scenes’. The record parallels this transformation, interrogating the boundaries between the forest and what is before / beyond it, building scenes of self-discovery through a kind of ecstasy in the unexplored. The forest is, at least in part, a metaphor for queer spaces, for spaces of self-discovery through community, through encounter. But the spaces of self-discovery, for MIZU, are also very much found within the songs themselves. This marvelous symbolic complexity holds Forest Scenes aloft, above mundane considerations of what is more or less beautiful. What is pastoral, what is modern, what is natural: all these considerations are teased out by MIZU’s compelling production, as she weaves electronic and environmental sounds, and cello both heavily processed and laid bare in a glorious, sweeping dream. But with the headlong dives into deconstructionist experimentation and the pathos, vulnerability, and staggering range of densities through a single instrumental body, MIZU asserts that ‘Forest Scenes’ could not be more her own, as she discovers herself within it.
Notes by Mark Trecka
credits
released March 22, 2024
Composed, performed, and recorded by: MIZU
Mixing and additional production: Ariel Loh
Mastered by: Taylor Deupree/12k Mastering
Drum samples on prphtbrd by: Concrete Husband
Vocals on Enter, Pavane, and Realms of Possibility by: imryll
Additional production: Ben Shirken
Album art and vinyl/tape design: Daedalus Li
Special thanks to Cody DeFalco and Evan Welsh
"Pavane" Video Credits
Artist: MIZU
Dancer: Lili (Luyan Li)
Directed and Edited by: Dan Silver
Concept by: Dan Silver, MIZU, and Lili (Luyan Li)
Produced by: Kayla Casey, Dan Silver
Cinematography: Kevin Johnson
Costume Designer: MEGHUN
Hair and Makeup: Shamis McGillin
Nail Design and Construction: Vile Sanchez
Set Construction: MC Love
Title Cards Designed by: Daedalus Li
Film Processing: Tony Landano and Kodak Film Lab NY
Equipment Rentals: Du-All Camera and Lightbulb Rentals
"Flutter" Video Credits
Artists: MIZU, Kennie Zhou
Director: Xiao Han
Producer / Movement Director: Kennie Zhou
1st AD: Shana Purnama
Cinematographer: Steven Baerga
1st AC: Arina Vala
2nd AC / Trainee: Noah Gravillis
Gaffer: Ian Chen
Grip: Aldo Vassallo
Wardrobe: Alice Eugene Seon
Makeup Artist: Shamis McGillin
Editor: Mason CW
Colorist: Daymian Mejia
Graphic Design: Daedalus Li
Filmed at Abrons Arts Center
Special thanks to The Brick
From gossamer harmonic textures to lush orchestral washes, MIZU builds expansive soundscapes through her singular cello
playing. Her signature stratiform style of composition, melding self-recorded layers of her instrument with electronic manipulation and experimental production, explores themes of transformation and the infinite possibilities within queerness.
"The paradox of an infinite string of unique moments informing the repetitive nature of being. The Unification of Inner and Outer Life as the last track’s title suggests? That’s probably impossible. But this album might help getting closer to that goal. Music triggering the weight and scale of the human experience."
my review on Veil of Sound: https://veilofsound.com/2024/02/26/Kali_Malone-All_Life_long.html Der Ohlsen
The latest from the ambient classical composer is full of kaleidoscopic soundscapes that are joyfully danceable and optimistic. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 19, 2023
Inspires by Judith Schalansky’s “Atlas of Remote Islands,” “Isolari” builds worlds with gentle keys and ominous drones. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 10, 2022
Dearest Arooj, firstly thank you. My brother died this year n what can be said about such loss n sadness. I saw n heard you at The end of the Road in England. I spent many years in India n love all the music, poetry of your heritage. Thankyou Arooj❤️ ben1769