Michiko Ogawa & Lucy Railton — Fragments Of Reincarnation

Fragments Of Reincarnation is simmering, earthy, and pressingly majestic drone work for organ, cello and shō- a form of Japanese reed instrument. The single forty-five-minute piece is a sonic journey into the different tunning systems for the three instruments, as well as a fine example of layered & slowly shifting acoustic drone craft.

The release appears on Sheffield’s Another Timbre- which is one of the key labels for all that is great and intriguing in the worlds of modern classical, sonic minimalisms, and modern composition. It’s a CD release that comes presented in the labels house style white mini gatefold- with the front cover featuring a dense and murky coloured pencil on paper drawing of interlocking colour shapes by American artist Angie Jennings- which is most fitting of the sonics with-in.

The work features Michiko Ogawa -shō & Hammond organ, and Lucy Railton -cello. It’s based around a selection of Gagaku (a form of Japanese classical music which dates back to the 10th century) Aitake chords. The pair improvised within the eleven different chords- to create a simmering, hovering, and gentle morphing mass of sound.

The piece, which was recorded in a studio in Berlin in August 2022, comes in at forty-five minutes and one second. With its mass being built around mid-range church organ-like sustained hovers, gently simmering cello tones, and the shō's distinctive buzz ‘n’ hum.  Though the piece utilises eleven chords you wouldn’t think it as- there is no great, or complex melody- with the work being all about finding true wonder and pressing grace in its dense, and slow-shifting drone depth. At points, more pronounced tones or pitches appear- then once more disappear into the mass. The whole retains its entrancement throughout, and on a few occasions while playing it I’ve repeated it directly after- as my listening space seemed somewhat barren after its passing.

Fragments Of Reincarnation is a very apt title for this work- as it feels like many sonic lives overlaying each other, with from time to time certainly identifying elements from each appearing- before being once more sucked into the steady plod of time.