A mesmerising, chimerical set from Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist, Patrick Shiroishi, recorded at OTO on a bill with Alex Zhang Hungtai in November 2024.

Starting with plain, unadorned saxophone tones, Shiroishi immediately sets about drawing the listener into his own distinctive sonic landscape. Looped refrains slowly build between voice and instrument as Shiroishi weaves a wonderfully lyrical tangle of saxophone lines in the gaps, before drawing out a weighty swell of bass tones which only serve to let the rest swirl ever higher.

From this point, Shiroishi doesn't look back, covering a remarkable amount of ground in the set's 35 minute duration. Circular breathing runs spiral around jagged little stabs of melody, blurring into samples of recorded speech which hiss and fracture before falling away completely. For a while, all that remains are the ebbing waves of Shiroishi's breath through the reeds, as a languid saxophone melody swoops and darts amongst the leavings of the low tide.

The waters will soon return though, this time not so much a swell as a raging torrent. Shiroishi's wonderfully stark, plaintive voice calls forth the flood. Layering with fragments of saxophone and electronics, the currents soon become a swirling cataract that the speakers seem barely able to contain, until finally the entire deluge is itself washed away. From those first few simple notes, the distance covered is no small thing, for artists and audience alike.

--

Recorded by Shaun Crook
Mixed by Patrick Shiroishi
Mastered by Oli Barrett
Cover photo by Jordan Reyes