SHINYA SUGIMOTO & JESSE PERLSTEIN “I Confess” C46 (Muzan Editions)


Collaboration between Shinya Sugimoto and Jesse Perlstein. “I Confess” peeks its head from Nara, Japan, where Muzan Editions has kindly released it into the world. Muzan is rightfully renowned as a fine purveyor of experimental and ambient tape releases, and “I Confess” fits right into the oeuvre. Sugimoto and Perlstein have composed a field recording spectacular, a slice-of-life sound portrait that’s as immersive as it is mysterious. “And the Streets Emptied” recounts the titular process, but the sounds of life and bustle belie any sort of human absence. “I’ll Be Swimming” picks up where side A leaves off, but it is joined and then replaced by the gentle ambient sounds of Sugimoto’s piano and Perlstein’s voice. It gradually is overtaken by waves of distortion, and the whole thing plays out like a Sigur Rós demo, with just the bare minimum of instrumentation but epic in mood and scope regardless.




--Ryan