Artist: Choi Joonyong, Hong Chulki, Sachiko M, Otomo Yoshihide
Album: Sweet Cuts, Distant Curves
Label: Balloon & Needle
Format: CD
Price: $15.00
Order: bnn20

Tracks:
1. 1/1
2. 1/2
3. 1/3
4. 2
5. 3/1
6. 3/2

Time: 56:05

About:
This disc was recorded during Sachiko M and Otomo Yoshihide's trip to Seoul for concerts organized by RELAY.

<review by Brian Olewnick>
Trying to elucidate what makes a release like this one stand somewhat apart from many other worthy recordings might be something of a fool's errand, but one thing that I kept thinking about was how the pitch range used here, high to low and in between, oddly resembled that which one might get from a "standard" quartet, rock or jazz--maybe even a vocal group, with soprano, alto, tenor and baritone. Not that these musicians stay in parts but that there's usually a fullness here that's a bit unusual in these realms. They also mitigate between dronage and short, harsh bursts, finding a juicy middle ground with regard to those choices, a fine balance among brief hums, sharp scratches and gentle pings. The music is "full" as opposed to sparse (again, relatively speaking), with an airiness between sounds more often found in acoustic settings. Whatever, an excellent disc, certainly one to hear.

<review on Vital Weekly 652 by Frans de Waard>
The releases by Balloon & Needle from Seoul, Korea always look nice without being too fancy or over the top, like some others sometimes do. The releases often, but not exclusively includes the work of Choi Joonyong (CD players) and Hong Chulki (turntable, electronics), who team up with Sachiko M (sinewaves) and Otomo Yoshihide (turntable, guitar) in this concert recording of 2006, when M and Yoshihide visited Seoul. If the work of the Japanese part of this CD is in anyway familiar with you, then you know what to expect. Sachiko M's sinewaves are the very bottom, or foundation if you want of the music. Things buzz in the front, in the back, below and above, high and low, but they buzz. On top of that the three men add their own blend of cracks and cuts, from the media players at hand - what the guitar is unclear, but no doubt he fits into this in a clever way - either sounding like a sinewave or like another crack or hiss. This is a work that is great, but but but its also something that we heard before, mostly in the work of the Japanese two involved here. That perhaps makes things less of a surprise, but the total concentration involved by all four players requires full concentration on the side of the listener. Only then it will reveal its true beauty.

(Balloon & Needle)