Saeko Killy - Morphing Polaroids LP

Saeko Killy - Morphing Polaroids LP (Bureau B/Germany)

Listening Notes: A born and raised in Tokyo techno DJ seeks a slower pace in Berlin rooted in dreamy dubbed outernational sounds with hypnotic synth pop, finding watery life on mars, retro house music carried in a breeze, new age carousel music, soothing cosmic musik, and sitting beneath a waterfall until it blankets you completely.

Mood: Treating a blood moon as if it a balloon for a child to dream of grasping

They Say:

Morphing Polaroids is the debut album by Japanese born Saeko Okuchi, alias Saeko Killy, for Hamburg-based Bureau B. After moving to Berlin in 2018, Saeko Killy found herself in the orb of Club Sameheads, where she made herself known as a DJ and live performer. After releasing her first EP 嘘みたいな世界で 踊れ - Dancing Pikapika with the label Chill Mountain from Osaka in 2021, followed a fruitful Jam session during the pandemic lockdown, resulting in the eleven titles collected together here for the album Morphing Polaroids, produced by Brussels DJ and selector sofa elsewhere. The LP is a contemporary leftfield club sound, effortlessly combining elements of dub, post-punk, and kraut with electronic beats. Back in Japan, Saeko Okuchi started to learn the piano as early as four years old and at sixteen she started to play the guitar. Through her parents influences, Saeko discovered jazz and Brazilian music. Visiting techno parties in Tokyo awoke her interest in the spheres of electronic dance music. Through those DJs, Saeko discovered artists such as Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle, who greatly inspired her with their industrial sounds. During her time traveling in Brazil, she played at underground parties, organized by the artist collective VOODOOHOP in São Paulo. Alongside DJing, different band projects in Tokyo and Berlin became her way of experimenting vocally. A lo-fi-improv-snapshot of her krautrock-post-punk-esque voice is found on the Vax! EP (2021) by des Sameheads on the track "Die in Seconds" by the group Automattenfall. To produce music herself, for her either English or Japanese lyrics, she began to experiment with Synthesizers. After the release of the first Saeko Killy EP (2021), the Belgian scene DJ and producer soFa elsewhere asked her to contribute vocals on his song "The Dream" (2022). The musical collaboration worked out so well that he invited Saeko for an improv Session at his home studio in Brussels. Saeko Killy identified a meandering during the production process which is reflected in the album title as well as in the lyrics and sound of the entire record especially the lyrics to "Sun Shower" and "Intimate Flame". The two found out that they complement each other delightfully and had much fun recording many tunes, from which this album came into being. This interplay virtually challenges the intuitively emerging lyrics. Morphing Polaroids casts a spell as psychedelic dance music, which unfolds its magic through a certain form of opposing disturbance, similar to the Japanese avant-garde.