Japanese percussionist and composer Midori Takada will release two new albums, You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana and Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter, this June.
Both records, which feature Takada’s first new solo material in 23 years, will be issued through WRWTFWW, in collaboration with Geneva’s MEG Museum – the former reissued her classic 1983 album Through The Looking Glass in 2017. You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana takes inspiration from Buddhist shrines, and was recorded with the Samgha group of the Shingon school of Koya-san. Takada provides backing to Buddhist liturgical chants on the record.
Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter, meanwhile, features Takada’s take on ‘Nhemamusasa’, which is "a traditional work emblematic of the musical repertoire for mbira of the Shona of Zimbabwe," the press release explains. The album was recorded live, and features instruments from the Geneva Ethnography Museum’s collection.
Reissues of Takada’s music by WRWTFWW, including her work with Mkawju Ensemble, triggered a return to live touring for the artist in recent years. She also released a collaborative record with Lafawndah, called Le Renard Blue, in 2018.
Revisit tQ’s 2021 interview with Takada here.
WRWTFWW will release You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana and Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter on June 10, 2022.
