– THE PEACEFUL PROTEST –

Ambient composer Park Jiha follows up her break-through record Communion (hailed as one of the albums of last year by The Guardian and The Wire, amongst others) with a comparably conscientious track from a new full length.

The artist, who plays a range of traditional Korean instruments including the piri (think: flute), the saenghwang (think: mouth organ) and the yanggeum (think: hammered dulcimer) released Philos last week.

On Water is the beguiling full-length’s penultimate track.

You’ll be surprised to learn I am very much a new-comer to the piri (let alone the saenghwang and the yanggeum) but I was completely charmed by the sound of this double reeded bamboo flute. At times, here, it reminded me of Irish Uilleann pipes (to see it in action, listen to this version of Communion).

Over the piece’s atmospherics and gentle chimes, it makes for a soothing balm of a track; one that could as equally serenade to sleep as awaken the senses.

Philos is out now through Tak:Til/Glitterbeat.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

BRYONY JARMAN-PINTO: SUNKISSED
DEVON GILFILLIAN: GET OUT AND GET IT
YAKUL: BLOSSOMING
THEOPHILUS LONDON: SEALS – SOLO

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –