“Ippu Mitsui / Annie & The Station Orchestra” (BS031)
Ippu Mitsui :
01. Lalanona
02. Doramyu-Kick Off
03. Dodedin Odori
04. Impurities
Annie & The Station Orchestra :
05. Time
06. No More Pirates
07. Heavy Artillery Ward
08. Bustippers
This is great, another fantastic release from the Bearsuit label. Above all, it's a great listen, Annie's less manic tunes offering a sublime contrast to the frenzy dished up by Mitsui yet somehow complementing it brilliantly.
[Mark Whitby – Dandelion Radio]
Amazing tracks! The excellent “Ippu Mitsui / Annie & The Station Orchestra” LP. [Ippu Mitsui] The absolutely amazing man of electronica!
[Phil Vickery - In-Tune]
Pleasantly surprised by the by the high level of bonkers beat making in the Ippu Mitsui material although I guess I am initially more drawn to the more melodic, restrained material of Annie & The Station Orchestra...
[Audio Texture]
Great album from that fantastic label up in Edinburgh....Well worth getting hold of this album. It's rather fantastic! [No More Pirates] Yes, that's 10 minutes too short, isn't it!
[Keith Whitham - Wired]
Great! Both artists... [“Doramyu-Kick Off”] Great sounds! Drives on through without ever being predictable. [“Time”] Superb. oh - whistling! I love the montage of sounds. Brilliant in the cans!
[Barry Snaith – The Inconsistent Jukebox]
This is a great release for fans of avant garde/experimental music. Two great artists for the price of one, each bringing something different but complimentary to the table. Whether Ippu Mitsui floats your boat, or you'd like to explore Annie & The Station Orchestra more this release has a lot to offer.
[Intravenous Mag]
We suggest you train your ear lobes upon the quite delightful ‘Heavy Artillery Ward’ a gorgeously ghosted celestial down tempo dream weave swirled in the kind of abstract magicalia that used to occasion once upon a time releases by Takako Minekawa though here spirited between ripples of serene murmurings and foreboding dramatics.
[Mark Barton - The Sunday Experience]
[“Time”] It's absolutely excellent!
[Tom Byrne – Primal Radio]
Many of Bearsuit’s eclectic releases include material and collaborations from Japan and Scotland, a sort of East-meets-West sampling of some of the best and most intriguing electronic and experimental music around. Overall, another set of evocatively challenging sounds for fans of experimental electronics, glitch, noise, and the occasional wtf was that?
[Jeff Penczak - It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine]
This is a lovely album! A fun album. I couldn’t find the words to do it justice, but I have been smiling, dancing and exploring along with the music. Join me, and we will smile, dance and go on a tiny adventure together..
[Yeah I Know It Sucks]
[Ippu Mitsui] songs "Lalanona" and "Doramyu – Kick Off" are two prime examples of how abrasive electronic music can work very well. Both songs come with crunchy, dirty beats that are ultimately quite danceable, and there is always enough melody to keep the songs themselves very interesting. Annie’s opener "Time" is an epic six minute track full of ideas and playfulness, and in my opinion the splits highlight. There are all kinds of sounds, from electronic percussion to whistling melodies over mellow synth lines and a strangely distorted electric guitar ...Wonderful stuff!
[DisAgreement]
A very interesting album...
[A Closer Listen]
That fantastic thing [“Bustippers”] was from Annie and The Station Orchestra. Sounds like two tunes to be fair. It's a great thing!
[“On The Wire” - BBC Radio Lancashire]
For all the fellow freaks, weirdness abounds from Annie & The Station Orchestra!
[Lee Adcock – Dandelion Radio]
*
Both artists are new to me, and the chances are they are to you too. So, first up, Ippu Mitsui, whose four tracks occupy the front end of this digital-only release, is an independent musician/producer based in Tokyo, Japan. There is something overtly Japanese about Ippu Mitsu’s material. Pounding techno beats, heavy dance grooves, niggly synths, and waves of noise collide, contriving to bend the brain in a sonic realisation of cyberpunk electronic madness.
And then there are the four tracks by Annie & The Station Orchestra, the work of Glasgow based musician, Chas “Annie” Kinnis (one time member of the Pep Boys with Finnish singer/songwriter, Jean Ramsay). Annie & The Station Orchestra’s offerings commence with a pounding industrial rhythm paired with gloopy, woozy muzak synths. It’s a weird and incongruous enough juxtaposition, before things get weirder with the wordless, breathy vocals and spaced out oddness – all the while driven by a pounding beat worthy of early Swans. Elsewhere, mellow tones and downtempo glitch beats collide in a cascade of warping crackles to Simultaneously stark and dense, it’s one of those listening experiences that takes you to another zone.
What can anyone rationally make of this? Nothing. This isn’t music to be approached or interpreted rationally. These are strange sounds, intended to penetrate and twist the psyche. Plug in and let go.
[Christopher Nosnibor - Whisperinandhollerin - 25.2.16]
*
Tracks 1 - 4 : Written, recorded and produced by Ippu Mitsui
Tracks 5 - 8 : Written, recorded and produced by Annie & The Station Orchestra
"Tiiiiime" voice on (5) "Time" : Norman James Hogg
www.normanhogg.co.uk 
