Kishi Bashi – Kishi Bashi / ‘Tall Tall Trees & The Sound Sanctuary’ Review

What does Kishi Bashi sound like?

Violin loops, electronics, orchestral pop, and this time… plants!

The review of ‘Kishi Bashi / Tall Tall Trees & The Sound Sanctuary by Kishi Bashi

Usually associated with orchestral pop that drags you to the dancefloor and then makes you cry, Kishi Bashi’s latest release is a recorded live session with long-term friend and collaborator Tall Tall Trees, and bio-sonic engineering project The Sound Sanctuary. The Sound Sanctuary is releasing four albums with artists on Joyful Noise Recordings to investigate how plants create sound. Those artists are Deerhoof, JD Pinkus, Yoni Wolf, and Kishi Bashi.

The Sound Sanctuary uses electrodes attached to plant leaves to detect changes in their electrical conductivity. These changes are caused by water moving through the leaves during photosynthesis. That biological data is translated into MIDI data for computers to power electronic instruments, thus creating sound. The Sound Sanctuary chooses the tempo and underlying notes of the music, but different frequencies and tonal adjustments are made collaboratively between plant and human. I’ve long wondered just how collaborative this type of musical collaboration truly is. I think Kishi Bashi’s is one of the most interesting to date.

This EP mixes in Kishi Bashi originals in a new light, with plant synths making up a large portion of the sound, backed by violin, Kishi Bashi’s vocals, and Tall Tall Trees’ banjo. Where both sides unify best is in ‘Plantichrist’, which is a rendition of ‘I Am The Antichrist To You’. The track is slowed down to a haunting crawl, as various shivers of violin, banjo, and plant synths quake and murmur in a slightly unsettling tone. The original was sad in its euphoria, whereas this rendition is ethereal and ghostly.

There are two absolutely beautiful epics on the release. ‘Acclimation’ opens the performance with a glistening drone of hollow plant hues. I’m reminded of long bell tolls with a celestial reverb to them, that can leave an aftertone for minutes on end. The track isn’t a done piece, but it is a tonal pattern that very slowly brings in human instrumentation towards the end. ‘Respiration’ is a symphonic glade of violins and plant synths sweeping in like light chasms. It heals, renews, and regenerates with a lightness and, dare I say, airiness that feels free. When Kishi Bashi’s vocals join in, there’s a certain joie de vivre that comes from the song’s free-falling expansion. It’s a beautiful piece. Towards the end of the track, it transitions into a buzzing, near harpsichord-like shiver. This is the sound that completely takes over ‘Translocation’. Where the plant buzzes end and the guts of a piano begin is difficult to say, but this track sounds more like Hauschka than Kishi Bashi! Between the clangs of piano hammers and the weird echoes of plant tones, it’s a melodic yet chaotic journey. That allows ‘Nyctinasty’ to close out the performance. This piece sounds like a gentle swarm of guitars lilting around a swarm of bees that rev their engines for fun. The plant sounds have a mechanical rev to them that pitch-bends into rubbery tones at times, but refuses to settle on a specific sound. I feel like I’m a bee homing in on nectar.

This is the least approachable and least representative release of Kishi Bashi’s (or Tall Tall Trees’) discography, and so I wouldn’t recommend starting here. If you are coming to this release as a fan of plant music, then I think you’ll have a fascinating time hearing the vast array of sounds The Sound Sanctuary has produced for Kishi Bashi to riff on. Where this performance works best, for me, are the points where humans and plants collide in ways that are difficult to pull apart. They create a complex web of noise that requires attention and feeling to connect with. This is for early morning thoughts and late-night ponders.

Recommended track: Plantichrist

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