At Moone Records, we love to collaborate with people that inspire us and motivate us to create, but what inspires and motivates them? With this series of playlists, we ask different friends and artists to hand-pick ten songs to ‘soundtrack’ various themes.
We are honored to have Koji Shibuya for our 5th part in the playlist series. For many years, Koji’s project Yumbo has been a sort of ‘secret handshake’ between our close friends. Their album ‘Onibi‘ is always within arm’s reach. In fact, we’re going to go listen to it again now.
His compositions are fluid and organic. Precise, but never rigid. Piano driven tunes washed in beautifully produced horns and held together by steady non invasive percussion. Perhaps he has been cut from the same cloth as Carol King?
Regarding the playlist, Koji wrote,
At the end of last month, our cat, who had lived with us for seventeen years, passed away. We adopted him and his brother seventeen years ago. Though his brother, who had very beautiful white hair, died at the age of eleven, he, who had a big body and was very lively, seemed very happy every day, monopolizing our love. Last year, he gradually got weaker and weaker with increasing age, and as the new year started, he got really weak and lost flesh because of renal function decline. He used to be the cat who ate a lot, but he ceased eating willingly. We went to the doctor, but there was almost nothing to do for him as he was very old, so all we could do was console him. In his last two days, he just huddled in his small bed, and could not get up at all. He seemed to want to say something as he sometimes moved his head and miaowed in a feeble voice. Then he stopped miaowing, and the only sign of his being alive was his belly bobbing quietly. When his hairy belly finally ceased moving, I thought it was like the end of a song. The end of a song equals the end of love. He was like a song to us, and our life with these brothers was like a party that lasted long. Our song of joy and happiness has left the party. What song are they now as they are out of the party? Imagining something like that, I have selected these songs.
(Koji Shibuya) *Translated by tdsgk.
先月の終わりに、17年一緒に暮らした猫が他界した。17年前、彼は僕らの家に兄弟と一緒に貰われた。真っ白な毛並みが綺麗だった兄弟は11才で亡くなってしまったが、彼の方は体が大きく元気で、兄弟が亡くなってからは僕らの愛情を独占して毎日楽しそうにしていた。彼は去年あたりから徐々に老化のために体調を崩し始め、今年に入ってからは腎臓の機能が低下してひどく弱り、かつてはよく食べる猫だったのに、自分から食事をしなくなった。病院で診てもらったが彼の年齢では打つ手があまり無く、気休めのような事しかしてやれなかった。最後の2日間は小さな彼のベッドの上で寝そべって、全く動くことができなくなった。時折頭を動かして、吐息のようなか細い声で啼く姿は、何か言いたそうにしているようだった。やがて啼くこともしなくなり、お腹がゆっくりと上下している静かな動きだけが、生命のサインとなった。やがて彼の、毛に覆われたお腹が動かなくなったとき、それはまるで歌の終わりのようだと僕は思った。歌が終わるという事は、愛が終わる事に等しい。彼は僕らにとって歌のような存在であり、この猫の兄弟との暮らしは、長い宴のようだった。楽しく、幸せに歌われた僕らの歌が、宴から立ち去ってゆく。宴の外へ出た彼らは、どんな歌になっているだろう。そんな事を空想しながら曲を選んでみた。
澁谷浩次
Artist: Yuzo Iwata
Song Title: Border
Album: Daylight Moon
Artist: Randy Newman
Song Title: Vine Street
Album: Guilty – 30 Years of Randy Newman
Artist: The Red Krayola
Song Title: One-Second Pieces
Album: Coconut Hotel
Artist: Koichiro Watanabe
Song Title: Theme from “Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma”
Album: Matomete Abayo wo Iwasetemorauze
Artist: Ivor Cutler And Linda Hirst
Song Title: Women of the World
Album: Privilege
Artist: Robert Wyatt
Song Title: At Last I Am Free
Album: Nothing Can Stop Us
Artist: Pungo
Song Title: Shido
Album: 1980―1981
Artist: The Raincoats
Song Title: And Then It’s O.K.
Album: Odyshape
Artist: David Thomas
Song Title: Petrified
Album: Vocal Performances
Artist: Charlie Haden
Song Title: We Shall Over Come
Album: Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra