Old Amica / Aiko Takahashi :: Vikande blå / Nuages (Handstitched*)

Overall, musically, Vikande blå / Nuages occupies a span of the ambient-drone spectrum that should lure in fans from, say, PITP to 12k, with Aiko T’s more minimal experimental sensibility nearer the latter, and Old Amica’s more fulsome space/post-rock leanings the former. A quality package, as you’ll have come to expect from Handstitched*.

A lulling swell-relent dynamic

Handstitched* heralds the latest in its split-artist EP series, Vikande blå / Nuages, whose contributors, Old Amica and Aiko Takahashi, may be familiar from previous on such as IIKKI and Dronarivm. Though inhabiting differently configured sound worlds, they prove complementary here by virtue of a certain serenity of tenor that unites them.

Johan Kisro and Linus Johansson, originally from Norrbotten, Sweden, now themselves split—aptly in view of series concept, though geographically only thankfully—between Stockholm and Geneva, have put out nine albums and two EPs as a duo; though existential trajectories have led them in different directions, Old Amica remains constant—a comfort in a universe of flux. Vikande blå (‘Receding blue’ – Eng.) conveys feelings of slow motion drift, here a lulling swell-relent dynamic, there a vertiginous sense of chronostasis, with subtle overtones nested in rich harmonized drones played out over three meditative pieces, “Selma,” “Borta,” and gorgeous centerpiece “Julia, igen.” Written in a time of upheaval and moral reckoning, the artist intimates, Vikande blå was clearly shaped by it; as indeed will be the internal landscape of the listener through listening to it.

Self-identified as a concept, an entity, a ghost manifested only through her own music, originally from Kobe, Japan, now Milan-based, releasing over the years under other names, the electronic music producer materialized as Aiko Takahashi in 2022 through self-published music, marked by her first official release  (IIKKI, 2023). Nuages (‘Clouds’ – Eng.) is described as a ‘flotation mechanism’ that transports the listener elsewhere; two tracts of languorous tones and environmentalia evoking eponymous forms and associated affective resonances that create a sense of closeness and reflection. Aiko T. creates a beguiling listening space through playful experiment with assorted textures and sounds, artfully blending them into long-form minimalist meditations with titles (“Nocturnes,” “Beau Rêve”) suggesting a twilit headspace dérive.

Label ethos being significantly about the aesthetic of the physical media carrier, let us note the surrounding visual/tactile elements. Handstitched* highlights issue on dual-format ltd. ed. tape and mini-double CD featuring individually hand-bound and hand-cut collage CD wallets made from vintage materials, washi tape and papers, a special print edition of four unique designs for the [tape] O-cards to house the c45 cassettes; each CD copy hand-numbered and packed inside glassine bags, tape copies packed inside clear eco bag.

Overall, musically, Vikande blå / Nuages occupies a span of the ambient-drone spectrum that should lure in fans from, say, PITP to 12k, with Aiko T’s more minimal experimental sensibility nearer the latter, and Old Amica’s more fulsome space/post-rock leanings the former. A quality package, as you’ll have come to expect from Handstitched*.

Vikande blå / Nuages is available on Handstitched*. [Bandcamp]