Dustin Wong and Takako Minekawa are artistic omnivores, soaking up a myriad of cultural artefacts and styles, savouring bits and pieces and re-contextualising them into entirely delightful and playfully intricate songs. Their songs are imbued with a relentless cheerfulness that belies their technicality, steeped in the history of Japanese pop music and exuding the joy of discovery and exploration. Dustin and Takako are serious musicians not afraid to play it silly.
‰Û÷Savage Imagination‰۪ is their second album as a duo and shows their collaboration in full bloom. It is a collection of vibrant pop music, laced with the sounds of video games, radiophonic experiments, and indigenous music from around the world.
Dustin Wong was introduced to the world as a member of Baltimore based art-rock band Ponytail and has spent the past several years making incredibly deep and complex albums of looped solo electric guitar for Thrill Jockey. Dustin has toured with Avey Tare‰۪s Slasher Flicks, Beach House, The Dodos and Mountain Goats.
Takako Minekawa first rose to international prominence as a Shibuya-kei singer in the mid-90s with the brilliant pop song ‰Û÷Fantastic Cat‰۪ and her albums ‰Û÷Roomic Cube‰۪ and ‰Û÷Cloudy Cloud Calculator‰۪. She has collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Cornelius, Buffalo Daughter and Dymaxion.
First 500 LPs pressed on mint green vinyl packaged in a high gloss gatefold jacket with free download card.
CD version in high gloss mini-LP style gatefold package.
‰ÛÏIn Wong‰۪s hands, the guitar shrinks down to a toy and turns a thousand shades of robin‰۪s-egg blue...[Minekawa‰۪s] voice acts as the titular breeze sighing through Wong‰۪s fingerpicking‰ - Pitchfork