012 TETSUYA HORI - ST

tracklist:
01 16:04 for beer bottle and laptop // 02 19:52 for glass of water and laptop // 03 17:37 for flute* and laptop
* flute by Ryoko Sakurai

"My compositions have no concept. That's my concept. I just see them as a tool that stirs up the minds or consciousness of the people listening. I've never felt that a performer did injustice to my pieces, for a composition only comes to life in the particular context, the combination of the performer and the atmosphere of the public. I like to compose not only for instruments, but for "things" as well. Sound of things can be surprising, especially their artificial sound. For example, without looking, one would never guess that my tapping and dragging fingers across the surface of a cigar box that is connected to a laptop for what it is." (Tetsuya Hori)

REVIEWS

foxi digitalis

Taken as a whole, the three pieces here, "for beer bottle and laptop", "for glass of water and laptop" and "for flute and laptop" progress from the barely audible, to the silent, through to a comparatively louder resolution that is almost whimsical.
Through the use of mundane objects in concert with their proximity to the laptop, Hori uses technology to explore the innate sounds of things we take for granted, glass, for instance. It is also significant that one of the pieces involves a flute, as if Hori is trying to compare and contrast just what can been seen as a musical instrument, and what has musicality in its own right. In either case, the sounds produced are quiet, droning and airy. 
Tetsuya Hori´s approach is gentle, as if he is merely an observer of his own work. These three meditations work as experiments as well as statements; there is a lot of room for the listener´s projection on them. They may, at the very least, make you want to try and hammer out a tune on your next glass of beer.
In the space given to exploring the tones of such unusual but everyday objects, "For Beer Bottle and Laptop" reminds us of the voices that are with us in the living room or the kitchen, waiting to be heard. 7/10 (Mike Wood / 13 August, 2008)

blogcritics.org

"That's so boring, it´s like watching paint dry!"
How many times have you heard that one? What was it in reference to? A sport? Say... bowling? Golf? Curling? Maybe it one of those annoying ´foreign´ films where they talk a lot and nothing blows up. It doesn´t really matter as the concept is still the same.
This idea applies to music as well. For every listener, there´s a genre that undoubtedly puts them to sleep. But I´m not talking about mainstream music here. No, Tetsuya Hori is dealing in the realm of ambient electronics. Its the kind of thing that might not evoke the ´boring´ label so much as dismissal or anger - that it´s not music at all.
But let's get back to watching paint dry for a minute. Have you ever done it? Is it really boring? There´s nothing to be gained from the experience? Hori's thoughts on his music apply:
My pieces do not have a concept.
That is the concept.
I compose not only for instruments, but for things.
Each piece is different. Every time.
I want to show the listener nonsense.
Interesting nonsense.
So yes, paint dries and there are a host of things to witness. There´s a range of textures and levels of reflectiveness. The hue deepens and might even be changed by the colors found in the room. The point is that these things do have intrinsic qualities, but the observer brings something to the experience as well.
All of which explains (sort of) the attraction of compositions like "For Beer Bottle And Laptop." With elongated electronic timbres colliding with airy bottle tones in a cloud of reverb, an almost industrial aural landscape forms. To my ear parts, the act of listening to the surprising overtones form is endlessly fascinating.
Like watching paint dry. (Mark Saleski / September 24th, 2008)

Vital Weekly #618

I never heard of Tetsuya Hori, who was born in Sapporo, Japan, where he studied and teached piano and composition. Since 2003 he lives in Berlin where he composes and improvises. The three compositions here all deal with laptop and real time sounds: one with a beer bottle, one with a glass of water and one with flute. Only the latter is played by somebody else that Hori.
From whatever he does with the objects or instruments, the sound is being picked up by the laptop and processed as such. He does that in a very gentle way. It's not hard to recognize the original source - if you ever had a glass of water or ever blown into a beer bottle, but the sounds that are unfolded from the computer are delicate and elegant. Hori is not a man to blow you to pieces, unlike some of his country men. Surely this can be easily classified as microsound and as such is not necessarily offers a new strategy, but within the field he certainly does some interesting things.
Ambient laptop doodling with a strong love for the electro-acoustic treatment. (Frans de Waard)