Cosmos

Sachiko M and Ami Yoshida, both from Tokyo, met in 1997 and formed the duo of Cosmos the following year. Sachiko M has developed a unique style utilizing a memory-free sampler, creating pure, piercing sine waves with the device's built-in test tones and noise. She has also recently begun exploring the use of contact microphones, as documented on the second track of Tears. Sachiko has worked extensively as a solo artist, in groups such as Filament, I.S.O., and Hoahio, and in duo with Toshimaru Nakamura, as captured on do (Erstwhile). She also founded and runs the superb Amoebic label. Ami Yoshida strives to create a pure sound, abstracting her voice until it becomes almost completely unrecognizable. In 1997, she released a duo CD, Spiritual Voice (1040), with Tamaru on electronics. Cosmos is the first project since then to feature her prominently, although she appears on Otomo Yoshihide's Cathode and Ensemble Cathode projects, and her solo pieces are a highlight of the 10-CD Japan Improv box set. Though both women reside in Tokyo, Cosmos only perform together occasionally, so each meeting is very special. Tears is taken from two of those rare encounters, in September 2001 and February 2002. Sachiko and Ami incrementally build an atmosphere of fragile, yet deeply focused, intensity, forging a symbiotic fusion between human and electronic expression.