[Album] I-R – Detroit Densha Seikatsu
“Detroit duo I-R aggressively sparred with analog synthesizers on pieces like [Brendon Randall-Myers’] ‘Flail’, which combined on-screen imagery of street maps with beats that sounded like pneumatic drills tearing up pavement in the midst of a traffic jam” – THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
DetundLTD899: Detroit Densha Seikatsu (Detroit Underground, 2024)
I-R
Release: January 26, 2024 (Digital & CD)
I-R’s first LP, Detroit Densha Seikatsu, grew out of a respite from midwestern freeway culture in the highly-transitable metropolitan Japan, inspiring sonic dreamscapes of an augmented-reality Detroit. The album juxtaposes tracks built on field recordings from Japan’s railway infrastructure, and Detroit’s highway and auto scenes – Tokyo and Kyoto metro stations, the Fisher Body Plant, People Mover and M-10 Lodge Freeway.
Detroit Densha Seikatsu features tracks equipped for the context of a DJ set, ambient sequences purely for the vibes, and collaborations with composer Brendon Randall-Myers (of the black metal band Scarcity) and digital violinist Todd Reynolds, with I-R performing on live modular synths to orchestrate composed rhythm and pitch sequences.
Recorded, produced, and mixed by Daniel Rhode & Adam Francis Cuthbert at the Vapor Cave in Detroit, MI. Mastered by Michael Hammond at Figure 8 Recording in Brooklyn, NY. Composed by Rhode [1-8,10], Cuthbert [1-8,10], and Brendon Randall-Myers [9]. Todd Reynolds, violin [10]. Field Samples recorded in Detroit [2,6,8,10], Kyoto [1,4], Fujikawaguchiko [4], and Tokyo [5,7]. Art & design by Cuthbert.
TRACKLIST
01. Potential Destinations
02. Body Plant
03. Kokkai-Gijidomae
04. Forever Place
05. Nogizaka
06. M-10 Exit 1A [05:52]
07. Araiyakushi-Mae
08. Literal Train Dreams
09. Flail (composed by Brendon Randall-Myers)
10. Michigan Ave (This is All that Exists) ft. Todd Reynolds