jeru

The net is more forgetful than anyone will admit, and art is one of those things that is lost very easily. For all the spying, corporate data collection, data trade, etc., it’s ironic to me that we will not, or refuse to preserve things that matter more than what I ate for lunch sometime years ago and posted on some social media site. The net is ephemeral when it comes to culture, but when it comes to personal data it remembers forever, and this is frankly saddening, disgusting, and an enormous loss for the world.

On that topic, Saito Koji has made mountains and mountains of minimal loop-based drone-ambient, over 400 tracks, probably thousands of hours, over more than 10 years. Most of it will be lost to time altogether, as he recently deleted his bandcamp account, and he would routinely wipe it of everything and build it up again. I first heard Guitar Loop Is My Life and it inspired me greatly, it was peaceful, simple, and easy to listen to, unlike some other works in the loop/ambient sphere that I had found until that point. But, it was complex in subtle ways, and it was emotionally stimulating despite its simplicity.

There are some albums that have survived, that were released on netlabels, pretty good releases such as Heavenly, or Guitar Loop Is My Life, however many have just disappeared, like Whatever or Two Of Us among many, many others…

Saito Koji is an artist I’ll remember, and I hope he comes back one day. There are many more I’ve probably missed altogether, when we can come together to preserve lost music, maybe things will be different..