After being significantly ill for a while, then traveling out of town, I’ve spent the last couple weeks immersed in writing projects, including the liner notes for the upcoming Masters of Cinema Series DVD release of Masahiro Shinoda’s Silence (1971). Now that everything is wrapped up, I hope to have more time for blogging again.
I’ve also written the brief liner notes for a double-CD being released today, Yasujiro Ozu: Hitokomakura, which is now on sale at Seattle-based producer Dale Lloyd’s and/OAR independent label. Though the release was delayed at the printer for a couple of weeks, it’s fitting that it coincides with the wonderful Late Ozu box set also being released today on the Criterion Collection’s new Eclipse label, a five-film bundle that can be found online for as low as $45.
Lloyd contacted me a while back and it has been a real pleasure working with such a pioneer and true cinephile. (He published a recording dedicated to Tarkovsky and plans an upcoming one dedicated to a famed European filmmaker.) As he described the project to me: “Each artist involved was invited to choose pillow shots posted on a webpage, find the films that the shots camefrom, and watch them (if they hadn’t done so already). Ironically, many of the artists invited were already Ozu fans, so it was a nice fit. Afterward, they were supposed to create pieces inspired by the pillow shots according to their personal reactions, reflections, etc.”
Although environmental recordings and avant-garde sound art isn’t a genre I’m very familiar with, I’m looking forward to listening to the extensive list of artists who have contributed to this recording.