Active Recovering Music

*2023 stock. 200 copies limited edition* Active Recovering Music (ARM) is the solo project of Tokyo-based reed player Masahiko Okura. When he launched it in 2008, ARM was not a solo project, but a slide whistle ensemble with multiple players. In 2013, ARM performed as an eight-member group at Ftarri in Suidobashi, Tokyo. In the same year a CD documenting three performances from that concert was released on the Meenna label with the title "Active Recovering Music."

ARM later transformed into its current incarnation as Okura’s solo project. The single track on this CD documents a 48-minute live performance at Ftarri on May 9, 2022. While a number of soft sine waves overlap and a gently pulsing drone flows from a computer, Okura occasionally plays multiple keyboards on Ftarri’s upright piano, with the sounds continuing for several seconds. This is repeated throughout the performance. Though its structure is very simple, this superb work holds a mysteriously captivating power that seems to beckon the listener to a world of serenity and euphoria.