Heated: Live In Japan

Heated: Live in Japan was recorded at Super Deluxe in Tokyo on October 24, 2008, and released a mere three months later, in Touch's Tone series. This 26-minute EP, Jana Winderen's first CD release, was rushed out to say the least, probably as a teaser for her full-length Touch debut slated for later in 2009. The performance features her strange underwater field recordings: low rumbles that evoke fog horns captured at 20,000 leagues under the sea, the sound of water being displaced, and the crackling of glacier ice. The piece begins in the open with human interventions, the crashing of waves and approach of a storm, then dives deep into regions that are still little known to mankind; you resurface a few minutes later, still surrounded by an agitated sea and strong winds. Heated's strength relies on Winderen's talent at painting the forces of nature into disquieting and slightly menacing soundscapes. The whole thing is over too quickly and will have you yearning for more. The delicate manipulation of sound sources evokes Francisco López, while the sense of drama puts this album closer to the works of Biosphere and Hazard (B.J. Nilsen). ~ François Couture, Rovi