Seaketa – Gion [Chinabot]

Chinabot has managed to create a cultural framework based on the fusion between contemporary and traditional oriental music. In its catalogue every detail is taken care of, the visual and musical aesthetics are directly linked to any format of Asian art.

The latest artist to join Chinabot’s catalogue is Seaketa, this producer based in Kyoto makes his Chinabot debut with the EP Gion, a title which translates into English with a double meaning of both Onomatopoeia and Kyoto. Light, glitchy and textural, the EP warps a strong pop sensibility into new and unexpected shapes. From the giddy, ear-tickling opener tari to the discordant clubland echoes of pepo, Gion takes the listener to a topsy-turvy world where nothing is quite as it seems.

Each Japanese track name references a different onomatopoeic word. It highlights Seaketa’s preoccupation with translating experience into sounds, and the uncanny chasm which sometimes opens up between the two.

Sounds on Gion are familiar, but oddly placed—video game trills play off each other with a jazz-inspired dissonance, while waves of mournful synths build, glitch and warp. The EP closes with the surreal, hypnotic marching beat of yoi which recalls the austere beauty of Geinoh Yamashirogumi as well as the minimalist ASMR-adjacent soundscapes of foodman.

From his sock-filled Instagram to bizarre Frank Ocean remixes, Seaketa remains an enigmatic figure. He resists describing his work, preferring to let the listener experience it without mediation of language—a kind of musical onomatopoeia. “This time I gave a shape to a part of my thoughts for this EP,” he says. “I want to create new values.”