KENT WATARI - Subtraction In Spiral (Vinyl)

Japanese experimental sound artist kent watari debuts on Phantom Limb with new album subtraction in spiral, coding deep sonics to
quantum-percussion and collapsing, post-IDM glitchscapes based on a meticulously constructed metaphysical thought experiment.
“This work is centred around a very personal philosophical model,” writes kent watari (b. Tokyo, 1993). “I have constructed a
metaphysical model of thought, employing concepts from philosophy and science. This thought model centres on a recursive
structure. The infinite is compressed into the finite world of reality, beginning with a scene where “something happens or has
happened”. Thought then unfolds through every possible development before scattering once more into the infinite beyond. Then, it
returns once more to the juncture where “something happens or has happened”.
With this deep conceptual investment in their compositional work, watari employs information-overload polyrhythm and nano-
particles of electrical impulse to mimic minute neuro-existential events. New album subtraction in spiral is the result of months of
developmental practice, echoing a thought cluster stretched out into a compositional narrative. Its sound design crackles with
percussive clamour and reverberates in soft granulation across a tour of metaphysical chambers, sometimes intense and at others
dreamy.
Key moment “nervefield flickering” feels abstracted from the tangible in its complex matrix of interlaced simulacra. A metaphysical
landscape machine-drawn from synaptic impulses and fragments of sonic imagery half-remembered from real life. An unexpectedly
sonorous arpeggio eventually zones into the space, relentlessly pursued by a battering shudder that crushes every frequency into
square wave discord. The piece is about the evolution of personal identity, both emotionally and structurally. “In my thought model,
after something occurs, the world first acquires a foundation of matter. Then, when that matter forms a system open to the external
environment, the mechanisms of life emerge within it.”
The bouncing ball of “first sediment” does not belong to Bucephalus, but to an artificial construct that leaves a trail of neon plasma
about a dense negative space, as if an entire MRI laboratory has been bitcrushed into a black hole. watari’s invitation to follow it
through the tunnel gives us a breathless perception of infinity, reality, and real-time epistemology. “Our perception contains what are

called 'qualia' – pre-verbal 'feelings'. When we see the colour red, we possess no means to describe that 'redness itself'. I wonder if
qualia might be the 'leftovers' that couldn't be contained when the world's infinity was compressed into the finiteness of perception,”
they write.
kent watari is a musician based in Tokyo, Japan. Their primary activities centre on composition, arrangement, production, and
drumming. Their key works include advertising music, the soundtrack for the anime LINK CLICK, and collaborations with singer-
songwriter Kaho Nakamura and guitarist Ichika Nito. As a drummer, watari has also participated in projects including the
contemporary pop band Tokyo Shiokouji and the solo project of arauchi yu.

Vinyl release of Kent Watari - Subtraction In Spiral (Vinyl). Released through UNIVERSAL UK and available on LP.