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this week we mourned the passing of another great artist and great friend of the program, sawako kato, who died on march 31st in tokyo at the far, far too young age of 47. sawako’s work first appeared in framework edition #002, in june 2002, and then joined us in london to perform live on the air in edition #004 a few weeks later. her sounds have been a constant presence on the show ever since, making appearances in at least 17 editions (it’s hard to compile an exact number), shows produced by me, by my original co-host joel stern, and by several different guest producers in our framework:afield series. the framework introduction that she recorded for us was one of the very first we received when we launched our intro initiative in 2003, and it was the 3rd one we ever aired. we still have the original handmade sampler cdr she sent us, unsolicited, with fine japanese art paper with pressed flowers for a cover, a small printed tracklist, and an additional tiny dried leaf. joel played it immediately when he heard it, calling it “one of the best things i’ve heard in a long while.”
we’re at a loss for what more to say – and since others have already said it better than we could, we thought we’d direct you to some of the other tributes we’ve encountered since we heard the terrible news.
taylor dupress, of 12k recordings, who knew sawako well and released several of her albums:
https://www.12k.com/news/sawako-kato/
jez riley french, who collaborated and toured with sawako in japan:
https://fr4q.wordpress.com/2024/04/08/sawako-1978-2024/
one of the clips in this edition is sawako’s response, in japanese, to a question posed by jason kahn for his 2013 edition of framework:afield, ‘unheard tokyo’: what is your favorite tokyo sound? we’ve never had a translation of what she said, until now, thanks to our friend hitoshi kojo. here it is:
my favorite places in tokyo are places where natural elements are mixed with man-made and modern elements. for example, a place where a shrine remains among skyscrapers. shrines have existed for a long time and cannot be demolished, so the trees and soil often remain as they have been since ancient times. i like the moment when the sounds from the buildings and the sounds of people working in the buildings are heard in a space like this.
i live in setagaya ward, and there is a place called todoroki valley. there are rivers and forests, and there is a lot of nature left there that you would not expect to find in a residential area. there is a shrine there, and sometimes people engaging in spiritual practice under the waterfall, so i am sometimes confused where i am when i am there. however, at the same time, there is a highway bridge that crosses over the promenade along the river. the sound i hear under that bridge, the sound of cars passing on the road, mixed with the sound of the forest makes me feel calm. and i think that’s very tokyo-like.”
sawako kato, 2013
for more information on sawako and her wonderful work, follow the links in the playlist below, or visit these sites:
https://troncolon.com/
https://tinytinypress.com/
https://tinytinypress.bandcamp.com/
[time / artist / track / release / label]
00:00 – 04:59 / sawako kato / framework introduction, recorded in tokyo, 2003
https://troncolon.com/
02:57 – 07:27 / sawako / yukodoke / sampler / [handmade, 2002]
https://troncolon.com/
06:29 – 08:49 / sawako / as:unacir / yours gray / and/oar, 2004
https://www.and-oar.org/
07:33 – 09:22 / sawako / [spoken word] / unheard tokyo / [produced by jason kahn, 2013]
https://frameworkradio.net/2013/03/413-2013-03-24/
08:51 – 12:19 / sawako / hoku hoku midnight / for seasons #001 / tiny tiny press, 2013
https://tinytinypress.com/forseasons
10:01 – 13:48 / sawako / it’s not on purpose / madoromi / anticipate recordings, 2007
https://ezekiel-honig.bandcamp.com/album/madoromi
11:54 – 16:36 / sawako / pass.age / nu.it / baskaru, 2014
https://tinytinypress.bandcamp.com/album/nu-it-2014
14:30 – 15:52 / sawako / cicada welcoming / island light / tiny tiny press, 2011
https://tinytinypress.bandcamp.com/album/island-light-2011
15:27 – 18:23 / sawako / patchworked blanket / hum / 12k
https://sawako.bandcamp.com/album/hum
16:44 – 21:33 / sawako / dd (source)/dd (dream of the dog) / the audible stilllife / [produced by john kannenberg, 2005
https://web.archive.org/web/20170211111421/http://www.stasisfield.com/space/still-life/index.html
18:14 – 21:28 / sawako / passepass / madoromi / anticipate recordings, 2007
https://ezekiel-honig.bandcamp.com/album/madoromi
19:37 – 24:33 / sawako / hokuhoku no aki / framework:seasonal #6, autumn 2013 / framework editions
https://frameworkeditions.bandcamp.com/album/framework-seasonal-issue-6-autumn-2013
22:05 – 26:08 / sawako / hole / yours gray / and/oar, 2004
https://www.and-oar.org/
23:50 – 28:24 / sawako / nostal.noz / nu.it / baskaru, 2014
https://tinytinypress.bandcamp.com/album/nu-it-2014
25:56 – 28:03 / sawako / water drop / island light / tiny tiny press
https://tinytinypress.bandcamp.com/album/island-light-2011
28:19 – 32:06 / sawako / appled soapbox / madoromi / anticipate recordings, 2007
https://ezekiel-honig.bandcamp.com/album/madoromi
29:48 – 30:33 / sawako / the brand new fan ~ familiar sound in my room / framework:home:afield / [produced by gill arno, 2007]
https://frameworkradio.net/2007/12/178-2007-12-09/
30:40 – 32:43 / sawako / the brand new fan ~ alien sound in my room / framework:home:afield / [produced by gill arno, 2007]
https://frameworkradio.net/2007/12/178-2007-12-09/
31:51 – 42:50 / sawako / cache cache / yours gray / and/oar, 2004
https://www.and-oar.org/
33:52 – 35:53 / sawako / rain flow / island light / tiny tiny press
https://tinytinypress.bandcamp.com/album/island-light-2011
34:17 – 39:28 / sawako / plum hill / framework:seasonal #6, autumn 2013 / framework editions
https://frameworkeditions.bandcamp.com/album/framework-seasonal-issue-6-autumn-2013
35:51 – 39:28 / sawako / piano cote / nu.it / baskaru, 2014
https://tinytinypress.bandcamp.com/album/nu-it-2014
38:24 – 56:59 / sawako / live on framework, 2002.07.28 / – / –
https://frameworkradio.net/ [the original show is not yet in our online archive]
56:55 – 59:00 / jez riley french / arigato sawako-san / – / –
https://jezrileyfrench.co.uk/