WEEK 11 – SPECIAL JAPAN 

Note: I'm sorry I didn't have time to read again what I wrote but I will do it tomorrow (to see if there is any mistake). Thank you.

And I'm sorry for uploading this re-rec album late... I didn't find enough time to finish it before!

This week, this is gonna be a special album. In the 11^th week of the year (03.11.2011), different tragic events (earthquakes, tsunami, and the radioactivity) happened in Japan, and unfortunately it’s not over yet. That’s why I decided to make a special RE-REC album for this specific week. It will be entirely dedicated to Japan.

I don’t really like to talk about myself, but this is also a special album for me because I was emotionally and kinda directly involved (and I’m still is) with what happened in Japan, not because I’m living there but because I have family members who are living there. And these last few weeks were quite stressful. That’s why this album is a way to show my support to Japan and it’s also a way to thank the hitRECord community for their support.

There will be 10 RECords about Japan (from non Japanese hitRECorders), 10 RECords made by Japanese hitRECorders, and finally, 10 RECords about the recent events and the support from the hitRECord community.

I’m sorry if you are in the list of the non Japanese hitRECorders if you’re actually Japanese, and I’m sorry if you are in the list of the Japanese hitRECorders if you are not Japanese. It was quite difficult to find all Japanese hitRECorders actually… and I decided that if a hitRECorder doesn’t live in Japan, or if he/she is not Japanese but he/she has Japanese origins, I would put his/her record in the Japanese hitRECorders section. If I did any mistake, please tell me, and I’ll put your record in the appropriate section. And please, forgive me.

Because I tried to not make any mistake, and because it was quite difficult to find all the Japanese hitRECorders, you will find in the last section of this album two (or three) records from the same hitRECorder.

This week, there won’t be any “Special Mention To” section as usual because the entire album is in a way a Special Mention. And I didn’t choose only confidential, not featured or not so popular records. This time, it wasn’t a reason for selecting records at all. I didn’t follow my rules. I just re-recommended records about Japan. That’s it.

And I didn’t especially write much about each record, in fact I wrote less than usual. At the same time, for me this album is like contemplation or a collection of poetic records. So I let you discover the records by yourself.

Thanks for reading anyway :)

10 RECords about Japan:

It was quite difficult to choose, but here are my 10 favourite records about Japan.

1. Kyoto (njtam)

I discovered njtam’s record a long time ago, but when I decided to make this album, this is the first record I remembered. I used it on my RE:Cities album with another painting entitled “Shanghai”. I love these watercolor paintings. I love the texture of this kind of paintings. And I also really like the minimalist style of this one. I already talked about that last week, so I won’t do it again, but these are the two reasons why I love njtam’s record (watercolour, minimalism).

This is the first city I would like to visit in Japan, even if my family is currently living in Fukuoka (Kyushu). This might be the only city that is still connected to Japan History, or at least where History (the most ancient one, not the XXe Century History) is the more visible, and I love History.

2. Shrine (featherpetal)

Here’s Kyoto again (Fushimi-Inari Taisha jinja). I love this picture for its view angle, its bright colors, the Japanese signs, and for its impression of limitlessness. I’d love to go for a walk there. It seems to be a peaceful and spiritual place.

3. Okazaki, Japan (lensreflex)

This is also a lovely photography. I’d love to visit this place as well. I love nature and I like the fact that we don’t see the two bridge’s edges (that’s the word?). The location seems to be a magical place (by the graphic style of the picture). I love the depiction of the water as well. And what I prefer in this photo is that everything seems to be too perfect to be true. It seems to be a photomontage (even if I don’t believe so) and that’s why I’d love to be on that bridge. Like the previous record, it seems to be a very peaceful place.

4. sushi shinkansen (lensreflex)

I know, this is the second photo by lensreflex. But honestly, I love this one as well. It’s like another daily Japanese life scene. You travel and discover Japan thanks to these records. After the nature and more ancestral places, here’s the (hyper)modern Japan. I love the rendering of this photo, darker than the previous one. I think that’s interesting by the way: the nature (outside) is lighter than the city (inside). I love the contrast between both records. And it shows us than Japan is a complex and varied culture. Japan is often described as a hypermodern country, but we shouldn’t forget that they also keep their traditions. That’s make their culture unique and beautiful I think. 

And I love Japanese food! I love cooking Japanese recipes; it’s always a delicacy :)

5. Tokyo (featherpetal)

And this is the second featherpetal’s record. Another (hyper)modern Japanese scene. Honestly, each time I see all these billboards (I don’t know how to name that) and lights, I think the same thing all the time: I couldn’t live there, or I wouldn’t like to have as many billboards in France than they have in Japan (we’re lucky, it’s not like that…yet!). And as the same time, because I don’t read and understand Japanese, these billboards don’t bother me (except the lights everywhere). And it’s what fascinates me in Japan, even if I don’t really know why. And again, this street seems to be infinite.

I also like the fact that the sky is just black. It’s like the lights everywhere are there because there’s no sun/moon/natural lights anymore, so societies need to have their own artificial lights to not live in a constant darkness… this is a sci-fi idea in a way… but that’s what this picture inspires me. 

6. 2 Japanese Artists in Montmartre; Paris (peggysue)

This is a humble and unpretentious photography and I find it very interesting. I love the symmetry in it, with the tree as the axis of symmetry. I think when I write “symmetry” I almost said everything about this picture, at least why I really like it :)

And the symmetry (between the two painters: same position, same action, similar clothes etc.) makes me think of what Henri Cartier-Bresson called the decisive moment (“l’instant decisive” in French). Actually that’s why this photo is amazing, peggysue found the decisive moment of this scene: the symmetry is almost perfect (even if the axis/tree isn’t in the middle of the picture: that’s its interest I think, but maybe it’s because I don’t like perfection haha).

7. Somewhere in Hokkaido (jaime2607)

This is another great scene: traditional and modernity in the same frame. Another example that shows us why Japan is unique and why it’s a fantastic country. I love the ‘vertical height’ of the photo (with the white lines, the electric poles and the buildings). There are a lot of possible meanings about this vertical theme. And with all these different lines, everything converges on a same point on the background of the image. And all the lines make me think that all the elements are connected to each other.

I love how the black and white were used in the picture: with good contrast, a lot of saturation that eliminates all shadows: white color is very white (the umbrella), black is very black (kimono). White and black are really intense. I also really like the fact that we almost don’t see the sky (except a small and white square on the top of the image).

8. Wishes in Japan (Redcarline)

This photo is more about the traditional Japan. I like it too. And I have also chosen this photo because I also wanted to send my best wishes to the Japanese people.

9. Japanese Fish Market (Ellie)

This is the only text record you will find in this album. I love the imagination of this story. It took me a while to understand everything, but I’m thankful to my best friend Dictionary. The story is very visual (I even would say pictorial), that’s why I think it’s well written. You can easily imagine the story in your mind. You can see yourself in the character’s shoes. I love all the descriptions and I really think, again, it’s all well written because you can imagine yourself in this market, but also because you can smell all the different scents. I don’t know, but I really like this text.

And why not remixing it? It might be a song, a video record, etc.

10. Rockabilly Boys (dawnmaca) / Uzuhi (lingoling)

These two videos are just for fun, I selected them just to entertain you. It’s relaxing sometimes. But actually, there are also interesting records.

The first one can be remixed like it was already used in some videos. And it’s an interesting video about the Japanese reality, how a past culture (rock music) of a country can be a present source of cultural identity in another country. It reminds me of an article I read few weeks ago (my research activities are also about Culture): it was about the Philippines, and how a part of the present Filipino Culture integrates some parts of a past American Culture (I don’t remember exactly which one but I think it’s the rock culture as well). And the article was about how a past cultural identity of a country or society can be the present cultural identity of another country or society (and how the first country discovers again its past culture through the present culture of the second country… I hope I’m not too confusing…). I didn’t explain this idea very well, I’m sorry, but it’s really an interesting subject and that’s why, this entertaining video is more than just entertaining. It’s a great story about Japan I think (like all the other records in this album actually).

The second one is also a great video, very professional and much fun to watch. If you’re not familiar to Japanese music, this is a good example of what you can find in Japan. It’s a totally different world and I like the fact that I listen to a song in Japanese and not in English. It’s not so unusual in Japan, almost every band sing in Japanese, but in some other countries (France for example), they are a lot of bands or singers who sing in English and not in their native languages… and I still don’t really understand why (some songs are good though). So it makes this song and Japanese music in general, more original. But I’ll be honest with you, I’m not especially a fan of this song and this band’s music style, but I enjoyed the very funny and entertaining video.

I was just wondering if lingoling had the right to upload the video (no copyright). I made a little research on Internet, and apparently, yes because she directed the music video.

10 RECords by Japanese hitRECorders:

And now, 10 RECords made by Japanese hitRECorders. As I said earlier, it was quite difficult to find all the Japanese hitrecorders, so I decided to select my 10 favorite records from hitrecorders I was almost sure they were Japanese… Sorry if I made any mistake!

1. Short Story Japanese Reading (vigitter)

This is a really original record. I wish to hear more of audio/video records like this one, in all languages. For me, Japanese is a beautiful language, and I love to listen to Japanese people talking. It’s one of the reasons that explains why I love Yasujiro Ozu’s cinema (even more than Kurosawa). I find Japanese language very poetic and very pleasant to listen. I mean, I didn’t understand a word, but I really enjoyed the record though. And vigitter’s voice is really beautiful :)

2. Super Moon 2 (vigitter)

I love almost all vigitter’s photo (I didn’t see all of them, that’s why I said “almost”). And I selected this one for its pictorial side. It really gives me the impression to be a painting (maybe because of the light of the moon). I also love the blue’s rendering in the photo.

And I think it might be an interesting record to use as a background for a Tiny Story for example, or for a poem, or even to remix in another picture.

3. Sakura Record (Album) (vigitter)

Here’s a complete photo album by vigitter. It’s the third mention to vigitter but I couldn’t do differently because vigitter is actually a prolific hitrecorder (more than 600 records!!). And what great contributions! I love this kind of trees, that’s why I decided to select this album. But I really recommend her others’ photo albums. There are so many view angles, very poetic and minimalist photos. And again, you can remix them.

4. Re:Cities – Stronger in Tokyo (v.1) (mellowmeful)

My favourite contribution to the RE:Cities collaboration so far. It’s so innocent and so honest at the same time. I love Manaka’s voice. I love how this video is intimate, like a confession. All the shots about Tokyo are original, and the editing is unique: mixing personal memories with general shots of Tokyo. My favourite scene is the one in the train: I love how Manaka edited what she said with this specific shot. And I just loved her thoughts and memories about travelling by train.

This video is very well done, in a documentary style. All shots are meaningful. I also love how Manaka’s voice and the music are editing together. And in a way, the fact that we just hear Manaka but we don’t see her in the video (except at the beginning) makes the video even more intimate I think. It’s like we are with her in Tokyo, we witness what she’s telling us.

I’d just love to have a version of this video without the music. In that way, everyone could use it to make remix for the Re-Cities collaboration. Right now, we can still use it, but only the images, and I’m sure some hitrecorders would love to remix Manaka’s voice as well…

5. Light/ Light (color) (mellowmeful)

This is another original video by Manaka. I love it as well. There are two versions: one in color, and one in black and white. I think this is a great remix and use of Dan’s record. Manaka just followed the rhythm of Dan’s record but it makes the record interesting. It’s a video with video footage but also still images. And all these footage/images are mixed together in a very original way. And there are a lot of great photos and footage actually. They all are amazing scenes about daily life, about cities, about life.

And what is also interesting is that Manaka used a record from 2009 (Dan’s record) in her 2011 video. I’m actually surprised that Dan’s record wasn’t used a lot… But I think most of hitrecorders were like me, we didn’t know about this fantastic record! Thanks Manaka :)

6. The best (Uuuuki)

I love calligraphy and I find Uuuuki’s records very original. Like the record I used for the Icon of this album (I wanted to use one of the last contributions to Matt’s collaboration, but then I decided to also use a record linked to Japan). I selected this record for this album but I could have selected “Just as it is” or “This is love” records. These 3 records are interesting because it’s about writing, but it’s also about drawing (or painting). Here, writing is truly an art and words are images.

I’d love to see more records like them, and not only in Japanese but in different languages.

7. Shadow Tiny Story (superkuma)

This is the first video superkuma did and actually it’s really good. I love her voice and her accent. So sweet. And I love the footage she shot and used for this tiny story. It’s a very poetic and spiritual record. It’s also an original record for the Tiny Story collaboration, and from my point of view, I would say that it deserves more views and recommends…

And if it’s her first try in making video, I’d definitely love to see more from superkuma! Very promising and inspiring work.

8. soft (superkuma)

This is another sweet photo! I would add this to the “daily life scenes” I talked about earlier in this album. I love the view angle, the choice of the subject (newspapers + animal). I still can’t say if it’s a real animal (cat) or if it’s a stuffed animal hahaha and I like this ambiguity.

9. Me (portrait) (Yuka)

I love this portrait because it brings together traditional art and modern life (wit the cell phone). I don’t have much to say about it, maybe because I already talked about tradition/modern theme before. But again, it’s an original work. We don’t find a lot of records like this one (actually it’s a unique piece I think).

And if you deep-etch (Deep etching) the character (cut out the character from the original image), I’m sure you can remix it in another record… I love how the sky is just white as if there wasn’t any sky actually. I don’t know, I find this photo interesting and well photographed :)

10. in cage (Johnny_O)

I love this picture, especially the view angle and the black and white. For me, the cage looks like the Earth. And I imagine that it symbolizes the idea that we all live in a cage... I don’t know. I found this picture interesting. :)

10 RECords “Support to Japan”

And finally, the last section of this album. These records are my 10 favourite records about the support for Japan from the hitRECord community. Thanks again everyone for your love and support. I won’t especially write a lot about these records, but I think they talk for themselves.

1. hitRECord for Japan (REgularJOE)

I love the simplicity of this record. We go straight to the point and I like that. I love how the hitRECord colors are mixed with the white color.

And selling REC buttons was definitely a great initiative to support Japan. I still didn’t have my own REC buttons though... I have to get one as soon as possible! But I’m actually waiting the new Spring store…

2. 1000 cranes/buttons for Japan remix (belcath1981)

This a great remix of Joe and fractaldust’s records. And honestly, this record is on a professional level. If I had some printed cards of these, I would have distributed them to people on the streets. Great great remix.

3. Aid the Rising Sun (MattConley)

This is an amazing record and a great idea to remix the “Find the Sun” collaboration. I also like the fact that it’s a video. There are not a lot of videos for this collaboration (support to Japan) and this one is like a video ad to ask people to support Japan.

I also like the public domain footage and the choice of black and white. It shows this tragic event as a historical event, it shows us that it’s unfortunately not the first one. It’s a very conventional video, but not it’s too dramatic, it’s not a hopeless message. At the end, it remains a positive message: it’s about the solidarity between people from all over the world. And I respect and like this record for that.

4. hitRECord for Japan (Marke)

I also love this record for its simplicity. A white tissue and a red REC button: how to mix the Japanese flag with a hitRECord symbol. It’s simply perfect. It makes me think that all hitRECorders are Japanese in a way: they didn’t ignore what happened in Japan and they decided to support because we are all connected to each other. We are all Japanese.

5. Prayerfor Japan (vanya)

Another symbol of the same idea. I would say that this photo symbolizes how people decided to do something to support Japan: they decided to get involved in the support for Japan (symbolized by the make up on the face). And like seldelaterre wrote in her comment about this record, it’s a very poignant and solemn record. It’s a beautiful and poetic one. One of the most beautiful I think.

6. moment of silence (mellowmeful)

This is just someone in front of the camera, staying silent for a minute. It’s a simple idea but a beautiful one. But again, it’s a solemn record that invites us to pray for Japan. Great idea and collaboration.

7. Our Friends (janetfelts)

Again, We are all Japanese in this difficult moment. It’s a great graphic record from Janet to express the idea that we are all connected, we are not insensitive to what happened in Japan. I like how Janet remixed the different records together; very well done. Good skills.

8. hitRECord for Japan [remix] (elayne)

Another very well done record, I definitely would have seen it as a postcard or something similar. I like how elayne remixed the records together in her own style. I mean, these resources were used a lot but each time, the result was completely different (idea and style), that’s make the process interesting actually. I dig it.

9. For Japan (creativejuicer)

This is another very original record. We had Matt’s video, and now we have a painting. I love it. For me, the painting might be a little more pessimistic than Matt’s video (the red vertical lines remind me of blood that’s why) but I still like it though. Great painting skills.

10. “Japanese Cherry Blossom” (Jnyfer)

Another painting, on a canvas this time. This one seems to be more optimistic, but both styles are completely different so I won’t make any comparisons. I like the details of this painting, I like the subject and the black background. I’d love to have it at home actually :)

Again, great painting skills!

Little preview of the next re-rec album: WEEK 12

1. Multicoloured (thimbles)

2. They all look the same (Laurikiz)

3. Polka-Dot Girl (Mpunkt)

4. Censorship (missamerica)

5. Frankenstein (j3551c4)

6. Traffic/Colors (cinematic.audiophile)

7. A REcord is More than the Sum of its Hearts: suggestions for overall improvement regarding the administration of hitrecord.org (seldelaterre)

8. Irish Melody (Pete Conrad)

9. Vals de la Zorra Perdida (Expoobident)

10. Half of me Orcestration (final) (hedge)

Special Mention to: SIMONDOTCALM

1. Composition #12

2. Composition #9

3. Cityscape

4. Journal Portrait

5. Self Portrait

6. Amber Rays

7. Journal

8. Graffiti Edo

9. Throw Up

10. Fruede #9

11. Ove Yourself

            + Version 2

            + Version 3

12. Classic Portrait