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Jüppala Kääpiö (literally "woops" in Swiss-French and "gnome" in Finnish) is a Swiss/Japanese duo formed in 2006 by Carole and Hitoshi Kojo. They are settled in Belgium since 2011 after living in Switzerland, Japan, Canada and Mongolia.
The duo uses various folk/ethnic instruments, handmade devices, found objects, field recordings and voices. They delicately weave them into colorful and textural organic sound tapestries through electric devices. This hybrid style crosses over various fields which would be described as cosmopolitan folk, psychedelic drone, authorial ambient, atmospheric noise, psychic field recordings… However, the inspiration has always been derived from the nature and the supernatural on the earth.
Their recordings have been mostly released by their own label omnimemento, except two cassette releases from Peasant Magik (USA) and Lal Lal Lal (Finland). Their later titles from omnimemento are presented in crafted packages made by themselves, which are also a vital part of their work.
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Carole Kojo is a book lover (professional librarian), a needleworker, a singer and primarily plays viola in Jüppala Kääpiö.
Her handmade stuffed-animal/spirit and other figures are deeply related to the world of Jüppala Kääpiö, so that the works have been featured in the album cover of Jüppala Kääpiö since the beginning.
Her sensitivity for contemporary folk music and European classical music creates an unique reaction to Hitoshi's sensitivity for ethnic music and abstract sound, which also gives intimacy to their experimental approach.
She also played viola as a member of In Gowan Ring during his tour in 2006.
✄ Kero Kero Craft
Hitoshi Kojo is a Japanese artist living in Brussels.
Since the late 1990s, he has been creating compositions that combine intuitive performances using natural and found objects such as stones and trees, field recordings, and recordings using voices and instruments as object-sounds.
Recorded materials are often tuned so that they resonate within a composition, but they are open to chance combinations and treated equally without master-slave relationships. This policy remains the same in the occasional performances and installations.
The recorded compositions are presented in self-design and produced packages, and are published and distributed primarily through his label "omnimemento" but also on other labels in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Then, some works are released under other names such as "sonomono" or "Spiracle" depending on the direction.
꩜ Hitoshi Kojo website
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2023 Oct |
Owlora Muskaria (full album version) / File / omnimemento (Belgium) |
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2014 Nov |
Black Blossom (w/ My Cat Is An Alien) / CDR, Cassette / omnimemento (Belgium), Neurec (Japan) |
2014 Nov |
Landing Clouds / Cassette, File / omnimemento (Belgium), Neurec (Japan) |
2014 Aug 16 |
Cumbria Concert / Concert / Parish Rooms, Ulverston (England) |
2014 Apr |
Zakuro / Rutsubo (w/ Jani Hirvonen, Valérie Magisson) / CD / omnimemento (Belgium) |
2014 Jan |
Passage / Concert / Café Central : Brussels (Belgium) |
2013 Oct |
Marolles Home Concert / Concert / Chez Kojo : Brussels (Belgium) |
2013 Oct |
Alpen Ocean / LP / omnimemento (Belgium) |
2013 July |
The Other Side of Sarfsalo / Compilation / File / 267 lattajjaa (Finland) |
2013 Aug 23 |
Aarhus Sound Festival / Festival, Concert / Institut for (X), Aarhus (Denmark) |
2013 Apr 19 |
Mental Alaska - Lal Lal Lal Festival IV / Festival, Concert / Vapaan Taiteen Tila : Helsinki, Titanik-Galleria : Turku, Westers : Kemiö (Finland) |
2013 Apr 19 |
Owlora Muskaria (mini album version) / Cassette / Lal Lal Lal (Finland) |
2012 Dec |
Rewound Groves / CD / omnimemento (Belgium) |
2012 Feb |
Animalia Corolla / CD / omnimemento (Belgium) |
2011 Apr |
Three Days of Struggle 4 / Festival, Concert / Codalunga : Vittorio Veneto,
Malacarne : Verona (Italy) |
2010 Dec |
Animalia Corolla / Concert / Cinema Oblò : Lausanne (Switzerland) |
2010 Nov |
Tomentum Totem / Cassette / Peasant Magik (USA) |
2010 Aug |
Ullakkopalo / Participation in Kemialliset Ystävät / LP/CD / Fonal Records (Finland) |
2010 May |
Rainbow Mask / 12" Vinyl / omnimemento (Switzerland) |
2010 May |
Sporing Promenade / CD / omnimemento (Switzerland) |
2010 Feb 12 |
A Centre of Steam / Concert / Dampfzentrale : Bern (Switzerland) |
2009 Dec 15 |
The Animated Sea / Performance with drawings and short animated movies of Stefano Ricci / Teatro Comandini : Cesena (Italy) |
2009 Oct 24 |
Favre Concert / Concert / Maison de Champittet : Yverdon (Switzerland) |
2009 Aug 22 |
Honey for the Ears / Art Symposium, Concert / Moks : Mooste (Estonia) |
2009 |
Crows of the World Vol.2 / Compilation / CD / Last Visible Dog Records (USA) |
2008 Dec 15 |
Eggishorn / Concert / Guest: Patrick McGinley, Co-star: Lau Nau / Cave12 (l'usine) : Genève (Switzerland) |
2008 Dec 05 |
Marriage / with an improvisation scene and crazy kids playing / Lausanne (Switzerland) |
2008 Apr |
Found-Sound Workshop / Khovd University : Khovd (Mongolia) |
2008 Mar - Jul |
Stay in Mongolia |
2007 Sep 29 |
Fiesta Gnomesque 2 / Concert / Souffle : Montréal (Canada) |
2007 Aug - Dec |
Stay in Canada |
2007 Jun 29 |
Skype Fiesta Gnomesque / Skype Concert / Bridge : Osaka (Japan) |
2007 Jun 23 |
Fiesta Gnomesque 1 / Concert / Fête de la Musique : Genève (Switzerland) |
2006 Sep |
Rainbow Mask / First recording sessions / Genève (Switzerland) |
