Yama Warashi (translates as ‘small childlike mountain spirit’) is the project of Japanese visual artist & musician Yoshino Shigihara whose mini-album ‘At My Mother’s Piano’ was released last week on Prah Records. The project was first founded in Bristol around 2015 before relocating to London, drawn by its open-minded music scene – especially the activity centred around Cafe OTO and the Total Refreshment Centre.
‘At My Mother’s Piano’ is a soothing minimalistic escape, enriched with personal moments including a cameo from her mother on Hankyu Denshya.
“I was just improvising on the piano in the afternoon on my own. Then my mother came back and you can hear her coming in and saying hello. Then popping to a shop after drinking tea. Her voice is on the recording by chance. She was talking to me while I was playing.”
Recorded during a trip back to her family home in Ashiya City, Hyōgo, Japan, these field recordings lend the album a transportive feel, a bit like seeing someone else’s photos, while our interpretation of their world will be different (as all experiences are), there is an intimacy and weightless comfort to be drawn from their world, it was one I was very happy to linger in.
Shigihara’s latest video is for Frog From Amami which features the sound of tropical frogs – recorded during a family holiday in the wake of her father’s passing – and vocal samples from her mother’s answer phone. Shigihara shared: “These frogs were making really beautiful noise on the field. I couldn’t see them but there were lots of them making noises together. I added the answer phone messages at my mother’s house. It is a funny message, it sounded a bit passive-aggressive even though the speaker spoke beautifully in a good manner. It struck me that we as humans are just making noises together like these frogs.”
At My Mother’s Piano is out now on Prah Records. Her solo UK Tour kicks off this month, see dates below.
Order Ltd Edition Coloured 12″ Vinyl | Digital: https://yamawarashi.bandcamp.com/album/at-my-mothers-piano
SOLO UK TOUR SPRING 2025
24/02 – LONDON, Jazz in the Round @Cockpit Theatre w/ Fazer /Jemima Whyte
26/02 – OXFORD, Common Ground w/ Able Noise / Orange Dancing Group
27/02 – LONDON, @Total Refreshment Centre w/ Carmen Quill / Melissa Weikart
28/02 – NORWICH, @The Holloway w/Janai.fx
01/03 – COVENTRY, Boudica presents @Tin and Arts w/ IKO CHÉRIE
02/03 – STOCKTON-ON-TEES, Stockton-on-Tees, @The Waiting Room w/ IKO CHÉRIE
03/03 – LEEDS, @Belgrave Music Hall w/ MAYSHE-MAYSHE
04/03 – GLASGOW, @Hug & Pint
05/03 – NOTTINGHAM, @JT Soar w/ TRUST FUND / LANNY / KATIE KEDDIE
06/03 – NEWCASTLE, @Cobalt Studio w/ Daniel Inzani
07/03 – YORK, @Young Thugs w/ Elsa Hewitt / Moongate
09/03 – LONDON, @Cafe OTO VALENTINA MAGALETTI – OTO TAKEOVER:
YAMA WARASHI + VALENTINA MAGALETTI & YPY (GOAT JAPAN) + IRENE BIANCO