The title of the album seems to refer to a once very popular Japanese pasttime – telling eerie ghost stories on hot summer nights. Even today, these traditional folk tales are widespread in Japan and their influence is still very much alive, especially in contemporary visual culture – tv, movies, manga, and anime. Aoike himself lives in Canada nowadays, but his work is still very much rooted in this tradition. On a more conceptual level though, 'Ghost Storeys' deals with issues that have to do with contemporary urban architecture. Phantom spaces, virtual architecture and the fact that most skyscrapers don't have a 13th floor designated as such are some of the concepts that lie behind the utterly suspenseful animations on this DVD (hence 'Storeys'). Kristian's minimalist compositions are brooding with atmosphere and suspense and Aoike's animations are equally haunting. If you've seen Aoike's work before, Catman (on Shockawave Japan), Super Milk Chan, G-man, then you know what he's capable of.
We asked Toby Heys why he started C0C0S0L1DC1T1: "The label was started by the members of Battery Operated (a collective of audiovisual artists, ed.) around 2000 when we were working on our first project called 'Chases Through Non-Place'. We really wanted to release the project as a double CD with full video on one disc and sound on the other, but no labels were interested really in doing this kind of release. We realised that if we wanted to have our work released as full video/animation and sound/music integrated projects, then we would probably have to do it ourselves. We also knew a lot of artists who were collaborating in this way and there was no outlet for them... so I guess the usual story in a way. A new dynamic in video music which at the time of inception had little or no means of distribution... so folks do it for themselves and then things grow."
The C0C0S0L1DC1T1 label is another example of where the DIY philosophy can take you. Their back catalogue is quite impressive and contains at least 14 CD's and DVD's. Just imagine how much your karma will raise if you buy one.
Watch another C0C0S0L1DC1T1 video on SubmarineChannel:
>> Visual Cities by Julian Soto and Pretty Boy Crossover
David Kristian maintained a production diary:
The C0C0S0L1DC1T1 label:
>> www.cocosolidciti.com
