Hope & Despair (5FTLP)

Originally inspired by Robert Frank’s photography, Kato Hideki created music based on an idea - taking sonic snapshots of New York and its most inspiring musicians - including John Zorn, Zeena Parkins, Dougie Bowne and Masahiko Kono, along with musicians from Tokyo. The result was an evocative album filled with acoustic and electronic sounds of New York City in the mid 1990’s. The music morphs from one scene to another, as if turning the pages of photographic images. The album, originally released on the Australian label Extreme in 1996, has been newly remastered in 2021, with new album art by the critically acclaimed photographer Alec Soth (Magnum Photos).