To celebrate the re-release of his album Kiribati on Discrepant, Cooper brought his Ambient Exotica sound to OTO. Played on lap steel, electronics, prepared guitar, sampler, live environmental recordings and electronic percussion, Kiribati was (and is) dedicated to the people and islands of Kiribati, a group of islands slowly sinking into the Pacific Ocean. 

“Kiribati was the first release on my Hipshot c.d.r label in 1999. I wanted to create an album of imaginary soundscapes from imagined exotic places based on my travels in the Pacific Islands and South East Asia. Kiribati was the first in a series of three CDs of Ambient Exotica Soundscapes – played on lap steel, electronics, prepared guitar, sampler, live environmental recordings (from Bali, Malaysia, Australia and Italy) and acoustic and electronic percussion. (The other two are Globe Notes and my award winning Rayon Hula.)

Kiribati was (and is) dedicated to the people and islands of Kiribati because they were slowly sinking into the Pacific Ocean. Although the palm trees are often 25 metres high, the islands themselves, made from gravel and sand, are only 4 or 5 metres above sea level and a rise in sea levels of just 15 centimetres, as has happened over the past 100 years due to global warming, is a disaster.

Kiribati was recorded in my studio on a four track cassette, using a Casio SK1 sampling keyboard. A tool I used for many years both for recording and live sampling.”

Filmed live at Cafe OTO on March 3rd, 2016 by Gianmarco Del Re. Photo by Andrej Chudy.