Date Released: November 30, 1999
Origin: Japan
Genre: Ambient, Chillout, Downtempo, Experimental, Lounge, IDM
Label: The Leaf Label
Site: http://www.susumuyokota.org/
Tracklist:
1. Saku
2. Tobiume
3. Uchu Tanjyo
4. Hagoromo
5. Genshi
6. Gekkoh
7. Hisen
8. Azukiiro No Kaori
9. Kodomotachi
10. Naminote
11. Shinsen
12. Kirakiraboshi
__________________________________________________
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" has been a huge hit in more than thirty countries, but it failed miserably in Japan. Apparently, the Japanese consider public displays of wealth embarrassing, so the money-grubbing show never had a chance. Failed culture translation can work both ways, of course. Here in America, it's generally considered embarrassing for grown adults to read comics whose heroines are scantily clad prepubescent girls with stripper-sized tits. At least we all agree on Cheap Trick and the Beastie Boys.
I'm thinking about these kinds of differences right now because I'm trying to get to the root of my fascination with the gentle electronic music coming out of Japan. Though they're working in dramatically different styles, I think it's safe to say that artists like Nobukazu Takemura, Aki Tsuyuko, Neina and Susumu Yokota share a sensibility. Each is capable of crafting subtle music that's not afraid to be warm and pretty, but they shade the tender melodies and childlike naiveté with hints of violence and loss. With now-familiar techniques like malfunctioning technology (Neina's Oval-style glitch is the sound of the digital world colliding with nature) and clipped vocal fragments (Takemura's "Kepler" traps Tsuyuko's innocent voice inside a machine), the pretty music becomes something more balanced and complex.
Susumu Yokota made his name in Japan as a House DJ and producer, and this functional background could explain why his ambient music is the most outwardly "pleasant" of the artists mentioned above. Sakura is his latest home-listening entry, a placid display of slow, careful movement with a few unexpected twists.
Much of this album features Yokota's dreamy, processed guitar as a distinctive sound tool. On the lush, cascading "Saku" and "Tobiume" he drowns the electric strings in reverb, and the plucked melodies are hard to trace to their source. The faint guitar melodies work well against the synthetic drones, offering a subtly percussive counterpoint to the electronic tapestry. On "Genshi," Yokota pulls out his this-old-House tools, wielding a gentle, steady kickdrum and shimmering high-hat to push along a gurgling guitar pattern reminiscent of Manual Göttsching. Adding further variation to the six-string texture, "Hagoromo" loops an acoustic guitar pattern to hypnotic effect.
Despite its use in the above tracks, this is by no means a "guitar album," not even in the Fripp & Eno sense of the word. Each of the elements, the guitars, the occasional beats, the vocal samples (heartbreaking on "Azukiio No Kaori," which reminds me of Nobukazu Takemura's amazing remix of "Proverb" on Reich Remixed) and the flowing synthesizers, are used to further the dreamy, contemplative mood. There are a few missteps, most notable the oddly jazzy "Naminote," which seems to strive for Amon Tobin territory but mucks up the flow of the album considerably. Still, this is a worthy artifact from what seems to be an incredibly fertile scene.
Tracklist:
1. Saku
2. Tobiume
3. Uchu Tanjyo
4. Hagoromo
5. Genshi
6. Gekkoh
7. Hisen
8. Azukiiro No Kaori
9. Kodomotachi
10. Naminote
11. Shinsen
12. Kirakiraboshi
__________________________________________________
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" has been a huge hit in more than thirty countries, but it failed miserably in Japan. Apparently, the Japanese consider public displays of wealth embarrassing, so the money-grubbing show never had a chance. Failed culture translation can work both ways, of course. Here in America, it's generally considered embarrassing for grown adults to read comics whose heroines are scantily clad prepubescent girls with stripper-sized tits. At least we all agree on Cheap Trick and the Beastie Boys.
I'm thinking about these kinds of differences right now because I'm trying to get to the root of my fascination with the gentle electronic music coming out of Japan. Though they're working in dramatically different styles, I think it's safe to say that artists like Nobukazu Takemura, Aki Tsuyuko, Neina and Susumu Yokota share a sensibility. Each is capable of crafting subtle music that's not afraid to be warm and pretty, but they shade the tender melodies and childlike naiveté with hints of violence and loss. With now-familiar techniques like malfunctioning technology (Neina's Oval-style glitch is the sound of the digital world colliding with nature) and clipped vocal fragments (Takemura's "Kepler" traps Tsuyuko's innocent voice inside a machine), the pretty music becomes something more balanced and complex.
Susumu Yokota made his name in Japan as a House DJ and producer, and this functional background could explain why his ambient music is the most outwardly "pleasant" of the artists mentioned above. Sakura is his latest home-listening entry, a placid display of slow, careful movement with a few unexpected twists.
Much of this album features Yokota's dreamy, processed guitar as a distinctive sound tool. On the lush, cascading "Saku" and "Tobiume" he drowns the electric strings in reverb, and the plucked melodies are hard to trace to their source. The faint guitar melodies work well against the synthetic drones, offering a subtly percussive counterpoint to the electronic tapestry. On "Genshi," Yokota pulls out his this-old-House tools, wielding a gentle, steady kickdrum and shimmering high-hat to push along a gurgling guitar pattern reminiscent of Manual Göttsching. Adding further variation to the six-string texture, "Hagoromo" loops an acoustic guitar pattern to hypnotic effect.
Despite its use in the above tracks, this is by no means a "guitar album," not even in the Fripp & Eno sense of the word. Each of the elements, the guitars, the occasional beats, the vocal samples (heartbreaking on "Azukiio No Kaori," which reminds me of Nobukazu Takemura's amazing remix of "Proverb" on Reich Remixed) and the flowing synthesizers, are used to further the dreamy, contemplative mood. There are a few missteps, most notable the oddly jazzy "Naminote," which seems to strive for Amon Tobin territory but mucks up the flow of the album considerably. Still, this is a worthy artifact from what seems to be an incredibly fertile scene.
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