domingo, 21 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Fish, 2007

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Fish, 2007

viernes, 19 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Dead Tree, 2007

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Dead Tree, 2007

miércoles, 17 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of A15, 2007

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of A15, 2007

lunes, 15 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Abstraction X, 2008

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Abstraction X, 2008

sábado, 13 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Line With Rope, 2007

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Line With Rope, 2007

jueves, 11 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Pigeon With C, 2007

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Pigeon With C, 2007

martes, 9 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Fisher, 2004

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Fisher, 2004

domingo, 7 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Abstraction V, 2008

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Abstraction V, 2008

viernes, 5 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Islands, 2007

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Islands, 2007

jueves, 4 de diciembre de 2008

Susumu Yokota & Rothko - Distant Sounds Of Summer (2005)

Date Released: October 25, 2005
Origin: Japan
Genre: Ambient, Downtempo, Experimental, IDM, Minimal
Label: Lo Recordings
Site:
http://www.susumuyokota.org/
Tracklist:
1. Deep In Mist
2. Waters Edge
3. Path Fades Into Forest
4. Lit By Moonlight
5. Brook And Burn
6. Sentiero
7. Clear Space
8. Reflections And Shadows
9. Distant Sounds Of Summer
10. Floating Moon
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Susumu Yokota, the name ring any bells? OK, bad jokes aside, I’m sure virtually everyone’s familiar with the workaholic behind the echoing lattices of delight that make up such recordings as Grinning Cat and Sakura, as well as the deep, jazzual and funky ‘80s house of albums like Zero. You might not know that he also runs his own record label, Skintone, and is an exhibiting graphic designer who makes all his own record covers; quite frankly, he’s probably the only person in the world who can rival Madlib for ludicrous amounts of diverse creative output. Now that’s cute, because the promo sheet under my beady eye compares Susumu’s “supernatural kind of funk” to California’s most blunted. Except they spell it Mad Lib, which sounds like a pendant to Stephen Malkmus’ Pig Lib, only for wackos (sign me up!).
Anyway, if you haven’t heard anything by Mr. Yokota, you’re missing out because he’s justly famous for being able to create wondrous atmospheres from the barest assortments of intertwined sounds, and he’s not afraid of being pretty or lush, either. A good place to start might be Symbol, which uses a very well-known selection of classical music as the starting threads, and which everyone except Wire magazine loved. My personal tip would be Grinning Cat, but for goodness’ sakes don’t start with The Boy and the Tree, because it’s all weird concussive dub gongs instead of bells on the breeze, and may dent your headspace.
Or you could start with this album right here, a fantastic display of all his internationally acclaimed production hallmarks. However, although Yokota is behind the boards, most of the music here is of Rothko’s making, and Rothko deserve more than a word or two by way of introduction. Initially consisting of nothing more than a trio of bass players and some FX (lofi gem In the Pulse of an Artery), the output of this loose collective around founding member Max Beazley moved through blissful ambient recordings (A Continual Search for Origins) towards the velvet intensity of A Space Between, where longtime collaborator and creamily voiced English poet/songstress Caroline Ross achieved equal billing, adding the folkish tones of her playing to Beazley’s ever-mellifluous bass fretwork, which has always been Rothko’s liquid spine. Along the way Beazley’s put out a slew of albums not mentioned above, found the time to collaborate with Four Tet on the gorgeous Rivers Become Oceans split 7” and released Wish for a World Without Hurt, a reaction to the events of September 11th that saw him work with static merchant Black Bear and produce music like nothing so much as the ashes of the impact site crying to themselves.
And to think I find it difficult to fit in a couple of reviews around my working week.
Yokota veterans will find themselves instantly at home on the warm broken beats of opener “Deep in Mist”, where Ross’ voice blossoms in wordless flight, and second track “Waters Edge”, which wraps her into tiny tonal chant cycles (a Yokota peccadillo) beneath gently oscillating rings and resonating piano notes huge and softly heavy as summer cloud banks. Rothko stalwarts need not be put off by the threat of pounding beats, as these only take the aural foreground on a minority of tracks, and are anyway more sinuous pulse than kick. Rest assured that things retain a silkily organic feel throughout, that there are still drifts into near-silent idyll, and that Beazley’s high tones are as gorgeously evocative of sunlight rippling on water as ever (with a particular mention perhaps being due for “Brook and Burn").
Everyone else can go out and get it safe in the knowledge that they are purchasing a collaboration by masters of their respective crafts, who in joining forces have created some of the best and most blissful music either have achieved. This is one of the ambient albums of this—and indeed most—years, and when I say ambient, I don’t really mean Eno’s airport soundtrack; apart from anything else, there is genuine songwriting and structure here. No, ambient, as in: You can do whatever you want while listening to it, but the music does not become background, it becomes part of you. One to slot next to Budd & Bernocchi’s “Fragments From the Inside” while blessing all musicians too productive to enjoy physical peace, who therefore need to create it in their minds, and let it sound like this.
A small body of such artists (Beazley amongst them) have been taking shelter from the underground cold at
www.burningshed.com. I would humbly suggest that you go and peruse what they’ve got to offer, because it’s likely that you’ll find something there to cherish. I did.

miércoles, 3 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Branches With Line And Cap, 2007

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Branches With Line And Cap, 2007

martes, 2 de diciembre de 2008

Susumu Yokota - Skintone Collection (2008)

Date Released: January 15, 2008
Origin: Japan
Genre: Ambient, Downtempo, Experimental, Modern Classical, Minimal
Label: Lo Recordings
Site:
http://www.susumuyokota.org/
Tracklist:
1. Kodomotachi
2. Amanogawa 1997
3. Card Nation
4. Illusion River
5. Live Echo
6. Purple Rose Minuet
7. Sentiero
8. Saku
9. Kawano Hotorino Kinoshitade 1998
10. King Dragonfly
11. Iconic Air
12. Holy Ground
13. A Heart-warming And Beautiful Flower Will Eventually Wither Away And Become Dirt
14. Hagoromo
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For over 20 years Susumu Yokota has been creating a diverse body of work which, since 1998, he has released on his own Skintone label. While this work is lazily categorised as ‘ambient’, that name really is a disservice. Yokota’s music is rarely happy to find space in the background and tracks have much more movement of ideas within them than ambient music strictly uses.
Being a compilation is possibly the only fault of this disc as a listening experience, and it is a minor fault at that. The diverse nature of Yokota’s music means that the tracks jump about stylistically a little. ‘Card Nation’ from 2001’s Grinning Cat is ominous atmospherics under piano, violin and vocal snatches punctuated by heavily reverberated clangs and hisses. ‘Illusion River’ from 2001’s Will is pretty Rhodes glissandos and opera swoons under a raw, harshly cut drum loop, the tension between the two aesthetics continually shifting the focus of the track and providing considerable forward momentum. Traditional Japanese instrumentation finds its place in tracks such as ‘Live Echo’ (from 2002’s The Boy And The Tree) and ‘Sentiero’ (from 2005’s Distant Sounds Of Summer collaboration with Rothko). These are seamlessly blended with classical western instrumentation and contemporary electronics to great effect throughout. Whether creating a contemplative mood in ‘Kawano
Hotorino Kinoshitade 1998′ (from 1998’s Image 1983-1998) or splicing samples into abstract shards to be recomposed in ‘A Heart-warming And Beautiful Flower Will Eventually Wither And Become Dirt’ (from 2007’s Love Or Die), Yokota avoids cliches and keeps every detail serving the whole exquisitely.
Every piece on this collection is musically noteworthy in some way. Compiler Ben Eshmade, of the program ‘Chiller Cabinet’ on Britain’s Classic FM has done a good job of creating a reasonable flow across the tracks. As mentioned, though, it is hard to listen to the entire disc and not notice the joins between disparate works. However, the strength of the material means that this leads to a desire to hear the original works in their entirety, where the flow and continuity that is core to this music can be heard and fully appreciated. As a compilation which opens up Yokota’s work to new audiences, sending them in search of his back catalogue, this is a great success.

lunes, 1 de diciembre de 2008

Variation of Abstraction I, 2008

Alfredo Esparza - Variation of Abstraction I, 2008