With the two volumes in his Silicom
series, Osaka-born Aoki Takamasa has undoubtedly set
very high standard for himself. Melodic and abstract
in equal measures, the music collected in these two
records presented only part of his performance work
with visual artist Masakazu Tagaki, yet, by clearly
defining his compositions and assuming their entity
fully, Takamasa ensured they stood on their own. The
approach adopted on Indigo Rose is entirely
different. The eight tracks on offer were created with
sole purpose to be listened to as a single piece of
work, giving him the opportunity to develop his compositions
in radically different ways. Still relying on minimal
soundscapes, Takamasa’s mutant electronica becomes
here futuristic pop.
Often associated with the work of Mille Plateaux or
Chain Reaction, Takamasa has, over the last year, performed
live with the likes of Vladislav Delay, SND, or Akufen.
Still collaborating with Tagaki on a regular basis,
Takamasa affirms himself more with each release.
More open and accessible than his previous work, Indigo
Rose sees Takamasa accentuating his use of drones
and glitches as basic elements for his sonic structures.
Yet, the emphasis is more than ever on evolving melodies.
Free from the constraints of necessary correlation with
visual elements, Takamasa stresses the nuclear structure
of his compositions by finely balancing abstraction
and concrete atmospheres. His delicate constructions
are all entirely self-contained, giving an impression
of great sonic diversity. Introducing for the first
time vocal elements to his music, courtesy of Japanese
female artist Noriko Tsujiko, who released her second
album on Austrian label Mego at the end of last year,
Takamasa works on the organic nature of his music by
conscientiously re-writing his rulebook from scratch.
If the computerised voice on Dear People evokes
a strange Air / Kraftwerk hybrid, and the light vocal
shades of Hope hardly impact on the syncopated
beats and hypnotic melody, Tsujiko’s presence
is more tangible on Pipe Tale – Indigo Rose,
where her singing, processed and looped, becomes the
most obvious indicator of the human input on this machine-driven
context. The juxtaposition of Takamasa’s progressive
drones and glitches and Tsujiko’s soft voice gives
Indigo Rose a truly unique character. The album
concludes with what is perhaps Takamasa’s most
delicate composition to date. Build around a water sample,
There’s Not Much Left is beautifully
atmospheric and expressive, conveying a wide range of
emotions through very little sonic elements.
This third album in just a year demonstrates the fascinating
diversity of Aoki Takamasa’s music as he re-invents
his sonic landscapes and draws the blueprint for twenty-second
century pop.
4.2/5 |
