Tatsuya Yoshida, as he is known to his parents, releases
his first album under his Joseph Nothing moniker on Michael
Paradinas’ Planet Mu label. Reminiscent of both Paradinas’
µ-ziq and Richard D. James’ Aphex Twin projects,
Yoshida also brings his own personality to a funky and
imaginative record.
All along this album, the shadows of his masters are present,
especially on tracks like A Shine On Your Head
or Ballad For The Unloved, where Nothing displays
a comparable ability to Paradinas or James with drill’n’bass
ambiences. However, Yoshida also creates more clever songs,
using a plethora of noises and beat configurations, as
in the hip-hop inspired Exotic Man Walking or
Divine Lowlife, the bouncy electro-pop So
Far So Good or the pac-man-esque Disc O’Nostalgia.
All the way through, Yoshida applies sounds and effects
to child-like melodies, turning them into humorous little
odysseys, ranging from totally innocent to messy punk-ish
tracks, with no particular order. Tracks like But
Not For Me or The Day Before Yesterday are
impressive by their melodic qualities and catchy feel.
But then, Every Beauty Has It’s Scum, So
Far So Good or Belly Button Queen are far
more deconstructed. Yoshita has a tendency to disregard
the rules, and genres collide when least expected, which
makes Dummy Variations a refreshing experience.
Keeping well in line with most of Planet Mu releases,
Joseph Nothing’s Dummy Variation is very heteroclite,
and by scattering his little gems all along, he remains
in control of a very creative and amusing record.
4/5 |
