It is to wonder why it’s taken so long for Riow
Arai to finally make it to this side of the world. Despite
Mind Edit being his first album release outside
his native Japan, Arai already has a very comprehensive
back catalogue under his belt. Since 1995, he has released
four albums, had music featured on countless compilations,
provided remixes for a myriad of artists, played with
the likes of Four Tet,
Hexstatic and the Skam crew, and has composed soundtracks
for Playstation games.
Mind Edit was originally released back in 1999
on Soup-Disk. Following the excellent Disturbance
EP released recently on Leaf, the album is finally made
available in Europe. Distilling an interesting hip-hop/electronic
hybrid, Arai’s work relies heavily on cut’n’paste
technique to highlight the intensity of his compositions.
Broken beats and lacerated melodies form the core of
this release. A far cry from the current hip-hop infused
electronica that has emerged in the last three years,
Riow Arai’s music appears slightly dark and abrasive.
As beats progressively stumble across dismantled melodies
and vocal samples, the dense atmosphere of this record
becomes murkier and more unsettling. Things start in
rather familiar fashion with the jazz-fuelled laidback
Intro, but Arai soon establishes for good the
unique landscape of this album with Undulation.
As he dissects his sound sources and reshapes them into
chaotic constructions, he takes the listener in an incredible
journey through textures and ambiences. Arai sculpts
his tracks with a total disregard for established rules,
briefly introducing peaceful elements amid the tight
deconstructed rhythmic arrangements, only to happily
break them apart and re-introduce them entirely out
of context. Saying that Mind Edit is one hell
of a groovy record is a huge understatement. Never sacrificing
on the dance floor potential of his compositions, Arai
injects some furiously infectious bass lines into the
mix (Distubance, Flatter). Only with
the last track, I Dine At Daybreak, does Arai
finally allows himself to break away from the cataclysmic
beats and chill out. As on the opener, traces of jazz
can be heard flowing over discreet samples of a female
voice murmuring words in French, drawing this album
to a rather unexpected conclusion.
The influences behind such a piece of work are difficult
to identify, and it seems that Riow Arai actually takes
pleasure in covering his tracks. Mind Edit
is a truly mind-blowing experience, as Arai never seems
to settle for one psarticular formula. Yet, if makes
for very complex musical structures, Arai manages to
retain the hard-hitting aspect of his beats and distils
his grooves generously. A definite must.
4.5/5 |
