Reviews :: Susumu Yokota, Shinto
! review of ambient master Susumu Yokota's new lp. no, not 'Overhead,'
he already has yet another new one, 'Laputan.' and Shinto, which i've
never heard of, but seems interesting.
-Wesley
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source: RealTokyo
Susumu Yokota: Laputan [CD]
Susumu Yokota presents another album from Skintone, his own label that
serves him as a playground for ambient music creation and sonic
experimentation. Beats are virtually non-existent this time, and instead
all kinds of sounds and styles mingle to create a strange, dream-like
atmosphere. This sounds like a hackneyed phrase, but with countless,
totally unrelated sound fragments mysteriously finding together, and
melodies and voices coming out of nowhere and disappear again, this just
can't be anything else but the soundtrack of a dream. In the first half,
an incredible variety of elements make for exciting listening, but --
since this is a dream the listener experiences while awake -- about
halfway through the CD Yokota obviously ran out of ideas, and the
journey starts getting a bit painful. But considering the fact that all
this was created by a (probably) fully conscious man, it's a remarkable
release. (Andreas 3.5/5)
Shinto: Kibou [CD]
With releases on labels such as disko B, Hans Platzgumer has totally
settled down in the techno genre after making a complete change from his
alternative rock outfit HP Zinker. Starting with rather organic ambient
kinds of sounds, Platzgumer has found his own style in the punkish,
rough electronic beats featured on recent albums such as "Software"
(which also includes a remix of Tuxedomoon's "No Tears"). Radically
powerful programming between psychedelic electronica and electroclash is
what he presents also on the new album of Shinto, a unit he has formed
together with Japanese singer Cami Tokujiro. The singing Cami serves on
top of this, though, sounds like Japanese nursery rhymes, is
expressionless, and as artistic as a third-class Elvis impersonator. As
we know it from God Mountain, the mix is original, though, and somehow
it's even cool. (Andreas 3.5/5)
http://www.realtokyo.co.jp/english/book/f_book.htm
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The Eclectic Sounds of Japan
[Sound :: Lounge]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLounge