▄▄ [ INFORMATION ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ ARTIST: Pawn █
█ TITLE: Tone Sketches █
█ LABEL: Progressive Form █
█ GENRE: Electronic █
█ BITRATE: 247kbps avg █
█ PLAYTIME: 0h 57min total █
█ RELEASE DATE: 2011-00-00 █
█ RIP DATE: 2012-02-11 █
█ URL: █
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▄▄ [ TRACKLIST ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ 01. Morning Tone (With Marei Suyama) 3:46 █
█ 02. Star Shards (Feat. Cokiyu) 5:09 █
█ 03. Painted Wall 6:20 █
█ 04. Tone Sketch (Feat. Natsuko Yanagimoto) 4:43 █
█ 05. Long Distance Fragments (With Nq) 5:35 █
█ 06. Qop 3:05 █
█ 07. Forrest Trail (Feat. Fraqsea & Pleq) 3:14 █
█ 08. Grid Complex (With Nyolfen) 4:16 █
█ 09. Prepared Statement (With Marihiko Hara) 3:54 █
█ 10. Tokyo Resonance (With Sooner) 4:33 █
█ 11. Strange Animal (Feat. Cuushe) 8:15 █
█ 12. Discolored Photograph (With Seiji Takahashi) 4:28 █
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▄▄ [ NOTES ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
█ █
█ Review from Headphone Commute: █
█ █
█ With a mysterious and at-once bright beginning, Tone Sketch booms in its █
█ own comfortable extents, both experimental and purely different from the █
█ future pop, awakening and triggering novel inspiration. After successful █
█ releases on labels such as Cotton Goods, Dynamophone, The Land Of, and █
█ Symbolic Interaction, Hideki Umezawa, known solely as Pawn, ushers into █
█ his musical world a new stride for the Progressive Form label, renowned █
█ for releasing artists such as Aoki Takamasa and Shuta Hasunuma. With all █
█ that Tone Sketch represents, its backdrop becomes its forefront, an █
█ absorbing mixture of exploratory textures, wobbling tones, and crunching █
█ frequencies of sharp particles, all cut into possibly an all-new æpopÆ █
█ habitat. Not characteristic of PawnÆs previous works, the album also █
█ features guest appearances by a number of guest collaborators, which █
█ appear on all but two of the albumsÆ 12 tracks. █
█ █
█ PawnÆs attention to detail and control of mixture is never more apparent █
█ than on Tone Sketch. There is subtle control, but freedom in variation █
█ and evolution, allowing the palette of sounds to pass perfectly on and █
█ on, with tracks like the opener æMorning ToneÆ, building upon crisp █
█ beats, resonant patchwork of sparkling tones, and smooth pianos, or the █
█ deconstructing æStar ShardsÆ, featuring soulful ruminations by Flau █
█ Records artist Cokiyu (who Pawn has also remixed). With minuscule █
█ variations, PawnÆs sway of power glides throughout in a calm motion, █
█ changes not seeming abrupt, but as tempos and patterns change, they █
█ remain open, and fervent. Possibly the standout track of the album is █
█ not surprisingly æPainted WallÆ, one of the tracks Pawn solely controls, █
█ displaying a mastery of collage-style organization in an almost █
█ surrealist progression, changing both in surface motion and color, █
█ matched with crystalline swells, and pulsing, stepping bass. █
█ █
█ æForest TrailÆ, which features Fraqsea and Pleq, is a dizzying, upbeat █
█ affair that compounds throughout, pushing through layers of swirling █
█ vocals, remaining grounded yet fooling method and time, vocals █
█ sustaining the center. ItÆs disorienting, yet electrifying. Æ4 Grid █
█ ComplexÆ with Nyolfen climbs in beats, completely hooking and pummeling █
█ the stereo field on a dancefloor of piano and glitching skips. ItÆs █
█ perfectly arranged, and models the present moment in movement of future █
█ and time. Opposing are tracks such as æQopÆ, æPrepared StatementÆ with █
█ Marihiko Hara, and æTokyo ResonanceÆ with Sooner, which fall into a more █
█ disenchanting and manic form of arrangement, but this state allows its █
█ randomness mixed with playfulness, and it fits the outside confusion to █
█ complete a perfectly-circulated atmosphere of bobbing, playful organics. █
█ As the longest track of the album, æStrange AnimalÆ, featuring Cuushe, █
█ is a blended soundscape of sizzling layers of noise, deep echoes, and █
█ smooth vocals, chanting and phrasing through the musicÆs swirling air. █
█ The vocals request and answer, both moving, yet completely unsteady. █
█ When the beat enters the song nearly halfway, it punches through, and █
█ ends as an amalgamation of future pop; an impressive, addictive digital █
█ lullaby. █
█ █
█ The closer, æDiscolored PhotographÆ, walks forward at a calm pace, drums █
█ as footsteps, voice samples repeating but barely giving a presence, with █
█ strings steadily rising, but not overwhelming with a shrill nature that █
█ such additions sometimes create. The centerpiece is the beautiful piano █
█ melody, which stays throughout to the end, enrapturing the album into █
█ what may be its most straightforward, yet mysterious track. Not █
█ straying, it remains straight ahead, summarizing with consistency, █
█ imagination, and craftsmanship. Tone Sketch is one of the most inventive █
█ albums IÆve heard all year, demonstrating not only a multicolored blend █
█ of colors and artistry, but demonstrating that for Pawn, composition is █
█ only the beginning of imagination. █
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