██
██▓ ▓██░
██▓ █████▓
▓█▓ ▓██████░ █████████░ ████████
█░█ ███░ ░███ ████████▓██ ████░░█░
▓▓ █░███░ ███ ██░ ▓███░ █████░
██ ████▓ ▓██░ ███ █▓ █████ █▓ ░██▓
█████░ ██████ █████░ ████▓ █████▓ █▓ ▓███░
▓██████████▓█░██ █▓ ░█ ███▓ ████▓ █▓ ████████░
▓███▓ ████░ ██ █▓ █▓ ███▓ ███████████▓ ▓██▓░ ░███
▓███▓ ████░ █▓ ░█ ██ ██ ███████████▓██▓ ███░
▓███░ ████░██ ██▓ ██ ████▓░████████▓ ░███░
▓███░ ███ ████░███ ████ ▓ ████▓ ░███▓░██ ▓████░ ░█████▓
░███░ █████ ████▓░█████████▓ █████ ▓█ ▓█░ ███▓ ░███▓
░███ ░█████ ████ ████████▓ ████░ ██ █▓ ██▓ ███
███ █████ ████ ░████▓█▓ ████ █▓ █ ███ █ ▓███
███ ████ ████ ██ ████▓ ██ ██ ██░ ███▓ ███▓
██▓ ░███ ████ ██ ████ ██▓░░▓██▓ ▓████ ████░
██▓ ░█▓ █████ ██ ████ ███████ █████████▓
██ ████▓ ██ ███ ██████▓ ██████████
░██ ██████░ ██ ███ ░████▓ ▓███▓ ████
██░ ██████░ ██ ███ ███ ████ ███▓
██ ████▓ ███░ ██ ███▓ ██░ ████▓ ██▓
██▓ ████▓ █████ ██ ███▓ ██▓ ▓███▓ ██
██ ████ ███████ █▓ ███ ██▓ ████ ░
██▓ ░████ ██ ███ ▓█▓ ██▓ ██▓ ████░
██ ░████ █████ ▓██ ░██░ ███▓ ███▓
██░ ░██████░ █ ███████████████ ████░ ████
█▓ ░████ █ ███████████████▓ ██ ███▓
██ █████ █ ░████████████▓░ ███░ ███
░█▓ ▓██████░ ██████░ █████░ ███▓
█▓ ▓██████▓ ███████ ███████ ███
█▓▓██████▓░ ███████ █████████▓
███████▓░ ░███▓ ███████▓
██████░ █████▓
░░██░ play yer tunes ███
proudly presents
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
Shugo Tokumaru - Night Piece
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
Artist: Shugo Tokumaru
Album: Night Piece
Company: Music Related
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
Rel. Date : 10/21/2004 Streetdate : 00/00/2004
Ripper : team pyt Supplier : team pyt
Genre : Indie Style : Indie
Quality : VBRkbps / 44.1kHz Mode : Joint-Stereo
Grabber : EAC Encoder : Lame 3.90.3 -aps
Songs : 10 Playtime : 25:17 min
Size : 37,2 MB
Url : http://www.shugotokumaru.com
Type : Album Source : CDDA
Language : English
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Release Notes ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
Shugo Tokumaru - Night Piece [Music Related]
Rating: 8.6
There's not much information available about Shugo Tokumaru.
Music Related, the small Japan-via-NYC label responsible for
the release, says Shugo is from Tokyo and in his twenties
and, perhaps inadvertently, suggests that the Beach Boys are
his only influence. If anything, the two artists do share an
affinity for bright, beautiful melodies: Shugo's hushed tenor
and sparse acoustic guitar arrangements will also remind
American indie-pop audiences of Sufjan Stevens, and the
songs' unintrusive electronic embellishments recall Nobukazu
Takemura and recent Fly Records releases from OMB and Tatsuya
Yamada.
Beyond that, there's not much of a gimmick to the songs on
his debut album, Night Piece. Shugo doesn't seem to fit into
the glut of bedroom IDMers and their sound-alike
electro-acoustic alchemy, and in addition to an obvious
geographical contradiction, Shugo is just way too melodic for
the stateside free-folk scene. Really, Night Piece is "just"
a pop album, short but dense and infinitely considered: No
note seems unnecessary, and everything is in its right place.
Fittingly, Night Piece starts at dusk. A million crickets
drown out the night of "Such a Color" with sex-charged
bug-buzz, when a sheepish Shugo begins to pluck out an
equally fragile melody. The melody bursts. Shugo strums in
resignation, and turns to a distant accordion for last-ditch
support. The song congeals unexpectedly but beautifully, and
Shugo quickly reclaims the melody for his voice, buttressing
it with stringed confidence and, by the song's outro, a
little bit of bravado.
Other songs on Night Piece bear the same high degree of
craftsmanship, but as the album presses on, we learn that
Shugo has aspirations much larger than a string of catchy
ditties. Through his prudent use of electronics, he begins to
develop a strikingly unified worldview that Night Piece
ultimately wills upon its listener. On "Light Chair", Shugo's
guitar plucking stomps to a contrasting, docile woodblock
melody before losing itself in winding arpeggios. "Lantern on
the Water" shimmers as broad cello strokes are fed through a
lo-fi sampler and percussive bell sounds try their best to
harness the spectacle's majesty with an incidental beat.
Shugo's sense of humor rears its head midway through Night
Piece: The songs, which at times border on pastiche, somehow
never undermine the album's cohesion. Taken together, these
highly stylized compositions form something of a dream
sequence: "Sleet" throws us into an 8-bit Dragon Warrior
village, while the goofy "The Mop" drags our sudden spurs
through the golden dust of the American West. Then, a chase
scene: "Paparazzi" is Shugo's virtuosic take on the theme
from "The Benny Hill Show", a cartoonish one-man mummer's
parade that doesn't strut so much as run for its life, with
an unexpected hammock-swaying break here and there between
the ensuing fretted mischief.
After covering so much musical terrain in only 23 minutes,
Shugo finishes slowly and quietly with his unadorned lullaby,
"A Kite of Night". The song doesn't take part in the world of
Night Piece so much as consider it in retrospect-- it's the
least evocative track on the album, but its most tender for
that very reason. From its nakedness we realize just how rich
a world Shugo has designed with Night Piece, and just how
subtle his musical gestures are. So Night Piece is "just" pop
music, but it manages to point well beyond itself, and
regardless of who didn't influence it or what scenes it
doesn't fit into, albums like this are always relevant, and
always welcome.
-pitchfork
http://www.shugotokumaru.com
http://www.musicrelated.net
Enjoy!
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Tracklist ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
01. [03:54] Such A Color
02. [03:13] Light Chair
03. [03:31] Lantern On The Water
04. [01:56] Sleet
05. [01:38] The Mop
06. [02:23] Switch
07. [03:24] Typewriter
08. [01:16] Paparazzi
09. [01:41] Funfair
10. [02:21] A Kite Of Night
-------
25:17 min
37,2 MB
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄