Release : I-Dep - Meeting Point
Artist : I-Dep
Album : Meeting Point
Genre : Electronic
Source : 2CD
Label : AZtribe/Rainbow Entertainment
URL : http://www.i-dep.jp
Date : 2004-07-28
Quality : 174kbps 44100 kHz Joint Stereo
Tracks : 12
Time : 43:58 min
Size : 61.82 MB
Disc 1/2
1 Child Seat (M.P. version) 4:27
2 Good Water 4:54
3 Tell Me More 4:56
4 Antipasto (Interlude) 0:36
5 Mmb 5:13
6 Two (M.P. Version) 7:40
7 Rustica Feat Elen Nas (M.P. Version) 4:29
8 Pasta 1:22
9 Amore Feat G-Ton from Nobodyknows 4:14
Disc 2/2
1 Lock On 1:32
2 Exposure 0:40
3 Gondola 3:55
If there were a drawback to Konishi Yasuhara's sample-crazy approach, it would
be the claustrophobia of his thick arrangements. Pizzicato Five would oftentimes
come across as manic -- Nomiya Maki's smooth voice the only element to reign in
the chaos.
Comparing i-dep to Pizzicato Five is superficial at best, but Nakamura Hiroshi
shares with Konishi a keen ability to cut up timbres and snippets of motifs,
then piece them back together into a pleasing whole.
But where P5 was kitsch and excess, i-dep, Nakamura's jazz-techo ensemble, is
all about cool delivery and exotic climes.
Meeting Point, i-dep's debut mini-album, combines deep rhythms, creative samples
and live instruments into a seamless blend of dance floor beats and human
warmth.
This album isn't a robotic four-on-the-floor exercise, nor is it a slavish
replica of bossa nova, a genre curiously popular in Japan. Rather, Meeting Point
brings the best of both genres together.
Guitarist Imura Tatsuya does an incredible job of plucking out complex melodies
and keeping up with the drum machines and synthesizers. On "Good Water", he's
placed subtly in the mix, but the virtuosity of his playing drives the song.
On "Tell Me More" and "Rustlica", his presence adds a bit of humanity to the
subtle but complex layers of samples.
But the real stars of the album are the band's skillful arrangements. The
7-minute "Rustlica" has enough going on to keep a listener engaged for a long
duration.
"Two (M.P. version)" is a fantasia of hooks, wonderfully orchestrated and
danceable without sacrificing substance for rhythm. The album ends with "Amore",
featuring g-ton from nobodyknows+, a charming romp over Latin rhythms.
Although the album itself is primarily a studio vehicle, the music translate
incredibly well live, as i-dep's showcase at SXSW 2005 clearly demonstrates. It
would be wrong not to acknowledge Takai Ryoji's grounding bass work, or George
Kano's precise drumming.
Meeting Point is, simply put, enjoyable. i-dep isn't alone in mixing bossa nova
with techno beats, but the band makes the kind of music appealing to even
listeners ambivalent to those genres.
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