CRUELTY Presents:
Artist...: Lena Circus with Hiroko Komiya
Album....: Toki No Arika
Label....: MIMIMI records
Size.....: 75,9 MB
Source...: CDDA
Playtime.: 55:59 min
Genre....: Jazz
Release..: Nov-17-2009
Encoder..: LAME V3.97 -V2 --Vbr-New
Quality..: VBRkbps 44,1Hz Joint-Stereo
TrackList:
01 05:35 Ephemeral Fish
02 05:53 Sertπo
03 09:42 Yugamu, Kagamu, Chijimu
04 03:05 Pantograph
05 04:06 Eggbox
06 16:03 Uneri
07 11:35 Oitekibori
Release Notes:
From the very first track, the band is able to create a remarkable sense of tension. The music shows a
very strong presence right from the start as some delicate electric guitar lines are heard spiralling in
the background, sustained by a very subtle set of percussions. HirokoÆs voice is hovering in mid-air,
tracing some ethereal melodic curves.
The second track delineates a much darker atmosphere. It almost acts like the exact counterpart to the first one.
The sound recording has an amazing clarity, yet the overall textures strangely feel... out of reach û as if they
had been electronically-treated or carefully molded like clay (to use another simile). Both the sound engineerÆs
work and the bandÆs collective playing should be praised here as one of the distinctive qualities of this album
is that it was actually recorded live û in one day û without overdubs and other effects. The resulting music is
all the more stunning.
By the third track, we litteraly enter another world... full of conflicting sounds and colors. ItÆs as if the acoustic
space was actually made of a series of dissolving walls that keep reappearing in the most unlikely places. This is what
gives the music its unique sense of strength and delicacy. Every sound has the chance to breathe. The guitars become
something else entirely, transformed as they are into abstract sonic devices (which often tend to sound like violas),
while the muted screams + weightless percussions keep fluttering about in the most agitated manner. Our sense of time
is now completely annihilated.
Tracks 4 and 5 are like short transitory pathways û the first one displaying a somewhat ôfreeö approach, while the second
one relies on a more relaxed, yet lively atmosphere, full on subtle, gamelan-like percussions.
Track 6 may be the most impressive of the whole set. It begins very quietly with a duo for percussions before the guitars
begin to cast abstract sonic shapes whose level of intensity is only matched by the amount of gracefulness that is maintained
throughout.
By contrast, the last track almost takes the opposite approach as it explores the sources of strength that may be found
in a deceptively quieter environment. As the minimal chords played by the yukulele start to resonate through space, we
are guided through a series of meditative, yet slightly chaotic soundscapes which are all the more captivating as they
are able to produce a feeling of serenity in the most disquieting way. This is just breathtaking...
Like all great artforms, this music transcends its own medium by going right through the most expressive human gestures:
music, dance, painting, poetry... By focusing on the subtle interplay that exists between the musicians, it also opens up
a creative space that belongs to us all. Not only is this CD the most beautiful album IÆve heard this year, it really
stands as some of the best music I have ever heard. Truly essential.