Reviews by kuvien

When one speaks of one's mind wandering, it's usually in reference to something not holding one's attention. But when I say my mind wanders while listening to this album, I mean exactly the opposite. It wanders down the improvisational avenues of the music, it wanders through the mystery, it wanders in meditation. I love listening to jazz that draws upon roots not local to where jazz was born.

Imagine a lost weekend, and this album is the evocation of that secret memory, a polite reminder of something you still long for.

This album has a lot of energy; it's bright and fun, especially because of its--strangely enough--honky tonk piano. There are a lot of different styles here, though, and I love the tribal-esque percussion, especially when they pair it with a groovy bassline.

Mt. Fuji is 3776 meters high, and this album is 3776 seconds long. A day passes for every 12 seconds of this album, and in that interval, the singer counts out the signs of the Zodiac. And since the album is twelve tracks, it's clear that every song represents a month, especially since the singer calls out each day of the month. I mean, the album's name is literally "seasonal calendar". Got it? Well, if you're still confused, look at the album cover. Her head is supposed to be Fuji, the red dot the traditional rising sun (well, setting sun from where I live, but whatevs).

This is a really Japanese album, a marriage of the modern and the traditional in one seamless whole.

If you want to dive into the lyrics, go here: https://loosemeter.blogspot.com/2022/03/saijiki.html

Musically it's great, there's just too much talking. What is it with Chiyono and her obsession with counting time?

There are a lot more spoken-word intervals over the music than on Ide's 2019 歳時記, but the layering is just as magnificent, the attention to detail just as astounding, the electronic playfulness just as brave. If the cultists outside my train station pitched Fuji the way Ide does, I might just start worshiping it.

And of course the album is exactly 3776 seconds long. Listen to this album the way you climb Fuji-san: one step at a time.

It's 3 AM, you're hopping rooms in plug.dj, and you find a packed dancefloor where the girl with the new dragon sprite is playing this. It has as many "mehs" as it has "grabs". Curious.

I've heard some stunning Fusion Gugak in my day. This is not it. This lacks the fearless experimentation possible in this kind of music, instead going for something safe and boring, like with an easy listening jazz or adult contemporary vibe.

Man if I was still in plug.dj, I'd play this and be king of the room.

Not only touches of Animal Collective but a strong Kishi Bashi feel in parts, too. And of course there's a strong Hundred Waters element present, but what I love about this album is the fact that something that's not shit K-Pop has come out of South Korea. What a relief! Summer Soul's ethereal vocals paired with the crazy folktronica music is just a perfect combination. A whole world explodes and implodes before you, like a kaleidoscope of sound.

This album opens so beautifully, with this kind of hypnotic siren-call, and that leads into clanging percussion over the sound of a steady rainfall. But don't settle in just yet, don't think you're going to take it easy while sipping coffee and listening. You can take that "one with the universe" garbage and throw it in the rubbish bin where it belongs. The screeching strings are going to keep you from being able to take it too easy.

Sounds in spots like Joan Baez if she were a dude and had been born Korean. Gentle, controlled vibrato. The music is such a stripped down acoustic sound that it's almost got an American primitivism feel to it, which I guess is a bit weird, considering this is a Korean artist. Just a whisper of harmonica here and there.

As an old man at the time of this writing, the "vibes" that youngsters these days speak so glowingly of rarely touch me, so I was surprised how quickly the vibes of this album struck me. I loved this album the first time I heard it, and usually I can write a response right away when I love an album, but this one took about half a dozen listens--no, basking in the vibes--before I felt like I could write anything. Now read back over what I just wrote. See how I didn't actually write anything? That's because I'm just vibing.

Gross!!

Somebody chill that bitch out! Tell that fuckin bitch to chill!!

indie landfill

some wrinkled crypt keeper looking 80-year-old man singing about how he wants to be the only man for some girl... What the fuck is wrong with you, 1001 guy? Do you not have any sense of anything when it comes to music? who the fuck put you in charge?

This is as good as his first two perfect albums, but it's certainly different. It's country that's not afraid to offend its listening base, both lyrically and musically. So many great lines that speak to me. And that voice: so pure, so effortlessly real. This album is basically a father's metaphorical lovesong to his beloved son. Oh, and this might be the first time a country song referenced Tokyo neighborhoods. That last track, too... conjuring some John Prine anti-war brilliance there.

What is this happy horseshit?

compete trash