Saturday 23 November 2013

Strange Attractor

I must have really been out of the loop but no one's told me that setzer had left MintJam and become a supporting member of the band, which he had originally founded with a2c in 2003. He is now concentrating on his own group Polo Rockers, whose M3-30 release Imitation is like one of those strangers you can have a nice chat with and forget about soon after. Indeed, as capable as setzer is, his inability to stand out musically is kind of outstanding in itself. This is what happens when you are in a band with a monster, but even the great a2c seems like he's starting to run out of gas a bit. The guitar works on the single Try to be Brave/Weed Spirit and the mini album Little Monster were technically impressive as always, but lacked the melodic sensibility in a2c's earlier efforts. I'm not sure if this were the direction that a2c and TERRA had decided to take after setzer's departure, but I do hope that they can bring back some of the energy and creativity they had back in the good old days. It seems to me that quite a number of my longtime favourite musicians have been showing signs of burnout, and the quality of their compositions have suffered a lot as a result. Take a break, people. It's better to burn out than to fade away, but once you're gone you can't come back.


As old actors exit the stage, new players make their entrances. Released a few months ago at C84, CHIAROSCURO is perhaps the most inspiring album to come out of the event, and certainly the most ambitious offering from An (AcuticNotes) so far.

Influenced by onoken, particularly the track felys -long mix-, while he was still in high school, An began composing in 2009 and was first featured on a certain Diverse System album before releasing his first solo work Encryption in 2012. The dynamic rhythm and skilful arrangements of various instruments on the album quickly caught my attention, though admittedly I was much less enthusiastic when it came to his contributions on Diverse System albums. The full-length Abstreact, which An considers to be his first proper album since he treats Encryption as a prelude of sorts, saw him experimenting with different approaches while maintaining and perfecting his own style. Strangely enough, the concept album Kathalshame went largely unnoticed, which might have had something to do with the fact that it was much mellower and more ambient than his previous releases. Whereas Abstreact hit me fast and hard with its opener Infectious, Kathalshame left a pleasant impression on me with its closing track VIII.『対岸の話』. Both album had their moments, but overall they suffered from inconsistency either through a lack of a coherent theme, or a few too many filler tracks. That's probably the reason why I was really surprised when I picked up CHIAROSCURO, which had a string of solid tracks that tied that album together nicely.

The album opens up brilliantly with the brisk "FoltiЦ", which heavily utilizes overdriven guitar samples in conjunction with the piano and other synthesizers. The prominent use of sampled guitar sounds on the record marks a rather significant change for An, who is known to employ primarily the piano for melodies and accompaniment. The moderately paced "Sadistic Confusion" brings back the strings and rolls along with the piano for about half of the track before throwing the guitars into the mix again. As the tempo slows down with "Holophoniл", An steps up his musicianship by seamlessly weaving together smooth bass lines, expansive strings and pulsing guitar riffs. Unlike the tracks preceding it, "Ved" is peculiarly unpredictable and sounds like disparate ideas being randomly slapped together. It is similar to the experimental "BeldeturB", as both tracks take their listeners on a footloose journey seeking some form of liberation, but without much regard for any meaningfulness along the way. So it makes sense that the melodically strong "HerVid" is sandwiched between the two capricious tracks to avoid the illusion of an aimless travel. The placement is possibly meant to be an allusion to the album title too, as An may have hoped to emphasize on the individuality of the tracks by contrasting the freely composed "Ved" and "BeldeturB" with the purposeful "HerVid".

The contrast becomes more obvious as the straightforward "Melas" picks up the pace and rushes towards the finishing line with some catchy hooks. Guitar riffs make their slight return in the symphonic "AritΛ", which is stylistically reminiscent of the album's openers but remains atmospherically different thanks to its theatrical use of strings. If the first three tracks were vibrant lights and the middle three were varying shades, then the album has finally transitioned its way towards the emotional dark as it reaches "Lexaria". An elegant yet powerful piece vitalized and enriched by haunting vocals, "Lexaria" is beautifully composed and would have ended the album on a high note, but An clearly had other ideas. With the popular niconico singer バル on board, An decides to close the album with an actual song for the first time. A nice thought, but frankly it feels like an odd choice to put "Amrita" at the very end, since it's a little bit flat and not particularly grand for a finisher. Arguably it can be considered a bonus track of some sort - the light at the end of the tunnel that ultimately leads the listeners back to "FoltiЦ", ready to embark on the sonic voyage again.

All in all, CHIAROSCURO is a pretty ambitious and solid record that brings some interesting ideas to the table. It is easy to hear that An has put quite a lot of effort into writing his music, which is more than I can say for many other electronic musicians. The group's latest effort OrVid, a gapless extended play with new compositions and arrangements of old tracks, may not be all that great, but the raw energy and artistry are definitely still there. As An continues to challenge and push himself, I can only wish him all the best and look forward to his works in the future.

So empirical evidence shows that there is indeed a massive difference in the photo quality between expensive DSLRs and cheap point-and-shoot cameras. And this is where I get to complain about how my pre-orders are still months away.

Do it somewhere far away from here.

2 comments:

  1. If it's Canon cam, you should try to use http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK for custom controls to raise quality. I believe cheap shooters are just fine for figures when done correctly.

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  2. Very interesting read! I look forward to more postings. I just wish there was a more consistent way for me to listen to MintJam outside of Youtube.

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