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Anoice, "Remmings"
Japanese instrumental group Anoice cherish melodies over everything. This, their debut release, doesn’t redefine music but it does carve out its own little space somewhere near the sea and sets up its own nest of ideas.
Important Records
Most of the songs are led by Yuki’s piano and Utaka’s viola, both instruments sketch some repeated lines which the whole band build up into a fully fleshed out flourish. They never resort to forming a wall of sound to accommodate all the instruments. Instead, they act more like an orchestra—even when all players are going at it hammer and tongs—each member adding their own element to the melody. Anoice hit all the blissful and joyous emotions and only rarely dip into melancholy like most bands of the same ilk.
The album’s nine pieces are split into two categories: four with titles, which are the straightforward songs of the album, and five untitled ones, interspersed between the others, taking a little more experimental experimental direction. The first two untitled pieces are droney glitch bits which bookend the song “Aspirin Music” (probably the most rock bit of the album, also the best) quite well. The untitled pieces all act as prologues and epilogues to the named songs; it is a unique way of doing the album. It disrupts the flow slightly but when each named track starts, it starts from a blank slate. This allows the band to start afresh and build up new moods and textures. I like this approach a lot.
Anoice might at first seem liike Important Records' attempt at finding another Larsen but they are more than that. Remmings is a damn fine album. It took a few listens to fully appreciate it but now that I have gotten into it I’m listening to it quite a lot. The range of music on the album goes from the simple and minimal to complex and dense pieces. A lot of craftmanship has gone into Remmings, it doesn't sound like the songs were just jammed out. They sound like they were carefully sculpted and coloured. As good as the album is, I never felt though as if Anoice ever got to full power. Hopefully Remmings is what will become a rich back catalogue.
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