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Aoki Takamasa and Tujiko Noriko, "28"
The first time I popped this in I thought to myself, "Oh great, the Japanese have their own version of Bjork." After another ten minutes I was convinced this duo was constructing more than just pseudo-adolescent hysteria for fans of electronic pop.Fat Cat
Tujiko Noriko's voice might be reminiscent of Bjork's flighty presenceat time, but after just a couple of tracks it is clear her silkydelivery has more nuance and sensuality to it than Bjork could everhope for. The music she has released on Mego, Sub Rosa, and Tomlabmight be familiar to some. Her partner, Aoki Takamasa, might befamiliar to others as he has released music through the ProgressiveForm label. Their combined history with glitchy music shows on thealbum, but isn't overwhelmingly experimental or particularly shocking.In fact, the melodies on the album take precedence over any studiotrickery. The skipping, warped beats, and heavily processed soundeffects simply add a dimension that does more to develop a mood than todraw attention itself. And while 28 is an electronic album, it bares more of a relationship to rock or pop music than anything else, albeit a slow, slowly boiling version of pop.
The album contains two "Fly" songs, one, I assume, is a variation of the original song of the same name that the duo produced upon their first meeting, and the other must be a kind of sequel to that track. As the inaugural song, "Fly 2" seems a little out of place. It's focus is less on Noriko's voice and more on the production and mood the rest of the album carries with it. It's a drifting, dreamy piece of pulsing keyboards and looped vocal effects, but on the whole it doesn't seem to represent the relaxing element of songs like "Vinyl Words" or "Alien." Once Noriko's voice strikes on "Vinyl Words," however, all bets are off and a sweet, sometimes clumsy lilt takes over. Noriko engages in call and response lyrical games and the duo's shared musical duties demonstrate a knack for constantly shifting melodies and toy-like percussion.
I could go on at length about how well each of these songs meld, howevery track seems to blend seemlessly into a melodic dream, but theeasy going mood that reigns over the record is the most attractiveelement of each song. The never-ending flux of the album never allowsfor a moment of boredom. Closing my eyes and listening to the album isenough inspiration to paint a series of highly ambiguous Rorschachstudies, each one a constantly evolving blob of phosphorescence bent ontaking shape but never quite getting there. Transparent shapes andamorphous, not quite developed creatures stalk the landscape, itself amulti-dimensional plain that's never quite bent into a definite geographicplan. After awhile the whole associative sound game becomes addictiveand replay becomes necessary. Without the interaction 28still stands on its own two feet quite well. Earlier I said that thewhole thing sounds like a slowly boiling pop record, but in actuality Ithink the music is far more than that, less reliant on catchy hooks andmore dedicated to a process of seduction.
Unfortunately there don't seem to be any plans for Takamasa andNoriko to tour outside of Europe or, more to the point, in the UnitedStates. Perhaps that will change when their own particular electroniclusciousness catches on and gains enough momentum to warrant a trip tothis side of the ocean.
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