Music Banter - View Single Post

Zarko · 04-04-2009, 10:26 AM

闇のなかに置き去りにして~BLACKにGOOD LUCK – 浅川マキ (1998)

GENRES – Blues, Folk, Singer Songwriter

INTERLUDE – 6:18
向こう側の憂鬱 (Mukougawa no Yuutsu) – 5:18
別離一本の毛髪にぶらさがる記憶のように (Betsuri (ippon no mouhatsu ni burasagaru kioku no youni))– 4:09
閉ざす (Tozasu) – 4:56
いい感じだろう,なぁ (Iikanji Darou, naa) – 5:19
無題 (Untitled) – 4:38
愛さないの愛せないの (Aisanaino Aisenaino) – 4:00
暮らし (Kurashi) - 4:42
あなた,オーライ(Anata, All Right) – 3:34
INTERLUDE(インストゥルメンタル) (Instrumental) – 1:28

Another Japanese 70’s folk artist, Asakawa Maki (浅川マキ) has been creating music for nearly 40 years. Over her career (Beginning in the early 70’s) she has tried to infuse various influences, such as rock, pop and blues into her folksy beatnik style. Good luck is one of her more recent forays back into the world of music. The result is an attractive union between her original stuff and some more electronic elements. It certainly has some of my favourite vocal performances, with a few that are only matched by ‘Blue Spirit Blues’ from the album of the same name. The piece was recorded when she was just over 56 years of age, and it offers up some of her best moments. It is more accessible than Kazuki Tomokawa, but stunning in her own way.

The opening track offers something different to the usual on her past albums already. ‘Interlude’ is a pure vocal performance which utilises key boards and shamisen to create an ethereal feel. The vocal performance is an absolute beaut, and probably my favourite of hers, save for Blue Spirit Blues. The simple guitar lines and keyboards add nice depth, but its Asakawa’s progression through the song that makes it truly worth sticking around for 6 minutes. As the song gets deeper, she starts interchanging some Japanese words with English words, which works an absolute treat. It just grabs our interest, especially with her powerful accent, its an interesting twist when out of no where you hear ‘Loving you’ in the mix of Japanese words. A perfect song to have with a few drinks in isolation and a ciggie or two (if that’s your thing).

‘Mukougawa no Yuutsu’ is a total change in direction, as Maki exploits a more upbeat tone to go along with her floating and almost haunting voice. She sounds as if she almost doesn’t care about the subject as she floats around looking in. Her dark, beatnik style is in full force over the guitar, with the addition of a small drum, its all in place. Not a great piece (I prefer her darker moments) but it is still a nice change, though a bit long at 5 minutes. ‘Betsuri’ continues the ethereal nature of ‘Interlude’ whilst adding a few folksy elements (Again, with the drums and whatnot). An electric guitar is added to add a spacey element, as Maki does her thing. The piece is more like poetry with Maki’s delivery, broken up, with little flow or continuity. Similarly, it is a nice piece, though hardly memorable.

‘Tozasu’ begins with Maki in solitude, expressing her loneliness in this quality piece. It is as if she is singing purely to comfort herself, rather than any outside and for now unknown entity. The piece is pure folk and emotion. The simply guitar strumming adds to this overall feeling. At moments it sounds as if she is going to cry, and forcing the words from her throat, as she gets lost in her own world. It’s another perfect song with drink in hand. The late electric guitar just adds a bit more depth, and is used to exacerbate the overall mood of the song.

‘Iikanji Darou, naa’ has a bit modern pop influence present throughout. The nature of the song construct, it just screams ‘happiness’. It’s a bit interesting, though nothing original, but Maki does fill out the song well. Sounding a bit like a clichéd happy ending song more than anything, it’s another one that isn’t great and the album would be fine without. The keyboard just makes it more annoying. ‘Untitled’ is a bit unique in that it utilises a piano as the base instrument. It’s a nice feature, and certainly adds some dissimilarity to the other quieter/solemn pieces of the album. Maki struggles to get the words out of her throat, and its more a reflective piece than anything. The piano apex in conjunction with Maki’s elegance and vocals is wonderful at about half way onwards. It is another song better experienced. Maki’s elegance, grace and sophistication make this another standout.

‘Aisanaino Aisenaino’ uses electronics in its production to make a repetitive back beat, along with guitar and shakers. Although it isn’t the ‘perfect’ vocals people are used to, her sound interests me, especially when going up higher consistently when she sings the title ‘Aisenaino’. ‘Kurashi’ has a bit more of funky rock sound, more so than other pieces, primarily attributed to the electric guitar, The song stays fairly consistent throughout, never really picking up at all. Until the end, the song drags along. ‘Anata’ is nothing new or special, but a nice, up tempo song, out of the upbeat songs, it’s probably my favourite. It has some nice blues guitar in the middle. ‘Interlude (Instrumental)’ is a nice piece, just displaying the instrumentals of Interlude, with the addition of a piano. It’s a nice addition, simply because I love the backing on Interlude, but its not my favourite way to end an album. I guess it does have a sense of finality to it though, so I can see where they’re coming from.

The album is definitely an interesting one. Maki’s voice has definitely aged well, as proof with some stand out performances in Interlude and Untitled, however on the whole the album drags on a bit. Late in the album its Maki being Maki, but we have heard it all before without it being special. There’s a nicer balance between upbeat pop folk tracks and her bleak, dark blues folk songs, and it makes it a worthy experience.

Maki is a true talent. She has an amazing vocal ability, as well as being a quality songwriter, however, half of her stuff doesn’t isn’t really my style. She would make an amazing compilation album especially, nabbing a song here and there, and it would result in something I would prefer (Which is saying something because I don’t normally like compilations). But there is enough good on the album to off balance the stuff that drags along. Because of the gold on the album, this or another would still rate highly in my favourite albums of all time, despite their inferior score to others. I find her vocals that amazing and rare. It’s a top album to have a drink or two to.

TOTAL SCORE

7.1/10

- Interlude
- Untitled

04-04-2009, 10:26 AM	#25 (permalink)
Zarko Barely Disheveled Zombie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,196	闇のなかに置き去りにして~BLACKにGOOD LUCK – 浅川マキ (1998) GENRES – Blues, Folk, Singer Songwriter INTERLUDE – 6:18 向こう側の憂鬱 (Mukougawa no Yuutsu) – 5:18 別離一本の毛髪にぶらさがる記憶のように (Betsuri (ippon no mouhatsu ni burasagaru kioku no youni))– 4:09 閉ざす (Tozasu) – 4:56 いい感じだろう,なぁ (Iikanji Darou, naa) – 5:19 無題 (Untitled) – 4:38 愛さないの愛せないの (Aisanaino Aisenaino) – 4:00 暮らし (Kurashi) - 4:42 あなた,オーライ(Anata, All Right) – 3:34 INTERLUDE(インストゥルメンタル) (Instrumental) – 1:28 Another Japanese 70’s folk artist, Asakawa Maki (浅川マキ) has been creating music for nearly 40 years. Over her career (Beginning in the early 70’s) she has tried to infuse various influences, such as rock, pop and blues into her folksy beatnik style. Good luck is one of her more recent forays back into the world of music. The result is an attractive union between her original stuff and some more electronic elements. It certainly has some of my favourite vocal performances, with a few that are only matched by ‘Blue Spirit Blues’ from the album of the same name. The piece was recorded when she was just over 56 years of age, and it offers up some of her best moments. It is more accessible than Kazuki Tomokawa, but stunning in her own way. The opening track offers something different to the usual on her past albums already. ‘Interlude’ is a pure vocal performance which utilises key boards and shamisen to create an ethereal feel. The vocal performance is an absolute beaut, and probably my favourite of hers, save for Blue Spirit Blues. The simple guitar lines and keyboards add nice depth, but its Asakawa’s progression through the song that makes it truly worth sticking around for 6 minutes. As the song gets deeper, she starts interchanging some Japanese words with English words, which works an absolute treat. It just grabs our interest, especially with her powerful accent, its an interesting twist when out of no where you hear ‘Loving you’ in the mix of Japanese words. A perfect song to have with a few drinks in isolation and a ciggie or two (if that’s your thing). ‘Mukougawa no Yuutsu’ is a total change in direction, as Maki exploits a more upbeat tone to go along with her floating and almost haunting voice. She sounds as if she almost doesn’t care about the subject as she floats around looking in. Her dark, beatnik style is in full force over the guitar, with the addition of a small drum, its all in place. Not a great piece (I prefer her darker moments) but it is still a nice change, though a bit long at 5 minutes. ‘Betsuri’ continues the ethereal nature of ‘Interlude’ whilst adding a few folksy elements (Again, with the drums and whatnot). An electric guitar is added to add a spacey element, as Maki does her thing. The piece is more like poetry with Maki’s delivery, broken up, with little flow or continuity. Similarly, it is a nice piece, though hardly memorable. ‘Tozasu’ begins with Maki in solitude, expressing her loneliness in this quality piece. It is as if she is singing purely to comfort herself, rather than any outside and for now unknown entity. The piece is pure folk and emotion. The simply guitar strumming adds to this overall feeling. At moments it sounds as if she is going to cry, and forcing the words from her throat, as she gets lost in her own world. It’s another perfect song with drink in hand. The late electric guitar just adds a bit more depth, and is used to exacerbate the overall mood of the song. ‘Iikanji Darou, naa’ has a bit modern pop influence present throughout. The nature of the song construct, it just screams ‘happiness’. It’s a bit interesting, though nothing original, but Maki does fill out the song well. Sounding a bit like a clichéd happy ending song more than anything, it’s another one that isn’t great and the album would be fine without. The keyboard just makes it more annoying. ‘Untitled’ is a bit unique in that it utilises a piano as the base instrument. It’s a nice feature, and certainly adds some dissimilarity to the other quieter/solemn pieces of the album. Maki struggles to get the words out of her throat, and its more a reflective piece than anything. The piano apex in conjunction with Maki’s elegance and vocals is wonderful at about half way onwards. It is another song better experienced. Maki’s elegance, grace and sophistication make this another standout. ‘Aisanaino Aisenaino’ uses electronics in its production to make a repetitive back beat, along with guitar and shakers. Although it isn’t the ‘perfect’ vocals people are used to, her sound interests me, especially when going up higher consistently when she sings the title ‘Aisenaino’. ‘Kurashi’ has a bit more of funky rock sound, more so than other pieces, primarily attributed to the electric guitar, The song stays fairly consistent throughout, never really picking up at all. Until the end, the song drags along. ‘Anata’ is nothing new or special, but a nice, up tempo song, out of the upbeat songs, it’s probably my favourite. It has some nice blues guitar in the middle. ‘Interlude (Instrumental)’ is a nice piece, just displaying the instrumentals of Interlude, with the addition of a piano. It’s a nice addition, simply because I love the backing on Interlude, but its not my favourite way to end an album. I guess it does have a sense of finality to it though, so I can see where they’re coming from. The album is definitely an interesting one. Maki’s voice has definitely aged well, as proof with some stand out performances in Interlude and Untitled, however on the whole the album drags on a bit. Late in the album its Maki being Maki, but we have heard it all before without it being special. There’s a nicer balance between upbeat pop folk tracks and her bleak, dark blues folk songs, and it makes it a worthy experience. Maki is a true talent. She has an amazing vocal ability, as well as being a quality songwriter, however, half of her stuff doesn’t isn’t really my style. She would make an amazing compilation album especially, nabbing a song here and there, and it would result in something I would prefer (Which is saying something because I don’t normally like compilations). But there is enough good on the album to off balance the stuff that drags along. Because of the gold on the album, this or another would still rate highly in my favourite albums of all time, despite their inferior score to others. I find her vocals that amazing and rare. It’s a top album to have a drink or two to. TOTAL SCORE 7.1/10 - Interlude - Untitled Last edited by Zarko; 04-14-2009 at 02:24 AM.