I wouldn’t say that what happened when I heard this album was the most unexpected thing. But simply because by ontological default, I always expect the worst, therefore the last thing I expect has to be bad, and what happens in this album is so good. Disclaimer made, I can assure you that the second to most unexpected thing happened when I started delving into ‘Semi-Impressionism’, and it was nothing short of revelatory. Toshimaru Nakamura & Tetuzi Akiyama, thereby turn out to be Vinícius de Moraes and Baden Powell of EAI, implying that ‘Semi-Impressionism’ is a possible onkyo version of the anthological ‘Afro-Sambas’. Along these lines one nodal-point shared by the latter and the former sets of compositions grouped in the two releases is the centrality of rhythm, which, noblesse oblige, becomes explicit and authoritative in the ‘Afro-Sambas’, while it becomes non-invasive, sinuous (though not at all less pervasive) in the sartorial sonic elegance of ‘Semi-Impressionism’. Sensuality oozes from both cases in spite of discrepancies in form, it goes without saying, otherwise the comparison would probably be far fetched.The chord-spacing and the associated guitar phrasing make sure that the said (and sad) spacing shall be treated as a component that is as inviolable as the chords, whilst demonstrating by practising that there is an assumed ‘method (even if in the Cage-enesque guise of no-methodology) underlying the Japanese stone garden-like volatile aural nihilism transpiring from all the pieces. That is a method that preserves the spontaneity of Nakamura and Akiyama works, to the same extent that Powell’s technique preserves the spontaneity of the African rhythms injected into Brazilian bossa-nova. Taku Sugimoto & Moe Kamura’s ‘Saritote’ I and II are remarkable. However, the (semi)bossa-nova craze of sorts showcased in ‘Semi-Impressionism’ conjures up a much more powerful ability to onkyonise audible realities, by the same token making that music genre titled ‘onkyo’ much more resourceful and unpredictable. An unpredictability that occurs full-on, but never at expenses of the obvious, which appears to be the stepping stone of onkyo works, or at least has been so far. docperkins

I wouldn’t say that what happened when I heard this album was the most unexpected thing. But simply because by ontological default, I always expect the worst, therefore the last thing I expect has to be bad, and what happens in this album is so good. Disclaimer made, I can assure you that the second to most unexpected thing happened when I started delving into ‘Semi-Impressionism’, and it was nothing short of revelatory.

Toshimaru Nakamura & Tetuzi Akiyama, thereby turn out to be Vinícius de Moraes and Baden Powell of EAI, implying that ‘Semi-Impressionism’ is a possible onkyo version of the anthological ‘Afro-Sambas’. Along these lines one nodal-point shared by the latter and the former sets of compositions grouped in the two releases is the centrality of rhythm, which, noblesse oblige, becomes explicit and authoritative in the ‘Afro-Sambas’, while it becomes non-invasive, sinuous (though not at all less pervasive) in the sartorial sonic elegance of ‘Semi-Impressionism’. Sensuality oozes from both cases in spite of discrepancies in form, it goes without saying, otherwise the comparison would probably be far fetched.

The chord-spacing and the associated guitar phrasing make sure that the said (and sad) spacing shall be treated as a component that is as inviolable as the chords, whilst demonstrating by practising that there is an assumed ‘method (even if in the Cage-enesque guise of no-methodology) underlying the Japanese stone garden-like volatile aural nihilism transpiring from all the pieces. That is a method that preserves the spontaneity of Nakamura and Akiyama works, to the same extent that Powell’s technique preserves the spontaneity of the African rhythms injected into Brazilian bossa-nova.

Taku Sugimoto & Moe Kamura’s ‘Saritote’ I and II are remarkable. However, the (semi)bossa-nova craze of sorts showcased in ‘Semi-Impressionism’ conjures up a much more powerful ability to onkyonise audible realities, by the same token making that music genre titled ‘onkyo’ much more resourceful and unpredictable. An unpredictability that occurs full-on, but never at expenses of the obvious, which appears to be the stepping stone of onkyo works, or at least has been so far.

docperkins

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