Reviews

Monolith Cocktail

Evoking the tail end of Autumn as nature comes alive in the “prelude” to Spring, the Tokyo-based musician/composer/sound designer Seigo Aoyama magic’s up a minor ambient and neo-classical triumph on his new album of seasonal suites.

The dewy-grass and misty veils of a still dampened landscape are still present as wispy vapours, but the blossom buds are now starting to sprout on a sophisticated soundtrack of ambient like haikus.

To set the mood Aoyama includes a richly lyrical, poetic descriptive introduction of gentle Eastern breezes, a climbing luminous silver moon and various other evocative scenes. But the prelude begins with the resonated thrum of an orchestra tunning up and goes on to feature fourth world echoes of Jon Hassell’s nuzzled trumpet before settling into a Zen garden retreat of delicate wind chimes, softly rung bells and serene contemplative synthesized sine-waves.

The piano, albeit subtle with every note and short run deeply and methodically thought out, has a starring role on this cloud-gazing dreamy nature trail.: Touches of Kabuki theatre, delicate Sakamoto, the classical, Eno and Tim Story come to mind when the ivory and its inner workings are poured and elsewhere singularly struck. 

The odd light piece of choral-like voices, the odd line of dialogue and field-recorded tramples through both nature and a Tokyo environment can be heard as life is breathed into this Spring passage of rites and communion. Aoyama proves a capable, adroit, patient composer on what is a moving, calm and deeply felt descriptive soundtrack. One of the best ambient releases I’ve heard this year without a doubt.

Link to original review > HERE

Igloo Magazine

Colorful spring garden flowers are always a welcome sight. Always far away through the winter, spring haunts the future. Soothing music is like a breath of fresh air. To set the mood for this audio experience (from the liner notes) “At the end of winter, the faint breath of life shakes the air as the world is still surrounded by the silence of death. The small breath will eventually become a prelude for the spring when all life plays fanfare and echoes to the world.” This is an invitation to meditate and calm your mind. Think of the year that has passed. Give freedom to the hardiest flowers like the crocus which bloom, sometimes while there is still some snow cover on the ground.

Seigo Aoyama has been playing the piano and keyboards since his childhood, from when he was 20 years old, in many pop, rock and jazz groups. The name of the label offering this breathless gentle sweet sound, is Audiobulb, and that name indicates the experience of synesthesia, a sense of sound as light, light as sound.

The snow begins to melt, swelling streams with runoff. Any frosts become less severe as the orchestra awakens, the heartbeat shakes as the spring is gently enveloping the world. The first track, “Overture / Loop” (03:27) creates an introduction, the season’s symbolism reminds you to keep anticipating change. The sun nourishes us and sustains life as it flows gently down on the Earth, providing us with the perfect weather to enjoy the beautiful outdoors.

Time enters a state of renewal ::

Somewhere high above, the dragons twirl slowly: “Botanicula (with Ilya Delire)” (7:03). Piano, welcoming windchimes, encased in ambient glowing synthesizer dust, and haunted by Fourth World ghosts, quietly overflowing with imagination and full of wonder. Peer through a microscope at a hidden world and feel like you’ve made the greatest of discoveries, solving puzzles, exploring the environment and collecting items that are required for any obstacles that will surely come your way.

“Helioscope (with Ilya Delire)” (06:26) stirs the restive soundscape, visited by ethereal vocals, floating around the dark sleeping breaths which maintain the atmosphere as very minimal chimes decorate the fragrant breezes opening slowly. Time enters a state of renewal, the nights are warm and welcoming. A helioscope is an instrument used in observing the sun and sunspots. A heliograph is a semaphore system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code) reflected by a mirror.

Spring is a time to embark on new journeys and start new projects with fresh ideas. I hear the boing-buzz of an insect, perhaps this is from a stringed ancient Japanese instrument. “Day Fly” (06:25) sustains the gentle pace of the musical flow, a day fly is sometimes called a May fly, a thin insect that lives in freshwater for about a year and lives as an adult on land for a few hours to a few days. Long notes ring while the boing-buzz instrument coils gently in the atmosphere, calling out to explore fresh opportunities, experiment, and think ahead of others.

Change is a principle of life. A new glowing atmosphere with vibrating tonal delights and rustling rain, in the distance there might be a transit station. The fifth track’s title is “6th March” (06:19), the air glows and eventually percussion troops in, rejuvenation, and rebirth, transporting the mood into a solemn procession.

Spring may also boast storms ::

A faint whisper of fallen leaves that are cautiously trampled on an autumn afternoon. Spring may also boast storms, as warm air from the equator combines with still-cool air farther north or south, the thoughtful mood is intact as the music flows onward. Footsteps on dried grass, there is no sign of a strong wind, instead hear some gently rustling wind chimes. A solo piano emerges with awakening lightness and quite lovely. “First Gale” (06:20) walking on the earth at the spring, at the end of the day, smelling the awakening soil, the earth’s triumph over physical death, with roots in older traditions. The blooming of cherry trees symbolize the transience of life.

Many cultures celebrate the return of spring, the blossoming of nature or the rise of the vernal equinox. “Equinox (feat. Yukiko H)” (05:12) piloting breathless piano, with gentle vocals speaking in a language I know not, probably Japanese, no translation is necessary to feel the mystery of aequus (equal) and nox (genitive noctis, night), the time when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun’s path, when daytime and nighttime are of approximately equal duration.

Picture in your mind, fluttering peach blossoms (including nectarine), most cherry blossoms, and some almond blossoms which are usually pink. Plum blossoms, apple blossoms, orange blossoms, some cherry blossoms, and most almond blossoms are white, flowering profusely for a period of time in spring. “Blossoms” (14:00) brings the sound of birds at dawn, an emerging glow with the scent of flowers drifting out of nowhere on spring nights. At dawn, when everything is asleep, the starlight disappears from the sky one by one, a crossover between the senses. Each landscape and feel becomes music and is scattered throughout this album.

Animals that spent the winter in hibernation come out of their dens, while those that traveled to warmer regions return. This Prelude For the Spring presents an abstract, immersive soundscape, suggesting that the air may lose its winter chill before the middle of March and eventually the earth seems to come to life again. This story is told within Seigo Aoyama’s impressionistic atmosphere. Many flowering plants bloom at this time of year, in a long succession. What most people call spring relies on the astronomical definition of the word, as the hemisphere begins to warm significantly, causing new plant growth to “spring forth.”

Seigo Aoyama is a musician/composer/sound designer residing in Tokyo. He had been playing the piano since his childhood and started his career in music from 20 years old playing piano and keyboards in pop, rock and jazz groups. During his career, he studied classical/modern music with a focus on 20th century composers (Debussy, Stravinsky, Messiaen, Schaeffer, Cage, and Reich for instance). In 2014 he started incorporating field recording into his contemporary, ambient or experimental music. He has released Prelude For The Spring, On The Drift, and Visible World on Audiobulb Records, and composed music for the other performers.

Ilya Delire is from Russia, she has 8 albums on Bandcamp, making thoughtful sounds from hidden action. Yukiko H has a whispering sweet voice that guides our emotions gently into revealing mystery.

Prelude For The Spring contains ideas of the transience of life, rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth, as well as humanity’s attraction to the unknown. The earth gladly receives the embrace of the sun, when day and night are almost equal and you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it makes your heart ache. Spring is the season of new beginnings.

Link to original review > HERE

Beach Sloth

A tasteful blend of the natural and the imagined, Seigo Aoyama’s soothing “Prelude For The Spring” radiates joy. The references that run through the album abound, covering a wide swath. Sampling brings to mind Jan Jelinek’s best work, and the way that the sound has a distinct classical bent feels highly reminiscent of GAS’s gentlest releases, in particular Pop. Lots of love and emotion pour out of these elegantly structured works. Melodically rich the rhythms that emerge from these pieces have a pastoral beauty to them. Layer upon layer is brought into the fray, making sure that it has bursts of kaleidoscopic color.

The stately opener “Overture/Loop” begins the work off in earnest. From there they enter into an ambient noir with “Botanicula (with Ilya Delire)”. One of the most mysterious works on the album there is a tenderness to be felt in its sheer exploration of space. Quite shoegaze-like with its heaviness “Helioscope (with Ilya Delire)” has a half-dreamed memory quality. Organ swells rise out of in a glimmering way with the hopeful sound of “Day Fly”. Glitch meets the natural world gives “6th March” a sense of accomplishment. Nice usage of field recordings imbues “First Gate” with a sense of place. Contemplative “Equinox (feat. Yukiko H)” has an exquisite delicacy. By far the highlight comes from the epic sprawling finale of “Blossoms”. Starting out with birdsong it delves deep into an entire ecosystem.

“Prelude For The Spring” proves Seigo Aoyama to be a restrained composer, the kind who can immediately tap into an entire universe.

Link to original review > HERE

African Paper

Der in Tokio ansässige Komponist und Sounddesigner Seigo Aoyama bringt Anfang Februar sein fünftes Album in Eigenregie heraus. “Prelude for the Spring” ist eine intrikate Klanglandschaft in acht Abschnitten und in seiner Verknüpfung ambienter Elektronik, prägnanter Field Recordings und orchestraler Eruptionen eine stimmungsvolle Feier des Frühlingsanfangs. Aoyama ist von Haus aus Pianist, im Laufe seiner Karriere hat er zudem Keyboard in verschiedenen Bands von Rock und Pop bis Jazz gespielt. “Prelude for the Spring”, bei dem Gesang von Ilya Delire und Yukiko H zu hören ist, erscheint digital bei Audiobulb.

Link to original review > HERE

Felt That Reviews

Seigo Aoyama is a musician/composer/sound designer residing in Tokyo. He had been playing the piano since his childhood and started his career in music from 20 years old playing piano & keyboards in pop, rock and jazz groups. During his career, he studied classical/modern music with a focus on 20th century composers (Debussy, Stravinsky, Messiaen, Schaeffer, Cage, and Reich for instance). In 2014 he started incorporating field recording into his contemporary, ambient or experimental music. He has released 4 albums and composed music for other performers.

His new album, released with Audiobulb is a beautiful combination of different elements and influences. It stands on the verge of being experimental and more tonal and harmonic. It has this unique verse to it that you can use to contemplate as a stanza of a poetry on one hand and a good intellectual challenge.

Colliding aspects of European and American new music influences with what is best in Eastern sensitivity and understanding it in a way, a highly responsive artist can do, helps to appreciate this album in its full entirety. 

Its melancholic and poetic character give lots to ponder on and think of a special niche that this music creates.

Link to original review > HERE

Ether Real

Très cohérent, Seigo Aoyama, un an après un On The Drift qui le voyait documenter ses souvenirs saisonniers depuis son enfance, enchaîne avec un album dédié au printemps, ou plutôt à la période qui prélude le printemps. Sorti logiquement en février, ce long-format, disponible uniquement en version numérique, profite de son attachement à cette pré-saison pour accentuer la démarche un peu pastel relevée dans l’effort précédent du Japonais. C’est ainsi que des vocalises féminines éthérées (Heliograph), une envolée de trompette (Botanicula) ou un roulement lointain de batterie (6th March) sont convoqués, dans une forme tenant aussi bien de l’ambient ouvragée que d’un jazz alangui.

Au soutien de ces titres à l’allure divagante, on retrouve une instrumentation faite de piano léger, de cordes samplées et d’interventions destinées à faire naître une belle émotion (Day Fly). Naturellement, on retrouve, à côté, les pépiements d’oiseaux, petites clochettes et frissonnements typiques de ce genre de production, adjuvants bien commodes lorsqu’il s’agit de figurer une atmosphère portée sur la nature et les éléments terrestres. Pour autant, Seigo Aoyama n’en rajoute pas spécialement dans cette veine, privilégiant plutôt les approches décrites précédemment, avec un regard organique et une capacité à toucher avec pas grand chose.

Link to original review > HERE

Luminous Dash Magazine

Seigo Aoyama is een Japans muzikant, producer en liedjeschrijver uit Tokyo. Hij speelde piano in lokale rock en jazzbands maar doet het tegenwoordig alleen. Met Prelude For The Spring is hij toe aan zijn vijfde soloalbum.

De acht nummers op Prelude For The Spring mogen zonder schroom geclassificeerd worden in het ambient genre. Het zijn stuk voor stuk soundscapes voor gevorderden met invloeden van klassieke Japanse muziek, een flinke scheut field recordings en percussieve accenten overgoten met warme synthpads.

Aoyama maakt op dit album een gedetailleerde muzikale schets van de natuur en die begint enkele weken voor de lente definitief openbreekt. De dood heerst nog terwijl de geest van nieuw leven hoopvol in de lucht hangt. Februari op het noordelijk halfrond dus, meteen ook de maand waarin het album verschijnt. Tot op 6th March de eerste knoppen openbreken, de grond stilaan tot leven komt en de lente definitief het land binnen marcheert, geflankeerd door een bescheiden drumband.

De eerste lentestorm komt voorbij in First Gale. En na de Equinox is het tijd voor Hanami Matsuri, de Japanse hoogdag waarop de kersenbomen in bloei staan in afsluiter Blossom.

De muziek op Prelude For The Spring deed ons wat denken aan de recente, meer zweverige, albums van David Sylvian maar dan zonder zijn warme stem, of aan de Seascapes van één van ons favoriete fotografen Hiroshi Sugimoto. Tumultueuze verstilling die een beeld oproept van een wereld voordat de mens de boel naar de knoppen hielp.

Uitbundig wordt Aoyama nooit, integendeel, zelfs een voorjaarsstorm is nauwelijks in staat de vlam aan te wakkeren. Grote fan van het ambient genre gaan we, buiten de vertrekken van een wellness omgeving, waarschijnlijk nooit worden. Toch wist Seigo Aoyama met dit kleine pareltje een snaar te raken die zelden aangeslagen wordt, of het moest zijn dat David Sylvian nog eens van zijn wolk afdaalt en een goed album uitbrengt.

Link to original review > HERE

Audion - Exploration In Sound & Music

Rockerilla