The River
-
CHIHEI HATAKEYAMA
10 tracks - 47 minutes
Chihei Hatakeyama is a Japanese artist living on the outskirts of Tokyo who produces some of the most beautifully refined and emotive ambient music around. This album is full of dense drones and texture with suggestive melodic phrases intervening at just the right moments. Chihei?s productions can be described as ?memory-evoking soundscapes? composed ?with various recorded materials of acoustic instruments such as guitars, vibraphone, and piano?played by hand and processed time and time again via laptop.? The River opens with Jade Green River, a track that builds with swaying tones in the higher frequencies, but with relief provided by a reassuring, resolving drone in the lower frequencies.
This sets the fluxuating mood for the album. The music ebbs and flows, interspersed with soft, warm moments like light drizzle, to darker, mysterious pieces like a temple in the past. This is an engaging piece of work that satisfies greatly when listened to on headphones, but also provides an introspective atmosphere when listened to at low volume over loud speakers.
Limited edition 500 CD in a digipack.
