smooth and mild

downtempo and relaxing with perhaps a sprinkle of ambience, this stuff goes down easy

Yoshinori Sunahara – Pan Am: The Sound of the 70s

Yoshinori Sunahara - sound of the 70s

I recently had the pleasure of reacquainting myself with a little record called Pan Am: The Sound of the 70s, a dazzling example of late-90s downtempo shibuya-kei from producer Yoshinori Sunahara. Some truly funky beats, lush arrangements, and (surprisingly for an offshoot of electronic music), some engaging songcraft grace this remarkably enjoyable album.

Sunahara, who has an obsessive fascination with air travel demonstrates that fascination with not only the "Pan Am" in the album title but also a track called 747 Dub as well as ambient sound recordings meant to evoke the feeling of an airport terminal.

The album’s subtitle, "The Sound of the 70s" however, is little misleading. This recording may get its iconography and inspiration from the jet-settingly fashionable TWA era, but it’s sound is pure late-90s Japan. You owe it you yourself to check out the album’s standout track: the soulfully reworked bossa version of Sun Song (called Sun Song 70s). I’ve had this album for even years now and have never once been bored with it, despite its low-key persona.

The album itself is out of print and a bit rare (and pricey) these days. So unless you just have to have that tactile quality, digital download is the way to go. Apple has the whole disc in iTunes Plus.

Nobukazu Takemura – For Tomorrow: Downtempo Premonition

For Tomorrow

Bouncing off my recent Mudhoney post, I’d like to bring up Nobukazu Takemura once again. I was recently given the pleasure of listening to his For Tomorrow disc, which like My Brother the Cow, was released in 1995, and is the accompanying single to the album Child’s View. It strikes me that, even though the two records were released around the same time, Takemura’s offering appears to have aged much more respectably in terms of cultural influence.

It’s probably due to the fact that the Mudhoney record represents a waning of a particular style of music, a lingering breath of the fading grunge movement, which despite it’s continued popularity in some circles, can be easily dismissed as fad.

For Tomorrow however, is an early example of a style that’s grown and flourished since its release: future-jazz, which blends elements of american jazz with downtempo electronic music to create a relaxing environment.

Like most people who could be classified as ‘musical geniuses,’ Takemura appears to enjoy working in as many genres as possible; no two projects sound quite the same. For Tomorrow is barely recognizable as the work of the same artist compared to the glitch-inspired material of his later career. This record is both smooth and quite listenable. The female vocalist sings off-key on the title track, yet the backing music manages to compensate to the point where it sounds both disorienting and perfect at the same time.

The sounds and styles employed on this record would be echoed throughout the late 90s and into the 21st century as downtempo music increased in popularity, from the elaborate compositions of Tortoise to the seamless beats of Fila Brazillia, and that puts this record ahead of its time.

The Cinematic Orchestra – Man With a Movie Camera: Watch it

man with a movie camera

The Cinematic Orchestra is a relatively new addition to my library, arriving late last year. the group’s style is a kind of downtempo modern jazz with flavors of hip hop and rock and electronics that, as the name of the band implies, give it a sound like a very cool soundtrack.

In fact, that’s what Man With A Movie Camera is. A couple years ago, the group was commissioned to provide a new soundtrack to the 1929 Russian silent film of the same name. ~~I haven’t seen the new version of the movie, but based on its music and the commentary surrounding it, I bet it’s fantastic.~~

Google Videos has the new version in its entirety, which you can watch below. The film is completely silent for the first three and half minutes, so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear anything at first. This thing is fascinating. Watch it below and enjoy.

K-pax: Electronic, Score, or Electronic Score?

kpax

If I didn’t already know differently, I would never have guessed that the soundtrack to K-pax was from a movie. indeed, it plays more like a backroom-in-the-club chill-laced downtempo record than a film score.

This is the only record by Edward Shearmur that I have, so I don’t know whether this is out of the ordinary for him, but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and I may have to check out his other works.

This revelation, however, adds the quandary of how to categorize it: it’s from a movie, thus I’ve had the genre tag in iTunes set to "score," my catch all for movie music. But looking over at discogs’ page for it, I found it listed under "ambient," "dub" and "modern classical" which are all appropriate.

So I’m considering changing it something more genre specific.

(I have a similar issue with The Mothman Prophecies, the score to which is closer to ambient minimalism than a traditional film music.)

Jim O’rourke, Cinematic Orchestra and DJ Krush: Downtempo day

First off today, Jim O'rourke's i'm happy, and i'm singing, and a 1, 2, 3 , 4, which consists of precisely three songs of significant length, one for each of the phrases in the album title. O'rourke is a musical genius and I'm convinced that if he had lived 100 years ago he would have been a master composer.

This album is a bit of departure for him. Principally known for his work in the rock mode (and his sometimes membership in Sonic Youth), this record seems to channel nobukazu takemura and is far more experimental in nature. Droning and glitch-filled, but not harsh. Very mellow and relaxing. It's further evidence that everything he touches turns to musical gold.

Rounding out today: some nice beats and trumpet work from dj krush and the sweeping soulfulness of the cinematic orchestra.

Gomez – Bring It On: Brits with the blues

beware the ides of march indeed. today’s showing is a rather pitiful 16 songs. That’s just one complete album and a handful of live Soul Coughing tracks.

gomez [bring it on]

So it was a short day, but a quality one. One that answers the question "what do brits do when they get the blues?" the answer is "Bring It On." Sporting a trio of soulful vocalists and a basket full of catchy hooks, Gomez puts out some tight music, particularly for a debut album. This is what southern rock might sound like if it were more laid-back and british. Hat tip to Dan for the hook up on this one