Taro Kawasaki: Sing Me A Song EP
Drifting Falling

Fans of the glitch-laden pastorally issued by artists on Japanese labels Schooled and Flu will find much to like about Taro Kawasaki's debut 3-inch release Sing Me a Song. Recorded by the Tokyo-based laptop producer in May 2007, the EP's songs sound like variations on a theme given the degree to which acoustic guitar playing and sparkling electronic treatments figure so prominently in all four pieces. Representative of the material's style is “Rosette” where multiple fragments of acoustic picking intertwine with glockenspiel tinkles while willowy glitch effects resound in the background. Over the course of his musical development, Kawasaki's focus shifted from acoustic playing (piano, guitar) to electronic production and then, prompted by a PC hard drive crash, back again to guitar. Today, Kawasaki 's music blends electronic production techniques and acoustic instrumentation, resulting in a pastoral electronic style that, despite its digital dimension, evokes the peaceful countryside much more than a computer's insides. The only thing wrong with Sing Me a Song is that its ten-minute total is about ten minutes less than we'd like it to be. Like an exquisite truffle, the pleasure is intense but over too quickly.

September 2008