textura

Albums
A Gap Between
Animal Trainer
Robbie Basho
Olga Bell
Keith Berry
Bly de Blyant
Christoph Bruhn
Dewa Budjana
Celer
Children Of The Stones
Loren Connors
Croy and McCann
Douglas Detrick
Elektro Guzzi
EOMAC
fibreforms
Alejandro Franov
Grenier & Archie Pelago
Paul Hazendonk
Quentin Hiatus
KiNK
Peter Kutin
Elise Mélinand
Nicole Mitchell
Mobthrow
Tomotsugu Nakamura
Danny Norbury
Fatima Al Qadiri
Steve Roach
Shield Patterns
Skadedyr
Soft Machine Legacy
Sontag Shogun
sPacemoNkey
Spotlight Kid
Stein Urheim
Strata Florida
Strom Noir
subtractiveLAD
Vittoria Fleet
Antje Vowinckel
Lionel Weets

Compilations / Mixes
Maya Jane Coles

EPs / Cassettes / Mini-Albums / Singles
AGC Esquire
Mombi
Paris76
Alix Perez
Philogresz
You'll Never Get to Heaven

Tomotsugu Nakamura: Soundium
Kaico

Soundium presents a forty-one-minute collection of bright, playful electronica from Tomotsugu Nakamura that one might as easily liken to a toybox of musical miniatures as a garden of natural delights. The Tokyo-based artist threads a number of acoustic and electronic sounds into the recording's thirteen tracks (acoustic guitar and piano recurring acoustic elements), some of which suggest connections to the work of other artists: “Gallop” and “Typist on the Moon,” for example, flutter and flicker in a manner reminiscent of Systemisch-era Oval, while “Snowdrop” exudes the kind of child-like playfulness one encounters in Lullatone's music. Having said that, Nakamura's his own man for the most part.

His music at times leans in the direction of pastoral ambient, a case in point “Mimosa (Fluid Guitar)” whose acoustic guitar strums appear against a peaceful backdrop of shimmer and clicks in a way that evokes the calm and stillness of a remote nature setting. “Fawn” likewise possesses a wondrous character consistent with the feelings one experiences upon encountering wildlife such as deer in their natural habitat. Largely eschewing abstraction, Nakamura uses his electro-acoustic materials to conjure imagined locales: in an interesting study in contrast, “Glisten Surface Under the Sun” evokes a sweltering summer afternoon at a peaceful outdoor setting, whereas “Glisten Surface Under the Moon” suggests the almost eerie stillness that sets in at the same place after dark. The penultimate track “Frozen Trees” also speaks highly in favour of Nakamura's gifts in the way it patiently establishes its meditative micro-world, and one ultimately comes away from Soundium with words like iridescent and colourful in mind.

May 2014