Article
2012 Artists' Picks

Albums
36
The Alvaret Ensemble
The Boats
Dadub
Day
Enduser / The Teknoist
Alejandro Franov
Christoph Funabashi
The Inventors Of Aircraft
Kostis Kilymis
krill.minima
Lau Nau
Madera Wind Quintet
Todd Matthews
Lubomyr Melnyk
okamononoriaki
The Outside Agency
Oyaarss
peterMann
Pleq + Philippe Lamy
Roach & Metcalf
SaffronKeira
Martin Schulte
Jay Shepheard
Tape Loop Orchestra
Techdiff
TM404
Yard

Compilations / Mixes
Darkroom Dubs Vol.3
Petre Inspirescu
Pop Ambient 2013
v-p v-f is v-n

EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Alis
Arkaik
Babi
Bee Mask
Bungle
drcarlsonalbion
Fescal
Fluorescent Heights
William Ryan Fritch
Greyghost
Junction 12
Lind and Loraine
Alessan Main
Martinez
Mikal
Show Me The Future
10 Yrs hhv.de 45 Vol. 10
Wolf Cub

okamononoriaki: A Little Planet
mü-nest

A Little Planet is Tokyo-based audio-visual artist Okamoto Noriaki's forty-two-minute sequel to the 2010 debut album Telescope. The new collection is a colourful affair whose ten songs sparkle with a joyous uplift and range widely within Noriaki's personalized electro-acoustic soundworld. Melodic pop, post-rock, and electronica are the primary reference points, with the ten songs offering up varying combinations of the three styles. The sonic palette is enriched by the instrumentation used, which includes piano, guitar, drums, synthesizers, field recordings, electronics, and, in a few instances, vocals.

With “I'm Home,” a melancholic piano-and-electronics overture, having set the tone, the album proper gets underway with the radiant “Call Me,” a pop-styled collaboration with Cokiyu that accompanies her hushed vocal with a sparkling and surprisingly funky backdrop by Noriaki. That unexpectedly aggressive approach carries over into the punchy instrumentals “One Day” and “Little Planet,” each of which receives a major boost from a robust drum attack. The latter track in particular calls Plaid to mind, even if okamotonoriaki's style is, at least in this case, more raucous by comparison. With its hyperactive bleeps and melodic fragments,“Kindergarten” captures the playful, carefree spirit of five-year-olds, while tribal drumming gives “Sun” the feel of an ancient sun worship ritual, the song's electronic and synthetic elements notwithstanding.

February 2013