Articles
2008 Ten Favourite Labels
Ten Questions Celer
Ten Questions Deadbeat

Albums
Anzio Green
Ariel Abshire
Osman Arabi
Arastoo & AEMAE
Asymmetrical Head
Benoît Pioulard
Bohren & der Club of Gore
Matt Borghi
Celer
Cubenx
Anders Dahl
Davis & Roux
Deadbeat
Feu Follet
Formication
Generic
Stefan Goldmann
Gultskra Artikler / Lanterns
Hauschka
Hexes & Ohs
Koen Holtkamp
I Am Robot And Proud
Illusion of Safety
Integral
Koen Park
Akira Kosemura
Koushik
Library Tapes
Lineland
Mamiffer
Melodium
Moon
Oppressed By The Line
Pillars and Tongues
Rumpistol
Kamran Sadeghi
Sans Serif
Signal Deluxe
Skogen
Saul Stokes
Matthew Sweet
Tapage
Thursday / Envy
Windy & Carl

Compilations / Mixes
An Taobh Tuathail II
Chaos Restored 2
DFPRMX
Kuniyuki
Message Subatomic World
Pero es olor en el cuarto...

EPs
Canyons!
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
Cubenx
Dokuro
Fraction
Lee Holman
Ikonika
King Midas Sound
Michael Lambright
Library Tapes
Lilienweiss
MRK1
:papercutz
Spencer Parker
Poratz
Spartak + John Chantler
Andy Vaz

Akira Kosemura: Tiny Musical
Schole

Tiny Musical perpetuates the pastoral melodicism Tokyo-based Akira Kosemura showcased so effectively on last year's Someone Good release It's On Everything. On his second full-length solo album, the Schole leader's piano-centered music again overflows with life-affirming spirit and refreshes like a late-afternoon summer breeze. His music's innocent and nostalgic in spirit and listening to it is analogous to flipping through old family photo albums and remembering treasured childhood moments biking through the countryside (“Departure”) or lazily lolling at the beach on a peaceful afternoon (“Seaside”).

“Departure” brings a rhythmic emphasis to Kosemura's music in the form of lightly swinging beat programming and shaker percussion accents though one's attention is equally drawn to the lulling, sing-song melodies played by his primary instrument, piano. Numerous tracks are enhanced by programming, field recordings, and electronic touches (e.g., “Just a Few Minutes,” “Departure,” and “Remembrance,” created using fragments from the recent Afterglow, a Schole collaboration between Kosemura and Haruka Nakamura), but Kosemura's most affecting pieces are the solo piano settings, such as the alternately jubilant and reflective “Light Dance,” where his artistry is allowed full reign (the overly busy experimental set-pieces “Sky” and “Glim” that follow shows how much more appealing the starker presentation can be). The later “Light Dance-Home” variation, this time created using classical guitar and pianica (a melodica -like instrument with a keyboard and a harmonica-like mouthpiece you blow into), brings out the song's waltz melodies in equally affecting manner. His elegant piano playing is again spotlighted in “Moon” where a slow tempo and contemplative mood conjures the image of someone musing upon the planets on a quiet summer night. As ear-catching as they might be, no amount of outdoors sounds or electronic rhythm enhancements can equal the simple beauty of the solo piano flowing through the wistful closer “Smile.”

November 2008