Fjordne – The Setting Sun
Genre : Ambient, Clásica, Electroacoustic
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1 Collide 4:57
2 A Woman, A Girl 6:35
3 Trees See All 9:09
4 After You 5:37
5 Torn Out 6:47
6 Vivid Memories 4:38
7 Will You… 4:17
8 Rustle Of Leaves (After Sunset) 6:53
9 Autumn; Grace 6:20
10 Last Sun
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Shifting, reversed sounds of serene and simple piano melodies, fused with light as summer breeze female vocals, field recordings of forest walks and nature scenes with chirping birds amidst another cacophony of tweeting beeps and clicks are some of the first impressions after listening to the beginning of Fjordne’s new album on Singaporean label and art tank, Kitchen., curated by Ricks Angalongside photographer April Lee, who many will recognise as the duo behind aspidistrafly who we reviewed in connection with the inauguration of this lovely label. And the album comes in an amazing hard-cover sleeve with recycled, coarse paper (ed. always love the smell of this paper!) folded in accordion-style with several quadratic photos of the aforementioned Lee capturing moments of sunsets and domestic still life, vintage clocks and old shoes, tulips and nature viewed from city scenes.Fjordne may not be a name many are well-versed with, but nonetheless a growing prominent figure of Japanese electronic music, and behind this naturesque moniker, we find the Tokyo-based solo artist, Fujimoto Shunichiro who now treats us to his fourth album, with prior releases on Ryoondo Tea, Dynamophone and U-Cover. And there is something so harmonious and heartfelt over Fjordne’s music, that it brings out the childlike and curious in the listener. At once, treated to the lush and personal soundscapes of Fjordne on a leisurely saunter throughout nature and everyday life, the listener could feel transported into a Japanese anime and display the same show of fascination as all the little children when faced with those marvellous inventions of, say, Hayao Miyazaki (directory of Ponyo on the Cliff, Howl’s Moving Castle, etc.). Or take for instance the ingenious mind and ideas of Haruki Murakami; Fjordne’s music becomes like a soundtrack – much like I cited the works of label-colleagues aspidistrafly on their first release. There is something overtly Japanese at work, the music sounds nothing like what I am used to, whether it stems from an inherently child-like view on the compositional process or cultural differences, one can only feel grateful for discovering such albums at times.The music of Fjordne also shows Fujimoto has matured with the releases he has on his repertoire now, the vivid sound artistry is sprinkled with broken jazz fragments and rolling piano and guitar chords in post-classical themes appearing like broken and sprinkled inspirations of say, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Goldmund, Library Tapes and Yasushi Yoshida and guitar heaven of the likes conjured by Helios. Attention-wise, I felt glued to the speakers from the onset of the first track, “Collide”, and over the course of ten songs Fjordne invited me along to see nature from his perspective, assisted by the gentle and delightfully elegant photography of April Lee. “Last Sun” then comes in conclusion to end this lovely adventure to the most tranquil of setting suns and though it is the end of Fjordne’s fourth album, his musicianship is far from over and we warmly recommend this release as Kitchen. deliver with their second release.soundscaping
