2010年09月6日
A time of transition: Pure tonal paint.
An excellent review of twilight by haruka nakamura from Germany’s Tokafi. Thanks Tobias!
“Most musicians still consider progress an indispensable virtue. And yet, some of the most fundamental things in life are based on routine and repetition: The cycles of birth, life and death, of blossoming beauty and irreversible decay, the seasons, the principles of falling in and out of love with someone. Japanese pianist, producer and improviser Haruka Nakamura has made these the focal points of his music. To Nakamura, there is still plenty of wonder to be found in daily life, surprises lurking even in the most basic propositions. On his first two albums, a seemingly unspectacular word like “grace” delineated a compositional approach of imposing depth, as the mere sight of a garden or the sensation of fine drizzle on his skin were capable of sparking miniature-scale concertos of utmost refinement. For Twilight, he has turned, as a source of inspiration, to the time between day and night, when the delicate rays of the setting sun enter into a harmonious yet strangely ambivalent truce with the impending darkness and the world is caught in a suspenseful moment of great anticipation and infinite calm. It is a time that has come to embody entire philosophies as well as spiritual concepts, but which means nothing more and nothing less than that “we’re moving towards tomorrow” to him: Light gives way to shadow, one day ends and another one commences – that is all there is to make the moment special.
Accordingly, images of tangible tenderness, quietude and stillness, of melancholy and an inexplicable longing grace the pleasantly rough yet extremely delicate pages of the 24-page hardcover-book protecting the CD: An empty bridge drenched in grainy, blue-greenish orange, the sun shining dreamily through the leaves of a sleepy tree, the meditative silence of a bedroom, rose petals strewn across a small stretch of asphalt – just flicking through the pages takes one instantly to a place where attention turns to the inside and long-forgotten memories can suddenly seem real and fresh. If the imagery should seem just as important to Nakamura as the sounds, this is no coincidence, as snapshot-like Polaroids such as the ones collected here hold the potential of triggering sonic cues to him. The slightly blurry tones of the photography congenially capture the emotional ambivalence of the early evening’s plentiful moods, which, in turn, find themselves reflected in the music: Despite its spontaneous air, Twilight foremost breathes minute attention to detail, displaying an astounding ear for orchestration in every single instant.
Following in the footsteps of French impressionists like Monet and Satie, Nakamura is putting together his acoustic paintings dot by dot, capturing the fragile fleetingness and ephemeral intensity of a moment rather than aiming at documentary precision. Colour is everything to him and the post-romantic idea of a Klangfarbenmelodie, of using timbre as a musical tool alongside more conventional elements like harmony or melody, takes on seminal importance. Already in his instrumentational decisions, Nakamura reveals his declared intention of creating a spellbinding sonic palette to match the visual aspects of his vision: Bronze-tinged Tenor- and goldenly glowing Soprano-Saxophones, silvery Flute and pearly drum brushes sketch metaphorical allusions to an early-evening-skyline, on which his Piano-tones dance like little birds flapping their wings in excited anticipation. Even Nakamura’s chords, peacefully resting inside themselves yet imbued with a certain restlessness and inability to resolve, are pure tonal paint, freed from any kind of limiting functionality and goal-oriented direction.
It is therefore most certainly three-and-a-half-minute short “dialogo”, rather than some of the more strikingly melodic passages, which must be considered the album’s most representative cut: The opening seconds consist of nothing but seemingly random Piano-sprinkles, shimmering droplets only faintly attracted to each other by key and thematic glue. Isao Saito’s cymbals come in with a tentative, almost absent-minded sensuality, Araki Shin’s Saxophone leaves a streak of nocturnal red on the canvas and then the solitary notes coalesce into a chain of complex harmonies, each chord clearly delineated from the next and growing without apparent relation to its predecessor, floating by like shapeless clouds, gently, peacefully, from one corner of the horizon to the other, before eventually disappearing from sight.
Even though these pieces have clearly been informed by Jazz and chambermusical ensemble play, a sense of estrangement is equally pervasive. Rupturing the steady flow of short, playful and sweet duo- or trio-constellations are two long pieces around the eight- to nine-minute mark on which the prominent use of immersive electronic textures, field recordings, hazy vocals and an otherworldly pop-sensitivity create a sudden tactile shift: “Faraway” rises slowly from the tranquil patter of rain, its delayed rhodes’ chords propelled by a slick, elegant bass-theme, two Saxophone lines, one fast and associative, the other focused and ambient, enigmatically mysteriously run in sync with each other. The title track, a sultry waltz recorded in collaboration with Aspidistrafly’s April Lee, meanwhile, leans on evocative backwards sounds and the hypnotic repetition of its catchword, creating a powerful maelstrom pulling the listener straight into a vortex of warmth, light and joy. It is in these pieces, too, that the album takes the decisive step from being a pleasant collection of sensitive compositions to a work of greater ambitions and programmatic coherency.
It is telling that Nakamura doesn’t end the album on this high note, but follows it up with two short sketches, closing it out in a quiet fashion. The time of twilight is a time of transition, after all, without a real beginning and end, whose strength lies in its sense of spiritual elevation. In a sense, just like some of the most fundamental things in life, it isn’t even there at all.” – Tobias Fischer / Tokafi (Germany)
- http://www.tokafi.com/news/haruka-nakamura-twilight/
2010年09月4日
JUICE x twilight
twilight by haruka nakamura is recommended on this month’s edition of JUICE. Thanks Wayne!
“A silent winner in the Japanese independent music scene, Haruka Nakamura’s first venture into the “sound design” genre began with a co-release with counterpart, Akira Kosemura, in 2007. Upon gaining pats on the back with that offering, as well as that of his debut album, Grace, Nakamura went on to collaborate and produce with several of Japan’s finest sound design and classical artists, and has recently dropped his second album, Twilight, to (not suprisingly) great acclaim. Released under Kitchen. Label and recorded in a studio overlooking the ocean, the new offering bringin one into a world of endless horizons, dwindling rays of light and mesmerising soundscapes – perfect for evenings under some fauna” – JUICE Singapore (September 2010)
2010年09月4日
通俗歌曲·摇滚 twilight review
twilight by haruka nakamura has a 2 page review and interview on 通俗歌曲·摇滚 magazine from China. Thanks Sen Li!
“我希望能住在小镇上一所面朝大海的房子里。”Haruka Nakamura说。
因为黄昏时分，光线渐次收敛，每道波浪都被切割成不同的金色；因为落日西沉，云朵饱吸色彩，海风送来阵阵倦鸟归巢的嘹叫；因为暮光变幻，心中旋律起伏，生命便有了别样的沉静与思考。因为一所面朝大海的房子，在Haruka看来，是过去、现在与未来的他相遇的地方。
虽然“天才”这种不加修饰的赞赏过于直白，但从初出茅庐到独树一帜，从满怀期待到心满意足，Haruka只用了四年。他俨然跳出了绝大多数小电音乐人仍在进行的悉心摸索，并用罕见的成熟将同类作品远远甩在了身后。如果说处子作《Grace》令人惬意之余一阵惊喜，那么新专辑《Twilight》则将这种惊喜上升为深情的祝颂与虔诚的祈祷。它带人一步步走进Haruka的想象世界，让包裹着独特生命体验的细节与音符共鸣。此时，音乐不再囿于它本来的维度，那些视若无睹的存在也散发出别样的光彩，更重要的是，它提醒我们，默默勾勒梦想的其实一直都是现实近乎沉闷的积累和心态。
梳点过往，我们不难发现Haruka在“捕捉瞬间的感动”上付出的努力。较之过去稍显谨慎的尝试，这一次他彻底舒展了。洒脱、大气、诚实，不拘泥于演奏手法或音乐类型，释放潜藏在记忆中的旋律，将它们唤醒，再借助器乐音色的落差一一还原——这种自然无矫饰的鸣响显然已成为Haruka不尽的源泉。
白昼将尽，夜晚降临前，暮光无声地笼罩着世界。这个世界里，光线、气味、声音时刻变化着——如果只是依靠技巧，永远也难以找到音乐与黄昏间的交集——它是微妙，是消逝，是生命从容燃烧后的玫瑰色光华。无论留恋、回味，抑或坦然步入黑暗，静待明日的曙光，我们都要做出清醒的选择。Haruka从这样的选择里找到了他童年起便反复琢磨的答案，因为昼夜交替，大抵是人间最壮丽亦最平常的美景。” – 文/开海
2010年08月22日
evam eva x twilight
『twilight』by haruka nakamura is now on sale at all evam eva stores in Japan. It will also be featured and used as background music in conjunction with evam eva’s “night” exhibition beginning on Friday 27th August.
“夜”展 2010.8.27 FRI – 9.12 SUN
evam eva 直営店全店舗で 夜展を開催致します。
秋の夜長を過ごす ものを集めました。
・On Sale – CD haruka nakamura 「twilight」
- More information at evam eva website
