Review Summary: A breath of fresh air
Although Nobukazu Takemura may seem like an obscure and unfamiliar name, you may have heard his work before. Collaborating with bands such as Yo La Tengo, Boredoms, and Tortoise, Takemura experimented with various indie groups before releasing his first US album,
Scope.Unlike the bands that he conspired with, Takemura’s solo work is purely electronic. Without incorporating any synthesized beats into his music Takemura is able to create a cerebral and hypnotic atmosphere while keeping his compositions interesting and unique. The surreal aura found on
Scope is due to the fact that it is completely keyboard driven. Featuring countless layers of electronic bleeps, clicks, chords, and other sounds that Nobukazu is able to churn out,
Scope is a bizarre listen from beginning to end.
When listening to
Scope it’s very easy to lose yourself in the peaceful mood that the album conveys. Takemura’s warm production captures every bleep and click adding to the albums lush and layered sound. Sporting a simple yet repetitive xylophone melody, “Kepler” is a prime example of how the music benefits from the production. With that said Takemura’s addition of organic backing synths and layers of quirky clicking sounds, “Kepler” is a hypnotic piece of music while containing a very eccentric sound. “Icefall” is another song that follows a similar approach. Takemura takes an erratic mess of glitchy electronic sounds and throws on a thick sheet of orchestrations. Despite the fact that “Icefall” sounds like an odd combination of glitchy electronics and orchestra instruments, the production blends these two sounds to create a flourishing sound like the tracks title suggests. Instead of adding overlapping sheets of keyboard chords over one another, Takemura is able to throw unique combinations of queer electronica sounds over uncomplicated, soothing melodies.
If there is one complaint I have about the music it’s that the minimalist style can get tiresome. The albums opening track, “On a Balloon” is a twenty-three minute track based off of easygoing keyboard chords and revolving electronic touches. Although it is a soothing piece of music “On a Balloon” is a bit to basic as well as repetitive for its length. Other than this minor nitpick
Scope is a near flawless listen. In a genre of music that is chock-full of uninspiring solo acts, Nobukazu Takemura creates a truly exclusive and ultimately refreshing album with
Scope.
