Kiyoshi Izumi

Posted almost 5 years ago
In 1997, Rephlex released an EP by Kiyoshi Izumi featuring the track below, "Bedroom Glow." A few years later he followed up with a full length album on Nobukazu Takemura's Childisc label pleasantly titled, Orange Sunshine, the tracks of which, while appealing enough, sound nothing like "Bedroom Glow." (Orange Sunshine is a nice little idm/ambient album). His most recent album, Protocol A was released in 2004 by Peace Records... and nothing has been heard from since.There are these electo pieces which have something like a twist in it, that carries it forward creating an even more potent climax and sense of urgency. "Bedroom Glow" has it, as well as a piece by Conemelt and Squarepusher that I'll write about in future posts. I'm not sure what to call it -- kind of like the instrumental equivalent of a break but considering these pieces have plenty of breakbeat already that might be a misleading description. Like a break, the driving rhythm and melody is shunted, and a new melody picks up a little later. Eventually, the original rhythm and melody picks back up. The result I think is a much more sophisticated piece than one might be expecting. This piece mixes many familiar electro sounds along with a club whistle and what I think may be a Farfisa organ. I ripped it from vinyl, so I hope you also like the crackle and pops. Enjoy!Izumi, like Doctor Y.S. is another musician I wish I knew more about, but alas, I can't even find Japanese websites about him that can be garbled in translation. Thus the MOG player and its audio content will have to stand surrogate for all the juicy bits I'd like to add here for you.

Comments (7)

  1. thehun says I LIKE THIS. it sounds like groovy koala bears in the basement of a supermarket or something.
    Permalink posted 03/02/2007
  2. Jess Horrible says whoops. my fakester test account is not supposed to be listening to music and leaving comments. but she's right.
    Permalink posted 03/02/2007
  3. spaceling says jess: wait... are you saying you are... thehun?! remarkable! (is that what you're saying?) i thought fakesters were only on friendster. maybe i should check the OED, they're pretty good at neologisms. thehun: i'm going to add that description to the tag for this post. thanks to you!
    Permalink posted 03/02/2007
  4. Jess Horrible says I am not thehun, but the hun is me. If that makes sense. And I try not to limit my vocabulary by location, particularly if the location is purely conceptual. But maybe I should. Anyway, the hun is sleeping. Hi! Thanks for the song!
    Permalink posted 03/02/2007
  5. Spike says I enjoyed "Bedroom Glow" a lot. Your description did it justice. This whole genre that includes minimalist composers and techno reminds me of pygmy music. After many adventurous twentieth century classical composers had rejected steady beats, harmoniousness and comfort, this newer phase has been an exciting relief to my ears.
    Permalink posted 03/02/2007
  6. spaceling says Tell me more about pygmy music :)
    Permalink posted 03/02/2007
  7. Spike says Some think that pygmy music is the oldest surviving music on the planet. Pygmies live isolated in African rainforests. They sing polyphonic vocal music that weaves different repeating patterns, often complex. Like all pre-European African music, its time signatures are never 4/4. It reminds me of Steve Reich in some ways. My favorite pygmy LP is _Musical Atlas: Camaroon: Baka Pygmy Music_ (Unesco Collection)(EMI Italiana Odeon 3C 064 18265) (1975) which I seem to remember last year being in print as a CD but now not. I also enjoy the Smithsonian Folkways CD _Mbuti Pygmies of Ituri Rainforest_. Check it out at http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E1EDC48A47E20C79A3A53CD9463F30ADC46F682502E4F41C0843F59980043CB5EE9DAD2B2E577B479A8B32CAE5E06D9CFE8468DA1&sql=10:mbsyxd7b8ol7.
    Permalink posted 03/03/2007

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