Released
1997
Label
Artware
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
Artware
Taunusstr. 63b
65183 Wiesbaden
Germany
Tel.: +0611/524133
Fax: +0611/59654
Last Edit/Update
02 October, 1999
K. Mizutani
TRANSCEND SIDEWAYS
Track Listing
1. Any Time The Wind Nature Is In Everywhere
2. Haraitontoh
3. Transcend Sideways
4. Spirit Of The Air
A former member of the extreme Japanese noise outfit Merzbow, it comes as no surprise that
the transcendence on this solo release by Kiyoshi Mizutani is of the less
peaceful and tranquil kind. Transcend Sideways consists of four extended pieces of
intense sonic experimentation, and while each track to some degree utilizes noise as a
compositional element, they are all quite unique and different from each other. The CD has
been released by Artware in a compellingly designed brown fold-out sleeve, decorated with
Japanese calligraphy and ink drawings.
At 19 minutes, "Any Time The
Wind Is In Everywhere" is not only the longest piece on Transcend Sideways, it
is also the harshest and most minimalist. An almost completely linear stream of
splintering interference runs through the entire piece, with a strange clacking sound
cutting through the saturated band of noise at odd intervals. At first the experience of
listening to the piece is disconcerting and almost painful, yet, as the ear accustoms
itself to the steady, rushing waves of pure sound, this initial discomfort vanes, and the
subtle nuances and variations in the piece come forward. Eventually, "Any Time The
Wind Is In Everywhere" establishes a sense of peace, and only the occasional wooden
clacks stand out from the surface of the piece, like some mysterious and undecipherable
aural punctum. The final impression is not unlike that of staring intensely at a
seemingly blank wall, and, to one's own surprise, finding the anonymous surface filled
with minute details, telling all kinds of stories.
The next piece
"Haraitontoh" is profoundly different, featuring a wealth of sounds and a rather
complex and intricate structure. The piece is really assembled from a series of brief
montages of radio tunings, sampled children's' voices, static hiss, and voice recordings
played in reverse. The individual segments are separated by pauses of absolute silence,
and, again, it is these moments of nothingness that complete the piece. After the tense
montages of aural overload, the complete absence of sound, makes the listener strain to
hear, and just as there is a world to hear in a solid wall of noise, so too each silence
contains a hidden symphony.
"Transcend Sideways"
returns to the sonic landscape of "Any Time The Wind Nature Is In Everywhere."
The interference in this case is of a very high frequency, and the event breaking through
the haze is the occasional sound as of a wheel spinning. At certain points it also appears
that there are voices of children yelling buried deep in the mix, but, if so, they are so
distant and vague as to be non-existent.
A biblical quote is reproduced on
the inside of the sleeve: The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it
makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with
everyone who is born of the spirit (John 3.8). The closing piece of the CD would seem
to be Mizutani's reflection on these words. "Spirit Of The Air"
consists of two sounds weaving in and out amongst each other for close to ten minutes -- a
high-pitched, metallic singing, and some kind of rustling or rattling. No set pattern ever
emerges in the interplay between these two sounds; they are as if moved or manipulated by
invisible hands....or, the always unpredictable wind.
