Released
1998
Label
Lascaux
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
Tatsugi-bldg 4F
3-27-4 Kitazawa
Setagayaku Tokyo
Japan 155-0031
Tel/Fax: 81-3-5454-4878
Visit
Last Edit/Update
13 March, 1999
Ringlead
FUTURE WAVE
Track Listing
1. Future Wave
2. I Pray
3. Waltz
4. Sacrifice
5. Camera Tranquilla
6. Future Wave Second
7. Gita
8. Crash Of Horn
9. Prague
10. Marzo
The Japanese label Lascaux specializes in experimental/avant-garde music
of a wholly different kind than the noise-based sound explorations of the majority of
Japanese bands/artists that we hear in the West these days. Ringlead's
first CD on Lascaux is thus a collection of ten very harmonious songs
that skip and jump across many genres, and manages to fit everything into a framework of
atmospherical guitar work. Future Wave is an odd bird to be sure, but it is one
that delights with its colorful plumage.
In the space of less than four
minutes, the opening piece "Future Wave" travels several light-years, from sonic
depictions of sunspots and cosmic interference to short-wave tunings and an operatic
female vocal sequence accompanied by acoustic piano. This musical plasticity is retained
throughout the CD, with individual tracks alternately favoring Ringlead's
experimental and atmospheric qualities, and more rhythmic and vocal arrangements. The
aforementioned "Future Wave", as well as "Sacrifice", "Future
Wave Second", "Crash Of Horn" and "Marzo" are all essentially
instrumental tracks, although brief appearances of voices -- often played in reverse -- do
occur. "Sacrifice" is a very moody composition pitting test tones and wandering
strings against a backdrop of slow, bass chords of a warmth and texture as if produced on
a viola. The brief "Future Wave Second" is a study in reverse sound
manipulations, through which meanders an unaffected acoustic piano theme. And, the
likewise short closing track -- "Marzo" -- is a tranquil sea of the layered
spacious guitar harmonies that play such a dominant role on most of the album's
compositions.
The other half of the album
features beautiful female vocals that are often classically inspired, but occasionally
shift into a more modern mode of delivery. "I Pray" -- with its funky rhythm and
bass lines -- is probably the closest to a regular dance hit, although the piece is thrown
off balance by part of the vocals being run in reverse, and crashing waves of atmospheres
at times threaten to drown out all other sounds. Also well suited for the dance floors is
"Gita", which opens with dance beats (of the drum machine variety) rushes of
harmonic guitar treatments, and high-pitched joyful vocals. In a similar vein is
"Waltz", featuring the most serene vocals and use of streaming harmonies, while
apparently finding its looped waltz rhythm on a casio keyboard of the $15 price category.
Future Wave has something
for both the dance clubs and the more recreational type of listening situation. It is a
refreshing little CD (just under 40 minutes in length) that shows a different facet of the
Japanese imagination -- one that is not uninfluenced by Western modes of musical
expression. Lascaux has an on-line mail order service, so in case a
search through the local record bins should prove unsuccessful with regards to Ringlead,
or other of the label's releases, one can order them straight from the source.
