Foreign Shores

Aoki Takamasa: Walk on the Ocean
From Simply Funk (Progressive Form, 2004)
They've Been Waiting
From Quantum (Cirque, 2003)

In the age of the internet, I (like many heads), tend to believe that any worthy new music, no matter where in the globe it originates, will eventually make its way to my ears. Last month, I saw Aoki Takamasa perform in New York, and I realized how wrong I was. I'd never heard of him before that night, but his sound manipulations blew me away, and I copped two of his CDs on my way out. Aoki is a true international bell ringer, born in Osaka, Japan and currently living in Paris, France. His music isn't that stylistically separate from the legions of laptop producers out there, but it has a certain emotional tinge that many similar-sounding artists lack.

"Walk on the Ocean" is easily the most accessible track on either album, due largely to presence of Glen Phillips (from rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket). Phillips isn't the greatest singer, so it's Aoki who steals the show here, combining his own gently pulsating digital texture with fractured reflections of Phillips' vocals.

"They've Been Waiting" also features singing, but in a very different way. A wordless female vocal, sustained for five minutes and smeared across the stereo field, becomes the heart of the song, surrounded by soft synths and minimal click percussion. This is a great track to listen to on headphones just before falling asleep at night.