The late 70's in Japan was starting to show some big changes shaping up to the particular scenes that would come to rise in the 80s. For once, those years were starting to bring with it a slow acceptance of what would become a dominant style of the new wave of pop, as well as an experimental approach to both rock and electronic music. But the main issue with the progress of this evolution relied on that key word: "slow". By the time 1978 came around, there were already a considerable amount of prominent and talented artists that had started to dive into their respective solo careers with what can only be fairly described as a mixed, and sometimes even unfair, reception at the time. This could be traced back to 1974 and 1975, with the separation of Happy End from the mainstream music scene, with their respective members looking to dive into other styles of music in their own individual way, and the creation of Sugar Babe, a band that practically cemented the start of City Pop in an underground scene, being almost completely overlooked by the mainstream, but with their music serving as a inspiration and starting point for many trends that would become the norm years after the release of their debut, and only, album, Songs.
The separation of Sugar Babe itself lead to all the artists that formed part of the group to seek their own individual musical interests, but the one that seemed to be the most ambitious and busy on this aspect was no other than Tatsuro Yamashita, who would often, due to creative and economical needs, appear as a guest artist on other projects, as well as working on his own music, starting to build up a reputation among musicians at the time (something that would sadly take a long time to extend to the mainstream, making Tatsuro face quite a lot of barriers when it came to come forward with recording and publishing his music). In the early days of Sugar Babe, he would be introduced to Haruomi Hosono and the rest of the members of Happy End, due to the fact that the band started to work with Eiichi Otaki's label, even participating as backing vocalists in their last concert before debuting onstage themselves a few months later. After that point, Yamashita would start working on projects where Hosono appeared fairly regularly, starting with Niagara Triangle Vol, 1 in 1976 (where Hosono himself would become introduced with a young Ryuichi Sakamoto), and following in 1977, where Yamashita gathered an impressive lineup consisting of some of the most talented and respected musicians in Japan in order to record his sophomore album, Spacy. Not long after, both artists would get paired with Shigeru Suzuki (another ex-member of Happy End, who was also working at the time along side Hosono on the "Tin Pan Alley" band) by the CBS/Sony label in Japan in order to release a compilation with exclusive works from each artist as part of the first entry on the "CBS/SONY SOUND IMAGE SERIES", which came out under the name of Pacific in 1978.
But, what was really presented on Pacific?. For starters, this is not really an album, it is more of a compilation of individual works from each respective artist, with each one of them having three respective pieces that appear throughout the entire duration of the project (with another thing connecting the songs being the collaboration of a great amount of artists that were part of the recording sessions for the tracks, most notably with the inclusion of Ryuichi Sakamoto, who at that point had also been a part of the recording of Spacy as well as being part of Yamashita's live lineup in 1977, as well as the rest of future YMO members). However, these are not conventional songs either, but a collection of mostly instrumental compositions and arrangements that tackle a varied and surprising number of genres and styles, including some experimentation at certain segments, but sharing a "summer like" and upbeat between all of them, tying the tracks together and making up for a consistent and coherent project. However, the quality of tracks presented here is certainly surprising, where despite the fact that there are some definitive important highlights present on the experience, all tracks present here offer something unique and different, and it all makes up for a coherent release that flows incredibly well and feels shorter than what it actually is. Each artist takes a presence with their respective pieces, and this improved with the absolutely gorgeous stereo mixing courtesy of Yuichi Maejima. It all makes up for an incredibly enjoyable and remarkable in the qualities that it presents from beginning to end.
It all starts with Hosono's first piece, 最後の楽園, opening the album and stablishing the main tone and focus of the entire project on a very pleasant way. With the use of the instruments emulating bird sounds, and with the synth being the obvious main element on the song, it is something that builds up a particular atmosphere very fast. There is an interesting dynamic between the way the guitar, piano, subtle drums, and bass, interact with the main synth that takes over most of the experience. It is all laid back and calm in spirit, and it all keeps building up on this idea of this particular dynamic between an almost atonal separate melody interacting with the rest of instruments being fleshed out throughout the track until eventually reaching an end. It is not something outside of the field of Hosono's work, but it is a rather more loose and different approach in the arrangement. Perhaps the main flaw is that it seems to last a bit more than it should, being a bit repetitive in that aspect, but overall it really flows incredibly well, setting up the main atmosphere (something tropical, relaxed, and inclined towards calm melodies) and tone that will be tackled in different ways throughout the album. Suzuki follows along with コーラル・リーフ, a more upbeat and conventional instrumental approach being much more reminiscent of a tropical atmosphere than the previous track, particularly with the main guitar melody being joyful and groovy, while also making great use of the percussion elements that complement the straight forward drumming part. Under my eyes, this is a definitive highlight of the album, mainly because it knows how long to develop as an idea, as well as the surprising amount of layers that simply add to the atmosphere on fantastic ways. The use of the string arrangements being complemented with the subtle and soft background vocals make up for a very complete track in the arrangements due to the wonderful production and mixing that achieve a fulfilling and well balanced atmospheric sound.
As it was mentioned before, every artist had a space for three tracks, but Yamashita ends up being credited in two. That simply happens due to the fact that two separate arrangements, taken as individual parts, get packed into the almost ten minute long ノスタルジア・オブ・アイランド. This would not be the first time Yamashita was to be involved in an almost completely instrumental track that took a tropical tone and motive on its core, since he was already involved in such an "experiment" in the recording and production of Niagara Triangle Vol. 1, but it was the first time he tried to do it completely alone. Considering that, both segments of the track are fairly enjoyable on their own particular way, and they take different approaches even in the instruments leading the melodies. バード・ウインド, the first part, starts things off with the sound of waves leading into a sweet synth line, eventually transitioning into the main reverbed bass that will mark the tone and atmosphere of this first half. As expected from Yamashita, the way the rest of elements complement this main rhythm is intriguing to say the least, with a second bass, background synths, piano, and the calm drums adding to the relaxed and calm atmosphere that carried for around four minutes, leading again to the sound of waves marking a transition to ウォーキング・オン・ザ・ビーチ, the second part of the song. This segment has certainly a lot more going for it, starting out with the main guitar being slowly balanced with the rest of elements being added. creating a main surf-rock like rhythm that carries for some time. It all leads to the only vocal segment on the album, with a small reverbed cover of The Beach Boys' "Girls On The Beach", before going back to the main melody until it slowly fades out into the initial waves sound, marking the end of the track. For it being the first almost full instrumental pieces of Yamashita, they are really a treat to listen to. He had already dived into these aspects of his main pop influences, but never to this extent, and it is something that would come in full form with Big Wave years later. Not perfect, with the main element lacking are, well, Yamashita's iconic vocals, but still really enjoyable to listen to.
Hosono's スラック・キー・ルンバ follows right after to serve as the closer for the first side of the album. It is much more in line with what was seen on his previous solo work up to that point, with a big presence of acoustic guitar being again complemented by a range of subtle elements being used, from a marimba to minor elements looking to provide the mark the main beat. Easily the simplest, shortest, and straight forward track on the album, but still very calming and enjoyable to listen to. The second side of the record opens up with the remaining to Suzuki tracks. It all starts off with パッション・フラワー, once again introducing the main ideas and approaches to songwriting seen on Suzuki's first appearance on the album. The balance between the many elements being used, with the string arrangements in the background, along side background vocals to complete some melody sections, to the lively percussion, where it almost seen as being very inclined towards samba. However, the track keeps building up on the idea, and even though it seems like it repeats some segments, it all serves to introduce new things in order to add some variety to the track, most notably a wonderful and satisfying flute solo at the final section of the track, fading out before ending completely. Suzuki's third and final offer comes in with ノアノア, and once again, it becomes a definitive highlight within the album.
The idea that it presents at first reintroduces the acoustic guitar seen on Hosono's second song, but it uses it on a much more dynamic and engaging way. It is a very calming song, being one of the ones that heavily focus on building a main atmosphere rather than a main groovy or upbeat melody. The acoustic guitar is complemented with the synth and keyboard parts that simply end up shining on full splendor if using headphones, adding to a very pleasant melody that simply transitions beautifully into a much groovier rhythm twice within the song (the first time with the synth taking the spotlight, while the keyboard shines on the second iteration) is simply majestic to say the least, executed on such an engaging and almost seamless way. After that, the last Yamashita song takes the spotlight in the form of キスカ. This could have easily been released as an instrumental B-side or an outtake from Tatsuro's catalog, since it mostly follows along the more conventional style of songwriting seen on Spacy and Go Ahead!, with the main guitar line, as well as the saxophone and guitar solos (with the sax being one of the main focuses of the song), being guilty of this. Still, this is a charming track, with a joyful and relaxing rhythm carried by the instrumentals, but with the evident sensation that the vocals are missing in the equation (as well as feeling as lasting longer than it should, being the second longest track on the album).
And finally, the cherry on top of the entire compilation comes in the form of Hosono's third and last song, the closer of the entire project, and what is mostly addressed as the undeniable highlight of the entire experience, and for very good reasons: コズミック・サーフィン, more known as Cosmic Surfin'. This would be more known as the early version of the track of the same name that would appear on YMO's debut a couple of years later. It is something almost completely separated from the themes, atmosphere, and overall genre approach compared to what was seen previously on the album, almost as if it had been a last minute bonus track, but it is still understandable considering the fact that the artists had the freedom to do whatever they saw fit with their instrumental pieces present here, so it might have been a way for Hosono to try and introduce this style of music to the public. However, the way the track comes right at the end, as well as the way the song itself is approached and despite it being an electronic synth driven track, it still somewhat resembles a main surf pop rhythm that manages to make it relate to previous songs on the album, still holding a consistency and coherence within the experience. The way the synths interact with each other, complementing their basic melodies in order to bring a unique atmosphere portrayed by a layered melody is simply outstanding and incredibly remarkable. Of course, this mark the introduction of this new style of music from all the members of YMO (considering they all appeared on the album, specially on this track), but specially the dynamic between Hosono and Sakamoto, giving a minor taste at the huge amount of masterpieces that would come years later with entire albums focused around this main concept. Significant for the music of the artist, and quite unique and memorable closer within this project. Certainly wonderful.
Pacific is a very interesting project. The choice of the artists that would come to form part of the compilation is certainly something intriguing and fairly respectable coming from CBS Sony (to be more specific, from Shinichi Hashimoto, the producer for the label who planned the entire series from 1978 to 1983). First of all, counting with the presence of two well cemented and recognized artists at the time, two ex members of Happy End, who was already considered one of the most important bands in the history of Japanese music at the time, to be more precise, and who had already started with an active and well received solo career (with Hosono releasing Hosono House, Tropical Dandy, and Bon Voyage Co from 1973 to 1976, and Shigeru having Band Wagon and Lagoon in 1975 and 1976; and with both of them being founding members of Tin Pan Alley at that point).
On the other hand, there was the inclusion of a young and ambitious Tatsuro Yamashita, whose solo career had been nothing but criticized and almost completely overlooked by the mainstream, only having a respectable reputation among musicians at the time, as well as his small, but loyal, underground fanbase. He had released two studio albums, as well as a fantastic double live record, at that point, but with the lack of singles or good sales, his career and contract with RCA seemed to be hanging by a thin thread. But the thing that kept the label hooked to the artist was that reputation with big musical names at the time, and being included on a collaborative effort such as this, where he participated with those big names, served as a light of hope that shined upon something that would slowly, but effectively, get the overall recognition it deserved (something that would come in the form of his first official single in 1979). As for Hosono himself, this would mark the start of the ideas that would lead to the creation of YMO, with all members of the group forming part of the recording sessions for this album, with Sakamoto's brilliant keyboards shining whenever they are present.
Pacific is a very unique, charming, and incredibly enjoyable project. A compilation of tracks where the three artist involved have their own respective space on which approach a particular theme and atmosphere, with some being much more experimental than others, but still managing to offer a beautiful and relaxing experience that is a joy to listen to. Sure. some tracks work much better than others, and it is obvious that the main dish on the album is Hosono's third track, being an early version of YMO's Cosmic Surfin', but every single track here has something to offer, specially on Suzuki's contributions. From acoustic instrumental arrangements using percussion and strings to create an immersive and captivating atmosphere, groovier tracks that have a very notable and well structured melody and rhythm, to even small portions where a cover of The Beach boys is introduced; Pacific has many things to dissect, but more than that, it has many things to simply admire. The wonderful production and mixing aspects are simply superb, and they all make the musical abilities of all three artists involved shine on many ways, and the songs themselves, while not identical to each other, make up for a consistent and coherent experience that flows really well, and that is highly enjoyable as a full forty minute release that doesn't deserve to get overlooked by many.
It is simply a calming experience that will always be recommended for those who want to get lost in the sea of beautiful soundscapes that it has to offer.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Favorite Track: ノアノア / コズミック・サーフィン
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