Walking Kuniyuki Takahashi

Aki Takahashi - A Valentine Out of Seasons (1976) {Eastworld Japan CC33-3322, Black Triangle rel 1985}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 183 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 19 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1976, 1985 Eastworld / Toshiba-EMI Japan | CC33-3322
Classical / Neo Classical / Contemporary Classical / Piano

Aki Takahashi made her public debut shortly after graduating from the Tokyo University of Arts with a masters degree in 1970. While acknowledged for her classical musicianship, her enthusiasm and acclaim as a new music interpreter have attracted the attention of many composers. Cage, Feldman, Takemitsu, Yun, Oliveros, Ruders, Satoh, Lucier and Garland, to name a few, have all created works for her.

Peter Garland (b. 1952) - The Birthday Party - Aki Takahashi (2017) {New World Records 80788-2 Digital Download}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download -> 180 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 154 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg+pdf) -> 5 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2017 New World Records | 80788-2
Classical / Modern Classical / Piano

On first hearing, the piano music of Peter Garland (b. 1952) creates a feeling of dislocation, then astonishment: It is so very different from the contemporary concert music we are familiar with. The composer's intent, his emotional directness is immediate - despite the unusual sound world and different sense of time that these pieces exhibit. Time itself appears to be suspended, and rhythm, melody and harmony are transformed into quite different entities in a universe parallel to our own - as accessible but not quite of it.

H.Takahashi, Tokyo based Architect and sound designer. ‘Low Power’ draws strands of Minimalism from the Japanese Minimalist works from the likes of Hiroshi Yoshimura and Satoshi Ashikawa, to masters such as Erik Satie and John Cage, and Ambient leaders Brian Eno and Roedelius. His sound sometimes seems to be drizzling like rain, but still the feeling of refreshing sounds sinks pleasantly inside the body like a shower bathed after running 100 meters with full power. A genuine melody gives a feeling that drifts in the water. The philosophy of simple timbre composition and placement makes feel the composition of the Japanese garden and the minimalism of Sen no Rikyu.

This is a handsome-looking compact disc release, with strikingly muted graphics in cool purple tones, featuring Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer and Japanese harpist Naoko Yoshina. Here the pretty graphics go a little too far: the buyer finds no listing of compositions on the outside of the package and has no way of knowing what is played aside from a bare mention of the names of the 11 composers featured. That's where the All Classical Guide comes in. The works were all written in the twentieth century. They are: Michio Miyagi's Haru no umi (Ocean in Spring, a calming, melodic piece); Kaija Saariaho's Nocturne for violin solo (a somewhat avant-garde coloristic piece); Toru Takemitsu's Stanza II for harp and tape (also pretty far out and very Japanese-sounding); Yuji Takahashi's Insomnia for violin, voices, and kugo (strange, but oddly soothing); a movement from Satie's Le fils des étoiles as arranged by Takahashi (austere); Jean Françaix's Five Little Duets (100 percent charming); the Étude for violin from Richard Strauss's Daphne (also charming); Six Melodies by John Cage (simple and pleasant); Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel (even simpler and not startling); Nino Rota's love theme from The Godfather (you know this one); and the final movement from Schnittke's Suite in the Old Style (gently Classical except for one deliberately horrendous dissonance).