Search - Taku Sugimoto :: Opposite

The use of space, sound shaped by silence

Adolph Pinelad | Montreal, Quebec Canada | 03/21/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Elements of the music:

Taku Sugimoto. Electric and acoustic guitar. Solo work.

Guitar technique: Superb yet subtle. Don't expect pyrotechnics -expect the beauty of creation.

Mood: Dark, pensive, austere.

Elements: Silence is as important as the sounds themselves.



In this recording you must learn patience; you must put parismony into practice. The music will pull it out of you. This is a music of economics; but beyond that rudimentary observation, this is music that explores silence and its weight upon sonority. Time is an abstract notion. It is a concept that exists as evidence of the artist's and listener's intuition.

Sugimoto's techniques vary, but are all very subtle. There is no interest in displaying virtuosity. The main praxis of this music is exploring space, reverberation and the death of a sound as a catalyst for a new rebirth. Melody is explored in some of the pieces, but not a melody you will whistle along to. It is more the deconstruction and construction of melodic aphorisms, melodies ersatz; the possibility of melody.

In this sense the album is a success. It is an aggressive kind of ambient, it cannot be ignored but it floats in ether. This is a very interesting paradox of sound. The music is obtrusive but not disturbing. What this means is that to fully appreciate it you must be paying attention to it. This is music about becoming. It depends on both the musician's and listener's sensibilities to actually be realized into something beautiful.

This is an album to be listened to in the dark and to imagine obscure landscapes and at times even a latent psychosis. For patient listeners and enthusiasts of spatial explorations this is a fascinating record. Some moments sound similar to Fred Frith's explorations on his album Clearance released by Tzadik, but Frith exploits technique (orthodox and extended) and melody as well (it is an amazing album by the way). Taku Sugimoto's work in opposite is highly recommended.

"