Formats
20202004CD - CD
600197100523
Details
IN 2005, MICHIO KURIHARA RELEASED HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM, SUNSET NOTES, ON JAPAN'S RESPECTED PEDAL RECORDS. IT WAS A LONG TIME COMING FOR THE GUITARIST, WHOSE MUSICIANSHIP HAS ENLIGHTENED SUCH GROUPS AS GHOST, DAMON & NAOMI, WHITE HEAVEN, THE STARS AND YURA YURA TEIKOKU. KURIHARA IS NOT ONE TO INDULGE IN THE SPOTLIGHT (IN FACT, HE OFTEN LITERALLY DUCKS AWAY FROM IT), AND THAT ATTITUDE REFLECTS STRONGLY IN HIS GUITAR-PLAYING STYLE. NEVER DOES ONE HEAR A STRAIGHT PHRASE FROM HIM. INSTEAD, HE OFTEN DECORATES AROUND THE EDGES, BRINGING FORWARD A SENSE OF A SONG'S STRUCTURE AND IDENTITY THROUGH DELICATE BRUSH STROKES. THE SONGS ON SUNSET NOTES REFLECT THIS APPROACH. WHILE EMBRACING A VARIETY OF STYLES AND TECHNIQUES (A GENTLE SONG SUNG BY PEDAL POP STAR AI ASO IS FOLLOWED BY A SNAKELIKE INSTRUMENTAL PSYCH WORKOUT, WHICH IS FOLLOWED BY A BRANCA-ESQUE TSUNAMI OF DISTORTED GUITARS, AND SO ON), THE ALBUM MAINTAINS A FOCUS AROUND KURIHARA'S INGENIUS GUITAR PLAYING. SUNSET NOTES IS A MIND-EXPANDING, EXCITING ALBUM-BEAUTIFULLY ARRANGED, PRECISELY EXECUTED, AND AN ABSOLUTE THRILL TO HEAR.
Tracks
1. TIME TO GO
2. DO DEEP-SEA FISH DREAM OF ELECTRIC MOLES
3. WIND WALTZES
4. PENDULUM ON A G-STRING: THE LAST CICADA
5. CANON IN ?C? (C IS FOR CICADA)
6. TWILIGHT MYSTERY OF A RUSSIAN COWBOY
7. THE WIND?S TWELVE QUARTERS
8. THE OLD MAN AND THE EVENING STAR
9. A BOAT OF COURAGE
Press
ONE PAGE FEATURE IN THE LATEST WIRE, RECENT COLLABORATION WITH BORIS ON DRAG CITY GETTING RAVE REVIEWS; ?SEMINAL PSYCH GUITARIST.?
?PITCHFORK
?SOME OF THE COOLEST TRANCE-INDUCING MUSICIANS ARE LIVING IN JAPAN . . . AND MR. KURIHARA [IS] THE SCENE'S JIMMY PAGE.?
?NEW YORK TIMES
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