Gentle, melodic, and yet never too easy. Nakamura’s music has an edge; it stays away from the new age world or just be pleasing.
Not a beep out of place
Nothing Left Behind is the second CD by Tomotsugu Nakamura for Laaps, following Literature; a popular musician. I see on Bandcamp that this CD was released in July and is already sold out (which begs the question, why send a review copy now?). Nakamura is not. He is a very active musician; this is his seventh solo album in about ten years. He’s also a member of Suisen, a duo with Darren McClure. His main instruments, along with electronics and field recordings, are piano and guitar. Everything he does, music-wise, that is, is done with great care. Slow music, with a few tones shooting into effects, others naturally coming to the listener. Think of a man with a laptop and an instrument (although, for all I know, no computer and just sound effects). There is no preference for either, and just like the music, it keeps a delicate balance. Some plinks on a guitar, reversing and delaying one, adding another plink and bob’s your uncle. I have no idea how difficult or easy it is to create such music, nor do I think it is necessary to know this, but it sounds like easy music in all its gentleness. It is certainly, easy to digest.
The music is highly melodic, not a distortion around, not a beep out of place, just these ten slow drifts of guitar and piano sounds, with a violin in “Telescope.” Gentle, melodic, and yet never too easy. Nakamura’s music has an edge; it stays away from the new age world or just be pleasing. The reversing of tones, the unexpected entry of a music box, or even what seems to be a rhythm machine (in “Mistletoe;” a bit early perhaps?) is just enough difference to avoid well-trodden paths. And that’s what I like best about this music. One to keep hanging around until the days are shorter and colder.
Review by: Frans de Waard / Vital Weekly #1353. Reprinted with permission.
Nothing Left Behind is available on Laaps. [Bandcamp]
