HANAEMAKI with a singer Yoko Yamamoto is completed.

We have what we call a sense of visional, enigmatic consciousness of space which extends back to the ancient times where we admire the moon, have a fear of God, toy with bizarre ideas, and feel the presence of spirits in nature, though we’re still confused in the mortal world, madly in love with someone, and just drifting through the Japanese four seasons. Our Japanese identity has probably become established by these things. “Forget about always singing in a pretty voice!” Yoko Yamamoto’s challenge on this album was a fierce struggle. The studio seemed to be on fire. Intense emotions exploded continuously to the degree that it was as if the studio was being haunted by specters. It was out of desperation, devotion, and tears that we finally began to chisel out a definite shape of music over time. Yoko Yamamoto’s challenge might have been in fact a process of the growth of the Japanese mind. This heavenly angel named Yoko Yamamoto who is occasionally adorable, scary, sad, and bravely beautiful, captivates me with her mysterious smile.(Nashiki)

Our new album white in was completed.

All the songs included in this album are written by Seido Haku, composed by GEN, arranged by Manabu Kondo, and sung by Sawako Tomioka. Even though each artist mentioned above is versatile, if I were to point out a specialized field for each one, it might be Japanese ballad, rock, electronica, and gospel. They made up this unique team whose member’s ages were quite different, but this album was born as if some primitive colors got mixed up to burst forth an extreme musical world. The basement of this album is surely Seido Haku's somewhat dark world of "women", and in his peculiar but determined philosophy of life that scorns pretty words and mere whitewashing. Sawako Tomioka's soulful voice fully expresses his lyrics and words being driven by speedy melody and sound arrangement. (Nashiki)

Two titles were released at the same time from our first compilation series.

The one is called "Cross Echoes" and composed of works by several artists including Shige (Shigezo Kamimura) of "DEEP INSIDE" album, Takashi Murata of "Gekka" album, Kouichi Inoue of "Teki" album, and Hitoshi Kitano for whom this was first contribution to Nash & Artists. On this work each artist has made much more creative and deeper world in their own way. And another one is called "Ebonies" by Mika (Mika Yokoyama), the chief of Nash Studio staff and Aki (Aki Fujimoto) of "Halcyon" album. They are very skillful keyboard players, and their individual musical fantasies made a beautiful contrast with each other.

"Halcyon" by "Vibe a matic" is completed, and will be released on Jan. 20th, 2008.

The title is "Halcyon", the name of Godess in Greek mythology also called "Alcyone". She threw herself into the sea following her husband's death, and was changed into halcyon bird by gods. "Halcyon days", the peaceful days around the winter solstice, originated from this story.

Contrary to this calm image of the title name, the sub theme of this work is "self-injury" !. Actually it has a radical image like punk music. Flow of songs finally describes "Woman that is breaking and going to pieces".

Compared with other works of Nash & Artists, most of which are kind of pictorial arts painted by sounds, this "Halcyon" could be said to be just like a consistent-themed "short novels collection".

Mika, a member of Nash, has been deeply concerned more than ever in this work for manipulatings, recordings and mixings; consequently this work has come out with "deep Female sounds". Uuuum... (Nashiki)

"Otono Tenji/Nash Sound Gallery" is held by Nash Studio as following.

This "Otono Tenji/Nash Sound Gallery" is held for the people to touch and see(hear) our Nash & Artists Compositions as Sound Objects just like Art objects, such as paintings drawn on canvases. Our compositions are exhibited as sound objects drawn on CDs, not as music being performed by players. "Otono Tenji" means the sound exhibit.

Here, we share the space with an Art Object having the same work theme as our compostion's, but these two Objects do not collaborate with each other, just stand side by side in the same space as two already completed compositions. I don't know how they could be. It might be a beautilfu tuned space or just conflict. Anyway, there we can find the condensed view of this world of En: the Karma.

Nashiki



Producer's note
2007.2.2

"Kishin(devil-god)" by Ryoji Yuri is completed.

The theme is just "Oni(Devil)". Erudite Yuri has a lot of knowledge about Oni tradition and he is actually a guy like a Oni. He has somewhere in himsefl a factor of non-human, or keeps being tormented by it. He is never a violent person but keeps always a kind of anger in his expression drifting an uncontrolable strong emotion. The impression to others is like constant discharging a kind of a Devil's spirit, or the unknown anger covering thickly his original obedient character.

Yuri has built up his career of "Gagaku(traditional Japanese music)" in Nara Nanto-Gakuso which is the most traditional musical organization in Japan. That means his musical starting point is in the oldest style of Japanese music. In the process where the various cultures from overseas flew into and absorbed by Japan, Yamato(old Nara), the music might had been a wild and chaotic spirit itself, not yet differentiated like that of today. As the fierce storm of creation, it is still coiling itself in his mind.....if Yuri's "Devil'S spirit" embodies something, it might be like this.

As I was concerned in this work "Kishin" deeper than any other N&As, (the theme Oni was given by me), well, it actually has been a hard one. Yuri said "that was a fight", and I also have been fighting with the Devil part of his muisc as well as his emotion. All the people seem to be forced to live their lives continually trifled by Bon-no(worldly desires), we must confront right in front with it somewhere in our lives. For Yuri, I think, this work was just the confrontation and the fight with his inner Oni.

Nashiki



Producer's note
2006.9.11

Now “ DEEP INSIDE” composed by Shigezo Kamimura is completed.

This album has looks of a big picture scroll painted by sounds, which is emitting a strong image of Japan. We can see in its base his characteristic sense/fear to the “whirlpool”. Encounter with typhoon was the start, he says in the CD text, which might be one of the interesting psychological cases. Mr. Hayao Kawai makes references to the “whirlpool image” in his study on the collective unconsciousness, that is the greatness and the dreadfulness of the Mother.....

Setting aside that, in the process of making ”DEEP INSIDE”, images of the battle of Dan no ura, the God of sea, revengeful ghosts, deep-seated grudge, requiem etc. were seemed to be coming and going. Although the work has the construction by Japanese Drum, Shamisen and Synthesizer work, which tends to be an ordinary pattern, his sounds involve us wholey in one go. Undulation, variation and dynamism of them can be said to have an overwhelming graviation, and actually without a sound seam from the beginning to the very end of CD, surely they have a kind of power like that absorbs everything around that hears them. Just Whirlpool, it is!

Shige is very good at snatching the cores out of various genres of music with his wide musical view and energetic curiousity, and always he makes them to be his own originals. Any specified theme ordered to him becomes his original world attached with his original value at last. Really talented artist.

Nashiki



Producer's note
2006.6.26

"Gekka" by Takashi Murata has been just completed now and is going to be released on July 7th.

Simply speaking, Gekka is quite a beautiful album, and also this is strikingly "normal(?)" among the previous Nash & Artists. Murata is a generally admitted "Melody Maker" whose character is well displayed in this album too, especially in 13.Gekka (the same title of the album's), which has a wordless beauty and keenness with the unique timbre of "Niko" taking theme of it. Murata had a strong premise, "Melody", preceding all the discussions how to make the new album.

He said he was inspired by "Mibugishiden", a novel written by Mr. Jiro Asada. I checked that and was caught by something unbearable. The story is about a poor samurai who becomes a strict miser and struggles in Shinsengumi just for his family. Murata seems to have deeply felt the heart that quietly and sadly accepts the confrontational two factors in life such as stillness and move, life and death, man and woman, or friends and fights there in the story.

The image like "Black and white", or "Onmyo(bright and dark)" is one of the themes many artists like to deal with, and actually Murata says he did that in his album. But I feel the world of this album is just "the transparent sound pasted on the border area of life and death, rather than dynamaic movement, balance, contrast, or unity of both extremities

The life, drifting in the deep phase of this world silver-shined by moon, not bright nor dark, is solemnly discribed here. Due to his actual experience of fatal disease or not, Gekka is a mysterious work like in which we can hear the sincere and serious sounds directly from more than 1km.

Nashiki



Producer's note
2006.4.14

Now you can order the CDs of Nash & Artists online at last. Sorry to have kept you inconvenient for a long time. And also the file-download sale of our Nash & Artist works, such as iTunes Music Store has begun one by one, please check.

The recordings of Takano(Satoshi Takano), Murata(Takashi Murata), Shige(Shigezo Kamimura) and Yuri(Ryoji Yuri) have been going on concurrently these days, sometime one on a day and the other next day. Interesting but somewhat confusing, it's really been. Their motivations are very high and strong, and they, the gentle staff of Nash Music Library have changed colors of their eyes just for their own works. As the theme of Nash & Artist is just "be yourself and express yourself", it is quite natural....it's the way it should be.

First, Takano.
His work is titled "POINTER". This is now all completed and to be on sale on April 20th. Powerfully strange, very up-to-date, and you can call it "electric-roman" or "inorganic fantasy". This work of Takano surely has destroyed something established. Although new sprits are always hard to touch, "POINTER", flying far away from the comprehension of old people, is unexpectedly "POP".

Takano, himself is a very queer guy, that is, being gentle and rather intelligent, such an annoying! good-guy just like kitchen-lap which is dry but intertwining. Takano being sometime badly down, sometime cool and smart, and in the end the "POINTER" has come to be the Work of his all might, I think.

Nashiki