Description
1. Small Town
2. Shaman
3. Three Stairs
4. Blue Tone
5. Wipeout
6. Reply
7. MB (Short)
8. Duet
9. Seat
10. Room (Fade-in Version)
11. On Switch
12. Small Town (Reprise)
2019 release. Once a duo, in 2007 Yamaoka became the sole province of Kenichi Oka, and if nothing else, the man hasnt lain fallow since. On the contrary, hes continued to ply his trade across a veritable smorgasbord of labels worldwide, and, thankfully, virtually all of it has been on our blessed CD or CDR formats. Making his Carpe Sonum debut, its easy to understand why the nomadic Yamaoka is one of electronicas great hopes for the future. Style-wise, he doesnt relish sitting still very often, and the remarkable thing is that he traverses such swift alterations in form and function with a singular dexterity. On Switch makes mincemeat out of hoary old drum n bass flexisms due to its liquifying background wetwork and spastic yet cooling synth tropes. Conversely, the achingly lovely chordal loops ringing throughout Duet truly paint a picture of what you soul might look like. And Three Stairs reasonably remixes Tangerine Dreams lost sequencer art for 21st century nu-school converts, suborning the genre while systematically tweaking it to suit those whose sensibilities arose from IDMs golden era. Wow and flutter, with emphasis on the wow.