Tadashi Goto - Soundscape

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Tadashi Goto - Soundscape

Artist:	Tadashi Goto
Title:	Soundscape
Label:	Musea Parallele MP 3046.AR
Length(s):	50 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2005
Month of review:	[10/2005]

Line up

Tadashi Goto - keyboards, guitar, programming

Tracks

1)	Moratorium	1.25
2)	World Update	3.28
3)	Lapstone	4.35
4)	Depth Interview	3.37
5)	Loveless	3.54
6)	Soundscape	11.07
7)	A Priori	1.36
8)	Science Without Humanity	5.24
9)	Swan Song	6.03
10)	The Uncertainty Of Life	4.10
11)	Yin And Yang	4.32

Summary

The line up was in Japanese so none this time. What I considered to be the band are simply pictures of the same person, Tadashi Goto. In computer science, Goto's are considered harmful, let's see how that translates to music...

The music

Moratorium is a short opener that reminds me of the synthy side of Spaced Out. The second part of this overture does not make that any different. World Update is a beat rich piece of work. The beats seem to be programmed (maybe an electronic kit is used). Well some people may get harmed while listening to the very technocratic sounding drumcomputers and keyboards. In between, some synthetic string work brings in the friendly tones, but overall this is rather hectic music full to the brim. I tend to compare it with Hal Darling and Fonya, but I guess Tadashi is smack in the middle between them, being more melodic than Darling and more adventurous than Fonya. But it does have that typical do it yourself feel that makes the music come out less than organic. However, I do not mind that much, for instance, the Lapstone composition is like it should be in that respect: music may sound cold if it is meant to. The raging guitars and the jazzy interludes also set Goto aside from the others I mentioned. One can also view Goto as a jazzrock version of Trent Gardner, leaving out the vocals. At the end, we get some good symphonic jazzrock.

In Depth Interview, we rage on, although this percussive tune is a meandering one. Loveless is totally different, a ballad no less. Time for some romantic moments by the hearth. Soundscape is by far the longest track on this album, over eleven minutes long. It opens all moodily, indeed as if Goto has all the time in the world. The church organ sound and programmed drums remind me most of the symphonic do-it-yourselvers like the already mentioned Fonya, but also someone like the late Brian Hirsch. This serves to indicate the mechanicalness that pervades the music. This is not accidental, but something done on purpose. At three minutes, Goto finally breaks loose again being all over the place (like his namesake from Fortran and Basic). When he thunders on I like Goto best, although the moody interlude halfway is also good. Then we get some organ dominated meandering, before we run head first into a wall of guitars and panicky keyboards. Quite an adventure.

A Priori is a short keys tune with a warm vibe feel. The melodies sound somewhat incidental, a bit like Goto is practising his playing before he goes on. Very phrase like. Science Without Humanity is back to double bass drums and a raging rhythm guitar. The style should by now be familiar: varied jazzrock sprinkled with friendly keyboards and piano, but overall a very full soundspectrum and Goto going all over the place.

In view of the title, I expect Swan Song to be a breather after its hectic predecessor. There is a certain EMishness to the music here, maybe a bit of Patrick O'Hearn's first solo album. The vocal wails add to the atmosphere. The rock does set in around the two minutes mark, sounding rather industrial. After another two minutes of this, we come to a piano part, that means a bit of relaxation. Melodically appealing, and not obvious.

The Uncertainty Of Life is a percussive tune again, sounding somewhat eighties pop like. The drums are a bit too mechanical, and a bit too many strings and fake sax. The handclap like percussion also does not help. The weakest track thus far, also because of the very mellow melody.

We close with Yin And Yang, which harbours some very nice organ work reminiscent of ELP. Then the guitar breaks loose again, and many will run for cover.

Conclusion

This cd is not for the faint of heart, but it is not just the complexity. The style lies somewhere between Trent Gardner and Spaced Out, with the accent on the jazz side. However, the programmed drums, the highly synthetic keyboards, and the raging rhythm guitar on some of the tracks may remind one as well of people like Hal Darling and Brian Hirsch. The raging guitar parts make all the difference in my opinion, since it makes sure that we do not get stuck in a morass of meandering keyboards: it introduces the variation that this album needs. It is all Goto himself, so it has that lack of groove, but in his kind of music, that is not a problem, it is part of the musical picture. Coming back to my earlier question: Goto IS harmful, but that is what I like about him.