Epilogue [LP]

Kenichiro Isoda - Epilogue [LP]

Epilogue is the culmination of more than four decades of music-making by Japanese composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ken-ichiro Isoda, an album in which environmental sound, electronics, contemporary classical composition and memory converge into a deeply personal late-career statement. Isoda moved through video-game music, film composition, classical production, Okinawan music, television and collaborative projects, continually developing an approach in which acoustic instrumentation, field recordings and electronics could coexist naturally. Epilogue consists largely of older compositions that Isoda has returned to, reconstructed and reinterpreted from the perspective of the present. Opening track "TANEKOMA" refers to the Izu Robin, a rare bird native to Hachijō-jima, the volcanic island where Isoda lives. Its song, recorded by Isoda in the mountains, becomes part of the composition itself. Placed at the beginning of the album, "TANEKOMA" becomes both document and prayer. Elsewhere, "Circulation 2" develops from a work created around the relationship between forest, sea and the movement of water. Flutist Dogen Kinowaki replaces Isoda's original piano melody with a performance that gives the piece a distinctly Japanese sense of place. Kinowaki also appears on a newly reimagined version of "Beach of the Pliocene," one of Isoda's most recognized compositions. "STEPS," first composed for film in 2008, looks back toward the electronica of that period. For this definitive version, Tsutomu Sonoda of maya ongaku provides vocals, bringing new emotional and lyrical depth to a piece Isoda had wanted to properly complete for more than a decade. The title track from Isoda's 1991 New Age album Yume no Sazanami is similarly reconsidered. Originally recorded with a small chamber orchestra, the new arrangement replaces elements of the harp and cello with layers of nylon-string guitar performed by Tatsuro Murakami. Perhaps the album's clearest meeting point between past and present is "WATERWAYS." The mysterious European ambient artist Aiko Takahashi, transforming an abandoned demo into what is simultaneously the oldest and newest work on the album. "A Flowering Tree," written for film in 2013, is reconstructed around multi-tracked flute performances by Dogen Kinowaki. The album closes with "EPILOGUE" -- less a grand conclusion than a moment of acceptance. Isoda chose it as the album's title piece to hold what he describes as the complex emotions that accompany the twilight of a life spent making music.

Track Listing:

A1. TANEKOMA
A2. Circulation 2
A3. Beach of the Pliocene
B1. STEPS
B2. Yume no Sazanami
B3. WATERWAYS
B4. A Flowering Tree
B5. EPILOGUE