ONJO “Live Vol.2 Parallel Circuit”
(doubt music 2007)
Yoshihide Otomo – electric guitar
Twenty-some others
Otomo’s latest evolution of his musical collective is just as wild and weird as the others, and just as delightful and hilarious, too! This is not easy music, but it’s honest. And that is exactly what Otomo is aiming for, an honest language of sound, jazz or not jazz, that conveys the vast complexity of experience in this day and age. The liner notes are excellent, and a bit of a surprise since so many musicians either can’t or won’t articulate their ideas in language (giving us music writers a chance, I guess). Otomo, though, says exactly what he’s doing clearly and directly. Just like the music.
What he’s up to is the creation of music that is an ensemble work without any confining theory or guiding principle. It’s experimental, but also has a kind of daily simplicity to it. Voices fade in and out, noises seem to just grow louder then snip off, instruments are used as basic means to sound rather than an object for displaying technical skill. This is not music for every listener, but it is elegant in its casualness, overpowering in its chaos, and gutsy all around.
The shifting, ebbing sounds of the opening track “Shichinin no Keiji” recorded in Berlin and Tokyo is followed by the screaming energy of Eric Dolphy’s “Gazzelloni” and then the collapsing waves of sound on “Te Recuerdo Amanda Song for Che,” which sounds like music you’d make when sailing on the deck of an old boat putting into port at musical countries around the world, picking up a bit of this and that from all over the map. The songs are not always wild, though as “Super Jetter” eases into a calm, slow vibe that contrasts dramatically with the other music. The band is bold when it wants to be, but reflective when it needs to be.
The full-on noise-laden “ANODEONJO” gives the full flavor of what the band can do when it wants to wail. Recorded at the band’s home base, Shinjuku Pit Inn, it captures the flavor of the live shows there completely. Which isn’t to say comfortably. The music gets into those nooks and crannies of your musical brain where you want one thing, but get something else altogether. There is no way to listen to their music without saying to yourself over and over, “What IS THIS?” Otomo and friends are not afraid of music that is incompatible with expectations, but they take their love of the unexpected seriously and deliver on that seriousness.
Overdubs, TV-like music, electronica, free jazz, noodling around all get layered in and around and through the music. “Lupin the Third—theme of Walther” gets right into this territory, then opens up into a wild blowing session. “Something Sweet, Something Tender) recorded in Berlin and Tokyo, like so many of the tracks recorded at different times and places, is neither sweet or tender exactly, but somehow hints at feelings that connect in other unusual patterns of emotion. The anthem-like “Eureka” is the perfect close to the second disc, scaling higher and higher with an end-of-the-night satisfaction.
That is to say, this is deeply emotional music that fits no preconceived patterns of musical expression. ONJO pushes boundaries by discarding preconceptions like missed notes on a musical scale. This double CD is a powerful one and an excellent way into the musical non-genres Tokyo explores. Many listeners may not get through this challenging CD more than once, but that one time will be an intense experience, and not one that should be missed!