Tomoyuki Asakawa – Endless Tide (1993)

Tomoyuki Asakawa - Endless Tide

If water is an adhesive, this is the one you want.  Endless Tide is gushing, dripping drenched in harp.  Like, you want the biggest pancake in the universe to sop all this up.  Surprisingly straight forward in its appearance and good to listen to at lower volumes, this album proves a resilient attitude as effortless as the waters of Tao.

 

 1.  Introduction

|| B maj 13  |  E majr 13  |  B maj 13  |  E maj 13 ||

                This goes on for a while.  This is the main A section.  A subtle #11 gets thrown into the E major 13 later on.  Tomo builds the sweeping patterns, splashes into Bb major 13 somehow, then takes off into Debussy celestials, doing that ascending Debussy pretty thing. 

               There’s a brief Eb major 13 pause, a quick tunnel of secondary dominant chords…swoop back to Bb maj 13 to reset and act as nothing ever happened on B maj 13 again, now we’re back to the beginning.

               Somewhere in there he hits a GNARLY B7alt (sumthin like B G D# F# D), SOMETHING remotely like that. 

               In the back to the beginning A section again instead of one E major 13, he lands E MINOR MAJOR 7, THAT is cool.  Typical IV minor chord but with such a grit into it, OOFA, beautiful.

               More Debussy, 2ndary dominants…then surfs on a progression of B min maj 13, B maj 13.  Flops between the two for a bit, finally lets us off easy on the B major 13 ending.

               Song is structured as A B A B C ????  A section would be the B and E major stuff.  B section would be the Debussy ascending and 2ndary dominant stuff.  Repeat A B again, then C section is the Bmaj13 to B minor major 13?  Something like this

We are greeted with a lap-sy Wave waving to us.  The water almost sounds goopy.  And we slowly sink (but we can hold our breath!), and we sift slowly to the bottom of the ocean.  Snell's Window lights up the Aquascape.  As we get deeper, the splashing of the waves fades away, distill.  Eventually, we consorm inside the heavy depths of ocean bliss.  Pleasantly, bluely.  Drifting past rocky coral, the colors of autumn.

The harp is soppy, dripping wet with molasses.  Deliciously, articulately syrupy.  Every now and then a beautiful ghastly dom7 chord spooks up.  Probably with an altered 9 and some 13.

               At the end, waves welcome us back.

               I am visualizing a digital beach and wave image in ASCII with an all black background and neon light colors.  Like that Legowelt album, “Vampire Goes West”.

2.   Itonami

|| Bb maj | C-7 | D-7  | C-7||   This is the introduction motif.  Then:

||Bb maj  Eb maj ||  This is one measure, but this repeats for a while.  Then:

||Ab maj  Db maj ||  Briefly, until :   ||Gb maj  B maj |  Bb7 ||  Then surprisingly:

||C maj   | D-7   |  E-7  | D-7   ||   Same theme as the intro, just bumped up a whole step.

There is a B section that I didn’t translate :O  Sounds like I- V7 ish stuff.  Lots of minor vibes in this section. 

               Song title means, “Life”, the harp is played with a zesty vigor.  Note the melody is played between a higher and a lower voice…could reference male and female broad way style duo?  Like Aladin and Jasmine singing together!

               Itonami is like a broadway Disney style song; just imagine the melody being sung by Ariel or Belle.   The ascending chord progress also contributes to this broadway style.  There is a prominent melody happening here.

               Song ends with V7 I, then goes off into I major ideas arping off of the banks.  Love the altered dominant chords that pop up, this is a theme!

               We are left washed up on the shore, a rapid tide washes us awake.

3.  未知 – This means, “Unknown”

               The beginning Harp riff is D to Eb, then goes to Bb to B.  Eventually a Bmajor voicing happens, a sharp one then Bb major triad.  And then we’re off to swirlsville.  In swirlsville towards the end, plays a sweep based off Ebmajor to Ebminor.  We’ve seen a bit of that so far in this album.  Another sweepy part is Bb 7 based, probs mixolydian.  Most of this album is pivoting around Bbmajor so far.

               Some use of the Japanese minor scale GOMEN I forget its official name.  The one that’s C, Db, F, G, Bb…koto sounding stuff!

               And how mysterious it is!  IIRC, like Bjork’s “Cover Me”.  Obviously, the weird scale contributes to the mystique.  Love the snakes that run up the right side.  Bioluminescent slithers run amok.

               Serpents morph into Majestics.  Shows everyone and anyone has the potential for karmic reform.  Chinese fireworks paint the water torn sky.  Wow the Majestics intersect with the beginning theme, weird scale comes back into play.  It’s some type of minor scale, but with lots of b2 and b6, like some Japanese scales.  This is just my speculation though.  Further analysis will show which scale it is.

               I think this song is themed with the same angular dream harp sandwiching a new section every time.  Form:  A  B  A  C  A  D  A  D  A  C          -Where A starts and always comes back after a new section.

4.  Sazameki

Riff is something like C E G A B C.  Based around C major scale with no D or F.

At some point we see B-7 , E7, A-7, D7.  Two-five’s happening.

We wind up in Eb major for a little.  There’s a funny suspend on a Gmajor..that transitions into the C major main arpeggio riff.

The large suspended ending sounds like a D-7 to D-13 funky sus thing going on.  Like if Santana ripps on D-7 G7.

               One online translator says, “Din” or “Noise”.  Another suggests the title means, “Awake”.  It certainly sounds spirited and bright, like a delightful Sunday morning.  Somewhere between crisp and summer glow.  We are awaking from the Unknown, ignorance, samsara; we are becoming enlightened.

               Parts of this song seem pastoral, on a Miyazaki grassy field, with a simple farm and a few cows.

5.  Tayutai

Lots of D major 9 stuff, pretty pretty.

IT’S SO CLASSICAL I CANT KEEP UP WITH THE SPEEDY CHORD PROGRESSIONS

               “Tayutai” has some translations as, “To flutter, to waiver”.  I’m uncertain about that association.  Does seem somewhat lilting though.  Being passed about with the wind, in a gentle play.  Maybe it sounds more anxious and less innocent than that at first.

               Lots of low voiced, surprise minor chords in the harmony.  Lots of low voices in general.  Later in the song use of low MAJOR chord voicings, sounded very romantic.

               Is this the first song of the album that introduced a new instrument?  Before this the songs seemed solo instrumental, mostly harp.  This song introduces the STRINGS (idk, cello maybe?) and a RL piano.

6. Prussian Blue

Ab minor, mebbe harmonic minor sometimes.  Then sometimes Eb minor.

               This title is significant!  Hokusai, the 17^th and 18^th century Japanese painter, went through a period where he outlined all his paintings in Prussian Blue, before painting them in (And instead of the traditional black ink).  A painting with blue in it was considered high class, because of the rarity of the ingredients to make the blue pigment.  IDK why Tomoyuki Asakawa named this song after that color.  Maybe to do with the deepness of the instruments, the boldness of the sounds.  Strange, we are back to the normal, lone, gorgeous harp.

               Middle progression bit sounds like a 90’s emo rock progression! 

7.  ゆらめき – This means, “To shiver, to sway”.  (Yumareki).

               MIXOLYDIAN w00t w00t!  Very much like Eno’s album with Laraaji…Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, it is called.  This song is so active, LOTS OF SWAYING TO DO LOL.  By now, I’ve lost the water theme.  I no longer hear of Endless Tide.  Seems drier.  I have no musical analysis for this except that THE POWER OF RADIANCE IS WITH YOU

8.  ゆくえなき夜に – Seemingly being the title track, “Endless Tide”

               D major based.

               Has a HEAVY BASS THEME, weird.  Like a bossa nova bass, turning into a chord where the 1^st note of the bass line doesn’t match up with the 1^st note of the chord.  UGH, ex:  The bass plays C, G, where we expect the resolve to Cmajor as the I chord.  Instead what happens is the major resolve is on the G chord, so it tricks our ears.  He plays some Budd, again, Pavilion of Dreams...similar voicings to the mid-later parts of that song.  They’re probably both in the same key.

               This song is a culmination of every instrument on the entire album, yea?  When the strings come in partway through the song, it sounds like Brave Fencer Musashi and/or anime.  So cool.  II-9, III-9 progressions seem to do that.

               Ends like a typical orchestral awesomeness, LOW resounding root note to fade out.  Lovely J.

              

Random notes!:

-“Endless Tide” is reminiscent of some Debussy and also of Budd’s, “Pavillion of Dreams”.

-Hear lots of the altered dominant chord!  Sounds like a similar type of voicing is used each time, no matter which song.

-This album is very classically themed.  The song forms are seldom repetitious; they’re live through, like watching a film.

-While it is FUN to listen to good music LOUDLY, this album sounds SPECTACULAR on a low volume (vol. 12/100 right now).  Tomoyuki Asakawa could have intended his album to be listened at a lower volume.  Thinking further on this, makes total sense.  People enjoy the sound of ocean waves when they’re moderately far away.  This album’s theme is about waves, tides, oceany stuff.  The waves crashing at a LOUD volume is HORRENDOUS.

              Endless Tide pushes through peacefully at low volumes.  An albumastic adventure for when you want something as film making as classical music.

Hiroshi Yoshimura – Wet Land (1993)

Hiroshi Yoshimura - Wet Land

Otherwise known as “8 Phases of a Rain Storm”, Wet Land takes us through a pleasantly swampy, damp, gray rainscape filled with 8 bit glowing insects, bull frogs, MIST, and other aqueous sonic-water nature happenings.  The album clocks in around 38 minutes, making it a smooth dive for a dreary rainy day, or an easy to swallow endless album repeat ad infinitum.  This album is #1 in the series, “Music for Your Mind - Relaxation Music"

 Something is up with the tuning in this album, it is not A440.  Might contribute its otherworldly feeling.

1.  Wet Land

|| E major 9   | E major 9   | E major 9   | A major 9   |

| A major 9   | E major 9    | B major 7   | E major 9   |

| A major 9   | B major 7   | Bmajor/E   |  Bmajor/E   | 

| A major 13 | Bmaj Amaj7| B maj Bmaj7*| A major7**||

              

               The E major 9 is voiced something like E, F#, B, D#.  The riff is what mostly implies the voicing.  Same thing with the A major 9; it is voiced A, B, E, G# (Emajor triad with A in the bass!)  Again, similar style voicing with B major 7 (B, C#, F#, A#).

               Yoshimura starts introducing a cool slash chord, Bmajor triad over E.  Actually, most of the chords in this song can be viewed as slash chords, since they’re all triad based over a different root note.  He probably does a lot others that I couldn’t catch in here, they’re tricky to piece together.

               

                *The Bmajor 7 has HEAVY emphasis on the 7^th scale degree, his lands the synth line on that cloudy A#, drilling into that ethereal tension. 

              

                ** Small side note of SUPER SUSPENSION, he might hold this chord out for a little past the measure.  After this A major he does more of the same chord wise, starts throwing in some minor chords.  The song ends on our good friend, E major 9.

               

              A pleasant heaviness hangs in the air, a toad splash through the marsh.  Cool breeze, emptiness.  This visual-aural haiku gem combination boasts major chords all over the place in a THICC synth pad.  This must be what it sounds like when clouds have sex.  Finally fakes out at the end, with that sustained silence at the end of the progression mimicking an ending.  Major 7 chord slips in to save the day from the conventional ending.  More repletion on this chord, plz.

2.  Singing Stream (Spring Mix)

Water stream immediately pops up.  Synth choir sounds pierce the water.  Digital amphibian ribbits pan in.  It’s like an NES scene with purple, blue waters, green grass, and black black background.  Lightning bugs hover just above the waist high grass.  The night’s alive; the creatures come out for festival.  And we dance.

This one is Dbmajor7 all over the place.  Synth choir opens up with notes C and Ab.  A bull frog sound comes in that is bumping away on note Db.  Lil ostinato plays Db, Ab, Db, like a bossa nova bass line.  Bass line comes in and hits the following notes: Db, F, Ab, Db, Ab, Ab, Ab.  Db, F, Ab, C, Ab, Ab, Ab.  It’s outlining the Dmajor 7 arpeggio.  All the while choir synth paints the sky with D major 7 chords and sometimes a voicing like Db F, Ab, Eb.  Choir also hits some Lydian stuff (G) sometimes in the far far back.

Oh GAWD, THAT BASS <3

                

This song mostly has only a handful of diff tracks that layer in at different timings.  The combinations of tracks are what successfully display interest.  This is how the builds happen.  EX:  Track A + B + C, then track A + C.   Then track C.  Then track B + C.

               The song eventually Bjorks itself out with deep strings.  This song is the rain storm.

               The choir synth is a huge aspect of this song.

3.  Heart Land

  

DIG IT.   This is a variation on the theme from the first song, “Wet Land”.  Similar chord structures, similar synths.  Eventually a pipe sounding back pad come in for some minimal note action.  And an acoustic piano comes in to play more or less isolated intervals, mostly Sol-Do type stuff.  Water drops can be heard panned in each ears; the left over droplets fall from pine needles and leaves suspended up high.  They splunk and become one with their brothers and sisters below.  This song is about after the rain storm, the humid stillness in the world after a heavy rain.  Yoshimura is a genius.

(Heart Land lazes between an Emajor7 and Bmajor).

4.  Ka Wa Mo

More running water, more emphasis on the running water.  Field recording of a stream in addition to fast synthesizers playing high octave arpeggios up and down on both ears, this is to blend with the water.  Synth in the background, we’ve heard this pad sound plenty by now.  The song has a very curious ending; it sounds like it’s going to start up a new movement, but cops out at the end.  Still beautiful though.

Short song, choir synth with G major.  The water synth riff I THINK is G, E, D, like the horse stable song from Zelda.  Some other synth pads come in and hit focus on E notes; must be the sun shining through after the storm.

5.  Mist

Traveling through the night, rush like wind through the tall grass.  So fast, there is no splashing through the marsh.

                

There’s lots of swelling sounds going on here.  The lower, vibrating synth that sounds like it’s from Tales of Destiny 2 (Eternia), as well as a higher synth pad and a shrieking type synth.  The shrieking synth could be bats and their echo location.  Sounds like it could be a reverse sound effect.

               Lots of improvised night magic happening in both ears.  Slide guitar pickering, hollow shooting stars, somewhat delayed EP sound hopping in the middle, choir synth.  Eventually both sides ascending synth line, they’re both the same line but rhythmically are offset so they overlap in neat ways.

                

              Getting a vibe of Fmajor 7 to Eminor 7 stuff popping around in here.  Hard to pin this one down, BC IT IS MIST!  Best to leave this one un-deciphered, ancient magic should be left alone sometimes.

6.  Rain Dance (Rain Mix)

                THIS SONG IS A VARIATION OF SINGING STREAM (TRACK 2).

More RAIN.  This is based off the theme of song 2: the bass is playing the same type of riff but maybe a diff key and a higher octave.  The active insects are back.  And we dance.  How could such a sound be organic, synthetic, groovy and digital all at once?  This song could be god.  Who knows?

Song starts with that step wise (?) ascending synth riff.  Could be a major barre chord, not sure.

               After a slight lowering of the activity, bass man comes in again doing some FUNKY ASS MID RANG STUFF.  The dance changes, it is raining again.  Groove grind for the insects, the grass, the clouds, and the air.  All of Mother Nature is getting synchronized with each other and enjoying the socialization. 

              

               Lots of layering in this song just like song 2.  There’s so much going on here.  Funky bass, synth pad both sides, improvised EP sounds both sides, main riff EP in the middle, trickling downward beauty water spouts on both sides of ears, string sounds come in too!

                

            After the biggest funktastic jam dance, the active instruments back out and its more the chill instruments biding their time.

               

            Like its counterpart, this song bumps a lucid Db major chord in the beginning.  One of the insects this time harps away on a C note.  Xylophone/rhythmically active whatever that thing is (EP?) is dancing between a set of 6ths: C, Ab  + Eb, C. 

              

              Bass line that comes in later is in C minor!!  That’s super cool.  C minor lays over Dbmajor 7 strangely! (C, Eb, G, being the 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th of Db major), so that’s a groovy change.  A lot of the higher end melody rhythmic stuff happening is in Db major 7, while the bass overlaps it with C minor.  Modal micro-ecosystems are coming together.

7.  Dawn

THEME OFF SONG 3, RITE?  WHICH IS WEIRD BC SONG 3 IS THEME OFF OF SONG!

                7 > 3 > 1.  One is the opener, uses major chords but all synth instruments.  3 is the song that copies 1, but adds more acoustic instruments.  7 uses almost all acoustic instruments, but is so far removed from song 1.

             

               E major 7, some B major, some G# minor too.  E major sounds SO much like Harold Budd’s voicing on Late October his album, “The Pearl”.  Or Against the Sky, I mean, it could be THAT song.

8. Humming Water 

Sounds like a ufo landing, yea?  I mean, I witness it all the time, so I know what that sounds like.  There’s a single chord vamping while spirits ghost about on the sides.  This is like the haziness of the silver morning behind the stroking water as it goes about its busy day.

               This is kind of a weird way to end an album?  I mean that single chord vamp is major but that chorus gives it a cartoony spooky vibe.  The water running is active, though the album started off slow.  This ending songs leads toward something more, another song, but it ends.  Is that the path of water?

               A Major 7, SOME Lydian (D#) in there but he doesn’t harp on it too much.  Almost expected this to be A mixolydian bc of that background synth choir pad.

Musical terms to describe this album: 

-Lots and Lots of choir synth in this album!  It’s almost in every song.

-Focus on FLOW of full album.  Which songs are quiet, which songs are busy, etc. etc.

-Mimicking nature with synthesizer.  Like in Singing Stream (track 2), the synth imitates the chirping insects, the bullfrog croak.

Misc. Conclusions:

Layout for level of activity between songs:

-Tracks 1, 3, and 7 are variations of each other and have a relax vibe. (1, 3, 7 is a major chord formula!!!!!!!!!!)

-Tracks 2 and 6 are variations of each other and are very active, dance like, and rhythmic in their vibe (2nds and 6ths of a major scale are minor modes!!)

-Tracks 4 and 8 are variations of each other.  They fall somewhat in the middle.  They are relaxed but with a moderate amount of activity. 

-Track 5 is somewhat unique.  It is stand alone, it contains LOW and HIGH activity elements, perhaps because it builds over time.

-Songs 1, 3, 7 are LOW activity.  Tracks 2 and 6 are HIGH activity.  Tracks 4 and 8 are MEDIUM ACTIVITY.  Track 5 is a DYNAMIC SONG all around.

-Wet Land makes the most out of a little, harmonically speaking.  There’s no whack jazz changes; mostly diatonic stuff in E major, or a solid Db major 7 chord for an entire song.  But Hiroshi Yoshimura extracts every bit of world from these key centers and paints a living rainscape.

-LOVE how this album feels reflective of Budd and Eno’s, “The Pearl”

This album is all about flow!  Water has different rates of aqueous activity, from calm pools to brisk babbling brooks.  Each song has a smooth dynamic flow, as well as the entire album.  There is a curve that follows the entire album, peaking at rhythmically active heights and falling and inspiriting, slow breathed lulls.

               This album could have also been named, “8 Phases of a Rain Storm”.