November 7, 2018

Hiroshi Yoshimura – Wet Land (1993)




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 7th 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 3rd, 5th, and 7th 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”.

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