June 3, 2019

Takashi Kokubo (小久保隆) - Solar Wind ~ Mystery Of Aurora ~ (太陽風~オーロラの神秘~)

 
 
1.  White Ambient


               Night swirls and mixes with a charming breeze as they both meander their respective paths.  Light hearted mischief sprinkles from above encouraging fox to tease middle aged men on their way home, walking by the field of tall grass.

               Atop the hill, a view spanning downward and outward of perky swaying grass blades in the blue of 8pm mid spring followed by endless oceans, reflecting moon and stars; double cosmos.  The water is calm, rivaled only by the placid sky.  Small stars twinkle, winkle, wink for the people below.

               Fire flies hover on the slope just out of reach above the grass.  Spring Peepers provide a thin background chorus, somewhat mimicking the starlight above.



               White Ambient has a long, slow form that repeats a bunch, key changes, repeats on that, then goes back to original key.  Takashi Kokubo likes to create intricate soundscape swirls and shift them entirely.
              





The A section is as follows:


||: C maj 7  |   C maj 7  |   C maj 7  |   C maj 7  |     
|B-11          |  B-11        |  B7            |  B7           |
|C maj 7    | C maj 7    |  C maj 7    |  C maj 7    |
|E -            |  E -            |  E -            |  E -            |
|Eb maj 7 |  Eb maj 7  |  G maj/B  |  G maj/B  |
|Bb maj7 (#11) | Bb maj7 (#11) |  G7       |   G7     :||



               Lots of cool stuff going on here.  The intro echo sparkle riff plays G, D, F, E, D, C, D, B G.  Pretty cool how Kokubo outlines G7 (G D F) over the opening C maj 7 chord.  At the end of that riff he outlines G maj arpeggio (D B G).  Neat stuff.  The emphasis in the melody is G major, even though the harmony is C major 7.  Thumbs up (n.n)b !

               Over the C major chord there’s a wind instrument riff that trills around with B, C, B G and let’s that ring out for a while.

               During the B-11 chord (Could be Bsus4), some riff emphasizes A and E notes, which then resolve down to D# for the B7 chord.

               C major 7 comes up again and Kokubo plays some cool voicing that sounds like world map theme in Legend of Mana.

               E- chord time, some vague descending 3rds riff happening briefly.

               Super cool half step resolve to Eb major 7.  There’s a melody in here playing G, F, Eb, F, G, Bb A G.  Nails the G right when the chord changes to G maj /B (I think that’s what that is, hard to pin point it, very misty).

               More voice leading, B in the bass goes down to Bb and resolves to Bb major 7 chord.  There’s a brief Lydian melody here that, similar to the previous chord change, resolves down into G 7.
               And that’s the form!  After this wondrous summer breeze passes by a few times, star wash fades out on the G7 and BOOM, he shifts the entire form up a whole step.  Instead of starting on C major 7, song starts on D major 7.  Big dramatic key change, and the higher key changes the timbre of the full piece, some chords stand out a little better/differently.  

               After a few repeats in D major, song shifts back down to original C major.  This happens a few times, finally White Ambient fades out on G7.






2.  Solar Wind



               The middle aged man, lost in day dream gazing out at the sea – star divide, awakens and realizes he’s late for dinner; his wife waiting for him.  With a lighthearted heightened pace, he continues his way home.

               The blue of night conforms to black, visibility is low and blurry; the blurry distant amber apartment lights crisp in the air the nearer they become.  Crystals of clarity solidify and evaporate here and there in the air.

               Lots of repeating in Solar Wind.  Got some fast walking paced guitar bumping here.  Form is as follows:


               || D7sus  | D7sus  | D7sus    | D7sus |
               |  E7sus   |  E7sus   |E7sus   |E7sus    |
               |D7sus  | D7sus  | D7sus    | D7sus   |
               |C7sus  |  C7sus   |C7sus    |C7sus     ||


This bit repeats for the entirety of Solar Wind.  The D7sus voicing uses notes like D, A, B, G, B ,C , and sometimes E.  This pattern shifts up and down accordingly to fit the other sus chords.  

               Some choir/synth pad sounds creep up throughout, and all the various leads and percussive parts emphasis the sussy notesl the 4ths and 13ths.  Prolly this song is a little more contained since the previous one was such a wild adventure.





3.  Catalyst


               All is silent in the depths of night.  Every conscious being is asleep.  The earth slowly inhales and exhales, subtle winds flow down empty streets, weaving between trees, scattering the occasional leaf.

               A fantasy triumphs briefly in the dreams of children accompanied by innocent talking in sleep and shifting in bed.

               Cooling, restful darkness envelopes all in her womb.  Like a plant gathering sunlight to grow, everything is in a state of inactivity, of filtering away clutter and brain moosh, of emptying the mind to renew itself for tomorrow.

               Catalyst, maybe named for that intense end section, is a fiery humid final excursion in the Solar Wind soundfield.  The form:


|| G maj add 9  |  D-9    |  F maj7 (#11)  |   C maj 7    |
| G maj add 9  |  D-9    |  F maj7 (#11)  |   C maj 7    ||
||G maj 7        | G maj 7        | G maj 7        | G maj 7      |
|G maj 7        | G maj 7        | G maj 7        | G maj 7        |
|G maj 7        | G maj 7        | G maj 7        | G maj 7        |
|G maj 7        | G maj 7        | G maj 7        | G maj 7        |
| C-                 | C-                 |  F#-               | F# -                 |
|E maj 7/G#  | E maj7/G#  |  F# -             |F# -                  ||

               Then repeats from the top.  But this time when it reached the end, goes to :

||C-               |C-                   |  F#-                    | F#-             |
|C maj 7/E   |  C maj7/E     |  F#7                  |  F#7          ||


Please excuse if my repetitions are off.  Trippy song form, lots of arid vibes happening in that minor chord section, some super wonky changes.  What a scorcher to end it on!

In that middle G major 7 stretch, melody is something like , G, F#, E, D, C ,B , B, C, D, E , B, descending for that first bit, then ascending.  Then it follows the same pattern but starts on the B note.  Later when this section repeats it’s accompanied by a harmonizing line in 3rds.  Kokubo likes his internal structures.

At the end, we get another star wash fade out and we are left with a brief Aurora Borealis as the Solar Wind pulls in tide.

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