Hakushi Hasegawa
Air Ni Ni

Surely the Japanese are impressive. Only one of them could have started an album with a jazz madness straddling between Paris and Japan that from nowhere turns into a mix of funk and avant-garde performed on the piano; this is "Only You," the track that opens Hakushi Hasegawa's debut album, "Air Ni Ni". The rest of the album mixes stylistic elements of jazz, video game music, and drum 'n' bass, creating an indecipherable monster even after numerous listens.

Amidst this musical storm, the only constant element is the genius of certain insights. Consider "Evil Things": a chorus of mystical voices that rise above a rhythmic texture proceeding almost with inertia, while in the meantime appear melodies for harpsichord, shrill jingles, and electronic interferences. The continuous repetitions and the dreamlike atmosphere both recall the most outlandish Velvet Underground, or rather, a cover band of the New Yorkers trying to play "All Tomorrow's Parties" in an underground club in Tokyo under heavy doses of LSD. The melodic talent that manages to emerge on numerous occasions is surprising, especially in the frenetic "Scary Point". One must not be deceived by the stuttering progress of "I Can See Mountains" or the explosive clumsiness of "Stamens, Pistils, Parties," during the course of the album you never have the feeling that Hasegawa has lost control or is proceeding randomly. The eclectic spirit of the album does not entail any compositional naivety and this is a half-miracle. Perhaps the most humble track, "Cold Goat," shines in its own light—a neurotic and devastating jazz rock parody, overwhelmingly engaging to superhuman levels, a skeleton completely stripped of the special effects that embellish the other songs and leaves you breathless. The artistic vision of the artist is so out of the box that it often generates laughter of amazement during listening.

This ode to untamable creativity concludes in the only way possible, namely with an atonal and surreal ballad for piano and voice, so alienating that it feels out of place in one of the strangest albums of the year. Once this last madness is over, the dominant feelings are twofold: on one hand, a state of total bewilderment, on the other, the desire to start all over again.

A fantastic album, a must-listen.