"All art is quite useless according to Oscar Wilde. Then, what is the merit of a CD filled
with meditative improvisations on a bass with a delay pedal and a volume pedal? Maybe
just that: an opportunity for meditation, inspection and introversion guided by the
pounding and pulsing of what has become my favorite instrument in the last years.
(Actually, not the instrument but rather the frequency range that is considered as bass, its
warm hum, its booming hug or its blowing blast. I like bass. I am addicted to bass. In
some ways. I even thought about going to a Flo-Rida show for a second because this
mediocre, mainstream dancefloor rapper has some outstanding bass sounds in his
music. The next second I knew I would never do it, though, I haven't yet sunken that far...)
The richness in overtones and the droning quality of bass playing is an artistic measure
in itself. Verbal expression and direct political statements are not needed, hence Oscar
Wilde was right. But I am sure he also figured, that life is better when there are some
things left that are not attributed by a use and the net worth of its usage. To be rendered
useless but still valuable is the highest form of freedom. There, you see what unfocused
meditative improvisation may lead to.
On "Trumn" by the Japanese improviser Tamaru the bass improvisations are gentle,
submerged in self-evocation and soothing to an extent that is close to having a small
baby sleeping in your arms. Tamaru has been playing with his bass guitar for over ten
years – and nothing else. This kind of extreme immersion (or obsession) with a single
subject has become a trademark cliché attributed to Japanese artists, and truly, this
album is more an artistic statement than about music. Which again brings us back to the
intro citation of Oscar Wilde, but does not add to the conclusion taken above.
The most important thing to mention directly to the music is that it is much more lively and
dynamic than you would expect from the description or the set up. It is the opposite of
boring – which in our day and age is more than you can say about most music released –
and keeps on the level of encompassion and organic warmth that does so much for the
soothing for the whole length of the album. Sometimes the music almost comes to a
complete standstill, though, not moving in any direction anymore and remaining solid and
immobile as a wall. Then there are irresponsible gaps and holes in the music filling with
nothing at all. But all of these measures somehow magically add to the impression of
liveliness.
Emptiness is a very interesting thing. Our society would regard emptiness as a threat –
just as uselessness (there, again!) – and try to fill it up with something. I am not too
knowledgeable about transcultural philosophy but from an artist's viewpoint a different
sentiment should be close at hand: emptiness is a great chance, you get space to fill.
Nature abhors vacuums, we all know that. Tamaru seems to be a step further and sets
out to produce the vessel that contains emptiness and therefore the chance for the
listener to fill something up. With what? A personal redefinition of time or a small historic
essayist thought or just a small idea that brings joy for a moment? Whatever you like,is
probably the proper answer.
Trumn is a new label from Japan and I will take the opportunity to congratulate them for
their great start. The second release on the label will be "Entropy" by Yui Onodera and
that will be reviewed here as well shortly." (Georg Gartlgruber - Cracked)
with meditative improvisations on a bass with a delay pedal and a volume pedal? Maybe
just that: an opportunity for meditation, inspection and introversion guided by the
pounding and pulsing of what has become my favorite instrument in the last years.
(Actually, not the instrument but rather the frequency range that is considered as bass, its
warm hum, its booming hug or its blowing blast. I like bass. I am addicted to bass. In
some ways. I even thought about going to a Flo-Rida show for a second because this
mediocre, mainstream dancefloor rapper has some outstanding bass sounds in his
music. The next second I knew I would never do it, though, I haven't yet sunken that far...)
The richness in overtones and the droning quality of bass playing is an artistic measure
in itself. Verbal expression and direct political statements are not needed, hence Oscar
Wilde was right. But I am sure he also figured, that life is better when there are some
things left that are not attributed by a use and the net worth of its usage. To be rendered
useless but still valuable is the highest form of freedom. There, you see what unfocused
meditative improvisation may lead to.
On "Trumn" by the Japanese improviser Tamaru the bass improvisations are gentle,
submerged in self-evocation and soothing to an extent that is close to having a small
baby sleeping in your arms. Tamaru has been playing with his bass guitar for over ten
years – and nothing else. This kind of extreme immersion (or obsession) with a single
subject has become a trademark cliché attributed to Japanese artists, and truly, this
album is more an artistic statement than about music. Which again brings us back to the
intro citation of Oscar Wilde, but does not add to the conclusion taken above.
The most important thing to mention directly to the music is that it is much more lively and
dynamic than you would expect from the description or the set up. It is the opposite of
boring – which in our day and age is more than you can say about most music released –
and keeps on the level of encompassion and organic warmth that does so much for the
soothing for the whole length of the album. Sometimes the music almost comes to a
complete standstill, though, not moving in any direction anymore and remaining solid and
immobile as a wall. Then there are irresponsible gaps and holes in the music filling with
nothing at all. But all of these measures somehow magically add to the impression of
liveliness.
Emptiness is a very interesting thing. Our society would regard emptiness as a threat –
just as uselessness (there, again!) – and try to fill it up with something. I am not too
knowledgeable about transcultural philosophy but from an artist's viewpoint a different
sentiment should be close at hand: emptiness is a great chance, you get space to fill.
Nature abhors vacuums, we all know that. Tamaru seems to be a step further and sets
out to produce the vessel that contains emptiness and therefore the chance for the
listener to fill something up. With what? A personal redefinition of time or a small historic
essayist thought or just a small idea that brings joy for a moment? Whatever you like,is
probably the proper answer.
Trumn is a new label from Japan and I will take the opportunity to congratulate them for
their great start. The second release on the label will be "Entropy" by Yui Onodera and
that will be reviewed here as well shortly." (Georg Gartlgruber - Cracked)
artist: TAMARU
title: Figure
label: Trumn
country: Japan
format: CD
title: Figure
label: Trumn
country: Japan
format: CD