Kazumichi Komatsu Emboss Star

CAT No. FLAU92
Release Date: DIGITAL: 2020-11-11 / LP: 2021-10-15
Format: DIGITAL/LP

Madeggとして活動を行なっていた小松千倫によるKazumichi Komatsu名義での1stフルアルバム。Madegg名義でのリリースを含めれば、2015年の「NEW」以来およそ5年ぶりのアルバムリリースとなる。本作は過去4年の間に作業されたEP、インスタレーション作品、映像作品、ファッションショー、パーティー、レイヴ等の実験の中から将棋の棋譜を読み返すようにして見つけ出されたものを基礎としている。全体で30分にも満たない本作は、再生とともに現象してしまう音源のファンダメンタルな側面を強調しつつ、情報やイメージのヴェイピングに対する様々な反応を身体において再構成することが意図されている。ハウスやアンビエントが誘き寄せる半意識的な状態への契機とともに、抵抗が意図されており、インプットへのある種の免疫を作り出そうとする。コミュニケーションの戯図のなかで、フィクションはハッシュタグやジャーゴンといった冗長に圧縮されていく。それらはフォークロアの話素にもなる。ルドンダンスを組み合わせたフォークソング集。マスタリングにはRecitalを主宰するSean McCann。

‘Emboss Star’ is the new album by Kochi-born, Kyoto-based artist Kazumichi Komatsu, the first to be released under his own name following a prolific run of material as Madegg.
Informed by a range of earlier work including EPs, installation works, video works, as well as live appearances at fashion shows, parties & raves, the material collected on ‘Emboss Star’ has been prepared and refined over the past four years, its final collation described as like arranging the pieces on a chess board; every piece strategically placed.

In its entirety ‘Emboss Star’ is intended to emphasize the fundamental aspects of sound, and its relation to the material processes of playback; the grain of a rough recording, the jump and skip of a needle, the backwards gargle of a rewind. Individual parts shift suddenly, mirroring the abrupt transitions of everyday life. In this Komatsu attempts to reconfigure our response to sound, and the associations it often evokes; to reconsider the exchange of information and image, to alter perceptions.
Inviting a state of subconscious reverie – a mood often linked with ambient music but rarely matched as it is here – Komatsu adds an element of resistance to ‘Emboss Star’, as if depicting the tranquility of a dream, as well as its inevitable disturbance.
With creativity now compressed into a form of contemporary communication often ruled by vanity, redundant hashtags and tiresome jargon, Komatsu navigates the noise, recognizing technological ennui yet finding beauty, folklore & imaginative possibility.
‘Emboss Star’ is a collection of folk songs for lost connections. A vivid form of refuge.
Mastered by Sean McCann.

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Track List

01 Emory 02 Umi Ga Kikoeru feat. Dove & Le Makeup

03 Ace One

04 Skip

05 Orca

06 Sleepy Alexa

07 Lipsynch

08 Followers feat. Cristel Bere

09 Weight of Smoke

10 Come In

Press Quotes

it’s a beautifully otherly soundscape of fine glitch, expansive washes, piano, the human voice; eerie, pristine and exploratory; deep listening – Backseat Mafia

Emboss Star is an examination of the way that sound effects memory and emotion when it is played back over itself and layered to generate a sense of acoustics resonating through space…What I think works well about Emboss Star is not just the skill with which it is weaved from the fabric of dreams, but the straightforward way it approaches its mission. The album acknowledges that all pop music intends to evoke a reaction from its audience, that when it succeeds, it is capable of manipulating mood and memory through sound – I Thought I Had Sound


Emboss Star goes beyond the simple fact of being an ambient album, sprinkled with aerial folk and dreamlike deviations, 
hiding in its interior the pleasure of appreciating the sound for what it is: a personal moment…acting as a catalyst for emotions and openness to others…Magical – Silence and Sound

airy, captivating and pretty to the finest detailTokyo Weekender

beautifully glitchy, warm, experimental – ORGAN

Emboss Star is definitely worth attention if you are not familiar with Susumu Yokota’s works. It favorably combines elements of ambient, electroacoustics, and pop – Data WV

just the right balance between inviting and unsettlingMake Believe Melodies

…lush and introspective while also interrupting those expectations to make for a sound experience that is reflective of the sensory overload we experience in everyday realityLive Eye TV

ephemeral feel that’s reminding me of Space Afrika’s hybtwibt – Tokyo Dross

self-contained depictions of moods, peppered with field recordings and posthuman voices – Critical Popcorn

everything is fair game sonically, from acoustic and traditional-sounding plucked instruments to crafting sound out of found sound, samples, and noises  – ChainDLK

Emboss Star highlights his tightrope act between jaunty dance music and more experimental passages –
Otaquest

交雑性が生み出す、現代のフォークロア美術手帖

シンプルながら感覚を静かに刺激する、引き伸ばされたような特異な時間感覚を持った作品MASSAGE

歪で不意な、美しきサウンドコラージュMeets Regional

聴き手の身体やそこに刻み込まれた記憶に直接作用するようなプリミティヴな魅力に満ちた一枚TURN

古くから伝わる伝承への憧憬と現実の間を〜ゆったりと往還する半覚醒的アンビエント…「海がきこえる」のハードコアのような生々しさに胸を打たれた (9/10)Music Magazine

Kazumichi Komatsu Emboss Star

CAT No. FLAU92
Release Date: DIGITAL: 2020-11-11 / LP: 2021-10-15
Format: DIGITAL/LP

Track List

01 Emory 02 Umi Ga Kikoeru feat. Dove & Le Makeup

03 Ace One

04 Skip

05 Orca

06 Sleepy Alexa

07 Lipsynch

08 Followers feat. Cristel Bere

09 Weight of Smoke

10 Come In

Madeggとして活動を行なっていた小松千倫によるKazumichi Komatsu名義での1stフルアルバム。Madegg名義でのリリースを含めれば、2015年の「NEW」以来およそ5年ぶりのアルバムリリースとなる。本作は過去4年の間に作業されたEP、インスタレーション作品、映像作品、ファッションショー、パーティー、レイヴ等の実験の中から将棋の棋譜を読み返すようにして見つけ出されたものを基礎としている。全体で30分にも満たない本作は、再生とともに現象してしまう音源のファンダメンタルな側面を強調しつつ、情報やイメージのヴェイピングに対する様々な反応を身体において再構成することが意図されている。ハウスやアンビエントが誘き寄せる半意識的な状態への契機とともに、抵抗が意図されており、インプットへのある種の免疫を作り出そうとする。コミュニケーションの戯図のなかで、フィクションはハッシュタグやジャーゴンといった冗長に圧縮されていく。それらはフォークロアの話素にもなる。ルドンダンスを組み合わせたフォークソング集。マスタリングにはRecitalを主宰するSean McCann。

‘Emboss Star’ is the new album by Kochi-born, Kyoto-based artist Kazumichi Komatsu, the first to be released under his own name following a prolific run of material as Madegg.
Informed by a range of earlier work including EPs, installation works, video works, as well as live appearances at fashion shows, parties & raves, the material collected on ‘Emboss Star’ has been prepared and refined over the past four years, its final collation described as like arranging the pieces on a chess board; every piece strategically placed.

In its entirety ‘Emboss Star’ is intended to emphasize the fundamental aspects of sound, and its relation to the material processes of playback; the grain of a rough recording, the jump and skip of a needle, the backwards gargle of a rewind. Individual parts shift suddenly, mirroring the abrupt transitions of everyday life. In this Komatsu attempts to reconfigure our response to sound, and the associations it often evokes; to reconsider the exchange of information and image, to alter perceptions.
Inviting a state of subconscious reverie – a mood often linked with ambient music but rarely matched as it is here – Komatsu adds an element of resistance to ‘Emboss Star’, as if depicting the tranquility of a dream, as well as its inevitable disturbance.
With creativity now compressed into a form of contemporary communication often ruled by vanity, redundant hashtags and tiresome jargon, Komatsu navigates the noise, recognizing technological ennui yet finding beauty, folklore & imaginative possibility.
‘Emboss Star’ is a collection of folk songs for lost connections. A vivid form of refuge.
Mastered by Sean McCann.

KEEP READING