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Richard Pinhas / Yoshida Tatsuya — Welcome... in the Void
(Cuneiform Rune 391, 2014, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2014-05-26

Welcome... in the Void Cover art

When one considers the scope of electronic music, the archetype is generally a passive sound, often floating or sequenced, with smooth edges and colorful melodies; but over yonder in the dark corner of this room is the aggressive and hyper-energetic guitar and loop powered work of Richard Pinhas, originally with his band Heldon in the 70s, but these days usually in collaboration with like-minded travelers, this time in a perfect match with the hyper-kinetic drum riffing of Yoshida Tatsuya, the mastermind behind Koenji Hyakkei, Ruins, Korekyojinn, and as a leader or a member of so many other outstanding Japanese bands, clean back to the early days of YBO2 in the mid-80s. Here, the chemistry is just magical, all cylinders are firing and the rhythms, colors and textures are just dripping off the walls. There are only two tracks on the disc – a short four minute intro, and the massive 64-minute “Core Trax” that encompasses an evolution of sound exuding blistering waves of energy as it travels through numerous portals and passages, morphing as it goes. There are some points where Yoshida dials it back to give the listener a clearer vision of Pinhas’ ever-regenerating and decaying loops, but through most of the main track Yoshida is giving it everything he’s got, which means wall-to-wall masterful drum riffing par excellence. Still, for the listener, with all these expansive guitar textures and loops coupled with the ever-intense drumming, the duo’s sound can be surprisingly relaxing and even meditative at times. The exceptional cover art by Yann Legendre is worthy of special mention as well. The long and the short of it (mostly long) is, Welcome… in the Void is a whole world of sound that a listener can easily get lost within.

Filed under: New releases, 2014 releases

Related artist(s): Tatsuya Yoshida, Richard Pinhas

 

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