Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Saga Yuki — Fairy's Fable
(Maboroshi MABO-004, 1995, CD)

by Mike Ezzo, Published 1998-02-01

Fairy's Fable Cover art

Bondage Fruit vocalist Saga Yuki strikes out on her own for her first CD, not counting her wildly out-of-character contribution to the Maboroshi No Sekai Samples compilation. Three helpers lend a hand in the proceedings: guitarist Natsuki Kido (he plays acoustic exclusively) and violinist Yuji Katsui (see elsewhere for a review of his solo CD) from Bondage Fruit will be known by some. A cellist rounds out the quartet, but actually doesn't contribute nearly as much as Katsui and Kido, who whip up a firestorm on a couple tracks here that showcase their skills as much as the featured performer's non-verbal vocalizing. "Hallucigenia" has an Indian raga-like character with a blistering guitar/violin arrangement that you could safely say overshadowed the vocal contributions. Kido just doesn't quit. His blindingly quick scales and melodic runs almost leave the other two behind — as though they were accompaniment to his solos. On the title track Saga Yuki uses voice (again non-verbal) as a percussion device to accentuate the odd-metered riffs that the others continuously bounce off of each other in a maze of Stravinsky-esque themes. On the more experimental side were two other pieces. "Whisper of Embryo" uses Japanese vocalising with good accentuation from cello, violin, and guitar in a free-form setting. This is contrasted by a low-key affair, "Mononychus," that plays with overdubbed voices creating strange melodic shapes via cleverly interlocking patterns. Rounding out this unique album were two folkish songs; kept simple and direct with mainly acoustic guitar backup, stressing the vocal line and (English) lyrics. Sometimes successful; sometimes not, in the pronunciation department. Technique-wise though this is nothing to sneeze at. And while possessing a high-pitched voice, her abilities place her clearly on a different level to the female voices that grace many a Japanese progressive album. A varied effort then, that could have benefited from better integration of styles, but still packs an impressive punch.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 14, 1995 releases

Related artist(s): Yuji Katsui, Natsuki Kido, Saga Yuki

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.