Metro Spirit review
We got a very nice review from Brett Hall in Metro Spirit an independent newsweekly based out of Augusta, GA:
When asked to define the term “avant-garde,” the majority of laypersons will probably answer with an arched brow and something like, “Um, weird art?” Well, for those of you who have not yet experienced a concrete example of avant-garde work, meet On Ensemble’s second CD release, “Ume In The Middle.” From start to finish, Ume introduces, displays, manipulates, and transforms several musical genres (traditional and new), molding them into a truly avant-garde experience.
On Ensemble composes the majority of their musical pieces around the traditional beats of the Japanese taiko drum. From those drums, hip-hop, electronica, and various other genres flow through some sort of metamorphic exploration. It is almost like living music.
“Yamasong,” Ume’s first track, pushes its audience to take its first step with the slow pluck of a shamisen (a guitar-ish instrument). Soon after, it provides those first breaths of new life with a subtle drone under bassy throat singing (overtone). This unfamiliar approach to what seems vaguely familiar washes over your eardrums, almost cleaning them of all you thought you knew — musically, anyway.
Before you get too comfortable, though, the third track, “Waiting,” hits you with a turntable, a groovy shamisen riff, actual lyrical singing, and, of course, that popping taiko. Tracks four and five continue the electronically driven dance music but “After Rain” brings you back to the traditional-esque eastern-inspired.
By the end of Ume, On Ensemble provides their audiences with a unique and unconventional journey. Producer and main composer of the group, Shoji Kameda explains it better than I ever could, as a “kind of process that allows for exploration and change… we all try to follow our interests wherever they take us… we really only have one rule: try to make it sound like music.”
Tags: Metro Spirit, Ume in the Middle