![]() ![]() ![]() This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. ![]() If you agree, we’ll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice. We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements. But once the dimwitted American curiosity wears off, Minekawa reveals herself as yet another artist helping to forge the path for interesting and exciting musical landscapes.We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie Notice. Yes, her past is littered with song titles like "SHH Song" and "Kangaroo Pocket Calculator." Yes, the phrases "it's serious fairy tale with an extension cord" and "a beautiful things for the after crying" can be found in Maxi On's lyric sheet. And "Sleeping Bag," the final cut and the bonus track for us Yankees, closes the disc similarly with the simple repetition of the word "sky" chiming throughout the shifting, hypnotic accompaniment of pianos, electric bass, xylophones, subtle brass, and ocean waves. "Follow My Dreams" is truly dreamlike featuring Cornelius on various electric guitars, each aural element touches off the ground and gracefully soars through ethereal melody. "Picnic at Loose Rock" is a relaxed instrumental with a harmonium melody, wordless, bubbly vocals, and a pulsating yet calming rhythm. In fact, the only track out of the four Dymaxion collaborations that doesn't bear a similar aura is "Brioche," just under two minutes of shimmering, polyrhythmic synthesizer and her gorgeous, layered vocal harmonies.īut though it's all been good so far, Maxi On's peak arrives with Minekawa's strictly solo tracks. "A Report on an Investigation" has the air of a spiritual film noir, a dark detective story with shimmers of hope. "I can touch deeply your mad dreams," she trills over muted minor-key guitar, thick basslines, and a canned old-school beat. Sure, Minekawa's trademark chirping vocals and pulsing rhythms are present, but the overall tone is dirtier and funkier. Novak's presence on the opening title track immediately indicates a slightly new sound. Technically, only the Jeremy Novak half of Dymaxion was involved, but he uses his group's moniker and shares writing, arrangement and production credits for Maxi On's first four tracks. Things aren't much different here: the title, Maxi On, seems to be a play on words regarding her new collaborators, the New York City duo Dymaxion. On 1996's Roomic Cube, she worked extensively with Buffalo Daughter on 1999's Fun9, DJ Me/DJ You and current beau Cornelius split much of the backing. Takako has made a habit of collaborating with other established artists on her solo efforts. She even demands we "stop laughing" in "Lullaby of Gray," and it's an apt request. ![]() This being a good thing, since it doesn't seem like she's particularly aiming for a laughing good time. But for some reason, the novelty wears off quickly on her records. In any other context, her strange take on the language could seem hilarious. On her new release, the seven-song Maxi On EP, as well as on most of her other material, Minekawa's lyrics come chock-full of fractured English. Japanese, of course, being synonymous with "not American." Therefore, she's not exempt from our droll Western stereotypes. With a different phonetic system entirely, the Japanese come up with entirely bizarre English phrases that leave out and add words at random and, at times, seem to have no affiliation with what's actually trying to be communicated. But perhaps the greatest thing that separates our fine union from those denizens of the far-reaching unknown is the odd translation method the Japanese use to write and speak in English. ![]()
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