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Suchness

by OE (Tatsuya Oe)

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1.
Dewdrops 05:03
2.
Yozakura 04:29
3.
4.
Cloud Sea 05:17
5.
Suchness 04:21
6.
Misty Garden 05:15
7.
Jizo Cried 05:06
8.
9.
10.
Goraikou 06:06

about

Tatsuya Oe, an electronic music master who is also known as Dark Model and Captain Funk, completes a concept album under the name of OE. “Suchness” consists of ten “Kankyo-Ongaku” (ambient music) compositions, which are inspired by the Japanese view of nature and Zen philosophy. Immerse yourself to the OE’s world of weaving musical notes and “ma (a silence and void)” into exquisite soundscapes.

- Album Description -

“Suchness,” being released two years later from “New Classics, Vol.1 & Vol.2,” is a concept album that consists of all ambient tracks. While some releases under the name of OE have included musical pieces so-called ambient or “Kankyo music,” “Suchness” is the first release Oe has committed himself to complete one album with that kind of music.

After moving from Japan to the US in 2013, Oe has had more opportunities for discovering the peculiarity and depth of Japanese traditional culture and philosophy. Also, he has become keener on differences between what the Western people imagine and create as Japanesque and what real Japanese do. For example, many ambient and new age songs, which are performed with Japanese traditional instruments and scales, are considered to be “Zen music.” But Oe senses uncomfortable about calling them so because he doesn’t find what he has believed Zen in those kinds of music.

Not to mention the “powerful silence” which was introduced by Toru Takemitsu, one of the most celebrated Japanese composers in the 20th century, a temporal silence and spatial void which we call “ma,” play a significant role in both music composition and production. A silence and void are not empty but presences which are employed as a device to create tension, resolution, and make the audience recognize that the music is ever-changing and transient (“mujo”).

The way we use “ma” in music has common ground with how Japanese traditional gardens and buildings are built. Oe chose the word “Suchness,” which is also used as a Buddhist term translated from Tathātā (which can mean either “One who has thus come” or “One who has thus gone”), to imply “placing notes and silences as they come to his mind.”

This release should bring a refreshing experience to you who might have enjoyed Oe’s melody-and-beat-centric compositions under the name of Dark Model and Captain Funk.

(Japanese)

日本人の自然観や禅思想から触発を受けて作られた今作「Suchness(「あるがまま」という意味)」は、静寂さと音の拡がりの対比が印象的な10曲からなる、このOE名義初のフル・アンビエント(環境音楽)作品に仕上がっています。

- アルバム解説 -

前作OE「New Classics, Vol.1 & Vol.2」から2年振りのリリースとなる今作は、全編アンビエント楽曲で構成されたコンセプトアルバムに仕上がっている。 これまでもOE名義の作品の中にアンビエント・ミュージック、環境音楽的なアプローチの楽曲が収録されていることはあったが、アルバムのコンセプトとしてそういった音楽に取り組んだのはこの作品が初めてと言える。米国で生活する中で、オオエは日本の伝統的な文化や思想の独特さや深みを発見する機会が逆に増えたという。

アンビエントやニュー・エイジ・ミュージックの作品で東洋的な要素や日本的な情緒を音で表現しようとするものは数多くあるが、オオエ曰く、西洋人が作る「Zen Music」は、「 楽器や音色の使い方が我々日本人と違うのはもちろんのこと、時間・空間に対する感覚に大きな開きがある」。音と音の間に生じるSilence(沈黙)やVoid(隙間)を音と等しく価値あるものとしてデザインすることこそが、アンビエント・ミュージックを制作する醍醐味であり、そこには日本の伝統的な建築や庭園作りと共通するものがあると言う。「あるがまま(真如)」という意味で仏教語としても使われる「Suchness」をタイトルに用いたのは、「耳に響くままに音を扱う、頭に浮かぶままに音を奏でる」といった意味が込められている。

「Suchness」はCaptain FunkやDark Modelといったビートやメロディの強い楽曲に慣れ親しんだリスナーには驚きを持 って、またOE名義での実験作を堪能してきたファンには、彼の新たな世界を垣間見る刺激的な一枚となるだろう。

credits

released May 28, 2020

All tracks composed and produced by Tatsuya Oe (JASRAC)
Art Direction: Passion Yoko
℗ © 2020 Model Electronic Records (www.model-electronic.com)

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OE (Tatsuya Oe) New York, New York

OE is a side project of Tatsuya Oe, an award-winning electronic music producer also known as Dark Model, Captain Funk, etc. Since 2002, under this moniker, Tatsuya has produced not only original albums but also numerous remixes and collaboration works such as “ONJQ+OE (a project with Yoshihide Otomo).”

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