Catch-Wave cover

Catch-Wave

Released

One reason this album is so hard to categorize is that half of the music here qualifies as synth drone—an oscillator and a filter and an envelope all doing their things—but the other part of this music is an improvisor using violin and voice and other electronic means to unleash unpredictable ribbons of varying pitch and timbre. Each of the two pieces takes up as much vinyl as you could occupy in 1975, which is about 24 minutes. This music isn’t so much prayer or lament, even though it feels initially like it might be. On the second side, Kosugi starts saying “wave” and “code” (in English) and works around what seems like the same synth drone from side one. Kosugi bends the words as sound and lets sense dissolve.

Sasha Frere-Jones

Recommended by

Suggestions
Revelation cover

Revelation

Jean Carn, Doug Carn
New Neighborhoods cover

New Neighborhoods

Various Artists
Landscape And Voice cover

Landscape And Voice

Toshiya Tsunoda
Wonderland cover

Wonderland

Demdike Stare
East Portal cover

East Portal

East Portal
AZD cover

AZD

Actress
Jashumon cover

Jashumon

J.A. Caesar, Tenjo Sajiki
Belladonna cover

Belladonna

Mary Halvorson
Felder cover

Felder

Jan St. Werner