Koji Asano • Autumn Meadow CD

Koji Asano • Autumn Meadow CD

Released in July 2001, Autumn Meadow is Koji Asano's 21st album and yet another perplexing one. The booklet is even more exempt of information than usual: a title, a duration. No hint as to the technique used, goal attempted, etc. The listener must take the work for what it is and accept it. Luckily, Autumn Meadow is easier to accept than the harsh, static previous Quoted Landscape CD. This piece, 68 minutes long, has at its heart a digital drone. Low and medium-range frequencies cycle organically (i.e., unpredictably), while granulated high frequencies pollute the soundscape. All this moves around on a microscopic level, seems static when examined at midrange distance, and clearly evolves when taken as a whole. The sonogram is rather limited at the beginning and keeps on widening throughout the hour. Feedback-like sounds become more prominent, filters change to alter the colors -- very autumnal indeed. The process is akin to the four-CD series The Last Shade of Evening Falls. An attentive listening session may impair a portion of your sanity, but ambient playing is surprisingly suitable, something not applicable to all of Asano's releases.

1 Autumn Meadow 68:21

SOLSTICE Records