Michio Kurihara - Sunset Notes

I'm copying and pasting this from another forum because it's just really in-depth and better than what I can do.

"Michio Kurihara is something of a legend in the Japanese experimental rock scene that has been thriving for so many years now. Here are a couple bands I know he's been a leader or a part of:

Ghost
White Heaven
The Stars
Damon and Naomi (from Galaxie 500) did something with him
Henkyo Gaduken
ONNA (his first band, it's real hard to find anything by them)

In 2005 he recorded his first ever solo album, which features 7 instrumentals and 2 tracks with vocals.

The album, Sunset Notes, has a loose concept running through it reflected by the title: each song was inspired by a different sunset that Kurihara witnessed at different times of the year, in different regions of Japan.

And I have to suppose those were some pretty breathtaking sunsets, because the music Kurihara came up with is among the most pure, heartfelt vessels of raw emotion I've come across. It feels like he put a whole year of himself into it. Everything is arranged precisely and flawlessly, the songs are wonderfully evocative, and it all builds up to the most gut-wrenching conclusion of an album I've ever heard (which I won't spoil here).



There's no particular type of music listener that this album should be recommended to. Anyone can enjoy it - it has fast, high energy moments, slow serene moments, moments of exquisite, almost painful beauty, and moments of harsh noise. His guitar absolutely sings, and the backup he arranged (I should mention there are drums, bass, and keyboards on many of the songs) are exactly right to bring out the essence of the song.

After my first listen to the album, I was feeling really good and surprised at what it had been like - it defied my very high expectations, but didn't leave me at all unsatisfied. Basically I listened to it with the wrong ideas in mind (I was expecting something slow and sweet from start to finish). And after 3 or 4 more listens I realized I had found something truly special; it rocketed into my favorite albums and has remained ever since. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for a new Kurihara solo album, but in the meantime I can't really imagine Sunset Notes ever wearing itself out.

It's probably gonna be hard for those of you interested to find this album. I don't think it's being printed in the United States, so you'll probably have to import it online somewhere (might cost between 20 and 30 dollars to do that, but it's well worth it). As for me - I found it in the Used Rock section of Amoeba Records, Hollywood, for 7 dollars. I'm not convinced that I've ever made a better purchase than that (and I'm still confounded as to who would return that album for store credit, but who knows
Here are a couple other reviews, since I probably haven't done it any justice:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:aw8zefuk4gfn
http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/r...tail.php?id=782

This was a long-winded post, but that's really because I feel like I just couldn't say a couple words like "This is great, go look for it" for one of my absolute favorite albums ever. I feel like if Kurihara made nothing else in his lifetime, his existence would have been completely validated by this alone.

10/10 - transcendental and glimpses eternity

Happy hunting."

Right on, Cham!!

If you loved Rainbow, you will love this! It's such a heartfelt guitar album, with so many memorable tracks. It hooked me right away and it continues to grow to my liking. Amazon has a couple in stock.

Boris is also a favorite of mine, and that album is abosutely INCREDIBLE. I also reccomend that album to anyone who digs Japanese acid-drenched, drone metal/rock.

It doesn't get much better.

Edited by Meddler - July 09 2007 at 01:05