H.Takahashi - Sonne und Wasser (2019)

Tokyo based H.Takahashi follows up his ‘Raum’ LP for Where To Now? with ‘Sonne und Wasser’, a continuation & development of his unmistakable brand of meditative Pulse Minimalism.

Where ‘Raum’ was concerned with architectural space and energy, ‘Sonne und Wasser’ turns its focus towards the lives of the plants & flowers that live amongst us. This LP has been born from a deep adoration of Horticulture and the microscopic lifecycle of the plant world, where themes of vitality & slow growth are explored through Takahashi’s gloriously delicate & considered movements.

In his own words… “I wanted to express the plant that was slow, quiet, powerful, and full of vitality. In an attempt to express the world of one plant, the four songs that make up this album are all based on the first one, ‘Nymphaea’… The melody, chord and tone throughout become familiar, and each change of scene is expressed by subtly changing the arrangement and development of sounds. This is intended for when you want to feel like a plant, or as an indoor soundtrack - I want the music to be played so that it decorates the plants within a room.”

The beauty of Takahashi’s work lays in his commanding ability to stop you in your tracks via a force that is barely there, embracing the use of space & silence to deliver a deep & considered trip. Back in 2017 we said of his then LP… “The music is to help us function - it's music to work to, to sleep to, to help us find a sense of space and oneness within a world that is increasingly wild and untameable.” A Couple of years down the line and our World has continued on its mad path, and it is a true privilege to enable a healing output, & to encourage a global opportunity to switch off and immerse oneself in H.Takahashi’s flourishing Fauna phantasm.

“Takahashi draws cues from a melting pot of closely connected yet wholly individual strands of Minimalism - from the Japanese Minimalist works from the likes of Hiroshi Yoshimura and Satoshi Ashikawa, to masters such as Erik Satie and John Cage, and Ambient leaders Brian Eno and Roedelius, Takahashi soaks this historical influence and rings it out it through a modern filter to create stillness, ethereal beauty, and transcendent energy.”