- Berlin-based vibraphone player Masayoshi Fujita is a rising star, and when listening to Apologues, his first album for Erased Tapes, it's easy to understand why. Fleshed out here with strings and woodwind—which Fujita, a composer and multi-instrumentalist, arranged himself—his rippling, twinkling work feels innocent and pure. It's serene and mentally cleansing in a way that's initially disarming.
Inspired by nature, Fujita is a painterly musician keen to conjure scenes in the listener's imagination, which he does with aplomb. You don't need to know the title of "Swallow Flies High In The May Sky" to imagine birds circling in clear blue skies above snow-capped mountains, as a vibraphone loops around soaring strings and clarinets. Like the more urgent "Flag," the mood is one of freedom, escape and joyous movement unfettered by the stiff reality of the material world.
Such positivity is fine, but the lack of shade in Fujita's music begets disinterest. The lightly astringent strings on "Tears Of Unicorn" give it a tinge of melancholy, but the sunny vibraphone can't help but sound like a jolly interloper in this scene. Similarly, the foggy, ethereal tones of "Requiem" may suggest a graveyard at night, but its grief sounds balsa-light.
Using the vibraphone, Fujita has difficulty conveying all but a narrow range of emotions, and Apologues frequently sounds banal—"Moonlight" and "Knight And Spirit Of Lake," in particular. It's not clear if this comes down to his style or choice of instruments, but it's not hard to imagine Fujita's glittering sounds working well against darker textures. Without any contrast, his vibraphone seems to grin vacantly, as if pumped full of sedatives.
Tracklist01. Tears Of Unicorn
02. Moonlight
03. Swallow Flies High In The May Sky
04. Beautiful Shimmer
05. Flag
06. Knight And Spirit Of Lake
07. Puppet's Strange Dream Circus Band
08. Requiem