Search - Bisk :: Time

Japanese Time

R. Olson | NY, NY | 10/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This unique album from a japanese artist, Bisk, is highly recommended. It is imposible to describe the soundscapes created on this album, so you will have to have a listen for yourself. The album's influence can be heard on Massive Attack's Mezzanine, and numerous other Japanese inspired recordings. A true masterpiece of modern Japanese music. Bisk continues to grow more fascinating with every album released. I highly recommend his latest release Mooonstruck Parade, with its hip hop textures."

Stunning and timeless

suz-eq | Sydney, Australia | 04/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"o.k. where to begin. first, let me say that time is infinitely more accessible than the brilliant MIDI manipulated jazz inspired sketches on "ticklish matters". whilst there is a continuity to the album, each track has it's own definition and arrangements are solid - bisk uses forms that could almost be described as compositionally conventional. i've dj'd some of these tracks when i've had a receptive audience - the only difficulty being finding other tracks that work with bisk's unique sense of texture and soundscape. closest comparisons in my experience would be jega, some of autechre's darker more organic moments - but that doesn't even come close to a fair comparison. i can safely say that i have never heard anything even remotely comparable to the sound that bisk achieves. i would be making a bet with very good odds if i wagered that in one incarnation, bisk trained as a jazz pianist. utilising cascading modal piano scales, dissonant chord structures and jazz inspired kits; his training has been a tangible influence rather than an entire modus operandi. in short: this is not a jazz album. in terms of rhythmic structure, bisk experiments with everything from eclectic break and d'n'b oriented to the aforementioned jazz inspired rhythms; using non-traditional drum sounds/samples and processing to achieve a unique aesthetic, (no 808's here my friends), but it is his soundscaping that commands the most attention. perhaps owing to the subtle an occasional inclusion of some of the traditional sounds of his native japan, time carries that shinto sense of order and restraint that is so often found in serious (ie: not kook-pop inspired) japanese artist's work. here you have the musical equivalent of a japanese temple garden, lovingly and painstakingly tended. bisk utilises sounds that are at one extreme organic and at the other, well if not mechanistic, at least electronically created and somewhat industrial. there is the effect of the dichotomy between harshness and beauty, nature and industry; yet the resultant texture is one of cohesiveness and an sense of the whole pervades. i could wax lyrical about this album for many hours, and indeed have been prone to do that, as my friends will testify. and, after nearly two years of listening to this rare gem of utter beauty, i still find in it something of inspiration."