Search - Yuka Honda :: Eucademix

Excellent Sophomore Effort!!

Sinless Knight | Virginia Beach, VA, USA | 12/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cibo Matto bandmate hits with aggressive eerie tunes and heavy acoustic/electric jazz-laced melodies. The album goes from slow and melodic to speedy and fast paced when least expected. The top-notched production added with sensual vocals makes for a excellent listening experience.



The track "I Dream About You" is especially dazzling which features Cibo Matto bandmate Miho Hatori(very smooth and relaxing), and since there more than likely won't be another album from the duo for a while, this is more than likely the best fans can settle for. The track alone proves that the duo can still work magic together as a team.



Other tracks such as "When The Monkey Kills" shows off Yuka's acoustic/electric jazz-based prowess, which are without a doubt impressive.



Nonetheless, Yuka's sophomore effort is a perfect fusion of different elements in music and has her once again shining throughout the underground scene."

Good EP, Okay LP

Dan Mohr | Lynnwood, WA, USA | 10/26/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Yuka Honda deserves the utmost respect and admiration; her musical talent and vision is without question. Unfortunately Eucademix (her first solo LP since 2002's marvelous Memories Are My Only Witness) simply isn't her finest moment musically. It's easy to admire Honda's urge to branch out, experiment and widen her musical palette - it's just that most of the results here are less than entrancing or engaging. In place of Honda's usually stunningly developed techno-pop confections, there's a bluesy rock jam, a trilling lite-jazz piano piece, a mini-choir set to harpsichord, some avant-garde electro workouts, and a few vapidly upbeat pop numbers that sound as if they're instrumental demos for bubblegum Top 40; it's certainly not that her attempts at these musical forms is lamentable in any way, only that the finished product often doesn't warrant more attention than, "eh...well, next track." (The best analogy I can come up with is how you remember feeling after you heard Tricky's less-than-fully-compelling Angels With Dirty Faces LP for the first time, and kept listening for more...and didn't find it.) Thankfully, there's still enough excellent material to recommend purchasing this album as a pricey but worthwhile EP single, if you can consider the other tracks as B-sides or filler. "I Dream About You" and "Parallel" are the two most fully fleshed out tunes, the beats, dreamlike soundscapes and longtime (& warmly welcomed back!) collaborator Miho Hatori's plaintive vocals conjuring up perfect blissed-out (and brilliant) pop music; "When The Monkey Kills" and "Twirling Batons In My Head" feature Honda's super-catchy time signatures and (rightly) infamous studio-guru playfulness. If only Honda had utilized her greatest strengths over the course of the entire LP, we might've had another mini-masterpiece alongside Memories; all the same, it's always terrific fun to see what's at work lately in the mind and the music of one of our most creative and visionary pop artists."

Yuka's Yukademy of Mixology ... or something like that

J. Lund | SoCal, USA | 10/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"EUCADEMIX picks up where Yuka Honda's excellent prior solo album MEMORIES ARE MY ONLY WITNESS left off, offering a distinctive set of tracks that taken as a whole display a individualistic musical vision. The tracks are relatively short (the longest is four minutes in length), and vary from a solo acoustic piano piece ("Seed Of Seed Of Peach") to cuts with layers of electronics, including several with dance beats and/or funk elements, and bits of jazz and rock elsewhere. Although many of the tracks have melodies, they seem an equal part of the entire soundscape, as opposed to the arrangements taking a supportive, background role behind the tunes. For the most part the tracks have a reflective and moody feel, with occasionally harsher elements via edgy guitar solos ("Spooning With Jackknife," "When The Monkey Kills") or free-form improvisation ("Why Are You Lying...").



For the first time on either of her solo albums, Yuka has a vocal track with lyrics ("I Dream About You") that piles on addictive hooks yet still veers left of the pop-culture center. Given that ex-Cibo Matto co-leader Miho Hatori is the lead vocalist I suppose this could be considered a reunion of sorts. But not really ... even this track is more consistent with Yuka's current musical approach than that of Cibo Matto. Several other cuts have wordless vocals on this otherwise instrumental album. If I had to choose between Yuka's two albums I'd prefer EUCADEMIX by a small margin (I's say because all of the tracks here are allowed a little more time to develop). Both CDs are recommended, though."