CD: Asian X.T.C

Asian XTC is the new solo album from Joe Hisaishi, the Japanese composer best known for his scores to films like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Featuring new material as well as a song from his most recent film (Welcome to Dongmakgol) the album showcases Hisaishi’s maturing as a composer and is one of his most assured albums, both thematically and musically, of recent times.

To most people outside Japan, Hisaishi is known only as a film composer. Since most western film composers just score films many don’t expect them to produce solo albums, yet Hisaishi has been doing that since 1981. Initially inspired by the Japanese pop and electronic music of the late 70s, Hisaishi has since gone on to work across a wide variety of styles, something that is evident on Asian XTC.

Using instruments and musical traditions from right across Asia, Hisaishi has infused this album with a rich, earthy sound that is at times beautiful while at others chaotic and strange. The album is divided into three sections, the first is the “pop side” (six tracks) a collection of melodic pieces that seem to cover a wide variety of musical styles such as jazz, new-age, meditative and pop while drawing on influences from Spanish guitar to piano ballads.

The second grouping is the “minimal side” (tracks seven through ten) where Hisaishi eschews traditional melody for pieces that create their own musical landscape, producing a sound that is not easily defined or labelled. Finally there’s the last section, the “next stage” (the final track) which seems to join together the two other sections while infusing it with a distinctively French flavour thanks to several different piano accordion melodies.

Daring and different, this album may not appeal to people who are only familiar with Hisaishi through his film work. However, for those who are after something a little bit different and more musically complex then this could be the album for you. Although this CD may be hard to get outside Japan or Asia, like most of Hisaishi’s releases, it is getting a bigger release than normal and you should be able to track down a copy online through websites like CD Japan, Yes Asia and HMV Hong Kong.