Water in Time and Space

Water in Time and Space
Studio album by Susumu Hirasawa
Released September 1, 1989 (1989-09-01)
Recorded April – May 1989
Studio
Genre
Length 43:16
Label Polydor K.K.
Producer Susumu Hirasawa
Susumu Hirasawa chronology
Water in Time and Space
(1989)
The Ghost in Science
(1990)

Water in Time and Space (時空の水 Jikū no Mizu) is Susumu Hirasawa's first solo album. It is the first part of a trilogy, with The Ghost in Science being the second, and Virtual Rabbit being the third, that explores reality, religion, science and dreams.

Background

In December 1988, P-Model, the post-punk/new wave band that Susumu Hirasawa was the leader of, was "frozen" after spending 2 years unable to arrange a recording deal and him realizing that it stopped being a band after Hirasawa became the major creative force that only kept operating due to his emotional attachment to it, combined with an unhealthy mental situation through most of its existence.[1] The album they planned to record, Monster, would have continued the style built up in One Pattern and been themed around Jungian psychology & Japanese folk tales (Hirasawa was particularly inspired by Hayao Kawai's The Japanese Psyche: Major Motifs in the Fairy Tales of Japan, and also read Joseph L. Henderson's Thresholds of Initiation[2]). Songwriting duties were shared among band members, with Hirasawa contribuiting five songs.[3]

While working with P-Model, Hirasawa also maintained side projects at the same time, namely Shun and Fukō Project, where he made sampling experiments with the technology he was using; through those two and P-Model side-releases, Hirasawa developed new arrangements of older songs. Hirasawa was also carving out a career as an amateur CG artist in the beginning of 1989, establishing the private label "Photon" to distribute tapes through a mail order circle. On 1 March he changed the name of his management office from "Model House" to "Octave" as an untying of his other outlets from P-Model, the official fanclub followed suit a month after the album's release, from "Moire Club" to "Hirasawa Bypass". In the 4 April, Hirasawa signed a contract with Polydor and started recording the album in their studios, taking only a month to do so. His first solo tour took place one month later.

Composition

In a situation somewhat similar to the creation of In a Model Room a decade earlier, Hirasawa had a cache of material to work with: half of Water in Time and Space consists of new arrangements of songs that he worked with while trying to make Monster, none of which were included on a major label release before the album. To prepare for the songwriting of new material, Hirasawa rerecorded Mandrake's "Happening by the Windowsill" (unreleased at the time, original later included on Unreleased Materials Vol. 1) as an étude. This rapprochement with progressive rock manifests itself in non-standard melodies, somewhat neoclassical in nature.[4]

Water in Time and Space features a large variety of styles, such as march, symphonic rock, western and folk; influenced by some Jungian and Andean themes. The press release defines the genre as "Isotonic Pop" (アイソトニック・ポップ Aisotonikku Poppu).

Free from the constraints of P-Model, Water in Time and Space lacks the nerved energy of the band, with a light and brisk feel. The album, although made with the heavy use of digital devices, is one of Hirasawa's least electronic works, with acoustic tones prominent throughout. Hirasawa kept working with sampling after One Pattern's release, his approach to it changed slightly in 1987, which is reflected on this album. Found sounds, such as bird chirping and coin rolling, are used as rhythmical backbone to the songs, unlike the MIDI Guitar percussion solos from One Pattern.

Production

Water in Time and Space is built around the Korg M1 workstation synthesizer, whose expansive, organic-sounding sound palette completely replaces the digital tones from the Casio synths used by the 1986–88 P-Model. The M1's built-in sequencer and large memory bank led to a shift in Hirasawa's production style: With the M1, he could record parts of songs that weren't completed in studio at home, effectively getting more equipped to make music by himself and less dependent on labels to record music. Although this aspect changed, some equipment (Hirasawa's trademark Talbo guitars and electronic devices) from P-Model's One Pattern & Monster are carried over, as well as the mechanical lo-fi sound of the former album, setting up the general production style of Hirasawa's first solo phase.

Besides the electronics, Hirasawa also performed with plucked string instruments and, for the first time on a released recording, percussion instruments. He's given a blanket "all instruments" credit. Only two tracks were performed by Hirasawa completely solo, the others feature a variety of guest performers: Session musicians for parts he couldn't perform by himself and friends from the underground new wave scene that P-Model was a part of are the most prominent. For songs that required choral backings, Hirasawa would get whoever was present during recording and form an impromptu choir. Two of the featured musicians, Kazuhide "Kitune" Akimoto (former P-Model roadie & Amiga CG apprentice of Hirasawa, listed in the "Thanks" section as "Akimoto-kun") and Shingo Tomoda (drummer of the disbanded technopop band Shi-Shonen), became members of Hirasawa's solo backing band.

Artwork

The artwork of Water in Time and Space was done by Kiyoshi Inagaki, who had done some graphic work for P-Model and Shun. The art design of the album set up some general design characteristics for Hirasawa's solo albums: Water in Time and Space is Hirasawa's first album where a photo of him was used for the cover, with the colors heavily manipulated; the symbol on the cover is Hirasawa's autograph, which makes various appearances through his works, being heavily prominent in the early stage of his solo career. The art is themed around water imagery. The photographs in the booklet feature Hirasawa wearing a suit jacket with a large black vertical stripe on the middle of the jacket, two smaller white stripes running between the large black one and the sleeves, and lack sleeves; popping out of the main stripe is a gaudily-patterned ascot; Hirasawa wore this in his 1989 shows.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Susumu Hirasawa, except "Root of Spirit", with titling by Toshiaki Minejima and string arrangement by Jun Miyake. 

No. Title Length
1. "Haldyn Hotel" (ハルディン・ホテル Harudin Hoteru) 4:32
2. "Root of Spirit" (魂のふる里 Tamashii no Furusato) 5:42
3. "Coyote" (コヨーテ Koyōte) 4:48
4. "Solar Ray" (ソーラ・レイ Sōra Rei) 3:08
5. "No Workshop" (仕事場はタブー Shigotoba wa Taboo) 4:02
6. "Dune" (デューン Dyūn) 4:36
7. "Frozen Beach" (フローズン・ビーチ Furōzun Bīchi) 4:53
8. "Water in Time and Space" (時空の水 Jikū no Mizu) (instrumental) 2:17
9. "Skeleton Coast Park" (スケルトン・コースト公園 Sukeruton Kōsuto Kōen) 5:52
10. "Venus" (金星 Kinsei) 3:17

Track information

Haldyn Hotel

An Andean-influenced march with an intro consisting of train sounds (similar to "Station to Station" and "Trans-Europe Express"), the "Haldyn Hotel" mentioned in the lyrics is said to have been a Psychiatric hospital that once existed in Peru; the song's lyrics also mention the city of Trujillo, and "Haldyn" is a Japanese phonetic spelling of "Jardín" (Spanish for "Garden"). One of the verses invokes Odic force and Dowsing.[5] The bridge heavily features two crumhorn lines, one performed by a professional wind instrument player and the other by Hirasawa, who has no experience with the instrument.[6] On most live performances Hirasawa would improvise a guitar solo instead of using a crumhorn.

Root of Spirit

Originally released on the April 1988 CHARITY ORIGINAL TAPE BY SUSUMU HIRASAWA Cassette Book, an EP of mediation music made to help out the Gunma-based "Human Earth - Awakening Village" (人間大地・めざめの里 Ningen Daichi・Mezame no Sato) psychological counseling healing center (listed in the "Thanks" section as "Mezame no Sato") that Hirasawa frequented; the original version is different from this one and has never been re-released. The song is, similarly to Hirasawa's work on Berserk, inspired by the works of Carl Jung, who Hirasawa is deeply influenced by. It's also the ending theme to Showdown, the third and final episode of the Original video animation series Detonator Orgun, whose music was composed by Hirasawa. It was used on a Suntory Old commercial,[10] which aired in 1992. Around the same time, the ESSENCE OF HIRASAWA SOLO WORKS best of album was released. The album was titled after the song, which was released as a single to promote it; the artwork is two stills taken during the commercial's production.

Coyote

Originally composed for the P-Model album Monster, "Coyote" is a Western-style song, following on One Pattern's "Astro Notes". The song developed out of a country-style arrangement of the song "Boat"[14] (from the album "Scuba", a snippet of the country version can be seen in the BITMAP 1979-1992 video). The guitar riff came from a commercial jingle for "Teijin WOW" jeans (released on the Model House Works tape included with the first volume of the "Moire Club" newsletter).

Solar Ray

A sound collage-styled song, mixing "found" percussion with classical guitar work and symphonic backing, the vocal melody is in pentatonic scale. The only track to not feature guest musicians.

No Workshop

Originally composed for the P-Model album Monster. The chorus on the P-Model version of the song had its backing vocals sung by P-Model bassist/keyboardist Teruo Nakano, the version on this album has Jun Togawa singing the backing vocals on the chorus. Hirasawa had intended for Togawa to sing in the planned Monster recording, using a "Mountain Hag" style performance[16] (the press release compares her to Nina Hagen). The song's arrangement incorporates percussive elements used by Hirasawa on Shun・4. The chorus vocals are yodeled; this was Hirasawa's second yodeling song (the first is the Yasumi Tanaka-penned "anothersmell" from Potpourri). As a joke, Hirasawa incorporated elements of "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" in "No Workshop":[17] The string parts of both songs share similarities; and ki sasu (着さす), pronounced the same as "quizás" (キサス kisasu), is repeated multiple times on the verses.

Dune

Originally composed for the P-Model album Monster. The song was never performed live, existing only as an instrumental demo under the provisory title Gen (げん). The solo recording, inspired by the SF-Fantasy series of novels of the same name, features the Amiga program "Say".

Frozen Beach

Originally released on the 1984 P-Model Cassette Book Scuba, which had been issued on CD with a new mix a few months before Water in Time and Space's recording started, "Frozen Beach" was a P-Model concert staple, being the last song played before the encore of P-Model's last show.[18] The version on this album had fuller arrangement, with live drums; the sound of crashing waves in this song (which were also present in previous versions) segue into the next track. The theme of the trilogy is taken from the lyrics of this song.

Water in Time and Space

A relaxing, short, simple and sparse instrumental, built around acoustic guitar and piano playing, unlike anything else that Hirasawa has ever done.

Skeleton Coast Park

A large-scale, epic style song, pointing to Virtual Rabbit and some of Hirasawa's later works.

Venus

An acoustic ballad which touches briefly on the concept of philosophy (In philosophy, Venus is associated with water and the ocean and is the guide through the fearful world of the unconscious,[19][20] sharing a similar thematic to the song's lyrics), which Hirasawa would later explore with Philosopher's Propeller. Used as an insert song in "Pursuit", the second episode of Detonator Orgun.

Personnel

Additional musicians
Production

Release history

Date Label(s) Format Catalog Notes
September 1, 1989 Polydor K.K. CD HOOP-20343
July 1, 2005 Universal Music Japan, Universal Sigma Digital Download none
February 29, 2012 Chaos Union, Teslakite CD CHTE-0054 Remastered by Masanori Chinzei. Part of Disc 1 of the HALDYN DOME box set, alongside "Solar Ray (SPECTRUM 2 TYPE)" and "Bandiria Travellers [physical navigation version]". "Haldyn Hotel [Fractal Terrain Track]" is on Disc 3 (CHTE-0056); "Water in Time and Space (Full Size)" is on Disc 9 (CHTE-0062).
September 24, 2014 Universal Music Japan SHM-CD UPCY-6909 Part of Universal's "Project Archetype" (supervised by Osamu Takeuchi & Kasiko Takahasi). Remastered by Kenji Yoshino (supervised by Chinzei) with both original liner notes and new ones.[26]

References

  1. Hirasawa, Susumu (1989). 平沢進のCG年賀状 [Susumu Hirasawa's CG New Year Message] (VHS) (in Japanese). Hirasawa Bypass.
  2. Moire Club (in Japanese). Vol. 4 (Model House). 1987. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "キミの祖母細胞はステージ上から土足で踏み入られたか?". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  4. unreleased materials vol.1 (liner notes) (in Japanese). Mandrake. Chaos Union, TESLAKITE. 2006 [1997]. CHTE-0036.
  5. "Haldyn Hotel". hirasawaslyrics.
  6. 1 2 3 "奇跡のスキマに...: 平沢 進 - 新讃インタビュー" [In a Crack in the Miracles... Susumu Hirasawa - New Acclaim Interview]. バンドやろうぜ [Let's Start a Band] (in Japanese). No. 9 (Takarajimasha). September 1989.
  7. "Everything is Unlocked! You can pick them up anytime.". Archived from the original on February 3, 1997.
  8. "NO ROOM - HALDYN HOTEL - Downloads". TESLAKITE FREE MP3s. Chaos Union.
  9. "Perfect Blue (movie) [Trivia]". Anime News Network. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  10. "【CM 1992】SUNTORY OLD 30秒".
  11. "童年夢想 - 夏韶聲".
  12. https://twitter.com/hirasawa/status/477066896471097345
  13. https://twitter.com/hirasawa/status/477083784676786176
  14. "1988年10月30日 新宿Loft 『BOAT』から『コヨーテ』". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  15. "ハンターを称える音声ファイル". Hirasawa Energy Works. Chaos Union.
  16. "戸川純って太古の女性だね!?" [Isn't Jun Togawa a Primeval Woman!?]. Takarajima (in Japanese). No. 3 (Takarajimasha). March 1990.
  17. https://twitter.com/hirasawa/status/615504506835574784
  18. "P-MODEL Live Data 1987-1988". MODEROOM. Fascination, inc.
  19. Gillabel, Dirk. "Alchemy 2, Nigredo, Albedo and Rubedo". House of the Sun. Soul Guidance. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  20. "平沢進 - "VENUS" / Hirasawa Susumu - "Venus" Lyrics". 音の帯〜Phonon Belt.
  21. Hirasawa, Susumu. "「金星」スケッチ 1". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  22. Hirasawa, Susumu. "「金星」スケッチ 2". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  23. Hirasawa, Susumu. "「金星」スケッチ 3". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  24. Hirasawa, Susumu. "「金星」スケッチ 4". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  25. Hirasawa, Susumu. "「金星」スケッチ 5". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  26. Takeuchi, Osamu. "wilsonic works 41". wilsonic journal. Retrieved 15 November 2014.

External links

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