Satoko Fuji

[Saxophone__Vagina]

Alright people, has anyone heard of this lady?

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Byfouak1kgm3c

She is a fantastic piano player who can go deep into the avant garde category. BUT she has this absolutely amazing album called Erans.

AMG Review

Tatsuya Yoshida, drummer of Japan's most infamous duo, the Ruins, engages the fiery pyrotechnics of free jazz pianist and composer Satoko Fujii on Erans. Far from a free-for-all freakout, this is a highly stylized series of 12 compositions that showcases the duo's near symbiotic relationship to tempo, dynamic, and chromatic engagement. In some senses, these pieces feel more like exercises, because they are played with such precision, which is both the album's strong point, and its weakness. There is a beautiful linguistic interplay here, one that is delicately shrouded in tone and explosive mechanisms, but these are overshadowed by sheer propulsion. From the manic shifts in tempo to the stylistically charged arpeggiattic studies, the listener gets lost in the fiery exchange of languages that exist between these shimmering, skittering dances of not one, but two percussionists, elementally creating and destroying intricately created tonal architectures over and over again for an hour. Certainly it is enthralling, but it is also exhausting to witness and pay close attention to at one stretch. There is an awful lot going on here, more than the ear can accommodate on one or two listens to be sure, let alone by taking the entire thing in one sitting. — Thom Jurek

Now don't be confused, this is highly accessible music, not just seemingly random stuff like some people would consider avant garde music, very well thought out and calculated. Just a non-stop drum and piano attack.

Edited June 5, 2004 by Saxophone__Vagina

[Nate Dorward]

My impression was that fans of hers were divided about whether her latterday reinvention as a heavy Japnoise bonecruncher was a good idea or not. I would like to hear her more thoughtful side (she's recorded with Paul Bley): I've only heard Minerva (all right) & Hada Hada (worthless), both of them with bombastic drumming & Hada Hada with eararche-inducing synths & FX.

That said, you do know that Thom Jurek's reviews are pure doo-doo, right? I'd be interested to hear your own take on the disc but Jurek's words aren't going to sell me on it, that's for sure.

Hey, I like seemingly random stuff.

[Saxophone__Vagina]

I love the Erans disc, but the rest of her stuff is hit and miss, i have not heard this synth related stuff you mentioned.

My take on the Erans disc is that it is brilliant avant garde music without being random or weird for the sake of being weird. It is a non-stop piano and drum attack, with in my opinion only one bad moment that is this drum 'solo' that i cannot quite figure out if it is produced live or with help from computers. The piano style emphasizes melody, the harmonies are pretty far out, but fit in well with everything else. The drums are fast and furious keeping a steady beat, though things do speed up and go down form time to time as the reviewer seemed to mention, but it seemed to suggest that the drummer cannot keep a beat, not the case. I just really want to say that there is a real obvious method to the madness found on the disc, not random weirdness found here, but you will find that on other discs hers.

I wish i had webspace that i could upload the first minute of the first track just to give you guys an idea of what is happening on the album. I have not heard anything like it before.

that may have come off as a little disjointed, but i am tired from work.