Review: Daisuke Tanabe - Floating Underwater
By Xavier Veccia, Managing Editor
[Ki; 2014]
Rating: 7.5/10
Key Tracks: “Fun Robbery,” “Paper Planes,” “Origami”
Music has long been used as a storytelling method. The timbre, tempo and melody of any given song could open a gate to a fictitious world that words could never quite describe. It takes a true artist to master such a craft.
Daisuke Tanabe is a true artist.
Tanabe is a Japanese music producer, originally specializing in techno and breakbeat but is now a master of multiple genres under the electronic spectrum along with hip-hop, jazz and more. Floating Underwater showcases the man’s fluency in music altogether but also serves as a wonderful collection of imaginative tracks that have the ability to produce vivid pictures in one’s mind.
A quick example of Tanabe’s skills comes in the form of “Origami,” as the producer treats the song like the art of paper folding. What starts as a simple collection of soft rhythm and a few synths is folded and formed into what eventually becomes a hodgepodge of hip-hop drums with a variety of synths that sound similar to jazz horns. By the end he strips the song back down to a drawn out synth and some scratches. And this is Tanabe’s “basic” stuff.
The producer is at his strongest when he has a direction to his songs. “Shopping Mall Super Star” could be a soundtrack for someone who really is a star of a mall. Containing bright and cheery synths, the song reflects the hustle and bustle of a mall and eventually becomes a chiptunes-like symphony with synths dancing all around the track.
“Paper Planes” is on the more peaceful side, incorporating chimes and well-timed breaks to ease the listener into a relaxing comatose state. Tanabe also dedicates certain songs to his mastery of certain genres. “Fun Robbery” is extremely heavy on snare and high-hats to give it a jazzy, breakbeat feel whereas “Allergy” showcases more bass for the producer to give a dark hip-hop vibe.
Songs such as “Chugger” and “Pinebee” exist just to prove that Tanabe can make art out of just about any form of percussion. “Chugger” sounds as if Tanabe made a Rube Goldberg machine out of pots and pans while “Pinebee” has a more gear-like feel along with some woodblock and more traditional drums.
Every song on Floating Underwater is different from the rest and yet, when all 15 songs are lined up just right, the result is a perfectly flowing journey. From the soft opening of “Arrow” to the eclectic, futuristic finale of “Expo,” Floating Underwater is an exciting piece of art that is thrilling from start to finish.
