A unique prospect. An interesting concept. An album made up of songs all around a minute in length, with no restrictions on style or genre. Devised by Tokyo-based label Double Dyno mastermind Takashi Hishigaki, Minute Tango appealed to us straight away.
Opening with an adorable piece from well-established Japanese band sekifu, “House The End” is dominated by brass and warmth. There is also a guitar at play, but it’s used very subtly. Led by multi-instrumentalist Masaharu Seki, this is a baroque pop work of art, and it ensures the album gets off to a spectacular start. It sounds like it could be taken from a scene in a Studio Ghibli movie, such is its quaint beauty and delicate charm.
This is followed by Eddie Marcon’s “Happy Morning”. The duo of Eddie Corman and Jules Marcon (who met through their involvement in Japan’s underground music scene) has been working together in this guise since 2001. Here, they blend together beautifully to produce a little ditty that sounds playful and naïve but also accomplished and considered. It was recorded in the summer, and it sounds like it was. Like audible sunshine seeping in through the window, this will burrow its little way into your brain.
Our own Misophone is up next. “The Sea Still Speaks In Secrets” is a swirling, discordant piece that is imbued with all the classic ambition and genre-defying scope that has come to be synonymous with Herbert & Welsch. A bit of a time warp of a song, it feels way longer than a minute, such is the sensory immersion that the duo has managed to generate. Allow yourself to slip into their world; you won’t regret it. Word on the street is that new music from them could be on the horizon soon.
Banana’s “Teaching Drowning” is an abstract, unbridled avant-garde piano piece that comes across a bit like a ringtone at first. Like the now-classic Apple one (you know the one, “The Sound of The iPhone”), albeit maybe on some kind of experimental methamphetamines. We couldn’t find out much – anything – about the artist, but regardless of who is responsible for it, this zany piece has the potential to be a bona fide cult classic.
“Tadpole Midnight Dance Party” is – by some distance – the strangest piece of work here. Imagine The Flaming Lips blended with The Teletubbies, and you’re halfway there. The product of Fuchiina Kakaperi (a collaboration between Fuchiina and, you guessed it, Kakaperi), who are credited as performing “assorted instruments and vocals: It’s dark, brooding, mysterious, and downright weird.
Romu Aoyagi’s version of French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan’s “Esquisses, Op. 63 No. 48, En Songe” – at a minute and a half in length – is the exception to the general rule here. An interpretation made up entirely of whistles, it sounds like something that should’ve been featured in one of the Kill Bill films. Originally dating from 1847-61, this version feels fresh and fun whilst also retaining the sentimental and evocative writing of the original piece.
Directorsound’s “Peanuts In A Pod” is up next and is a smooth, sultry, jazzy number that feels like the most classic composition here. With the melody borrowing a little bit from the classic Great American Songbook standard “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” (specifically the Benny Goodman version), it employs a lap steel (played beautifully by the songs writer Nick Palmer), alongside Gustav Rådström’s saxophone, woodblocks performed by Matt Giresi and more to produce a groovy, evocative piece that feels like yesteryear.
The track from which the compilation takes its title – “Minute Tango” – follows and keeps the old school vibe going. We were a little mind-blown to find out that the whole thing is the product of one man. Performed entirely on a Casiotone MT-400V, Tomoe Inoue also recorded and mixed the song. A man of many talents. This track, again, comes across a little bit like soundtrack music (what does it say about this collection of musicians and this brief that so many of the songs feel cinematic in nature?)
Twoth’s “Nurturing Sounds For Tender Leaf” is up next. Exactly a minute long, it at first feels like a lullaby for adults. Very quickly, though, a quirky, glitchy element is introduced, and the prospect of falling asleep to something so curious and artistically striking seems impossible. Recorded and mixed by Twoth (Shinichi Suda), this one feels like a bit of a voyage all on its own. Concluded by what sounds like a lightly gurgling infant, this is one of the highlights.
The compilation is concluded with deDEde’s “There’s No Disappointment In Jesus”. The only real non-instrumental here is a lo-fi reinterpretation of John C. Hallet’s 1940 hymn. This version is endearing in its simplicity and sincerity. With Koya Abe on vocals, Ryo Takematsu contributing guitar, Bo Suzuki behind the drums, and Fumiya Morita making use of a musical saw (of all things!), the recording is unique and full of charm.
Minute Tango is quite an experience and a great idea. And, it results in an album that fits on a (now sadly sold out online, but available in stores in Japan and the UK) 7″ single! We would absolutely suggest that this format should become a recurring series.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
